Quantifying the costs of drought: new evidence from life satisfaction data

We estimate the cost of droughts by matching rainfall data with individual life satisfaction. Our context is Australia over the period 2001 to 2004, which included a particularly severe drought. Using fixed-effect models, we find that a drought in spring has a detrimental effect on life satisfaction equivalent to an annual reduction in income of A$18,000. This effect, however, is only found for individuals living in rural areas. Using our estimates, we calculate that the predicted doubling of the frequency of spring droughts will lead to the equivalent loss in life satisfaction of just over 1% of GDP annually.

Achieving impact in ergonomic research

People are central to system functioning and this role has been dramatically extended by new information technology. This makes possible the fundamental transformation of processes across systems of systems. Can Ergonomics research play an effective role in systems integration innovation? To have real world impact on such problems the system of R and D needs to sustain strong designs that address the functionality of socio-technical systems and support the implementation of innovations, taking into account the complexity of change, the importance of values of dignity and trust, and creating a common understanding amongst all stakeholders to enable design for operations. Strong research designs are more expensive, difficult, risky and prolonged than more commonly practiced weaker designs. They require active engagement with the industrial or service provider and involve overcoming cultural and other barriers to effective implementation and change. To create a virtuous cycle of research-generated impact it is necessary for strong designs to be well supported in the research community and for real world impact to be central to performance criteria of research excellence. Unfortunately neither of these criteria appear to be fulfilled. To ameliorate this, deficiencies in the full cycle of systems integration innovation need to be addressed.     

Sequential case series analysis for pharmacovigilance

Summary.  The self-controlled case series method is used to evaluate drug safety, particularly the safety of paediatric vaccines with respect to rare adverse reactions. We propose a group sequential version of the method for prospective surveillance of drug safety. We focus on the surveillance of new vaccines. We develop methods that are based on the sequential probability ratio test applied at predetermined surveillance intervals, using both simple and composite alternative hypotheses. We investigate the properties of the methods analytically in a simple setting and by simulations in more realistic scenarios. The methods are applied to data on influenza vaccine and Bell's palsy, and to data on measles, mumps and rubella vaccine and bleeding disorders.     

Adjustment strategies revisited: Agricultural change in the Welsh Marches

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, much attention was paid by British agricultural geographers to the restructuring of the farm sector under pressures of national, European and global change. The need to adopt a perspective capable of looking beyond the farm gate inspired the introduction of modified political economy approaches into agricultural research. One important cornerstone of the empirical application of this thesis was the concept of the ‘farm adjustment strategy’. This attempted to map out the responses, especially those of survival, made by farm family businesses to rapidly changing agrarian conditions. Subsequently, the farm adjustment strategy became remarkable for its popularity as a way to organise research into agricultural change in developed market economies. Following a retreat in the 1990s, there has been something of a recent revival in the use of the term ‘strategy’ relating to agricultural adjustment. Revisiting this concept is therefore timely. Using empirical evidence from studies of farming change in the Welsh Marches, this paper examines two issues. First, it makes a critical re-examination of the concept to resolve differences with interpretation linked to theoretical perspectives so that future misuse can be minimised. Second, an attempt is made to assess the relevance of defined elements of farm adjustment strategies to analyses of farm business change. In so doing, there is an attempt to recover our knowledge of agrarian restructuring and to help situate newly encultured investigations into the likely survival of family labour-based forms of production.     

Change in Covert Social Movement Networks: The ‘Inner Circle’ of the Provisional Irish Republican Army

In this paper, we contribute to both the growing body of literature on social movement networks and the growing body of literature on change in networks by exploring patterns and mechanisms of change within the network of the ‘inner circle’ of the Provisional Irish Republican Army. Specifically, we focus upon the period between 1969 (when it formed) and 1988 (the last point for which we have been able to gather good data). Our primary aims are substantive. We want to know how this network changed over time. In addition, however, our analysis identifies changes which other analysts might look for in their networks and offers methodological suggestions for those who, like us, find that their networks do not meet the assumptions of mainstream approaches to modelling network dynamics. There is a further dimension to the paper, however. We are studying a covert social movement network. This is a special type of movement network whose organisation and dynamics are predicted to vary from other movement networks. Some have suggested that they are inclined to be relatively static because the need for trust within them is so great and the risk to whatever they hold secret so considerable when new ties are formed that their members tend only to recruit within the pool of their pre-existing ties and actively seek to minimise recruitment and the formation of new ties. One of the aims of our paper was to determine whether and to what extent this is so.     

