Derivation of toxicity parameters from field data: Analysis of lake zooplankton species responses to metals and acidity.

The WHAM-Fβ model describes the toxic effects of mixtures of protons and metal cations towards biological species, using a set of intrinsic parameters for the cations (α, α*) and a sensitivity parameter (β) for each species. We applied the model to extensive water chemistry and zooplankton species occurrence data for four lakes contaminated with acidity and metals (Al, Ni, Cu, Zn) at Sudbury, Ontario, over the period 1973-2018, during which cation contamination declined, and zooplankton species numbers increased. Assuming that the appearance of a species resulted solely from decreases in water toxicity, and that α and α* values previously derived from laboratory toxicity test data could be applied in the field, we used the field data to estimate values of β for individual lake zooplankton species.

WHAM-Fβ - An aquatic toxicity model based on intrinsic metal toxic potency and intrinsic species sensitivity.

We developed a model that quantifies aquatic cationic toxicity by a combination of the intrinsic toxicities of metals and protons and the intrinsic sensitivities of the test species. It is based on the WHAM-F model, which combines the calculated binding of cations by the organism with toxicity coefficients (α, α) to estimate the variable F, a measure of toxic effect; the key parameter α (applying at infinite time) depends upon both the metal and the test species. In our new model, WHAM-Fβ, values of α are given by the product α* × β, where α* has a single value for each metal, and β a single value for each species.

Using digital technologies to facilitate social inclusion during the COVID-19 pandemic: Experiences of co-resident and non-co-resident family carers of people with dementia from DETERMIND-C19.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic triggered rapid and unprecedented changes in the use of digital technologies to support people's social inclusion. We examined whether and how co-resident and non-co-resident family carers of people with dementia engaged with digital technologies during this period.

Methods: Throughout November 2020-February 2021, we interviewed 42 family carers of people with dementia from our DETERMIND-C19 cohort.

'Pushing back': People newly diagnosed with dementia and their experiences of the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions in England.

Background And Objectives: Research into people with dementia's experiences of the Covid-19 pandemic has tended to focus on vulnerabilities and negative outcomes, with the risk of reproducing a discourse in which people with dementia are positioned as passive. Informed by concepts positioning people with dementia as 'active social agents', we aimed to identify the pandemic-related challenges faced by people recently diagnosed with dementia and examine the ways in which they actively coped with, and adapted to, these challenges.

Research Design And Methods: In-depth interviews with 21 people recently diagnosed with dementia, recruited through an existing national cohort.

A cohort study of the impact of COVID-19 on the quality of life of people newly diagnosed with dementia and their family carers.

Introduction: COVID-19 has impacted people with dementia and their family carers, yet little is known about effects on overall quality of life.

Methods: In a UK cohort study, pre- and post-pandemic data were collected from 114 carers and 93 recently diagnosed people with dementia. Latent growth curve modeling examined change in quality of life.