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  • Hermansen Spencer posted an update 1 year, 5 months ago

    Public trust is being lamented as the central victim of our new, digital information environment, a notion that is depicted in labeling our society as “posttruth” or “posttrust.” Within this article, we aim to call this deficit view of public trust into question and kindle a more positive outlook in future research. For this, we utilize the Social Amplification of Risk Framework to discuss trust as an inherent aspect of social interactions and to question the frameworks’ normative approach to public trust and risk perception. Utilizing a literature review of prior studies that investigated trust within the structure of SARF and a case study on the impacts of Fukushima on public trust in nuclear energy, we would like to argue that the current normative “trust deficit model” should be overcome and future risk research should increasingly focus on the opportunities of the digital informational environment for risk communication.

    Increasing the availability and accessibility of evidence-based treatments for eating disorders is an important goal. This study investigated the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of guided self-help via face-to-face meetings (fGSH) and a more scalable method, providing support via email (eGSH).

    A pragmatic, randomized controlled trial was conducted at three sites. Adults with binge-eating disorders were randomized to fGSH, eGSH, or a waiting list condition, each lasting 12 weeks. The primary outcome variable for clinical effectiveness was overall severity of eating psychopathology and, for cost-effectiveness, binge-free days, with explorative analyses using symptom abstinence. Costs were estimated from both a partial societal and healthcare provider perspective.

    Sixty participants were included in each condition. Both forms of GSH were superior to the control condition in reducing eating psychopathology (IRR=-1.32 [95% CI -1.77, -0.87], p < .0001; IRR=-1.62 [95% CI -2.25, -1.00], p < .0001) and binge eating. Attrition was higher in eGSH. Probabilities that fGSH and eGSH were cost-effective compared with WL were 93% (99%) and 51% (79%), respectively, for a willingness to pay of £100 (£150) per additional binge-free day.

    Both forms of GSH were associated with clinical improvement and were likely to be cost-effective compared with a waiting list condition. Provision of support via email is likely to be more convenient for many patients although the risk of non-completion is greater.

    Both forms of GSH were associated with clinical improvement and were likely to be cost-effective compared with a waiting list condition. Provision of support via email is likely to be more convenient for many patients although the risk of non-completion is greater.Risk and uncertainty are critical elements for decision making across fields, such as business, policy, engineering, and healthcare. As universities maintain and adapt curriculums to ensure their graduates are prepared for risk-related roles, there is momentum for risk science to be included in the curriculum. The study of risk science can be observed in programs devoted to risk fundamentals (for example on basic concepts like risk and probability) and risk assessment, risk perception and communication, and risk management and governance. Additionally, selected concepts related to risk science, such as safety and resilience analysis and management, are increasingly being embedded into a broader range of university curriculums. The present article presents a structure for classifying these programs, by distinguishing between generic (fundamental) risk science and applied risk science, with subcategories reflecting both subject (topic) and domain (application area). An overall evaluation of the broad offerings in risk science through devoted curriculums and selected topics within other specialized fields is conducted on the basis of the study programs currently offered. Perspectives are also provided on how to further enhance risk science studies at our universities and colleges.While the dose-response relationship for the carcinogenic effects of arsenic exposure indicates nonlinearity with increases only above about 150 μg/L arsenic in drinking water, similar analyses of noncarcinogenic effects of arsenic exposure remain to be conducted. We present here an alternative analysis of data on a measure of aortic elasticity, a risk factor for hypertension, and its relationship to urinary arsenic levels. An occupational health study from Ankara, Turkey by Karakulak et al. Gedatolisib compared urinary arsenic levels and a measure of aortic elasticity (specifically, aortic strain) in workers with a linear no-threshold model. We have examined these data with three alternative models-a fitted step-function, a stratified, and a weighted linear regression model. Discontinuity within the data revealed two subsets of data, one for workers with urinary arsenic levels ≤ 160 μg/L whose mean aortic strain level was 11.3% and one for workers with arsenic levels > 160 μg/L whose mean aortic stain level was 5.33 % (p less then 0.0001). Several alternative models were examined that indicated the best model to be the threshold model with a threshold at a urinary arsenic level of 160 μg/L. Observation of a discontinuity in the data revealed their better fit to a threshold model (at a urinary arsenic level of 160 μg/L) than to a linear-no threshold model. Examinations with alternative models are recommended for studies of arsenic and hypertension and possibly other noncarcinogenic effects.Eukaryotic development relies on dynamic cell shape changes and segregation of fate determinants to achieve coordinated compartmentalization at larger scale. Studies in invertebrates have identified polarity programmes essential for morphogenesis; however, less is known about their contribution to adult tissue maintenance. While polarity-dependent fate decisions in mammals utilize molecular machineries similar to invertebrates, the hierarchies and effectors can differ widely. Recent studies in epithelial systems disclosed an intriguing interplay of polarity proteins, adhesion molecules and mechanochemical pathways in tissue organization. Based on major advances in biophysics, genome editing, high-resolution imaging and mathematical modelling, the cell polarity field has evolved to a remarkably multidisciplinary ground. Here, we review emerging concepts how polarity and cell fate are coupled, with emphasis on tissue-scale mechanisms, mechanobiology and mammalian models. Recent findings on the role of polarity signalling for tissue mechanics, micro-environmental functions and fate choices in health and disease will be summarized.