Treatment of postmenopausal vaginal atrophy with 10-μg estradiol vaginal tablets

Postmenopausal estrogen deficiency can lead to symptoms of urogenital atrophy. Individuals with urogenital atrophy have symptoms that include vaginal dryness, vaginal and vulval irritation, vaginal soreness, pain and burning during urination (dysuria), increased vaginal discharge, vaginal odour, vaginal infections, recurrent urinary tract infections, pain associated with sexual activity (dyspareunia) and vaginal bleeding associated with sexual activity. Despite the frequency and effects of vaginal atrophy symptoms, they are often under-reported and, consequently, under-treated. Therefore, care of a menopausal woman should include a physical assessment of vaginal atrophy and a dialogue between the physician and the patient that explores existing symptoms and their effect on vulvovaginal health, sexuality and quality-of-life issues. The development of the ultra-low-dose 10-μg estradiol vaginal tablets is in line with the requirements of regulatory agencies and women's health societies regarding the use of the lowest effective hormonal dose. Because of its effectiveness and safety profiles, in addition to its minimal systemic absorption, the 10-μg estradiol vaginal tablet can offer greater reassurance to health-care providers and postmenopausal women with an annual estradiol administration of only 1.14 mg.     

Seeking control in the midst of uncertainty: Women’s experiences of choosing mode of birth after caesarean

Problem

Clinical practice guidelines indicate that over 80% of women with a previous caesarean should be offered a planned vaginal birth after caesarean (VBAC), however only one third of eligible women choose to plan a VBAC. To support informed choices for birth after caesarean, it is necessary to understand the factors that influence women’s decision-making.

Consumer awareness and sustainability-focused value orientation as motivating factors of responsible consumer behavior

Consumers are put in the driver seat on the road to a sustainable development. Following a consumer-centric approach, this paper explores the dimensionality and the antecedents of responsible consumption from a psychological perspective. Concerning the dimensionality, the study proposes that responsible consumption should comprise a societal as well as an individual dimension. The data (N = 339) supported this two-dimensional approach, differentiating between societal responsibilities of consumers (doing good) and consumers’ responsibilities for their personal well-being (doing well). Moreover, the results indicate that both consumer awareness and sustainability-focused value orientation have a direct positive influence on responsible consumer behavior. In addition, the hypothesized mediating role of consumer awareness is confirmed, with mediations for societal or personal responsible consumer behavior by the respective consumer awareness dimension. Consequently, it is crucial for organizations to flank their sustainable offers with appropriate communication activities in order to motivate consumers to engage in more responsible consumption.     

High and low levels of adolescent peer status are associated longitudinally with socioevaluative concern

This study examined linear and curvilinear longitudinal associations between peer status (i.e., likeability and popularity) and socioevaluative concern, a socio-cognitive feature characterized by attunement to judgment from peers. A sample of 716 adolescents (M_age = 16.01, SD = 1.25; 54% female; 46.5% White; 69.5% reduced-price lunch) was assessed twice annually. Likeability and popularity were assessed with peer nominations at Time 1. Measures of general (rejection sensitivity, peer importance) and online (digital status seeking, online status importance) socioevaluative concern were obtained at Times 1 and 2. High and low levels of likeability were longitudinally associated with increased peer importance, while high and low levels of popularity were associated with increased digital status seeking, and decreased online status importance for girls.     

The spaces and ethics of organic food

Initial assessments of the potential for organic food systems have offered an optimistic interpretation of the progressive political and ethical characteristics involved. This positive gloss has prompted a stream of critique emphasising the need to explore the ambiguities and disconnections inherent therein. In this paper, we consider the case of Riverford Organic Vegetables,¹ arguably the largest supplier of organic vegetables in the UK, and suggest that existing debates assume too much about the “goods” and “rights” of organic food and leave important questions about the spaces and ethics of organic food. We argue that, in the case of Riverford, the space of organic food production and distribution is neither the small, local, counter-cultural farm nor the large, transnational, corporate firm. Rather, simultaneously, the spaces of organic food production and distribution are the national network, the regional distribution system and the local farm. In addition, in the case of Riverford, the ethics of organic food exhibit few grand designs (of environmental sustainability, for example). Rather, the ethics of organic food are best characterised as: ordinary, since they relate to concerns about taste, value for money, care within the family and so on; diverse, since multiple practices steer the production and distribution of organic food; and graspable, in that both vegetables and box have material and symbolic presence for consumers.