It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Monday, October 21, 2024
New study highlights the dangers of handheld cellphone use among teen drivers
University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing
image:
Penn Nursing's Catherine C. McDonald, PhD, RN, FAAN, the Dr. Hildegarde Reynolds Endowed Term Chair of Primary Care Nursing; Professor of Nursing; Chair of Penn Nursing’s Department of Family and Community Health; and Co-director of the Penn Injury Science Center.
PHILADELPHIA (October 17, 2024) – A new study, conducted by a group of researchers led by Penn Nursing and Perelman School of Medicine and funded by the Centers for Disease Control, found a strong association between handheld cellphone use and risky driving behaviors among newly licensed teen drivers. The study, published online first in JAMA Open, used a smartphone telematics application to track the driving habits of hundreds of teens and identify potential safety risks.
The investigation found that teens who used their cellphones while driving were significantly more likely to engage in risky driving behaviors, such as hard braking and rapid acceleration. These behaviors can increase the risk of accidents and injuries.
"This study provides further evidence of the dangers of handheld cellphone use while driving," said lead-author Catherine C. McDonald, PhD, RN, FAAN, the Dr. Hildegarde Reynolds Endowed Term Chair of Primary Care Nursing; Professor of Nursing; Chair of Penn Nursing’s Department of Family and Community Health; and Co-director of the Penn Injury Science Center. "It's crucial for teens and their parents to be aware of the risks and to take steps to avoid using their phones while driving."
The researchers used a smartphone telematics application to track the driving habits of 119 teen drivers over a period of 60 days. These teens were licensed for less than one year. They analyzed data on trip characteristics, speeding, handheld cellphone use, and risky driving events. The study found that over 1/3 of trips had handheld cellphones and speeding occurred in over 40% of trips. Handheld cellphone use and speeding was also associated with kinematic risky driving events.
"Smartphone telematics applications provide a valuable tool for studying driving behavior and for developing interventions to improve safety," said McDonald. "By identifying risky behaviors, we can develop targeted interventions to help teens become safer drivers."
The researchers recommend that teens and their parents develop strategies to avoid using cellphones while driving, such as putting their phones out of reach or using hands-free devices. They also encourage parents to talk to their teens about the dangers of distracted driving and to set a good example by avoiding cellphone use while driving themselves.
The research was supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under award number: R49CE003083. Co-authors include: Kevin Rix, PhD, MPH, Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Science, University of Texas Health Houston; Jeffrey P. Ebert, PhD, Penn Medicine Nudge Unit and the Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine; Subhash Aryal, PhD, Department of Nursing Faculty, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing; Ruiying Xiong, MS, Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine; Douglas J. Wiebe, PhD, University of Michigan; and M. Kit Delgado, MD, MS, Penn Medicine Nudge Unit and Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.
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About the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing
The University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing is one of the world’s leading schools of nursing. For the ninth year in a row, it is ranked the #1 nursing school in the world by QS University. Our Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) is among the top ranked programs in the nation according to the 2025 U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges rankings. Our School also consistently ranks highly in the U.S. News & World Report annual list of best graduate schools and is ranked as one of the top schools of nursing in funding from the National Institutes of Health. Penn Nursing prepares nurse scientists and nurse leaders to meet the health needs of a global society through innovation in research, education, and practice. Follow Penn Nursing on: Facebook, X, LinkedIn, YouTube, & Instagram.
Kawasaki, Japan 16, October 16, 2024 – Fujitsu today announced that it has begun a project to develop a disinformation countermeasure platform alongside a consortium of leading academic and private sector organizations. Fujitsu was selected as a primary operator for this initiative in July 2024 through a public call for proposals by Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (“NEDO”) (1). The effort is part of the Key and Advanced Technology R&D through Cross Community Collaboration Program (“K Program”) (2), which was established with the collaboration of Japan’s Cabinet Office, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), and other related Japanese ministries, to strengthen and drive Japan’s economic security. The consortium, assembled by Fujitsu, includes the National Institute of Informatics (NII), NEC Corporation, Keio Research Institute at SFC, Institute of Science Tokyo (formerly Tokyo Tech), The University of Tokyo, University of Aizu, Nagoya Institute of Technology, and Osaka University.
