Wading through the swamp: what does tropical peatland restoration mean to national‐level stakeholders in Indonesia?

Ecological restoration is considered to play an important role in mitigating climate change, protecting biodiversity, and preventing environmental degradation. Yet, there are often multiple perspectives on what outcomes restoration should be aiming to achieve, and how we should get to that point. In this study we interview a range of policymakers, academics, and non‐governmental organization (NGO) representatives to explore the range of perspectives on the restoration of Indonesia's tropical peatlands—key global ecosystems that have undergone large‐scale degradation. Thematic analysis suggests that participants agreed about the importance of restoration, but had differing opinions on how effective restoration activities to date have been and what a restored peatland landscape should look like. These results exemplify how ecological restoration can mean different things to different people, but also highlight important areas of consensus for moving forward with peatland restoration strategies.     

Food choice by older people: the use of semi-structured interviews with open and closed questions

Objective: To evaluate difficulty chewing, consequent food choice and impacts using both open and closed questions within a semi‐structured interview format. Design: A cross‐sectional study using a semi‐structured interview (SSI) with open and closed questions Setting: Independently living people in South‐West London interviewed in their own homes Subjects: A group of 54, edentate people (mean age 82, R= 60‐93 years) were studied. Results: Most subjects (69%) expressed difficulty eating at least one type of food, half were unwilling to eat the foods they found difficult, others were conscious of cooking longer or cutting smaller in order to manage these foods, although no one accepted that they overcooked food. There were dramatic differences in the number of subjects expressing difficulty to chew various foods when responding to open and closed questions. Roast beef proved a good discriminator in this group of predominantly English subjects. The importance of the questioning process was also shown by the discrepancy of responses between variously prepared apples and the inability of any subjects to bite an unpeeled apple. Conclusions: For sensitive appraisal of food choice it is obviously essential to assess relevant foods, for the culture of the group being studied. Open questions provide a way of exploring which are the appropriate foods and food preparation as criteria to assess perceived chewing ability and treatment benefit. The semi‐structured interview method is particularly valuable for the study of older people. Closed questions provide different information which is also necessary to secure recall by older people.     

Restoring Rivers One Reach at a Time: Results from a Survey of U.S. River Restoration Practitioners

Despite expenditures of more than 1 billion dollars annually, there is little information available about project motivations, actions, and results for the vast majority of river restoration efforts. We performed confidential telephone interviews with 317 restoration project managers from across the United States with the goals of (1) assessing project motivations and the metrics of project evaluation and (2) estimating the proportion of projects that set and meet criteria for ecologically successful river restoration projects. According to project managers, ecological degradation typically motivated restoration projects, but post‐project appearance and positive public opinion were the most commonly used metrics of success. Less than half of all projects set measurable objectives for their projects, but nearly two‐thirds of all interviewees felt that their projects had been “completely successful.” Projects that we classified as highly effective were distinct from the full database in that most had significant community involvement and an advisory committee. Interviews revealed that many restoration practitioners are frustrated by the lack of funding for and emphasis on project monitoring. To remedy this, we recommend a national program of strategic monitoring focused on a subset of future projects. Our interviews also suggest that merely conducting and publishing more scientific studies will not lead to significant improvements in restoration practice; direct, collaborative involvement between scientists, managers, and practitioners is required for forward progress in the science and application of river restoration.     

Validation of communication between elderly denture wearers and dentists: a questionnaire on satisfaction with complete dentures using semi-structured interviews

Objectives: To validate a semi‐structured interview (SSI) for communication between complete denture wearers and dentists. Design: A SSI using a questionnaire with eight questions on satisfaction with complete dentures (CD): covering function, aesthetics and comfort. The first seven questions used a five‐point Likert scale and the last was dichotomous. Two dentists, carefully trained in the use of the structured questionnaire, administered the SSI. Setting: A Greek Department of Prosthetic Dentistry. Subjects: A consecutive sample of 78 CD wearers took part in the study. All subjects presented with complaints from their dentures. Intervention: All participants and their dentures underwent clinical examination. Results: The method showed good reliability, verified by the Cronbach alpha (0.86). Both dentists used the questionnaire produced very similar results. (Wilcoxon test 61–99%). Further, the association of the answers with respect to the five‐point Likert scale was very high; all gamma coefficients were statistically significant except for pain and discomfort from the upper CD (CDU). Conclusions: This method of communication between patients and dentists is reliable and can be used to give good repeatability for qualitatively assessing satisfaction with CD. It can be valuable for clinical use and for extending the study of denture quality to establish outcome measures based on the subjective criteria of satisfaction.     

The use of stored tissue samples from minors for genetic research: interviews with professionals

Stored tissue sample collections from minors are useful for genetic research. The ethics of the use of stored tissue samples for genetic research continues be a much debated topic of discussion. The use of pediatric samples poses specific ethical questions. Although a substantial corpus of empirical literature exists on the use of samples from adults, not much is known about the opinion of professionals on the use of samples from children. We conducted ten interviews with professionals in the field. Their primary concerns were the fact that consent procedures should not be too bureaucratic, the need for proper research design and privacy protections, the fact that research should not burden children and guidance from ethics committees.     

