Confusing the heterotic string

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Benett, D.L.; Brene, N.; Nielsen, H.B.; Mizrachi, L.

1986-10-02

A confusion mechanism is proposed as a global modification of the heterotic string model. It envolves a confusion hypersurface across which the two E/sub 8/'s of the heterotic string are permuted. A remarkable numerical coincidence is found which prevents an inconsistency in the model. The low energy limit of this theory (after compactification) is typically invariant under one E/sub 8/ only, thereby removing the shadow world from the original model.

Traditions and Transitions in Quantitative Societal Culture Research in Organization Studies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Peterson, Mark, F.; Søndergaard, Mikael

2011-01-01

Quantitative societal culture research (QSCR) in organization studies crystallizes a configuration of social science perspectives and methods that became prominent in the 1970s. We consider the qualities of and boundaries around cultural groups that this tradition emphasizes, and other...... characteristics of cultural groups that it does not emphasize. Current debates surrounding this tradition reflect both recent social science innovations and rediscoveries of early social science perspectives. Our analysis of quantitative cross-cultural societal research in organization studies considers...... this process of crystallization, innovation and rediscovery. We suggest ways to address current controversies and promote conversations with other research approaches....

Psychoanalytic peregrinations. III: Confusion of tongues, psychoanalyst as translator.

Science.gov (United States)

Chessick, Richard D

2002-01-01

A variety of problems cause a confusion of tongues between the psychoanalyst and the patient. In this sense the psychoanalyst faces the same problems as the translator of a text from one language to another. Examples are given of confusion due cultural differences, confusion due translation differences among translators, confusion due translator prejudice or ignorance, confusion due ambiguous visual cues and images, and confusion due to an inherently ambiguous text. It is due to this unavoidable confusion that the humanistic sciences cannot in principle achieve the mathematical exactness of the natural sciences and should not be expected to do so or condemned because they do not.

Core Knowledge Confusions among University Students

Science.gov (United States)

Lindeman, Marjaana; Svedholm, Annika M.; Takada, Mikito; Lonnqvist, Jan-Erik; Verkasalo, Markku

2011-01-01

Previous studies have demonstrated that university students hold several paranormal beliefs and that paranormal beliefs can be best explained with core knowledge confusions. The aim of this study was to explore to what extent university students confuse the core ontological attributes of lifeless material objects (e.g. a house, a stone), living…

Fusion or confusion in obsessive compulsive disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Connor, Kieron; Aardema, Frederick

2003-08-01

Inferential confusion occurs when a person mistakes an imagined possibility for a real probability and might account for some types of thought-action and other fusions reported in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Inferential confusion could account for the ego-dystonic nature of obsessions and their recurrent nature, since the person acts "as if" an imagined aversive inference is probable and tries unsuccessfully to modify this imaginary probability in reality. The clinical implications of the inferential confusion model focus primarily on the role of the imagination in obsessive-compulsive disorder rather than on cognitive beliefs.

Dream-reality confusion in Borderline Personality Disorder: A theoretical analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dagna eSkrzypińska

2015-09-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an analysis of dream-reality confusion (DRC in relation to the characteristics of borderline personality disorder (BPD, based on research findings and theoretical considerations. It is hypothesized that people with BPD are more likely to experience DRC compared to people in non-clinical population. Several variables related to this hypothesis were identified through a theoretical analysis of the scientific literature. Sleep disturbances: Problems with sleep are found in 15-95.5% of people with BPD (Hafizi, 2013, and unstable sleep and wake cycles, which occur in BPD (Fleischer et al., 2012, are linked to DRC. Dissociation: Nearly two-thirds of people with BPD experience dissociative symptoms (Korzekwa and Pain, 2009 and dissociative symptoms are correlated with a fantasy proneness; both dissociative symptoms and fantasy proneness are related to DRC (Giesbrecht and Merckelbach, 2006. Negative dream content: People with BPD have nightmares more often than other people (Semiz et al., 2008; dreams that are more likely to be confused with reality tend to be more realistic and unpleasant, and are reflected in waking behavior (Rassin et al., 2001. Cognitive disturbances: Many BPD patients experience various cognitive disturbances, including problems with reality testing (Fiqueierdo, 2006; Mosquera et al., 2011, which can foster DRC. Thin boundaries: People with thin boundaries are more prone to DRC than people with thick boundaries, and people with BPD tend to have thin boundaries (Hartmann, 2011. The theoretical analysis on the basis of these findings suggests that people who suffer from BPD may be more susceptible to confusing dream content with actual waking events.

(Con)fusing contours

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lier, R.J. van; Wit, T.C.J. de; Koning, A.R.

2005-01-01

We have created patterns in which illusory Kanizsa squares are positioned on top of a background grid of bars. When the illusory contours and physical contours are misaligned, the resulting percept appears to be rather confusing (van Lier et al, 2004 Perception 33 Supplement, 77). Observers often

Technologically Reflective Individuals as Enablers of Social Innovation*

Science.gov (United States)

Rau, Christiane; Gassmann, Oliver; van den Hende, Ellis

2015-01-01

This paper identifies technologically reflective individuals and demonstrates their ability to develop innovations that benefit society. Technological reflectiveness (TR) is the tendency to think about the societal impact of an innovation, and those who display this capability in public are individuals who participate in online idea competitions focused on technical solutions for social problems (such as General Electric's eco‐challenge, the James Dyson Award, and the BOSCH Technology Horizon Award). However, technologically reflective individuals also reflect in private settings (e.g., when reading news updates), thus requiring a scale to identify them. This paper describes the systematic development of an easy‐to‐administer multi‐item scale to measure an individual's level of TR. Applying the TR scale in an empirical study on a health monitoring system confirmed that individuals' degree of TR relates positively to their ability to generate (1) more new product features and uses, (2) features with higher levels of societal impact, and (3) features that are more elaborated. This scale allows firms seeking to implement co‐creation in their new product development (NPD) process and sustainable solutions to identify such individuals. Thus, this paper indicates that companies wishing to introduce new technological products with a positive societal impact may profit from involving technologically reflective individuals in the NPD process. PMID:27134342

Technologically Reflective Individuals as Enablers of Social Innovation.

Science.gov (United States)

Schweitzer, Fiona; Rau, Christiane; Gassmann, Oliver; van den Hende, Ellis

2015-11-01

This paper identifies technologically reflective individuals and demonstrates their ability to develop innovations that benefit society. Technological reflectiveness (TR) is the tendency to think about the societal impact of an innovation, and those who display this capability in public are individuals who participate in online idea competitions focused on technical solutions for social problems (such as General Electric's eco-challenge, the James Dyson Award, and the BOSCH Technology Horizon Award). However, technologically reflective individuals also reflect in private settings (e.g., when reading news updates), thus requiring a scale to identify them. This paper describes the systematic development of an easy-to-administer multi-item scale to measure an individual's level of TR. Applying the TR scale in an empirical study on a health monitoring system confirmed that individuals' degree of TR relates positively to their ability to generate (1) more new product features and uses, (2) features with higher levels of societal impact, and (3) features that are more elaborated. This scale allows firms seeking to implement co-creation in their new product development (NPD) process and sustainable solutions to identify such individuals. Thus, this paper indicates that companies wishing to introduce new technological products with a positive societal impact may profit from involving technologically reflective individuals in the NPD process.

Social Change, Competition and Inequality: Macro Societal Patterns Reflected in Curriculum Practices of Turkish Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Somel, Rahsan Nazli; Nohl, Arnd-Michael

2015-01-01

Curriculum reforms provide a unique opportunity to investigate how in times of social change education is not only influenced by, but also itself a driver of, competition and inequality. This article sheds light on a specific instance of how macro-societal patterns in education intermingle in twenty-first century Turkey by inquiring into a major…

Does working memory change with age? The interactions of concurrent articulation with the effects of word length and acoustic confusion.