The project aims to develop the world’s first comprehensive disinformation countermeasure platform that can process false information from initial detection to evidence gathering, analysis, and evaluation, with development slated for completion by the end of fiscal year 2025.
Vivek Mahajan, Corporate Vice President, CTO, CPO, Fujitsu Limited, comments: “We are excited to be working on this initiative with a top-tier consortium of Japanese academic and private sector organizations that have a proven track record of combating disinformation. In addition to our consortium partners, Fujitsu will collaborate with relevant government agencies and other organizations to develop a robust countermeasure solution and contribute to solving this serious societal challenge.”
As prime operator of this project, Fujitsu will lead the R&D efforts, technology integration, and construction of the overall platform. Leveraging the latest trends in disinformation tactics and technologies, Fujitsu will also create use cases for public and private sector organizations, facilitating the practical application of the research findings.
Technology to be developed and consortium roles
１．Information analysis by media type and disinformation detection (Responsible parties: NII, NEC)
NII
Leveraging its track record in the field of fake media detection, NII will develop a technology to detect deepfakes of images, video and audio from social media posts and other content. The technology will identify how the media content has been created and any areas that have been manipulated and assign a confidence score which will be provided as supporting evidence.
NEC
NEC will develop media understanding technology that extracts content including images, video and audio as text and uses it to analyze matches with social media posts and to collect supporting information.
２．Evidence/endorsement management (Responsible parties: Keio Research Institute at SFC, Fujitsu, Osaka University)
Keio Research Institute at SFC and Fujitsu
Keio Research Institute at SFC which has a track record in the field of trusted internet architecture and Fujitsu develop technology to integrate evidence collected from the internet, including the analysis results from technology 1 above. This evidence will be structured and stored as an evidence/endorsement graph (3) to verify authenticity and assess impact.
Osaka University
Osaka University will leverage its expertise in IoT data analysis to develop technology to collect sensor data as a source of evidence. In cases where information for the target area is incomplete, the system will infer evidence based on available data from neighboring areas. This proactive, AI-driven evidence gathering, mimicking human information collection and inference, is a highly advanced initiative
３．Comprehensive authenticity determination (Responsible parties: Fujitsu, Nagoya Institute of Technology)
Fujitsu
Fujitsu will develop technology to analyze the consistency of evidence linked to target information using evidence/endorsement graphs from technology 2. This technology enables comprehensive information authenticity analysis, presenting the results and supporting evidence in a user-friendly manner.
Fujitsu will also develop a specialized Japanese LLM for disinformation countermeasures, utilizing its supercomputer (Fugaku) and LLM (Takane) expertise. This specialized LLM will enhance comprehension of news and social media data, improve logical reasoning capabilities, and enable high-speed, high-accuracy inference for authenticity verification while mitigating hallucinations.
Nagoya Institute of Technology
Fujitsu will collaborate with Nagoya Institute of Technology to develop a user interface and information provision technology based on cognitive science, considering factors related to human psychology (e.g., continued influence effect). This will help users to accurately judge the truthfulness of information and encourage appropriate actions, including making efforts to avoid the unintentional spread of false information.
４．Evaluation of disinformation impact (Responsible parties: Institute of Science Tokyo, The University of Tokyo, Aizu University)
Institute of Science Tokyo, The University of Tokyo, and University of Aizu, with their expertise in computational social science related to social media, will develop technology to assess the impact of disinformation. By extending LLMs to build an AI model for disinformation assessment, the three parties will analyze characteristics of disinformation, such as similarity to past disinformation and proliferation speed, focusing on the source, content, and social context of messages from social media data. This will allow for the evaluation of metrics such as proliferation scale and social impact. This development of technology to visualize and quantitatively assess the social impact of disinformation represents a highly advanced endeavor.
Future plans
In fiscal year 2024, the project will focus on analyzing use cases for private companies and public institutions, defining functional requirements, and initiating R&D of individual technologies, with the final system scheduled for development by the end of fiscal year 2025.
By developing this platform, Fujitsu and its consortium partners aim to contribute to economic stability in the face of increasing disinformation risk and with NEDO’s support aid in increasing new industry development, international competitiveness, and strengthening Japan’s global position.
Comments from partner academic-industrial organizations
Prof. Junichi Yamagishi, National Institute of Informatics, comments:
“Combating disinformation demands a sophisticated, integrated arsenal of technologies. Leveraging years of cutting-edge research in technology for detecting fake media, we are going to create a robust foundation for a powerful disinformation defense system.”
Motoo Nishihara, Corporate Executive Vice President and CTO, NEC Corporation, comments:
"We are excited to join this important initiative. As AI is linked to the production of increasingly sophisticated disinformation, AI-powered countermeasures are paramount. Leveraging NEC's cutting-edge AI technologies, we aim to contribute to the development of truly effective solutions."
Prof. Hiroyuki Kusumoto, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University, and Project Professor Shigeya Suzuki, Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University, comment:
“Information on the internet nowadays is not only transmitted by individuals, but also by information systems utilizing LLMs. Leveraging cutting-edge digital identity technology, we will create a platform that meticulously tracks sender identity and information relationships, enabling multifaceted analysis for more informed and accurate end-user decision-making.”
Prof. Kazutoshi Sasahara, Institute of Science Tokyo, comments:
“The increasing scale and sophistication of disinformation pose a grave threat to our daily lives and democracy. With AI making truth increasingly indistinguishable from falsehood, developing technologies to assess the influence of disinformation is a critical, urgent task. We aim to spearhead the development of widely accessible tools to combat this escalating challenge.”
Prof. Masashi Toyoda, The University of Tokyo, comments:
"We are excited to have the opportunity to collaborate with experts from diverse fields in tackling the challenge of misinformation. We will leverage a wide range of expertise and technologies to build a foundational infrastructure for assessing the impact of disinformation."
Yasuhiro Hashimoto, Senior Associate Professor, Aizu University, comments:
“The generation and spread of disinformation pose a grave threat to societal stability and national security, demanding a multidisciplinary approach drawing on informatics, engineering, social sciences, and more. We will develop technologies to visualize the large-scale structures and complex relationships in which disinformation circulates, and build an environment where the dynamics of disinformation can be quickly viewed and analyzed.”
Prof. Yuko Tanaka, Nagoya Institute of Technology, comments:
"I am pleased to participate in this project that integrates cutting-edge technologies to address the increasingly sophisticated and serious circulation of disinformation. I am contributing to the development of interface design that effectively communicates the results—from disinformation detection to evaluation—by considering human cognitive characteristics."
Shin’ichi Arakawa, Associate Professor, Osaka University, comments:
"We are excited to be involved in R&D that addresses the growing problem of disinformation. Within the project, we will focus on practical research and development, and on delivering real-world impact, going beyond theoretical evaluation."
Notes
１．Key and Advanced Technology R&D through Cross Community Collaboration Program Press Release regarding the Key and Advanced Technology R&D through Cross Community Collaboration/Development of Disinformation Analysis Technology (K Program) (in Japanese):
Information added to the target information that serves as the basis for authenticity judgment, such as the sender (person or organization and its attributes), location, and date.
Fujitsu’s purpose is to make the world more sustainable by building trust in society through innovation. As the digital transformation partner of choice for customers in over 100 countries, our 124,000 employees work to resolve some of the greatest challenges facing humanity. Our range of services and solutions draw on five key technologies: Computing, Networks, AI, Data & Security, and Converging Technologies, which we bring together to deliver sustainability transformation. Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) reported consolidated revenues of 3.7 trillion yen (US$26 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024 and remains the top digital services company in Japan by market share. Find out more: www.fujitsu.com.
About National Institute of Informatics
NII is Japan's only academic research institute dedicated to the new discipline of informatics. Its mission is to "create future value" in informatics. NII conducts both long-term basic research and practical research aimed at solving social problems in a wide range of informatics research fields, from fundamental theories to the latest topics, such as artificial intelligence, big data, the Internet of Things, and information security.
As an inter-university research institute, NII builds and operates academic information infrastructure essential for the research and educational activities of the entire academic community (including the Science Information Network) as well as developing services such as those that enable the provision of academic content and service platforms.
