Publications by authors named "Hardie S"

Identification of taxonomically cryptic species is essential for the effective conservation of biodiversity. Freshwater-limited organisms tend to be genetically isolated by drainage boundaries, and thus may be expected to show substantial cryptic phylogenetic and taxonomic diversity. By comparison, populations of diadromous taxa, that migrate between freshwater and marine environments, are expected to show less genetic differentiation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Despite the widely acknowledged role of the anthropogenic drivers of climate change, there has been little success in developing a clear overview of the strengths and weaknesses of counter-measures or developing a consensus on their application. Problems with conventional approaches arise from the strongly coupled, multidisciplinary issues involved and the long timescales (centuries or more) over which some key processes operate. Here we outline an alternative approach based on experience gained in risk assessment for an area with similar challenges-the geological disposal of radioactive waste.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The impacts of the current COVID-19 pandemic illustrate the global-level sensitivity to such threats. As understanding of major hazards is generally based on past experience and there is a lack of good historical precedents, approaches and models currently employed to assess risks and guide responses generally lack transparency and are often associated with huge, unspecified uncertainties. Fundamental challenges arise from the strongly coupled nature of the impacts of a pandemic (i.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The Japanese government decided to implement environmental remediation after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (termed "1F" in Japan) accident on 11th March 2011. As the initial additional annual dose target was set to be 1 mSv or less as a long-term goal, we examined the decision-making process undertaken by the then leaders, particularly the Minister of the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) who was responsible for the final decision. We found that technically based assessment of dose targets, health effects and risk-based approaches justified by scientific experts were not communicated to the then Minister and officials of the MOE before the remediation strategy was decided.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

An important property of locations selected to host deep geological repositories for higher level radioactive wastes is their capacity to retard the movement of any radionuclides released from engineered barriers. Site characterization cannot measure this characteristic directly and hence models form the essential link between field observations and supporting laboratory rock/water/radionuclide interaction studies. However, residual uncertainties always remain, associated with the complexity of radionuclide interactions in natural environments and the extrapolations in time and space that are included in safety assessments.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The purpose of this multi-study was to assess what impact the closure and reopening of golf courses had on: personal competence; sense of belonging; enjoyment; self-esteem; self-confidence; resilience; social connections; wellbeing and life satisfaction (hereafter referred to collectively as "key variables of interest") during the COVID-19 pandemic. Golfers (Study 1: = 298, Study 2: = 124) ≥16 years old residing in the UK participated in this study which collected data using online surveys. Study 1 was conducted during a period of quarantine restrictions (4-12th May 2020), whilst study 2 took place following the easing of the COVID-19 quarantine restrictions (6-14th July 2020).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Critical stakeholder-identified gaps in current health research engagement strategies include the exclusion of voices traditionally less heard and a lack of consideration for the role of trauma in lived experience. Previous work has advocated for a trauma-informed, intersectional, and critical reflexive approach to patient and public involvement in health research. The embodies these theoretical concepts through four key components: trust, self-awareness, empathy, and relationship building.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A total of 16 lemurs, including representatives from three species (, , and ), were presented with a food-seeking task in which information about the rewards location, in one of two plastic tubes, was either known or not known. We evaluated whether lemurs would first look into the tube before making a choice. This information-seeking task aimed to assess whether subjects would display memory awareness, seeking additional information when they became aware they lacked knowledge of the rewards location.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Individual Recovery Outcomes Counter (I.ROC) is a brief tool measuring personal recovery designed for collaborative use within support. This study aimed to investigate the psychometric properties of a self-report version of the I.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: The individual recovery outcomes counter is a 12-item personal recovery self-assessment tool for adults with mental health problems. Although widely used across Scotland, limited research into its psychometric properties has been conducted. We tested its' measurement properties to ascertain the suitability of the tool for continued use in its' present form.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The health visitors' role in many countries is changing. In Scotland, the role has undergone substantial changes through the introduction of an enhanced health visiting programme, which includes increased, structured home visits. This evaluation was conducted within NHS Ayrshire and Arran, one of the 14 Scottish Health Boards.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Defining the ecological impacts of water extraction from free-flowing river systems in altered landscapes is challenging as multiple stressors (e.g., flow regime alteration, increased sedimentation) may have simultaneous effects and attributing causality is problematic.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: People with disabilities in the Republic of Moldova continue to experience considerable discrimination and social exclusion. The Moldovan government recently affirmed their commitment to promote community integration. However, there remains limited evidence to facilitate understanding of these issues, and barriers to the integrative process.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The monoamine neurotransmitter dopamine (DA) acts across phylogeny to modulate both simple and complex behaviors. The presynaptic DA transporter (DAT) is a major determinant of DA signaling capacity in ensuring efficient extracellular DA clearance. In humans, DAT is also a major target for prescribed and abused psychostimulants.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Phil Bryden's research is influential in the field of laterality, particularly regarding how handedness is measured and its relationship to factors like familial left-handedness (FS).