Science.gov (United States)

Bireta, Tamra J; Fine, Hope C; Vanwormer, Lisa A

2013-01-01

The effects of acoustic confusion (phonological similarity), word length, and concurrent articulation (articulatory suppression) are cited as support for Working Memory's phonological loop component (e.g., Baddeley, 2000 , Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 7, 544). Research has focused on younger adults, with no studies examining whether concurrent articulation reduces the word length and acoustic confusion effects among older adults. In the current study, younger and older adults were given lists of similar and dissimilar letters (Experiment 1) or long and short words (Experiment 2) for immediate serial reconstruction of order. Items were presented visually or auditorily, with or without concurrent articulation. As expected, younger and older adults demonstrated effects of acoustic confusion, word length, and concurrent articulation. Further, concurrent articulation reduced the effects of acoustic confusion and word length equally for younger and older adults. This suggests that age-related differences occur in overall performance, but do not reflect an age-related deficiency in the functioning of the phonological loop component of working memory.

The confusion technique untangled: its theoretical rationale and preliminary classification.

Science.gov (United States)

Otani, A

1989-01-01

This article examines the historical development of Milton H. Erickson's theoretical approach to hypnosis using confusion. Review of the literature suggests that the Confusion Technique, in principle, consists of a two-stage "confusion-restructuring" process. The article also attempts to categorize several examples of confusion suggestions by seven linguistic characteristics: (1) antonyms, (2) homonyms, (3) synonyms, (4) elaboration, (5) interruption, (6) echoing, and (7) uncommon words. The Confusion Technique is an important yet little studied strategy developed by Erickson. More work is urged to investigate its nature and properties.

An Intelligent Clustering Based Methodology for Confusable ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Journal of the Nigerian Association of Mathematical Physics ... The system assigns patients with severity levels in all the clusters. ... The system compares favorably with diagnosis arrived at by experienced physicians and also provides patients' level of severity in each confusable disease and the degree of confusability of ...

Regarding Societal Change

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leda Blackwood

2013-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper we introduce our special thematic section on societal change. We begin by providing an overview of the aims of the section, and how these aims grew out of a need to address conceptual and empirical challenges in the study of societal change. In response to these challenges, the section was intended to provide a forum for theoretical and empirical work from a range of disciplinary perspectives on how societies change, and how such change can be understood. Together, the contributions argue for (1 the need to contextualize the study of societal change, (2 the value of considering factors and processes other than collective action in transforming societies, (3 the importance of ideology and its operation through social institutions such as news media, and (4 an imperative to ensure that our research is fully engaged with society in terms of its grounding in social issues, its sensitivity to our own social context as researchers, and in its practices and outcomes.

Media for Reflection

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Knudsen, Morten

2016-01-01

This article develops the concept media for reflection in the interest of conceptualizing the interpretative frames that enable and limit reflection in management and leadership education. The concept ‘media for reflection’ allows us to conceptualize the social and cultural mediation of reflection...... without reducing reflection to an effect of the social structures and cultural norms in which it is embedded. Based on the developed theoretical framework, this article analyses how a renaissance ‘mirror for princes’ and contemporary research-based management education mediate reflection. The content...... of the mediations is analysed as well as the societal and organizational background. Furthermore, the means by which the two media enable and limit reflection in different ways is compared. Finally, the article discusses possible implications of the analysis in terms of management and leadership education....

The Likelihood of Confusion in the United State Ninth Circuit and the doctrine of Confusable Marks in the Andean Tribunal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francisco José Cabrera Perdomo

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The article analysis the most important cases within the jurisdiction of California regarding the trademark infringement and its prerogative of the likelihood of confusion. Finally, it compares the conclusion with the confusable marks theory within the Andean community’s recent cases solving the issue.

The confusion mechanism and the heterotic string

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bennett, D.L.; Mizrachi, L.; Nielsen, H.B.; Brene, N.

1987-01-01

The confusion mechanism introduced earlier in connection with the gauge glass model is here discussed in the context of field theories involving symmetry groups which have outer automorphisms. The heterotic string with an E 8 x E 8 symmetry may be influenced by confusion with the result that only one E 8 group survives and the shadow world disappears. (orig.)

The confusion mechanism and the heterotic string

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bennett, D.L.; Nielsen, H.B.; Brene, N.; Mizrachi, L.

1986-01-01

The confusion mechanism introduced earlier in connection with the gauge glass model is here discussed in the context of field theories involving symmetry groups which have outer automorphisms. The heterotic string with an E 8 8xE 8 symmetry may be influence by confusion with the result that only one E 8 group survives and the shadow world disappears. (author)

Predator confusion is sufficient to evolve swarming behaviour.

Science.gov (United States)

Olson, Randal S; Hintze, Arend; Dyer, Fred C; Knoester, David B; Adami, Christoph

2013-08-06

Swarming behaviours in animals have been extensively studied owing to their implications for the evolution of cooperation, social cognition and predator-prey dynamics. An important goal of these studies is discerning which evolutionary pressures favour the formation of swarms. One hypothesis is that swarms arise because the presence of multiple moving prey in swarms causes confusion for attacking predators, but it remains unclear how important this selective force is. Using an evolutionary model of a predator-prey system, we show that predator confusion provides a sufficient selection pressure to evolve swarming behaviour in prey. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the evolutionary effect of predator confusion on prey could in turn exert pressure on the structure of the predator's visual field, favouring the frontally oriented, high-resolution visual systems commonly observed in predators that feed on swarming animals. Finally, we provide evidence that when prey evolve swarming in response to predator confusion, there is a change in the shape of the functional response curve describing the predator's consumption rate as prey density increases. Thus, we show that a relatively simple perceptual constraint--predator confusion--could have pervasive evolutionary effects on prey behaviour, predator sensory mechanisms and the ecological interactions between predators and prey.

Articulation: how societal goals matter in nanotechnology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bos, C.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/338018387

2016-01-01

Science policies try to steer scientists to conduct societally relevant research. This societal relevance is often expressed in large societal goals, such as addressing sustainability or helping with the problems that an ageing society might bring. Emerging technologies, like nanotechnology, are

RTI: Court and Case Law--Confusion by Design

Science.gov (United States)

Daves, David P.; Walker, David W.

2012-01-01

Professional confusion, as well as case law confusion, exists concerning the fidelity and integrity of response to intervention (RTI) as a defensible procedure for identifying children as having a specific learning disability (SLD) under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Division is generated because of conflicting mandates…

NOMENCLATURAL CONFUSION OF SOME SPECIES OF ANDROGRAPHIS WALL

OpenAIRE

Balu, S.; Alagesaboopathi, C.

1995-01-01

Andrographis paniculata Nees, Andrographis alata Nees and Andrographis lineate Nees. (Acanthaceae) are important medicinal plants useful in the treatment of various human ailments. Nomenclatural confusion prevails with regards to these medicinal plants in India medical literature and vernacular nomenclature. This nomenclatural confusion has been clarified in the present paper.

Workplace diaries promoting reflective practice in radiation therapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chapman, Naomi; Dempsey, Shane E.; Warren-Forward, Helen M.

2009-01-01

Competency standards usually describe that radiation therapists are expected to display characteristics of reflective practice. Many radiation therapists may be unequipped to undertake reflective practice or produce evidence of reflective practice due to limited understanding of the process. There are many models to guide practitioners in their reflective journeys, however, the literature describing reflective practice can appear confusing. This paper will discuss the role of reflective practice, provide a definition for reflective practice and define concepts central to reflective journaling or workplace diaries. The paper will offer practical advice to increase radiation therapists knowledge and skills in the use of reflective workplace diaries.

Workplace diaries promoting reflective practice in radiation therapy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chapman, Naomi [Medical Radiation Science, Faculty of Health Science, Box 16 Hunter Building, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308 (Australia)], E-mail: naomi.chapman@newcastle.edu.au; Dempsey, Shane E. [Medical Radiation Science, Faculty of Health Science, Box 16 Hunter Building, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308 (Australia)], E-mail: shane.e.dempsey@newcastle.edu.au; Warren-Forward, Helen M. [Medical Radiation Science, Faculty of Health Science, Box 16 Hunter Building, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308 (Australia)], E-mail: helen.warren-forward@newcastle.edu.au

2009-05-15

Competency standards usually describe that radiation therapists are expected to display characteristics of reflective practice. Many radiation therapists may be unequipped to undertake reflective practice or produce evidence of reflective practice due to limited understanding of the process. There are many models to guide practitioners in their reflective journeys, however, the literature describing reflective practice can appear confusing. This paper will discuss the role of reflective practice, provide a definition for reflective practice and define concepts central to reflective journaling or workplace diaries. The paper will offer practical advice to increase radiation therapists knowledge and skills in the use of reflective workplace diaries.