At risk or not at risk? A meta‐analysis of the prognostic accuracy of psychometric interviews for psychosis prediction

An accurate detection of individuals at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis is a prerequisite for effective preventive interventions. Several psychometric interviews are available, but their prognostic accuracy is unknown. We conducted a prognostic accuracy meta‐analysis of psychometric interviews used to examine referrals to high risk services. The index test was an established CHR psychometric instrument used to identify subjects with and without CHR (CHR+ and CHR?). The reference index was psychosis onset over time in both CHR+ and CHR? subjects. Data were analyzed with MIDAS (STATA13). Area under the curve (AUC), summary receiver operating characteristic curves, quality assessment, likelihood ratios, Fagan's nomogram and probability modified plots were computed. Eleven independent studies were included, with a total of 2,519 help‐seeking, predominately adult subjects (CHR+: N=1,359; CHR?: N=1,160) referred to high risk services. The mean follow‐up duration was 38 months. The AUC was excellent (0.90; 95% CI: 0.87‐0.93), and comparable to other tests in preventive medicine, suggesting clinical utility in subjects referred to high risk services. Meta‐regression analyses revealed an effect for exposure to antipsychotics and no effects for type of instrument, age, gender, follow‐up time, sample size, quality assessment, proportion of CHR+ subjects in the total sample. Fagan's nomogram indicated a low positive predictive value (5.74%) in the general non‐help‐seeking population. Albeit the clear need to further improve prediction of psychosis, these findings support the use of psychometric prognostic interviews for CHR as clinical tools for an indicated prevention in subjects seeking help at high risk services worldwide.     

What settler Australians talk about when they talk about Aborigines: reflections on an in-depth interview study

Drawing upon in-depth interviews, this article explores the cultural resources that settler Australians use to explain Aboriginal issues. It is argued that the ‘whiteness studies’ approach has only limited value in explaining contemporary settler/indigenous relations. Focusing upon race categories and race prejudice produces a partial explanation. Other important explanatory frameworks and resources include Australian nationalism, egalitarianism and political culture more generally.     

Medical records vs. interview responses: a comparative analysis of selected variables for linked birth defect cases

BACKGROUND: Data pertaining to birth defects are subject to certain limitations depending on the collection method. This study compares the agreement of data from medical records and maternal interviews. METHODS: The medical records and maternal interviews were linked for 1017 deliveries. Prevalence, concordance and kappa coefficients were calculated for maternal gestational and non-gestational diabetes, insulin use, seizures/epilepsy, Hispanic ethnicity, and infant/fetus sex. RESULTS: The prevalence of non-gestational diabetes was 4.3% in the medical records and 3.4% in the maternal interviews, with 98.1% agreement. The prevalence of gestational diabetes was 7.9% in medical records and 9.2% in maternal interviews, with 94.3% agreement. Similar prevalences and high levels of agreement were observed between the two systems for infant/fetus sex and mother's Hispanic ethnicity. Although high concordance was observed for seizures/epilepsy, kappa value was moderate. CONCLUSIONS: The availability of two distinct sources of data provides an exceptional opportunity to compare and validate both data sources. We found that the data for certain variables from maternal interviews strongly agreed with information from medical records. However, the extent of that agreement depended on the type of variable measured. Our results suggest that for some variables such as demographic variables, researchers can use either of the two data sources.     

Thermal bioclimatic conditions and patterns of behaviour in an urban park in Göteborg,Sweden

People in urban areas frequently use parks for recreation and outdoor activities. Owing to the complexity of the outdoor environment, there have only been a few attempts to understand the effect of the thermal environment on people's use of outdoor spaces. This paper therefore seeks to determine the relationship between the thermal environment, park use and behavioural patterns in an urban area of Sweden. The methods used include structured interviews, unobtrusive observations of the naturally occurring behaviour and simultaneous measurements of thermal comfort variables, i.e., air temperature, air humidity, wind speed and global radiation. The thermal environment is investigated through the mean radiant temperature (T_mrt) and the predicted mean vote (PMV) index. The outcome is compared to the subjective behaviour and thermal sensation of the interviewees. It is found that the thermal environment, access and design are important factors in the use of the park. In order to continue to use the park when the thermal conditions become too cold or too hot for comfort, people improve their comfort conditions by modifying their clothing and by choosing the most supportive thermal opportunities available within the place. The study also shows that psychological aspects such as time of exposure, expectations, experience and perceived control may influence the subjective assessment. Comparison between the thermal sensation of the interviewees and the thermal sensation assessed by the PMV index indicates that steady-state models such as the PMV index may not be appropriate for the assessment of short-term outdoor thermal comfort, mainly because they are unable to analyse transient exposure.