NEC Corporation has established itself as a leader in the integration of IT and network technologies while promoting the brand statement of “Orchestrating a brighter world.” NEC enables businesses and communities to adapt to rapid changes taking place in both society and the market as it provides for the social values of safety, security, fairness and efficiency to promote a more sustainable world where everyone has the chance to reach their full potential. For more information, visit NEC at http://www.nec.com.
About Keio Research Institute at SFC
The Keio Research Institute at SFC was established in 1996. In its capacity as an academic entity and research institute affiliated with the Graduate School of Media and Governance, Graduate School of Health Management, Faculty of Policy Management, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, and Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care, the institute serves as a platform for promoting advanced research activities and collaborative initiatives involving the community and local regions. By 2021, the institute had more than 40 laboratories (transdisciplinary research groups with advanced research missions) and more than 30 SFC research consortiums (joint research deployed by the Keio Research Institute at SFC in conjunction with a number of external organizations), and together with approximately 500 senior and guest researchers from various industries, government, and academia, aims to develop unique research to create a vital society. In this manner, the Keio Research Institute at SFC has an impressive wealth of experience and track record in the creation of pioneering knowledge through collaborations among industry, government, and academia.
Figure 2. Diagram of the disinformation countermeasure platform
About Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo
The Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo (UTokyo-IIS) is one of the largest university-attached research institutes in Japan. UTokyo-IIS is comprised of over 120 research laboratories—each headed by a faculty member—and has over 1,200 members (approximately 400 staff and 800 students) actively engaged in education and research. Its activities cover almost all areas of engineering. Since its foundation in 1949, UTokyo-IIS has worked to bridge the huge gaps that exist between academic disciplines and real-world applications.
About University of Aizu
Nurtures talent who will exercise leadership in the knowledge-based society.Nurtures computer scientists and highly-skilled computer engineers who will create and exploit "knowledge" for the new era.Has first-class faculty members from almost twenty countries around the world.Provides an outstanding computer environment unparalleled by other universities.Established the graduate school open to the world, where English is used as the common language.Fosters students' latent limitless creativity by training critical thinking and appreciating their curiosity, free from preconceived ideas. https://u-aizu.ac.jp/en/
About Nagoya Institute of Technology
Nagoya Institute of Technology (NITech) was founded as the first national institution of higher education in central Japan in order to develop the region as Japan’s center of industry. Maintaining a respect for this historic mission and acting as one of the leading engineering institutes in Japan, NITech shall therefore make its fundamental mission as follows: developing revolutionary science and technologies, fostering rich human resources, and contributing to peace and social welfare of the future by acting as a source to consistently produce and develop new industries and culture.
About Osaka University
Osaka University was founded in 1931 as one of Japan’s imperial universities through strong demand from political and business circles in Osaka, as well as the people of Osaka City and Prefecture. The spiritual roots of Osaka University can be found in Kaitokudo and Tekijuku, educational institutions of the Edo period. After its merger with Osaka University of Foreign Studies in 2007, Osaka University became a comprehensive university with its own School of Foreign Studies. Boasting 11 undergraduate schools, 15 graduate schools, and 6 affiliated research institutes excelling in the fields of the humanities and social sciences, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, science, and engineering, Osaka University is one of Japan’s premier comprehensive research universities.
Osaka University will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its founding in 2031. We will contribute to the creation of a society where each member feels worth living through co-creation with diverse stakeholders to solve local and global challenges in accordance with the university's motto of “Live Locally, Grow Globally.”
Study: Pediatric healthcare facilities need more staff dedicated to infection prevention
Analysis at one pediatric hospital underscores the complexity of ensuring sufficient attention to infection prevention and control measures to keep patients safer
Association for Professionals in Infection Control
Arlington, Va. — October 17, 2024 — A new paper published today in the American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC) describes efforts at a major children’s hospital to assess and fulfill its staffing needs for infection prevention and control, highlighting the challenges of allocating sufficient resources to this important role. Infection preventionists (IPs) at Boston Children’s Hospital found that conventional methods for calculating the number of staff for these roles do not accurately reflect the current needs of healthcare systems or the specific needs of a pediatric patient population, and that a new approach is required to ensure patient safety.