Comparison of societal risks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bennett, C.A.

1976-01-01

The utility of the societal risk approach to the design and evaluation of safeguards systems is examined with particular reference to the comparison of the relative effectiveness of various safeguards mechanisms. Research on threat evaluation is reviewed, and the need for further research on consequences is discussed in terms of the extension of the definition of the safeguards objective from system capability to societal consequences and the establishment of public confidence. 14 references

Cultural diversity, economic development and societal instability

Science.gov (United States)

Nettle, D.; Grace, J.B.; Choisy, M.; Cornell, H.V.; Guegan, J.-F.; Hochberg, M.E.

2007-01-01

Background. Social scientists have suggested that cultural diversity in a nation leads to societal instability. However, societal instability may be affected not only by within-nation on ?? diversity, but also diversity between a nation and its neighbours or ?? diversity. It is also necessary to distinguish different domains of diversity, namely linguistic, ethnic and religious, and to distinguish between the direct effects of diversity on societal instability, and effects that are mediated by economic conditions. Methodology/Principal Findings. We assembled a large cross-national dataset with information on ?? and ?? cultural diversity, economic conditions, and indices of societal instability. Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate the direct and indirect effects of cultural diversity on economics and societal stability. Results show that different type and domains of diversity have interacting effects. As previously documented, linguistic ?? diversity has a negative effect on economic performance, and we show that it is largely through this economic mechanism that it affects societal instability. For ?? diversity, the higher the linguistic diversity among nations in a region, the less stable the nation. But, religious ?? diversity has the opposite effect, reducing instability, particularly in the presence of high linguistic diversity. Conclusions. Within-nation linguistic diversity is associated with reduced economic performance, which, in turn, increases societal instability. Nations which differ linguistically from their neighbors are also less stable. However, religious diversity between, neighboring nations has the opposite effect, decreasing societal instability.

Cultural diversity, economic development and societal instability.

Science.gov (United States)

Nettle, Daniel; Grace, James B; Choisy, Marc; Cornell, Howard V; Guégan, Jean-François; Hochberg, Michael E

2007-09-26

Social scientists have suggested that cultural diversity in a nation leads to societal instability. However, societal instability may be affected not only by within-nation or alpha diversity, but also diversity between a nation and its neighbours or beta diversity. It is also necessary to distinguish different domains of diversity, namely linguistic, ethnic and religious, and to distinguish between the direct effects of diversity on societal instability, and effects that are mediated by economic conditions. We assembled a large cross-national dataset with information on alpha and beta cultural diversity, economic conditions, and indices of societal instability. Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate the direct and indirect effects of cultural diversity on economics and societal stability. Results show that different types and domains of diversity have interacting effects. As previously documented, linguistic alpha diversity has a negative effect on economic performance, and we show that it is largely through this economic mechanism that it affects societal instability. For beta diversity, the higher the linguistic diversity among nations in a region, the less stable the nation. But, religious beta diversity has the opposite effect, reducing instability, particularly in the presence of high linguistic diversity. Within-nation linguistic diversity is associated with reduced economic performance, which, in turn, increases societal instability. Nations which differ linguistically from their neighbors are also less stable. However, religious diversity between neighboring nations has the opposite effect, decreasing societal instability.

Societal embedding of climate-friendly innovations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vaeyrynen, E.; Kivisaari, Sirkku; Lovio, R.

2002-01-01

This project assesses the possibilities of constructing a market for climate-friendly energy technologies by applying the process of 'societal embedding of innovations'. The term refers to an interactive learning process amongst three groups of key actors: producers, users and societal actors. Their co-operation shapes the innovation to fit the needs of the market and contributes to creation of conditions in which the innovation can be adopted. The project consists of two case studies: (1) Shaping of the ESCO energy service concept in Finnish municipalities and (2) Increasing the use of wood pellets in single-family houses. The case studies have illustrated the possibilities and limitations concerning the application of societal embedding in the energy sector. The project indicates that societal embedding may promote the implementation of climate-friendly energy technologies in at least three ways. Firstly, the process mobilises key actors to cooperation. This generates interactive learning on the problem and its solving. Market construction is forged ahead by mutual adaptation of the innovation and its environment. Secondly, this approach offers a tool to examine the societal quality of the innovation, a question related vitally to climate change. Thirdly, by producing new knowledge of the needs on the market this approach supports the societal actors in choosing different instruments to induce the intended transition to sustainability. (orig.)

Broader Societal Issues of Nanotechnology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roco, M.C.

2003-01-01

Nanoscale science and engineering are providing unprecedented understanding and control over the basic building blocks of matter, leading to increased coherence in knowledge, technology, and education. The main reason for developing nanotechnology is to advance broad societal goals such as improved comprehension of nature, increased productivity, better healthcare, and extending the limits of sustainable development and of human potential. This paper outlines societal implication activities in nanotechnology R and D programs. The US National Nanotechnology Initiative annual investment in research with educational and societal implications is estimated at about $30 million (of which National Science Foundation (NSF) awards about $23 million including contributions to student fellowships), and in nanoscale research with relevance to environment at about $50 million (of which NSF awards about $30 million and EPA about $6 million). An appeal is made to researchers and funding organizations worldwide to take timely and responsible advantage of the new technology for economic and sustainable development, to initiate societal implications studies from the beginning of the nanotechnology programs, and to communicate effectively the goals and potential risks with research users and the public

Broader Societal Issues of Nanotechnology

Science.gov (United States)

Roco, M. C.

2003-08-01

Nanoscale science and engineering are providing unprecedented understanding and control over the basic building blocks of matter, leading to increased coherence in knowledge, technology, and education. The main reason for developing nanotechnology is to advance broad societal goals such as improved comprehension of nature, increased productivity, better healthcare, and extending the limits of sustainable development and of human potential. This paper outlines societal implication activities in nanotechnology R&D programs. The US National Nanotechnology Initiative annual investment in research with educational and societal implications is estimated at about 30 million (of which National Science Foundation (NSF) awards about 23 million including contributions to student fellowships), and in nanoscale research with relevance to environment at about 50 million (of which NSF awards about 30 million and EPA about 6 million). An appeal is made to researchers and funding organizations worldwide to take timely and responsible advantage of the new technology for economic and sustainable development, to initiate societal implications studies from the beginning of the nanotechnology programs, and to communicate effectively the goals and potential risks with research users and the public.

Broader Societal Issues of Nanotechnology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roco, M.C. [National Science Foundation (NSF) (United States)], E-mail: mroco@nsf.gov

2003-08-15

Nanoscale science and engineering are providing unprecedented understanding and control over the basic building blocks of matter, leading to increased coherence in knowledge, technology, and education. The main reason for developing nanotechnology is to advance broad societal goals such as improved comprehension of nature, increased productivity, better healthcare, and extending the limits of sustainable development and of human potential. This paper outlines societal implication activities in nanotechnology R and D programs. The US National Nanotechnology Initiative annual investment in research with educational and societal implications is estimated at about $30 million (of which National Science Foundation (NSF) awards about $23 million including contributions to student fellowships), and in nanoscale research with relevance to environment at about $50 million (of which NSF awards about $30 million and EPA about $6 million). An appeal is made to researchers and funding organizations worldwide to take timely and responsible advantage of the new technology for economic and sustainable development, to initiate societal implications studies from the beginning of the nanotechnology programs, and to communicate effectively the goals and potential risks with research users and the public.

Archives and societal provenance Australian essays

CERN Document Server

Piggott, Michael

2012-01-01

Records and archival arrangements in Australia are globally relevant because Australia's indigenous people represent the oldest living culture in the world, and because modern Australia is an ex-colonial society now heavily multicultural in outlook. Archives and Societal Provenance explores this distinctiveness using the theoretical concept of societal provenance as propounded by Canadian archival scholars led by Dr Tom Nesmith. The book's seventeen essays blend new writing and re-workings of earlier work, comprising the fi rst text to apply a societal provenance perspective to a national sett

Societal acceptance of carbon capture and storage technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alphen, Klaas van; Voorst tot Voorst, Quirine van; Hekkert, Marko P.; Smits, Ruud E.H.M.

2007-01-01

For the actual implementation of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies, societal support is a crucial precondition. This paper describes an extensive study on the acceptance of CCS by stakeholders in the Netherlands and explores one of the determining factors in the acceptance of CCS by the lay public, i.e. the way the Dutch press perceives and portrays CCS. The stakeholder analysis shows that there is a positive attitude towards CCS by industry, government, and environmental NGOs, provided that the conditions they pose on the deployment of CCS are met. The content analysis of Dutch news articles conveys that the media portrayal of CCS is-to a certain extent-a balanced reflection of the way CCS is perceived by the stakeholders. Both analyses show that the concerns about CCS have not overshadowed the main promise that CCS is part of the solution to climate change. However, the current negative aspects of CCS as raised by different stakeholders and the media will remain if no action is taken. Therefore, the conditions posed on the use of CCS, as well as the actions required to meet these conditions, could function as a proxy for the 'societal voice', articulating the most important issues concerning the future acceptance of CCS technology

The confusion effect when attacking simulated three-dimensional starling flocks.

Science.gov (United States)

Hogan, Benedict G; Hildenbrandt, Hanno; Scott-Samuel, Nicholas E; Cuthill, Innes C; Hemelrijk, Charlotte K

2017-01-01

The confusion effect describes the phenomenon of decreasing predator attack success with increasing prey group size. However, there is a paucity of research into the influence of this effect in coherent groups, such as flocks of European starlings ( Sturnus vulgaris ). Here, for the first time, we use a computer game style experiment to investigate the confusion effect in three dimensions. To date, computerized studies on the confusion effect have used two-dimensional simulations with simplistic prey movement and dynamics. Our experiment is the first investigation of the effects of flock size and density on the ability of a (human) predator to track and capture a target starling in a realistically simulated three-dimensional flock of starlings. In line with the predictions of the confusion effect, modelled starlings appear to be safer from predation in larger and denser flocks. This finding lends credence to previous suggestions that starling flocks have anti-predator benefits and, more generally, it suggests that active increases in density in animal groups in response to predation may increase the effectiveness of the confusion effect.

Growth, financial development, societal norms and legal institutions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Garretsen, Harry; Lensink, Robert; Sterken, Elmer

2002-01-01

This paper analyses whether societal norms help to explain cross-country differences in financial development. We analyze whether societal norms in addition to legal institutions have an impact on financial development. We address the implications of the inclusion of societal norms for the analysis

The Impotence of Being Important – Reflections on Leadership

Science.gov (United States)

Couper, Ian Douglas

2007-01-01

An observed doctor-patient encounter, in which impotence and importance were confused, led me to a reflection on leadership. A sense of importance can be destructive in leadership, leading to failure to perform, or impotence. Understanding the dangers of self-importance, I am challenged to ensure that I regularly reflect on my leadership style. PMID:17548855

The societal impact value of risk

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simpson, D.E.

1995-04-01

A key ill-defined issue in the management and regulation of potentially hazardous conditions is that of the value to be associated with a reduction (or existence) of human health risks, such as radiation exposure or hazardous substance ingestion. Empirical observations of societal behavior patterns lead to a relationship for the quantitative value of societal risk impact which is consistent with general societal risk acceptance, is not inconsistent with ''de facto'' risk regulation, and is suitable and appropriate as a specification or guide for risk management and risk regulation. This societal risk impact expression is: Impact ($/year) = (8 x 10 7 ) NR i 4/3 where Ri = individual annual mortality risk; N = number of persons in the population sharing the risk and benefits. The change in Impact which can be derived from a regulation or risk management activity is the value of annual benefit which society would expect to forego (or annual equivalent cost to incur) in consideration of the activity

Societal response to nanotechnology: converging technologies–converging societal response research?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ronteltap, A.; Fischer, A.R.H.; Tobi, H.

2011-01-01

Nanotechnology is an emerging technology particularly vulnerable to societal unrest, which may hinder its further development. With the increasing convergence of several technological domains in the field of nanotechnology, so too could convergence of social science methods help to anticipate

Interdisciplinarity and self-reflection in civic education

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Torben Spanget

2013-01-01

are complex and can only be understood interdisciplinary. Therefore the ability to reflect problems interdisciplinary is crucial to the global citizen. The second argument is that the ability of self-reflection is necessary for citizens in their efforts to understand, maintain and develop their own...... on interdisciplinarity and self-reflection-as-citizen as key tools for analyzing societal problems and to act democratically on them. And it is suggested that dealing with interdisciplinarity requires use of second order concepts and that self-reflection as citizens requires third order concepts...

Reflecting on a Daughter's Bilingualism and disAbility Narratively

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Hyun Uk

2017-01-01

This paper explores societal perceptions of a child's disability and bilingualism through the author's observations and reflections. Drawing from the observations of the child in different public schools in the United States, the author shares how the child has been viewed differently and similarly by school personnel. By reflecting on different…

The relationship between magical thinking, inferential confusion and obsessive-compulsive symptoms.

Science.gov (United States)

Goods, N A R; Rees, C S; Egan, S J; Kane, R T

2014-01-01

Inferential confusion is an under-researched faulty reasoning process in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Based on an overreliance on imagined possibilities, it shares similarities with the extensively researched construct of thought-action fusion (TAF). While TAF has been proposed as a specific subset of the broader construct of magical thinking, the relationship between inferential confusion and magical thinking is unexplored. The present study investigated this relationship, and hypothesised that magical thinking would partially mediate the relationship between inferential confusion and obsessive-compulsive symptoms. A non-clinical sample of 201 participants (M = 34.94, SD = 15.88) were recruited via convenience sampling. Regression analyses found the hypothesised mediating relationship was supported, as magical thinking did partially mediate the relationship between inferential confusion and OC symptoms. Interestingly, inferential confusion had the stronger relationship with OC symptoms in comparison to the other predictor variables. Results suggest that inferential confusion can both directly and indirectly (via magical thinking) impact on OC symptoms. Future studies with clinical samples should further investigate these constructs to determine whether similar patterns emerge, as this may eventually inform which cognitive errors to target in treatment of OCD.

The Influence Factors and Mechanism of Societal Risk Perception

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Rui; Shi, Kan; Li, Shu

Risk perception is one of important subjects in management psychology and cognitive psychology. It is of great value in the theory and practice to investigate the societal hazards that the public cares a lot especially in Socio-economic transition period. A survey including 30 hazards and 6 risk attributes was designed and distributed to about 2, 485 residents of 8 districts, Beijing. The major findings are listed as following: Firstly, a scale of societal risk perception was designed and 2 factors were identified (Dread Risk & Unknown Risk). Secondly, structural equation model was used to analyze the influence factors and mechanism of societal risk perception. Risk preference, government support and social justice could influence societal risk perception directly. Government support fully moderated the relationship between government trust and societal risk perception. Societal risk perception influenced life satisfaction, public policy preferences and social development belief.

The Societal Nature of Subjectivity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olesen, Henning Salling

2012-01-01

of the psycho-societal methodology, reflects on its relevance and critical perspectives in a contemporary landscape of social science, and comments the way in which an international and interdisciplinary research group has developed this approach to profane empirical research. Resumen La naturaleza social de la...... subjetividad: un desafío metodológico interdisciplinario Henning Salling Olesen El volumen temático presenta una aproximación psicosocial a la investigación empírica cualitativa en diversas áreas de la vida social cotidiana. Es una aproximación que integra una teoría de la subjetividad y una interpretación de...... metodología que integra experiencias hermenéuticas desde el análisis de texto y el psicoanálisis. Es un enfoque particular sobre la subjetividad como un aspecto del objeto de investigación y como un aspecto del proceso de la investigación. Por el término “aproximación” se indica la conexión intrínseca entre...

Evolution of the societal value of water resources for economic development versus environmental sustainability in Australia from 1843 to 2011

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Y.; Wei, J., , Dr; Western, A. W.

