BSE in the UK: Why the Risk Communication Strategy Failed

The 2000 BSE Inquiry report points out that the most serious failure of the UK Government was one of risk communication. This paper argues that the government's failure to communicate the risks BSE posed to humans to a large degree can be traced back to a lack of transparency in the first risk assessment by the Southwood Working Party. This lack of transparency ensured that the working party's risk characterization and recommendations were ambiguous and thus hard to interpret. It also meant that uncertainties were not addressed in a satisfactory way. In the recommendations, the attitude to uncertainty was implicit rather than explicit.The risk communication based on the report amplified these flaws. Most importantly, it did not address the uncertainty at all. Apparently, the reason for this was fear of overreaction by the public. However, the result was counter-productive, because the risk communication did not then appear trustworthy. Later risk assessments and risk communication omitted to correct these flaws. Indeed, the fact that, following receipt of new information, advisory experts and policy makers had changed their views of the risk to humans was never clearly communicated to the public. There seemed to be little faith in the public's ability to reach a balanced judgment regarding the uncertainties.In the concluding section of the paper, this analysis is compared with the food standards agency's (FSA's) approach to BSE. The intervention of this agency was seen as one of the more important efforts to restore consumer confidence in British beef. And the agency certainly appears to be committed to openness and to addressing scientific uncertainty. However, using the risk of BSE in sheep as a case study, the paper shows that transparency – i.e., the clear presentation of factual and normative claims and assumptions underlying advice, and openness about the reasoning based on these claims and assumptions – is less than fully achieved in the FSA's work.     

The need for work: Jahoda's latent functions of employment in a representative sample of the German population

Marie Jahoda's latent deprivation model was tested with a representative sample of the German population (N = 998). As expected, employees reported high levels of time structure, social contact, collective purpose, and activity not only in comparison to unemployed persons but also in comparison to persons who are out of the labor force (i.e., students, homemakers, retirees). Even unskilled manual workers reported more access to these “latent functions” than persons without employment. For the fifth of Jahoda's dimensions, identity/status, no significant differences between employed persons and persons who are out of the labor force could be identified. However, unemployed persons reported less status than all other groups did. Thus, Jahoda's model was clearly endorsed for four of the five latent functions of employment and partly endorsed for the fifth function. All variables in the model correlated significantly with distress, as expected. Demographic correlates of the manifest and latent functions were also analyzed: Access to the latent functions was best among young men from higher social classes who lived in an intimate relationship in a comparatively large household with children. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Factors influencing survival in case of shipwreck and other maritime disasters in the Danish merchant fleet since 1970

During the last 40 years, merchant ships have become safer and a number of new safety measures have been introduced. The purpose of the first part of this study was to investigate the trend of fatalities due to maritime disasters in the Danish merchant fleet over a 40-year period from 1970 to 2009, during which a total of 146 seafarers lost their lives. The relative risk of fatal accidents in the period 1990–2009 compared with the period 1970–1989 was 0.81 (CI: 0.58–1.14).The second part of the study focuses on seafarers who abandoned a merchant ship in the period from 1990 to 2009. The purpose was to investigate factors influencing survival. During the 20-year period 44 incidents were identified involving a total of 267 seafarers. Among these, 51 did not survive. The fatality risk for seafarers on small and large ships was 3.68 and 0.64 per 1000 years at risk, respectively. Among the 171 seafarers who were rescued dry, one was injured and did not survive (0.6%). Out of 64 seafarers ending up in the water, 18 (28%) did not survive. Among the remaining 32 seafarers, 23 were with great certainty inside the vessel when it sank and another nine may have remained inside the sinking vessel. None of these survived. Suboptimal organisation of the evacuation process was of importance in some cases. Survival suits and automatic emergency transmitters (EPIRB’s) have been shown to work in practice but their introduction has had limited influence on survival statistics.     

Elbehochwasser 2002 — Ein Rückblick

Objective

Flood sediments were investigated due to the extreme flood situation around Dresden in August 2002

Method

The samples have been analyzed by screening inorganic and organic pollutants.

Results

It was observed that As, Pb, Cd, Zn, Cu, B and other heavy metals as well as DDT, PCB and Benzo [a] pyren were significantly enriched.

Conclusion

Depending on geogenic and anthropogenic impacts, the spatial distribution of these contaminants was different. Organic compounds were dislocated down stream from Czech Republic along the Elbe River. Because of the old ore mining, samples near the Mulde and Wei\eritz Rivers showed high metal pollution.

Perspective

More detailed and systematic investigations should be undertaken in the Elbe and Mulde river systems.     

Passives Monitoring von Stickstoffeinträgen in Kiefernforsten mit dem Rotstengelmoos (Pleurozium schreberi (Brid.) Mitt.)

Investigations in 23 pine stands, a widespread type of forest on sandy soils in Northern Germany, were made to compare the concentration of the total N in pine needles, the overall rates and concentrations of nitrogen in precipitation water (NH₄?N+NO₃?N) to concentrations of total N in shoots ofPleurozium schreberi (Brid.) Mitt., a common bryophyte in these forests. Within the investigation period from 1996 to 1998, a total deposition of nitrogen in a range from 10 to 32 kg ha^?1a^?1 and mean values of nitrogen concentrations in the precipitation water between 2.8 and 6.9 ppm were observed. N concentrations in both bryophytes and pine needles also varied in a large scale from 1.3 to 2.3% d.wt. High correlations between concentrations of total N in moss tissue and total N concentrations in pine needles (r²=0.75, p<0.001) as well as N concentrations in the precipitation water (r²=0.81, p<0.001) were found. Lower correlations of N concentrations inPleurozium with overall rates of nitrogen calculated for the year before moss sampling in 1997 until 1999 can be attributed to temporary variations of N concentrations in precipitation due to different amounts of rainfall. Comparing the results of only one year (1998), the correlation was higher (r²=0.86). The role of other effects, e.g. growth rate and dry deposition, is discussed as well. Aside from the monitoring of heavy metals and organic compounds,Pleurozium schreberi is seen to be a useful indicator for estimating the amount of N deposition.     

A new conceptual model for the fate of lignin in decomposing plant litter

Lignin is a main component of plant litter. Its degradation is thought to be critical for litter decomposition rates and the build-up of soil organic matter. We studied the relationships between lignin degradation and the production of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and of CO2 during litter decomposition. Needle or leaf litter of five species (Norway spruce, Scots pine, mountain ash, European beech, sycamore maple) and of different decomposition stage (freshly fallen and up to 27 months of field exposure) was incubated in the laboratory for two years. Lignin degradation was followed with the CuO method. Strong lignin degradation occurred during the first 200 incubation days, as revealed by decreasing yields of lignin-derived phenols. Thereafter lignin degradation leveled off. This pattern was similar for fresh and decomposed litter, and it stands in contrast to the common view of limited lignin degradation in fresh litter. Dissolved organic carbon and CO2 also peaked in the first period of the incubation but were not interrelated. In the later phase of incubation, CO2 production was positively correlated with DOC amounts, suggesting that bioavailable, soluble compounds became a limiting factor for CO2 production. Lignin degradation occurred only when CO2 production was high, and not limited by bioavailable carbon. Thus carbon availability was the most important control on lignin degradation. In turn, lignin degradation could not explain differences in DOC and CO2 production over the study period. Our results challenge the traditional view regarding the fate and role of lignin during litter decomposition. Lignin degradation is controlled by the availability of easily decomposable carbon sources. Consequently, it occurs particularly in the initial phase of litter decomposition and is hampered at later stages if easily decomposable resources decline.     