While infection prevention is widely regarded as critical for hospitals and other healthcare facilities, properly staffing these roles has long been a challenge, in part because IPs are expected to take on many responsibilities that are not directly associated with infection prevention and control. In a survey conducted by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) in 2020, just 14% of respondents said that their work was fully focused on infection prevention activities. Most respondents were also expected to perform quality improvement, education, and regulatory compliance work in addition to their infection prevention responsibilities.
The conventional approach to calculating IP staffing needs is based on the number of inpatient beds at a hospital, but this method does not take into account key trends in healthcare such as increased outpatient procedures, shorter durations of hospital stays, and more focus on ambulatory services. The need for IPs is likely to be significantly higher than an inpatient-bed-only calculation would suggest.
In their new paper, IPs described a detailed assessment of the infection prevention and control needs at Boston Children’s Hospital, which includes more than 40 different clinical departments and handles more than 47,000 emergency department visits and more than 690,000 ambulatory visits annually, based on data for fiscal year 2021. At the time, hospital IPs were responsible for supporting the main hospital campus, four satellite campuses, four doctor’s offices, and a community health center. The needs assessment focused on time devoted to on-site and off-site responsibilities, as well as an evaluation of ambulatory location complexity.
The complexity variables studied show that work performed by IPs is highly complex, with half of all services evaluated found to have at least one complexity indicator and many having two or more. Based on the estimate of how much time was needed to perform all required tasks, the team found that the hospital was operating at an IP deficit. Their calculation called for 4.5 full-time IPs for the ambulatory and procedural departments, and only two full-time IPs were already on staff in these locations. This finding was presented to hospital leadership, along with a business case for adding more infection prevention and control resources. Approval for new hires was granted, and four additional full-time IPs were added to the staff to increase support for the ambulatory and procedural departments and to add new infection prevention and control and quality improvement capabilities. Beyond highlighting staff shortages, the detailed assessment also allowed department leadership to understand how staff IPs were spending their time and to re-prioritize those responsibilities as needed.
“Our work highlights the complexity and scope of infection prevention and control needs in pediatric ambulatory and procedural settings, areas for which little published infection prevention staffing data exist,” said Lindsay Weir, MPH, CIC, lead infection preventionist at Boston Children’s Hospital and first author of the paper. “We hope that our work helps other infection prevention programs advocate for the critical resources they require to meet the expanding needs of their ambulatory and procedural services. “
Additional details from the study include:
Complexity variables included factors such as using endoscopes or similar devices, and performing high-level disinfection or sterilization, surgical procedures, and aerosol-generating procedures, among others.
Complexity was calculated for 237 locations and services, with nearly 80% outside the main hospital campus.
IPs reported spending the most time on providing consultations, and the least time on professional development and quality improvement projects.
The assessment focused on the hospital’s current needs, but the authors point out that by the time the analysis was finished, a new satellite location had been opened and plans for a new satellite campus were already underway.
“Across the healthcare landscape, we are seeing shifting patterns in how, where, and for how long patients are treated. All of these changes add to the complexity of determining adequate IP staffing to keep patients safe,” said Tania Bubb, PhD, RN, CIC, FAPIC, 2024 APIC president. “Tools like the APIC IP Staffing Calculator and the assessment described in this paper provide excellent examples of how to successfully make a clear business case for adequate IP resources.”
About APIC
Founded in 1972, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) is the leading association for infection preventionists and epidemiologists. With more than 15,000 members, APIC advances the science and practice of infection prevention and control. APIC carries out its mission through research, advocacy, and patient safety; education, credentialing, and certification; and fostering development of the infection prevention and control workforce of the future. Together with our members and partners, we are working toward a safer world through the prevention of infection. Join us and learn more at apic.org.
About AJIC
As the official peer-reviewed journal of APIC, The American Journal of Infection Control(AJIC) is the foremost resource on infection control, epidemiology, infectious diseases, quality management, occupational health, and disease prevention. Published by Elsevier, AJIC also publishes infection control guidelines from APIC and the CDC. AJIC is included in Index Medicus and CINAHL. Visit AJIC at ajicjournal.org.