2017-12-01

The scale of human activity in the last 200 years has reached a point where our actions are affecting the global biophysical environment to such a degree and at such a speed that irreversible effects are being observed. Societal values are generally seen as leading to changes in human decisions and actions, but have not been addressed adequately in current water management, which is blind to changes in the social drivers for, or societal responses to, management decisions. This paper describes the evolution of societal value of water resources in Australia over a period of 169 years. These values were classified into two groups: supporting economic development versus supporting environmental sustainability. The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper was used as the main data source to track the changes in the societal value of water resources. Content analysis was used to create a description of the evolution of these societal values. Mathematical regression analysis, in combination of transition theory, was used to determine the stages of transition of the societal value, and the co-evolved social-ecological framework was used to explain how the evolution of societal values interacted with water management policies/practices and droughts. Key findings included that the transition of the societal value of water resources fitted the sigmoid curve - a conceptual S curve for the transition of social systems. Also, the transition of societal value of water resources in Australia went through three stages: (1) pre-development (1900s-1960s), when the societal value of water resources was dominated by economic development; (2) take-off (1962-1980), when the societal value of water resources reflected the increasing awareness of the environment due to the outbreak of pollution events; (3) acceleration (1981-2011), when the environment-oriented societal value of water resources combined with the Millennium Drought to trigger a package of policy initiatives and management practices

Societal health and urban sustainability indicators

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Petrich, C.H.; Tonn, B.E.

1996-08-27

Without the social will, no city can successfully Undertake the planning and programs necessary for meaningful progress toward sustainability. Social will derives from wellsprings of vital societal health. This paper presents an approach to helping cities in APEC member economies initiate a program for developing indicators of sustainability. Representative indicators of social capital and other aspects of civic engagement, as proxies for societal health, are presented.

Public Leadership and processes of societal innovations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Termeer, C.J.A.M.

2007-01-01

Societal actors can come against problems that cross the traditional boundaries of sectors, organisations and routines. Processes of societal innovation are started on the way to an unknown future, creating new solutions and new corporations. In this paper I focus on the question how public leaders

Confusion noise from LISA capture sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barack, Leor; Cutler, Curt

2004-01-01

Captures of compact objects (COs) by massive black holes (MBHs) in galactic nuclei will be an important source for LISA, the proposed space-based gravitational wave (GW) detector. However, a large fraction of captures will not be individually resolvable - either because they are too distant, have unfavorable orientation, or have too many years to go before final plunge - and so will constitute a source of 'confusion noise', obscuring other types of sources. In this paper we estimate the shape and overall magnitude of the GW background energy spectrum generated by CO captures. This energy spectrum immediately translates to a spectral density S h capt (f) for the amplitude of capture-generated GWs registered by LISA. The overall magnitude of S h capt (f) is linear in the CO capture rates, which are rather uncertain; therefore we present results for a plausible range of rates. S h capt (f) includes the contributions from both resolvable and unresolvable captures, and thus represents an upper limit on the confusion noise level. We then estimate what fraction of S h capt (f) is due to unresolvable sources and hence constitutes confusion noise. We find that almost all of the contribution to S h capt (f) coming from white dwarf and neutron star captures, and at least ∼30% of the contribution from black hole captures, is from sources that cannot be individually resolved. Nevertheless, we show that the impact of capture confusion noise on the total LISA noise curve ranges from insignificant to modest, depending on the rates. Capture rates at the high end of estimated ranges would raise LISA's overall (effective) noise level [fS h eff (f)] 1/2 by at most a factor ∼2 in the frequency range 1-10 mHz, where LISA is most sensitive. While this slightly elevated noise level would somewhat decrease LISA's sensitivity to other classes of sources, we argue that, overall, this would be a pleasant problem for LISA to have: It would also imply that detection rates for CO captures

Societal views on NICE, cancer drugs fund and value-based pricing criteria for prioritising medicines: a cross-sectional survey of 4118 adults in Great Britain.

Science.gov (United States)

Linley, Warren G; Hughes, Dyfrig A

2013-08-01

The criteria used by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) for accepting higher incremental cost-effectiveness ratios for some medicines over others, and the recent introduction of the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) in England, are assumed to reflect societal preferences for National Health Service resource allocation. Robust empirical evidence to this effect is lacking. To explore societal preferences for these and other criteria, including those proposed for rewarding new medicines under the future value-based pricing (VBP) system, we conducted a choice-based experiment in 4118 UK adults via web-based surveys. Preferences were determined by asking respondents to allocate fixed funds between different patient and disease types reflecting nine specific prioritisation criteria. Respondents supported the criteria proposed under the VBP system (for severe diseases, address unmet needs, are innovative--provided they offered substantial health benefits, and have wider societal benefits) but did not support the end-of-life premium or the prioritisation of children or disadvantaged populations as specified by NICE, nor the special funding status for treatments of rare diseases, nor the CDF. Policies introduced on the basis of perceived--and not actual--societal values may lead to inappropriate resource allocation decisions with the potential for significant population health and economic consequences. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Investigating Confusion Between Perceptions of Relationship Education and Couples Therapy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brandon K. Burr

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Although relationship education (RE and couples therapy (CT have similar goals in helping build and sustain healthy couple and family relationships, there remains confusion between the focus and structure of the two services. Literature on the marketing of family programs indicates that the awareness level of the target audience should dictate marketing and recruitment messages. Lack of awareness regarding RE and confusion over the difference between RE and CT most likely affects the decision to attend. In order to inform RE recruitment and marketing approaches, this study investigated overall perceptions of RE, RE awareness, and confusion regarding the difference between RE and CT in a sample of 1,977 individuals. Differences in perceptions were also explored by relationship satisfaction and gender. Results showed a fairly high lack of awareness of RE and confusion between RE and CT. Results also showed that respondents in more satisfying relationships see RE less positively, and men see RE less positively than women. Implications for practitioners and researchers are presented.

Dazzle camouflage, target tracking, and the confusion effect.

Science.gov (United States)

Hogan, Benedict G; Cuthill, Innes C; Scott-Samuel, Nicholas E

2016-01-01

The influence of coloration on the ecology and evolution of moving animals in groups is poorly understood. Animals in groups benefit from the "confusion effect," where predator attack success is reduced with increasing group size or density. This is thought to be due to a sensory bottleneck: an increase in the difficulty of tracking one object among many. Motion dazzle camouflage has been hypothesized to disrupt accurate perception of the trajectory or speed of an object or animal. The current study investigates the suggestion that dazzle camouflage may enhance the confusion effect. Utilizing a computer game style experiment with human predators, we found that when moving in groups, targets with stripes parallel to the targets' direction of motion interact with the confusion effect to a greater degree, and are harder to track, than those with more conventional background matching patterns. The findings represent empirical evidence that some high-contrast patterns may benefit animals in groups. The results also highlight the possibility that orientation and turning may be more relevant in the mechanisms of dazzle camouflage than previously recognized.

Confused Professionals? : Capacities to Cope with Pressures in Professional Work

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schott, Carina; Van Kleef, Daphne; Noordegraaf, Mirko

2016-01-01

Public professionalism is increasingly subject to organizational and societal pressures, which has led to ambiguity concerning its nature. Professionals face conflicting situations due to potential clashes between multifaceted professional, organizational, and societal factors. This raises questions

CONFUSION WITH TELEPHONE NUMBERS

CERN Multimedia

Telecom Service

2002-01-01

he area code is now required for all telephone calls within Switzerland. Unfortunately this is causing some confusion. CERN has received complaints that incoming calls intended for CERN mobile phones are being directed to private subscribers. This is caused by mistakenly dialing the WRONG code (e.g. 022) in front of the mobile number. In order to avoid these problems, please inform your correspondents that the correct numbers are: 079 201 XXXX from Switzerland; 0041 79 201 XXXX from other countries. Telecom Service

Right word making sense of the words that confuse

CERN Document Server

Morrison, Elizabeth

2012-01-01

'Affect' or 'effect'? 'Right', 'write' or 'rite'? English can certainly be a confusing language, whether you're a native speaker or learning it as a second language. 'The Right Word' is the essential reference to help people master its subtleties and avoid making mistakes. Divided into three sections, it first examines homophones - those tricky words that sound the same but are spelled differently - then looks at words that often confuse before providing a list of commonly misspelled words.