  • The study extended Bryden's work to investigate links between handedness and anxiety, revealing that inconsistent left-handers (ILH) showed higher levels of social anxiety compared to consistent handers.
  • Findings indicated that ILH with a first-degree left-handed relative (FS+) experienced significantly more anxiety across various social anxiety categories than those without such relatives (FS-), suggesting familial left-handedness can impact social anxiety levels.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Glial cells play a critical role in shaping neuronal development, structure, and function. In a screen for Caenorhabditis elegans mutants that display dopamine (DA)-dependent, Swimming-Induced Paralysis (Swip), we identified a novel gene, swip-10, the expression of which in glia is required to support normal swimming behavior. swip-10 mutants display reduced locomotion rates on plates, consistent with our findings of elevated rates of presynaptic DA vesicle fusion using fluorescence recovery after photobleaching.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A sample of 203 task naïve left- and right-handed participants were asked to complete a combination of the 3- and 4-disk Towers of Hanoi (ToH), manipulating novelty and complexity. Self-reported state anxiety and latency to respond (initiation time) were recorded before each ToH. Novelty had a major effect on initiation time, particularly for left-handers.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The nematode Caenhorhabditis elegans offers great power for the identification and characterization of genes that regulate behavior. In support of this effort, analytical methods are required that provide dimensional analyses of subcomponents of behavior. Previously, we demonstrated that loss of the presynaptic dopamine (DA) transporter, dat-1, evokes DA-dependent Swimming-Induced Paralysis (Swip) (Mcdonald et al.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Hand preference is often viewed as a troublesome variable in psychological research, with left-handers routinely excluded from studies. Contrary to this, a body of evidence has shown hand preference to be a useful variable when examining human behavior. A recent review argues that the most effective way of using handedness as a variable, is a comparison between individuals who use their dominant hand for virtually all manual activities (consistent handers) versus those who use their other hand for at least one activity (inconsistent handers).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The 2011 accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant, Japan, released large quantities of volatile radionuclides, requiring evacuation of a 20 km zone around the reactor site plus additional areas where fallout was particularly high. After decay of shorter-lived isotopes, off-site contamination is now dominated by (134/137)Cs, with ∼1800 km(2) having external gamma doses above 5 mSv y(-1). Although the significance for health of such radiation levels is low, there has been a Government decision that these areas will be cleaned up to reduce exposure and allow displaced residents to return home.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Research examining anxiety and handedness is inconclusive. Davidson and Schaffer (1983) found left-handers had higher trait anxiety, while Beaton and Moseley (1991) found no state or trait differences. Such studies potentially have methodological issues, and we have argued that handedness related reactivity differences (Wright & Hardie, 2011) suggest that state anxiety needs to be measured within a context.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Disrupted dopamine (DA) signaling is believed to contribute to the core features of multiple neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders. Essential features of DA neurotransmission are conserved in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, providing us with an opportunity to implement forward genetic approaches that may reveal novel, in vivo regulators of DA signaling. Previously, we identified a robust phenotype, termed Swimming-induced paralysis (Swip), that emerges in animals deficient in the plasma membrane DA transporter.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF