Knowledge Utilisation in Road Safety Policy: Barriers to the Use of Knowledge from Economic Analysis

Previous research has found that the priority given to road safety measures is not based on the results of economic analyses, in particular cost–benefit analysis. This paper tries to identify some reasons for this fact. Knowledge utilisation theory is applied as a framework for identifying barriers. A typology of barriers to the use of economic efficiency analyses in road safety policy is developed. The presence of the barriers is investigated empirically by means of interviews of 83 road safety decision-makers in various European countries. Various technical barriers, particularly a lack of knowledge of the effects of road safety measures, are found. Based on a multivariate correspondence analysis (HOMALS), respondents can be placed in two groups with respect to the barriers they regard as most important. One group regards ethical objections to cost–benefit analyses as important, the other group but regards a large group of other barriers as important.     

Working with Research Integrity—Guidance for Research Performing Organisations: The Bonn PRINTEGER Statement

This document presents the Bonn PRINTEGER Consensus Statement: Working with Research Integrity—Guidance for research performing organisations. The aim of the statement is to complement existing instruments by focusing specifically on institutional responsibilities for strengthening integrity. It takes into account the daily challenges and organisational contexts of most researchers. The statement intends to make research integrity challenges recognisable from the work-floor perspective, providing concrete advice on organisational measures to strengthen integrity. The statement, which was concluded February 7th 2018, provides guidance on the following key issues:

1. § 1.
   Providing information about research integrity
    
2. § 2.
   Providing education, training and mentoring
    
3. § 3.
   Strengthening a research integrity culture
    
4. § 4.
   Facilitating open dialogue
    
5. § 5.
   Wise incentive management
    
6. § 6.
   Implementing quality assurance procedures
    
7. § 7.
   Improving the work environment and work satisfaction
    
8. § 8.
   Increasing transparency of misconduct cases
    
9. § 9.
   Opening up research
    
10. § 10.
    Implementing safe and effective whistle-blowing channels
     
11. § 11.
    Protecting the alleged perpetrators
     
12. § 12.
    Establishing a research integrity committee and appointing an ombudsperson
     
13. § 13.
    Making explicit the applicable standards for research integrity
     

     

‘Second generation’ Sikh autobiographies and authobiographical novels in European languages: Turning towards and away from traditions

ABSTRACT

The article analyzes autobiographies and autobiographical novels by Sikh authors who were born and grew up in Europe and North America as sources for understanding developments of Sikh religion. It uses the concepts panjabiat (Punjabi-ness), Sikh religion and modernity/Western society to understand the tensions and conflicts described in these books. The authors had to work out the differences between panjabiat, Sikh religion and modernity/Western society. They had to figure out what place the Sikh religion should have in their new identity and for this they were looking for similarities between the Sikh religion and Western society. In the autobiographies Sikh religion emerges as an ideology employed to criticize Punjabi culture and society and Sikh religion is reinterpreted and often comes to refer to some general principles that are compatible and supportive of Western modernity.     

Genes and family environment in familial clustering of cancer

Familial clustering of a disease is defined as the occurrence of the disease within some families in excess of what would be expected from the occurrence in the population. It has been demonstrated for several cancer types, ranging from rare cancers as the adenomatosis-coli-associated colon cancer or the Li-Fraumeni syndrome to more common cancers as breast cancer and colon cancer. Familial clustering, however, is merely an epidemiological pattern, and it does not tell whether genetic or environmental causes or both in combination are responsible for the familial clustering. Familial clustering may be due to genetic predisposition to the disease, but exposure to environmental factors — shared by members of some families, but not by members of other families — may also cause familial clustering and hence mimic genetic inheritance in the study of nuclear families. Based on assumptions regarding the individual steps in the biological process starting with exposure to carcinogens and ending with death from disseminated cancer we suggest that genetic and environmental factors may both be involved in most of these steps. The present paper focuses on research methodologies necessary to discriminate between the effect of genes and family environment in the development of cancer.     