A Psycho-Societal Approach

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mellon, Karsten

This is a project about Danish vocational bachelor students admitted on the basis of an Individual Competency Assessment (VPL/IKV) in light of a Psycho-Societal Approach. The core idea of this paper is to present a PhD project which aims to contribute findings regarding students enrolled in a Dan...... in a Danish vocational Bachelor’s education program (teachers program under the frame of University College) through Validation of Prior Learning by the use of an Individual Competencies Assessment (VPL/IKV).......This is a project about Danish vocational bachelor students admitted on the basis of an Individual Competency Assessment (VPL/IKV) in light of a Psycho-Societal Approach. The core idea of this paper is to present a PhD project which aims to contribute findings regarding students enrolled...

PROSPECTIVE LEADERS' VIEW ON ROMANIAN SOCIETAL CULTURE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

CATANA GHEORGHE ALEXANDRU

2010-07-01

Full Text Available This study deals with Romanian prospective leaders’ perceptions and expectations concerning the societal culture. It is a part of a European research project, GLOBE Students, dealing with the interrelations between societal culture and leadership. The basic theoretical constructs and methodological framework of investigation are those developed by GLOBE international research project. In adapting our research to student population peculiarities, GLOBE Beta questionnaire was altered through adding new items (scales. The sample consists in 429 students in business/economics and engineering, belonging to three Romanian universities. The findings show that in student’s opinion there are significant differences between societal culture practices and values (expectations on all nine cultural dimensions in GLOBE model.

CONFUSION WITH TELEPHONE NUMBERS

CERN Multimedia

Telecom Service

2002-01-01

The area code is now required for all telephone calls within Switzerland. Unfortunately this is causing some confusion. CERN has received complaints that incoming calls intended for CERN mobile phones are being directed to private subscribers. This is caused by mistakenly dialing the WRONG code (e.g. 022) in front of the mobile number. In order to avoid these problems, please inform your correspondents that the correct numbers are: 079 201 XXXX from Switzerland; 0041 79 201 XXXX from other countries. Telecom Service  

Ethical issues and societal expectations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Metlay, D.

2010-01-01

Daniel Metlay (NWTRB) declared that institutions had always recognised an ethical obligation to manage high- level radioactive waste in unprecedented ways. This obligation has not only endured, but has become more explicit and multidimensional and it now subsumed under a more general rubric of 'societal expectations'. D. Metlay directed attention toward the proceedings of previous RWMC-RF workshop ', which contains five essays, authored by Kjell Andersson, Andrew Blowers, Carl-Reinhold Braakenhielm, Francois Dermange, and Patricia Fleming, that are relevant to the question of ethical issues and societal expectations. D. Metlay observed that 'societal expectations' are hard to define and thus very hard to measure. They may vary considerably with time and from country to country. As an illustration he referred to an inquiry performed by a task group 30 years ago in a document entitled 'Proposed Goals for Radioactive Waste Management' (NUREG-0300) on behalf of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Conclusions from D. Metlay are that, for the most part, societal expectations in the United States appear to be quite stable over a period of more than 30 years. In two areas, however, there are clear differences in emphasis between expectations articulated in the last few years and those recorded in 1978. (1) While then there was emphasis on the operational reliability of organisations and institutions. In particular, much care was taken to discuss the inherent limitations on bureaucratic error-correction in the future. The focus is nowadays more on bureaucratic behaviours associated with carrying out decision-making processes in the present. (2) While there is current emphasis on the importance of trust, transparency, and accountability, the NRC document may cast some doubt on the reliability of a stepwise decision-making process. In the domain of radioactive waste management, error signals are notoriously unclear, and strong disagreements over objectives and value trade

Preservation of Agricultural Land as an Issue of Societal Importance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elin Slätmo

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Based on concerns about food security and food sovereignty, it is appropriate to scrutinise societal measures for protecting agricultural land from conversion to other uses. Changes from agricultural to urban land use are particularly problematic, as they are largely irreversible. By analysing relevant Swedish policy, the present study investigated how the protection of agricultural land is framed as an issue of societal importance. Protection of agricultural land is enshrined in Swedish law, but its use is still continually changing to housing and other constructions. In a structured policy analysis, two questions were examined: (1 what are the societal motives for protecting agricultural land in Sweden, and (2 how do these motives influence the governance of agricultural land? The meaning of ‘national importance’, ‘suitable for cultivation’ and ‘significant national interests’ in Swedish land-use law was also analysed. The results showed that formulations in the law reflect the ambivalent discourses on agricultural land preservation and that the Swedish authorities view other land uses as more important than agriculture. The Swedish governance system is currently built on trust that municipal institutions will make satisfactory decisions concerning land and water use. However, it has been shown that these decisions have not been satisfactory concerning the protection of agricultural land, and it is important to acknowledge that the sum of local decisions can be degrading for these life-supporting resources. The present analysis revealed a looming conflict between the preservation of soils for food production, on one hand, and local participation in decision making, on the other. This raises the question of whether it is more important to defend subsidiarity or to preserve certain resources which are important for food security, such as agricultural land.

The use of source memory to identify one's own episodic confusion errors.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, S M; Tindell, D R; Pierce, B H; Gilliland, T R; Gerkens, D R

2001-03-01

In 4 category cued recall experiments, participants falsely recalled nonlist common members, a semantic confusion error. Errors were more likely if critical nonlist words were presented on an incidental task, causing source memory failures called episodic confusion errors. Participants could better identify the source of falsely recalled words if they had deeply processed the words on the incidental task. For deep but not shallow processing, participants could reliably include or exclude incidentally shown category members in recall. The illusion that critical items actually appeared on categorized lists was diminished but not eradicated when participants identified episodic confusion errors post hoc among their own recalled responses; participants often believed that critical items had been on both the incidental task and the study list. Improved source monitoring can potentially mitigate episodic (but not semantic) confusion errors.

Inside Out: Detecting Learners' Confusion to Improve Interactive Digital Learning Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Arguel, Amaël; Lockyer, Lori; Lipp, Ottmar V.; Lodge, Jason M.; Kennedy, Gregor

2017-01-01

Confusion is an emotion that is likely to occur while learning complex information. This emotion can be beneficial to learners in that it can foster engagement, leading to deeper understanding. However, if learners fail to resolve confusion, its effect can be detrimental to learning. Such detrimental learning experiences are particularly…

Source Memory in Korsakoff Syndrome: Disentangling the Mechanisms of Temporal Confusion.

Science.gov (United States)

Brion, Mélanie; de Timary, Philippe; Pitel, Anne-Lise; Maurage, Pierre

2017-03-01

Korsakoff syndrome (KS), most frequently resulting from alcohol dependence (ALC), is characterized by severe anterograde amnesia. It has been suggested that these deficits may extend to other memory components, and notably source memory deficits involved in the disorientation and temporal confusion frequently observed in KS. However, the extent of this source memory impairment in KS and its usefulness for the differential diagnosis between ALC and KS remain unexplored. Nineteen patients with KS were compared with 19 alcohol-dependent individuals and 19 controls in a source memory test exploring temporal context confusions ("continuous recognition task"). Episodic memory and psychopathological comorbidities were controlled for. While no source memory deficit was observed in ALC, KS was associated with a significant presence of temporal context confusion, even when the influence of comorbidities was taken into account. This source memory impairment did not appear to be related to performances on episodic memory or executive functions. Patients with KS displayed source memory deficits, as indexed by temporal context confusions. The absence of a relationship with episodic memory performances seems to indicate that source memory impairment is not a mere by-product of amnesia. As ALC was associated with preserved source memory, the presence of temporal context confusion may serve as a complementary tool for the differential diagnosis between ALC and KS. Copyright © 2017 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

Exploring the Effect of Student Confusion in Massive Open Online Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Diyi; Kraut, Robert E.; Rose, Carolyn P.