Fitness related diet-mixing by intraspecific host-plant-switching of specialist insect herbivores

Generalist insect herbivores may profit by feeding on a mixture of plant species that differ in nutritional quality. Herbivore performance can also be affected by intraspecific host plant variation. However, it is unknown whether conspecific plant individuals differ sufficiently to promote diet-mixing behavior in specialist herbivores. We experimentally tested this "specialist diet-mixing hypothesis" for specialist caterpillars (Chrysopsyche imparilis, Lasiocampidae) in a West African savanna. The caterpillars switched regularly between host tree individuals (Combretum fragrans, Combretaceae). To examine whether switching benefited caterpillar performance via diet-mixing, the caterpillars were reared either on leaves from several plant individuals (mixed diet) or on leaves from a single plant. The strongest effect of diet-mixing was found for fecundity, with females reared on a mixed diet laying significantly more eggs than sisters receiving a single-plant diet. In addition, a mixed diet decreased variability in egg size and increased the growth of second-instar caterpillars. Supplementary food choice experiments were conducted to assess a potential influence of lowered host quality (induced by herbivory) on caterpillar behavior; no such effect was found. By linking intraspecific host-switching behavior and herbivore performance, this study provides new information on the relevance of intraspecific plant variation for herbivorous insects.     

Conditional sex allocation in the Red Mason bee, Osmia rufa

Trivers' and Willard's hypothesis that natural selection favors sex allocation in relation to maternal condition assumes iteropary. Though this assumption is not met in most solitary Aculeata, the reproductive life span of semelparous females may be divided into discrete successive cycles by the risk of open-cell parasitism. Females can avoid losing their investment to parasites attacking the open cell only by limiting the provision time for each cell. The restriction of time available for the investment in a single progeny irrespective of the condition of the female leads to de facto iteropary. Moreover, in Hymenoptera, there are no costs for sex allocation due to the haplodiploid mode of sex determination. In sexually size dimorphic species, females in poor condition are predicted to invest in the smaller sex and vice versa. The resulting prediction of a conditional sex allocation in solitary Aculeata was tested in the Red Mason bee, Osmia rufa (Osmia bicornis), a stem or hole-nesting, polylectic, univoltine megachilid bee. Body size is a key component of condition in females of nest-constructing solitary bees. Large females collect the same amount of pollen and nectar in a shorter time than small ones and should suffer less from parasitism. We found that small females dealt with their handicap of a low provisioning performance by shifting the sex ratio toward sons (the smaller sex) and by reducing the body size of daughters. Large females, however, shifted their offspring sex ratio toward daughters, the sex that depends more on body size in its reproductive value. The sex ratio in the population met the expected Fisherian sex ratio. Although females allocated their investment in the sexes according to their body mass, the population-level investment was balanced.     

Reproductive isolation between intertidal and subtidal<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Scoloplos armiger</Emphasis> (Polychaeta,Orbiniidae) indicates sibling species in the North Sea

Two distinct modes of development in the common polychaete Scoloplos armiger (O. F. Müller, 1776) occur in the North Sea region: holobenthic development in egg cocoons and pelagic larvae hatching from suspended eggs. In the northern Wadden Sea near the island of Sylt, we observed that egg cocoons are produced intertidally while pelagic larvae originate from the adjacent subtidal zone. A previous genetic comparison between these subtidal and intertidal populations revealed distinct gene pools, suggesting that reproductive differences are not phenotypic but heritable. In this study, crossbreeding experiments show that intertidal and subtidal populations are reproductively isolated. Couples with males and females from different habitats had no offspring. Production of egg cocoons is determined by female origin from the intertidal zone. Pelagic larvae occurred only in couples with subtidal females and subtidal males. Intertidal males have spermatozoa with heads twice as long as those from subtidal males and a significantly shorter flagellum. We suspect that deviating sperm morphology may cause the reproductive breakdown at the fertilization stage. Juveniles hatching from cocoons have shorter anal cirri compared to juveniles that metamorphosed from pelagic larvae. We conclude there to be two sympatric sibling species in S. armiger: 'type I' in intertidal areas, which have egg cocoons, no pelagic larvae, elongated sperm heads, shortened sperm flagella and anal cirri; and a subtidal 'type S', lacking egg cocoons but with pelagic larvae, short sperm heads, long sperm flagella and anal cirri.Communicated by O. Kinne, Oldendorf/Luhe