Observations of families in structured interactions: Parenting therapists provide reliable ratings of mothers' parenting

The reliability of observations of parenting by parenting therapists was assessed. An important predictor of externalizing behavior in children is quality of parenting. Data were videotapes of structured interactions in families with a child age 8–12 years referred to the evidence based Parent Management Training Oregon (PMTO) treatment program for child behavior problems. The therapists had clinical PMTO training but no training in systematic observation. PMTO observational coders with specific coder training were included as a reference for the therapists. Five therapists and two coders observed videotapes of 10 families and performed global evaluations of mothers' parenting skills. They used the coder's impression measure used in PMTO research. Scores were analyzed in a generalizability theory framework for the two groups of observers separately. Both observer types reliably rank‐ordered the mothers and assessed the level of parenting skills. PMTO therapists without coder training provided reliable ratings of parenting constructs relevant to the clinical PMTO program in a manner comparable to that of the trained reference coders.     

A study of the psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory‐II,the Montgomery and Åsberg Depression Rating Scale,and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale in a sample from a healthy population

The objective of this study is to evaluate internal consistency and psychometric properties of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Beck Depression inventory‐II (BDI‐II) and the Montgomery and Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) for screening for major depressive episode (MDE) in a selected sample from a healthy population. Participants answered the BDI‐II and the HADS questionnaires and were interviewed with MADRS. The Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)‐IV Axis I Disorders‐Clinician Version (SCID‐CV) was used to diagnose MDE. Current MDE was diagnosed in 20 (6%) of the 357 participants. All three scales including the depression sub‐scale for HADS had high area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (ROC) (AUC) (0.84–0.87), and internal consistency was also high for all scales (0.75–0.89). Optimal cut‐off for MDE was ≥ 12 for BDI‐II, MADRS ≥ 8, HADS total ≥ 9, and HADS‐D ≥ 4, which all resulted in sensitivities = 85% and specificities > 78%. Diagnostic accuracy was low on all depression scales (Cohen's kappa = 0.20–0.40). Reports of the properties of depression scales in a healthy population are limited. We found BDI‐II, HADS and MADRS to be acceptable as screening instruments for MDE in a selected sample from healthy population with recommend cut‐offs as mentioned above.     

Impassibility and revelation

What is the relation between divine unchangeability and the reality of change as implied in ideas of creation and redemption? Western Trinitarian theology in the 20^th century tended toward emphasizing the significance of change above divine unchangeability, giving it a modalist and Hegelian flavour that questioned the continuity with the church fathers. For this reason, it has been criticized by Orthodox theologians like Vladimir Lossky and David Bentley Hart. Newer scholarship has shown the significance of Luther's appropriation of the doctrine of divine unknowability and his insistence on the difference between revelation and divine essence for his understanding of the Trinity, which thus may appear to be much closer to the position of the Orthodox critics than to the Lutheran theologians criticized by them. There thus seems to be an unused potential in Luther's doctrine of the Trinity that should be of interest both for systematic and ecumenical theology.     

The Trauma Related Shame Inventory: Measuring Trauma-Related Shame Among Patients with PTSD

This article proposes a new measurement instrument of trauma-related shame. The purpose of this study is to investigate the psychometric properties of the scores derived from the Trauma Related Shame Inventory (TRSI) by means of generalizability theory (G-theory). The psychometric analyses are based on a sample of 50 patients in treatment for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The results provided supporting construct validity evidence for the interpretation of TRSI as a homogeneous construct. The 24-item version of internal and external referenced shame yielded generalizability and dependability coefficients of .874 and .868, respectively. The distinction between shame and guilt was supported by a high generalizability coefficient of .812 for the difference scores between TRSI and guilt cognition scale. Further validity evidence was provided by a positive relationship between TRSI and a) self-judgment subscale in Self-Compassion Scale (SCS; Neff Self and Identity 2:(3), 223–250, 2003) and b) Beck Depression Inventory (Beck Steer and Brown 1996a) when controlled for guilt. The results of the present study provided promising support for using the 24-item version of TRSI in both clinical research and practice.