2016-01-01

Although thousands of students enroll in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) for learning and self-improvement, many get confused, harming learning and increasing dropout rates. In this paper, we quantify these effects in two large MOOCs. We first describe how we automatically estimate students' confusion by looking at their clicking behavior on…

The framing of two major flood episodes in the Irish print news media: Implications for societal adaptation to living with flood risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Devitt, Catherine; O'Neill, Eoin

2017-10-01

Societal adaptation to flooding is a critical component of contemporary flood policy. Using content analysis, this article identifies how two major flooding episodes (2009 and 2014) are framed in the Irish broadsheet news media. The article considers the extent to which these frames reflect shifts in contemporary flood policy away from protection towards risk management, and the possible implications for adaptation to living with flood risk. Frames help us make sense of the social world, and within the media, framing is an essential tool for communication. Five frames were identified: flood resistance and structural defences, politicisation of flood risk, citizen as risk manager, citizen as victim and emerging trade-offs. These frames suggest that public debates on flood management do not fully reflect shifts in contemporary flood policy, with negative implications for the direction of societal adaptation. Greater discussion is required on the influence of the media on achieving policy objectives.

Gravitational-wave confusion background from cosmological compact binaries: Implications for future terrestrial detectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Regimbau, T.; Hughes, Scott A.

2009-01-01

Increasing the sensitivity of a gravitational-wave (GW) detector improves our ability to measure the characteristics of detected sources. It also increases the number of weak signals that contribute to the data. Because GW detectors have nearly all-sky sensitivity, they can be subject to a confusion limit: Many sources which cannot be distinguished may be measured simultaneously, defining a stochastic noise floor to the sensitivity. For GW detectors operating at present and for their planned upgrades, the projected event rate is sufficiently low that we are far from the confusion-limited regime. However, some detectors currently under discussion may have large enough reach to binary inspiral that they enter the confusion-limited regime. In this paper, we examine the binary inspiral confusion limit for terrestrial detectors. We consider a broad range of inspiral rates in the literature, several planned advanced gravitational-wave detectors, and the highly advanced 'Einstein telescope' design. Though most advanced detectors will not be impacted by this limit, the Einstein telescope with a very low-frequency 'seismic wall' may be subject to confusion noise. At a minimum, careful data analysis will be require to separate signals which will appear confused. This result should be borne in mind when designing highly advanced future instruments.

Differences Between Individual and Societal Health State Valuations

Science.gov (United States)

Chapman, Benjamin P.; Franks, Peter; Duberstein, Paul R.; Jerant, Anthony

2009-01-01

Objective The concept of “adaptation” has been proposed to account for differences between individual and societal valuations of specific health states in patients with chronic diseases. Little is known about psychological indices of adaptational capacity, which may predict differences in individual and societal valuations of health states. We investigated whether such differences were partially explained by personality traits in chronic disease patients. Research Design Analysis of baseline data of randomized controlled trial. Subjects Three hundred seventy patients with chronic disease. Measures The NEO-five factor inventory measure of personality, EuroQoL-5D (EQ-5D) societal-based, and the EQ visual analogue scale individually-based measures of health valuation. Results Regression analyses modeled Dev, a measure of difference between the EQ-Visual Analogue Scale and EQ-5D, as a function of personality traits, sociodemographic factors, and chronic diseases. Individual valuations were significantly and clinically higher than societal valuations among patients in the second and third quartile of conscientiousness (Dev = 0.08, P = 0.01); among covariates, only depression (Dev = -0.04, P = 0.046) was also associated with Dev. Conclusion Compared with societal valuations of a given health state, persons at higher quartiles of conscientiousness report less disutility associated with poor health. The effect is roughly twice that of some estimates of minimally important clinical differences on the EQ-5D and of depression. Although useful at the aggregate level, societal preference measures may systematically undervalue the health states of more conscientious individuals. Future work should examine the impact this has on individual patient outcome evaluation in clinical studies. PMID:19543121

Terminological confusions and problems at the interface between the crystal field Hamiltonians and the zero-field splitting Hamiltonians—Survey of the CF=ZFS confusion in recent literature

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rudowicz, Czesław, E-mail: crudowicz@zut.edu.pl [Institute of Physics, West Pomeranian University of Technology, Al. Piastów 17, 70-310 Szczecin (Poland); Karbowiak, Mirosław [Faculty of Chemistry, University of Wrocław, ul. F. Joliot-Curie 14, 50-383 Wrocław (Poland)

2014-10-15

The single transition ions in various crystals or molecules as well as the exchange coupled systems (ECS) of transition ions, especially the single molecule magnets (SMM) or molecular nanomagnets (MNM), have been extensively studied in recent decades using electron magnetic resonance (EMR), optical spectroscopy, and magnetic measurements. Interpretation of magnetic and spectroscopic properties of transition ions is based on two physically distinct types of Hamiltonians: the physical crystal field (CF), or equivalently ligand field (LF), Hamiltonians and the effective spin Hamiltonians (SH), which include the zero-field splitting (ZFS) Hamiltonians. Survey of recent literature has revealed a number of terminological confusions and specific problems occurring at the interface between these Hamiltonians (denoted CF (LF)↔SH (ZFS)). Elucidation of sloppy or incorrect usage of crucial notions, especially those describing or parameterizing crystal fields and zero field splittings, is a very challenging task that requires several reviews. Here we focus on the prevailing confusion between the CF (LF) and SH (ZFS) quantities, denoted as the CF=ZFS confusion, which consists in referring to the parameters (or Hamiltonians), which are the true ZFS (or SH) quantities, as purportedly the CF (LF) quantities. The inverse ZFS=CF confusion, which pertains to the cases of labeling the true CF (LF) quantities as purportedly the ZFS quantities, is considered in a follow-up paper. The two reviews prepare grounds for a systematization of nomenclature aimed at bringing order to the zoo of different Hamiltonians. Specific cases of the CF=ZFS confusion identified in the recent textbooks, review articles, and SMM (MNM)- and EMR-related papers are surveyed and the pertinent misconceptions are outlined. The consequences of the terminological confusions go far beyond simple semantic issues or misleading keyword classifications of papers in journals and scientific databases. Serious

[Iron Man: Between Confusion of Identity and Addiction to Technology].

Science.gov (United States)

Chapellon, Sébastien; Houssier, Florian

The fascination surrounding a successful artwork is linked to the fact it faces the viewer to unknown aspects of his/her own psychic life. The same applies to the comics Iron Man. Behind the armour is hiding a man caught up in the traumatic incidences of life. The hero demonstrates a psychic weakness which, despite being deep, is, however, showing universal aspects.The analysis of his misfortunes reveals a narcissistic disorder. The article intends to set out the identity confusion the Marvel's protagonist is trapped in while highlighting the addictive troublesome linking him to his high-tech armour. This article also seeks to attest the fact the symbiosis between Tony Stark and Iron Man is anticipating the evolution of our behaviour with regard to new technologies.To this end, the authors are recalling the episodes of the series. Through the analysis of the confrontational dialogue the hero is maintaining with his iron armour, they explore how the internal experiment related to the sense of identity disorder is figured out. Thus, going through the key moments of the saga, the authors raise the ambiguity of his hero. The metapsychological analysis of the actions undertaken by Iron Man reflects a little-known facet of his personality, revealing a character more tormented than he really looks. However, the point is not to "treat" a fictional man, but to observe how he can help us to understand the internal behaviour of our patients, and also our own.The Faustian drama this comic leads to is hence understood as a living testimony of our own psychic conflicts. Furthermore, the analysis gives rise to a questioning as to the risk of identity confusion the technological progress can create at a time when the Human is more and more depending on the machines he creates himself.

Can value-based insurance impose societal costs?

Science.gov (United States)

Koenig, Lane; Dall, Timothy M; Ruiz, David; Saavoss, Josh; Tongue, John

2014-09-01

Among policy alternatives considered to reduce health care costs and improve outcomes, value-based insurance design (VBID) has emerged as a promising option. Most applications of VBID, however, have not used higher cost sharing to discourage specific services. In April 2011, the state of Oregon introduced a policy for public employees that required additional cost sharing for high-cost procedures such as total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Our objectives were to estimate the societal impact of higher co-pays for TKA using Oregon as a case study and building on recent work demonstrating the effects of knee osteoarthritis and surgical treatment on employment and disability outcomes. We used a Markov model to estimate the societal impact in terms of quality of life, direct costs, and indirect costs of higher co-pays for TKA using Oregon as a case study. We found that TKA for a working population can generate societal benefits that offset the direct medical costs of the procedure. Delay in receiving surgical care, because of higher co-payment or other reasons, reduced the societal savings from TKA. We conclude that payers moving toward value-based cost sharing should consider consequences beyond direct medical expenses. Copyright © 2014 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A psycho-societal approach to life histories

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olesen, Henning Salling

2016-01-01

Life histories represent lived lives past, present and anticipated future. As such they are interpretations of individuals’ experiences of the way in which societal dynamics take place in the individual body and mind, either by the individual him/herself or by another biographer. I have been...... particularly interested in the relations between the culturally mediated and the sensory/bodily aspects of experience processes because this is the boundary zones of knowledge and seat of the dynamics of learning. My psycho-societal approach was developing from interpreting autobiographical and later certain...... other forms of language interactive material as moments of life history, i.e. it is basically a hermeneutic approach. Talking about a psycho-societal approach indicates the ambition of attacking the dichotomy of the social and the psychic, both in the interpretation procedure and in some main...