NOTES FOR EDITORS
“Determining Infection Prevention Staffing Needs for the Pediatric Ambulatory and Procedural Care Setting,” by Lindsay Weir, Jennifer A. Ormsby, Ana M. Vaughan-Malloy, and Celeste Chandonnet, was published online in AJICon October 17, 2024. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2024.08.011
AUTHORS
Lindsay Weir, MPH, CIC (corresponding author: Lindsay.Weir@childrens.harvard.edu), Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA
Jennifer A. Ormsby, DNP, RN, CPN, CIC, CPNP-PC, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA
Ana M. Vaughan-Malloy, MD, MPH, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA
Celeste Chandonnet, MSN, RN, CIC, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA
Determining Infection Prevention Staffing Needs for the Pediatric Ambulatory and Procedural Care Setting
Article Publication Date
17-Oct-2024
COI Statement
Ana M. Vaughan-Malloy: Stock or stock options held by spouse in following: Asana, Aurora, Ayr Wellness, Bionano Genomics, Butterfly Network, Canopy Growth, Cresco Labs, CRISPR Therapeutics, Cronos Group, Curaleaf Holdings, Editas Medicine, Green Thumb Industries, High Tide, Iovance Biotherapeutics, Jushi Holdings, Moderna, Organigram Holdings, Pacific Biosciences of California, Personalis, Pfizer, SNDL, Terrascend, Tilray Brands, Trulieve. Lindsay Weir, Jennifer A. Ormsby, and Celeste Chandonnet: no disclosures.
Marine experts challenge reliability of vessel strike prediction models
A new study has raised questions about current approaches to predicting the risk of vessel strikes on whales.
Led by researchers at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland, an international team of scientists compared eight models currently in place to assess and forecast the risk of ships colliding with whales. The study reveals notable inconsistencies in the results across the different models.
Most reports of vessel collisions involve large whales but all species can be affected. Globally, strikes are under-reported and can often go undetected, particularly when they involve large vessels. Collisions can result in animals being injured or killed, and vessels may also sustain substantial damage.
Approaches for identifying areas of high collision risk have been used by marine managers and policy makers for more than 20 years to try to understand where vessels are more likely to encounter large marine life and explore where it might be most effective to deploy management measures to reduce the risk of fatal collisions.
Once an area is identified as being of high collision risk, steps such as slowing down vessels and moving them away from areas where there is a high likelihood of them encountering whales are just some of the ways that have been shown to be effective at reducing incidents.
For the first time, this study has considered how using different approaches for evaluating strike risk has consequences for areas identified as high risk. The significance of these findings could hold global implications for the management of vessel traffic.
Emily Hague is the lead author and a researcher from the Institute of Life and Earth Sciences at Heriot-Watt University.
She said: “In this paper, we looked at the different methods that exist to map collision risk and found that they came up with similar, but fundamentally different, predictions. Some approaches identified the same places as being ‘high risk’, whereas other models identified quite different locations or sizes of areas.
“These methods have previously been seen as interchangeable, which we show is not necessarily the case.”
She continues: “We hope to improve transparency surrounding whale-collision risk mapping, so managers and policymakers know the limitations and strengths of each approach and can consider the best approach and type of data they need for their particular area and requirements.”
“We hope this work can contribute to the body of work that is working towards reducing ship strike to whales, and ultimately aiding their conservation.”
The paper compares existing methods for predicting vessel strikes including the most-up-to-date techniques.
The team used the same datasets to compare the outputs of each of the different approaches. These included data on the distribution of the whales in the study area and data on the vessels that were present over a comparable period.
Dr Lauren McWhinnie who is an Assistant Professor at Heriot-Watt University and the project lead, explains why there is a need for accurate modelling.
“The reality is we’ve got lucky and now have a second chance with these animals after commercial hunting pushed many species to the brink of extinction,” she said.
“Fortunately, there are many species now showing signs of recovery but our maritime sector has largely evolved without the presence of large whales in any great numbers. This has meant that we are only now starting to understand how these animals might be impacted by human activities such as shipping”
“In the future, if we want to try and ensure the further recovery of these species, then we need to put in place measures to mitigate against modern-day risks that pose a threat to whale survival. We know that for some populations of whales, vessel strikes are one of the primary threats to their recovery, so we need to be proactive and take the steps needed to protect them.”
The authors highlight the importance of careful consideration when deciding upon which approaches are most appropriate to use for predicting vessel collision risk. These choices, the paper explains, have substantial implications on the areas identified by risk maps and could have subsequent implications for management or policy decisions arising from the results.
Emily concludes: “It's important that we use the best available data and models so that we can better inform shipping companies how they can minimise the likelihood of colliding with whales.”
Vessel strikes are one of the greatest threats to a whale’s life. With the number of ships rapidly increasing to keep pace with global demand for goods, the issue is only set to get worse. However, there is a growing political willingness to take action to protect the oceans and its habitats, with the UN Ocean Decade underway, and the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) increasingly working with the shipping industry to ensure heavily trafficked areas do not affect large whales.
It involved contributions from international researchers, scientists and organisations including the Wildlife Conservation Society in Canada, the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences at the University of Victoria, the Department of Geography, Environment, and Geomatics at the University of Ottawa, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Transport Canada, the School of Biological Sciences and School of Geosciences at the University of Aberdeen, the National Decommissioning Centre, and the Department of Geography at the University of Victoria.
Pair of whales pictured from above.
Whales navigating icy waters.
Credit
Credit: Fredrik Christiansen
Picture of a whale beneath the surface.
Credit
Credit Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Journal
Journal of Applied Ecology
Article Title
Not all maps are equal: Evaluating approaches for mapping vessel collision risk to large baleen whales
Article Publication Date
17-Oct-2024
Financial incentive encourages healthiness: why isn't it used more often?
Radboud University Nijmegen
Move more, quit smoking, lose weight: great resolutions, hard to keep. But does it get easier if there is a financial incentive in return? According to research by Radboud University and others, it can be an effective tool, although there are still some obstacles. They presented their findings this week in Economisch Statistische Berichten (ESB).
Some lifestyle interventions are more effective than others, but in general, financial incentives are a ‘powerful tool to help reduce health inequalities in the Netherlands’, says Koen van der Swaluw of Radboud University. Despite knowing more and more about the effectiveness of financial incentives to promote lifestyle, they are still relatively little used. Health insurer ASR scrapped a reward programme for healthy behaviour earlier this year. Together with colleagues Stefan Lipman (Erasmus University) and David de Buisonjé (Delft University of Technology, Leiden University), Van der Swaluw mapped the barriers to introducing rewards for healthy behaviour.
'Around financial incentives, there are often objections about the limited long-term effects: will someone continue the changed behaviour once the incentive ends? There are opportunities for follow-up research there,' says van der Swaluw. ‘For instance, there have been successful programmes to discourage smoking during pregnancy, programmes that have long-term effects’.
Not opera, but football
ASR changed its rewards programme because mainly active people used it. 'But if you align the rewards with the desires of people who are not yet active, you probably have a better chance. What we see in literature reviews is that rewards do not always match the recipient. Simply put: don't give away tickets to the opera, for example, but to football matches.' Finally, there are often concerns about the cost of financial incentives.
Van der Swaluw and colleagues suggest that financial incentives - like curative care - could be reimbursed from collective health insurance if they prove cost-effective on the basis of a social cost-benefit analysis. Employers could also play a role in encouraging healthy behaviour and assume (part of) the costs.
No panacea
Although the effectiveness of incentives is becoming increasingly clear, they should not be seen as a panacea, according to the researchers. 'In no way are they a replacement for policies aimed at structural aspects of unhealthy behaviour, such as exercise or food supply in the neighbourhood someone lives in, poverty, cultural influences and national or international laws and regulations. Healthy behaviour is and remains a consequence of an interplay of individual behaviour and environmental influences.'
Follow-up research
From November 2024, van der Swaluw and colleagues will start the SPRINTS (‘Sports Pricing Research to INcrease Sport Participation’) project in collaboration with the HAN University of Applied Sciences, among others, investigating how prices influence sports and exercise participation. They previously published a study on rewards for smoking cessation, which appeared in BMC Public Health.
Article Title
Zet financiële prikkels breder in ter bevordering gezondheid