The societal costs of insomnia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alan G Wade

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Alan G WadeCPS Research, Glasgow, ScotlandObjective: Insomnia can be broadly defined as difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep, or sleep that is not refreshing or of poor quality with negative effect on daytime function. Insomnia can be a primary condition or comorbid to an underlying disorder. Subjective measures of insomnia used in population studies, usually based on complaints of unsatisfactory sleep, put the prevalence at about 10%. Insomnia is more common in the elderly and in women, and is often associated with medical and psychiatric disorders. This review examines the measures used to assess quality of sleep (QOS and daytime functioning and the impact of insomnia on society using these measures.Methods: Literature searches were performed to identify all studies of insomnia (primary and comorbid in adults (aged 18–64 years and the elderly (aged ≥ 65 years with baseline and/or outcomes relating to QOS or daytime functioning. The impact of poor QOS on quality of life (QOL, psychomotor and cognitive skills, health care resource utilization, and other societal effects was examined.Results: Although definitions and measurement scales used to assess sleep quality vary widely, it is clear that the societal consequences of insomnia are substantial and include impaired QOL and increased health care utilization. The impact of poor QOS and impaired daytime functioning common in insomnia can lead to indirect effects such as lower work productivity, increased sick leave, and a higher rate of motor vehicle crashes.Conclusions: Insomnia is associated with substantial direct and indirect costs to society. It is almost impossible to separate the costs associated with primary and comorbid insomnia. More studies are required which control for the severity of any primary disorder to accurately evaluate the costs of comorbid insomnia. Development of standardized diagnostic and assessment scales will enable more accurate quantification of the true

Informal caregivers and detection of delirium in postacute care: a correlational study of the confusion assessment method (CAM), confusion assessment method-family assessment method (CAM-FAM) and DSM-IV criteria.

Science.gov (United States)

Flanagan, Nina M; Spencer, Gale

2016-09-01

Delirium is a common, serious and potentially life-threatening syndrome affecting older adults. This syndrome continues to be under-recognised and under treated by healthcare professionals across all care settings. Older adults who develop delirium have poorer outcomes, higher mortality and higher care costs. The purposes of this study were to correlate the confusion assessment method-family assessment method and confusion assessment method in the detection of delirium in postacute care, to correlate the confusion assessment method-family assessment method and diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders text revision criteria in detection of delirium in postacute care, to determine the prevalence of delirium in postacute care elders and to describe the relationship of level of cognitive impairment and delirium in the postacute care setting. Implications for Practice Delirium is disturbing for patients and caregivers. Frequently . family members want to provide information about their loved one. The use of the CAM-FAM and CAM can give a more definitive determination of baseline status. Frequent observations using both instruments may lead to better recognition of delirium and implementation of interventions to prevent lasting sequelae. Descriptive studies determined the strengths of relationship between the confusion assessment method, confusion assessment method-family assessment method, Mini-Cog and diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders text revision criteria in detection of delirium in the postacute care setting. Prevalence of delirium in this study was 35%. The confusion assessment method-family assessment method highly correlates with the confusion assessment method and diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders text revision criteria for detecting delirium in older adults in the postacute care setting. Persons with cognitive impairment are more likely to develop delirium. Family members recognise symptoms of delirium when

Societal output and use of research performed by health research groups

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

van Ark Gerrit

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract The last decade has seen the evaluation of health research pay more and more attention to societal use and benefits of research in addition to scientific quality, both in qualitative and quantitative ways. This paper elaborates primarily on a quantitative approach to assess societal output and use of research performed by health research groups (societal quality of research. For this reason, one of the Dutch university medical centres (i.e. the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC was chosen as the subject of a pilot study, because of its mission to integrate top patient care with medical, biomedical and healthcare research and education. All research departments were used as units of evaluation within this university medical centre. The method consisted of a four-step process to reach a societal quality score per department, based on its (research outreach to relevant societal stakeholders (the general public, healthcare professionals and the private sector. For each of these three types of stakeholders, indicators within four modes of communication were defined (knowledge production, knowledge exchange, knowledge use and earning capacity. These indicators were measured by a bottom-up approach in a qualitative way (i.e. all departments of the LUMC were asked to list all activities they would consider to be of societal relevance, after which they were converted into quantitative scores. These quantitative scores could then be compared to standardised scientific quality scores that are based on scientific publications and citations of peer-reviewed articles. Based on the LUMC pilot study, only a weak correlation was found between societal and scientific quality. This suggests that societal quality needs additional activities to be performed by health research groups and is not simply the consequence of high scientific quality. Therefore we conclude that scientific and societal evaluation should be considered to be synergistic in terms

De-confusing the THOG problem: the Pythagorean solution.

Science.gov (United States)

Griggs, R A; Koenig, C S; Alea, N L

2001-08-01

Sources of facilitation for Needham and Amado's (1995) Pythagoras version of Wason's THOG problem were systematically examined in three experiments with 174 participants. Although both the narrative structure and figural notation used in the Pythagoras problem independently led to significant facilitation (40-50% correct), pairing hypothesis generation with either factor or pairing the two factors together was found to be necessary to obtain substantial facilitation (> 50% correct). Needham and Amado's original finding for the complete Pythagoras problem was also replicated. These results are discussed in terms of the "confusion theory" explanation for performance on the standard THOG problem. The possible role of labelling as a de-confusing factor in other versions of the THOG problem and the implications of the present findings for human reasoning are also considered.

HOW FUTURE MANAGERS VIEW SOCIETAL CULTURE: A CROSS-COUNTRY COMPARISON

OpenAIRE

CATANA DOINA; CATANA GHEORGHE ALEXANDRU

2011-01-01

Our study aims at enriching the existing literature about the prospective managers view of an ideal societal value system and the existing cultural practices in their society. The findings about the students' perception on cultural practices and their expectations about societal culture are helpful in imagining the societal culture in its dynamics. The research sample consists of 727 students in business and engineering on undergraduate and graduate levels from Romania and Slovenia. The reaso...

Confusion between Odds and Probability, a Pandemic?

Science.gov (United States)

Fulton, Lawrence V.; Mendez, Francis A.; Bastian, Nathaniel D.; Musal, R. Muzaffer

2012-01-01

This manuscript discusses the common confusion between the terms probability and odds. To emphasize the importance and responsibility of being meticulous in the dissemination of information and knowledge, this manuscript reveals five cases of sources of inaccurate statistical language imbedded in the dissemination of information to the general…

Model-Based Exploration of Societal Aging in the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pruyt, E.; Logtens, T.W.A.

2015-01-01

Mismanagement of societal aging is an important threat to health care, social security, and the economy of many nations. A System Dynamics simulation model related to societal aging in the Netherlands and its implications for the Dutch welfare system is used here to generate exploratory scenarios

Looking Inward: Philosophical and Methodological Perspectives on Phenomenological Self-Reflection.

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Pool, Natalie M

2018-07-01

Engaging in early and ongoing self-reflection during interpretive phenomenological research is critical for ensuring trustworthiness or rigor. However, the lack of guidelines and clarity about the role of self-reflection in this methodology creates both theoretical and procedural confusion. The purpose of this article is to describe key philosophical underpinnings, characteristics, and hallmarks of the process of self-reflection in interpretive phenomenological investigation and to provide a list of guidelines that facilitate this process. Excerpts from an interpretive phenomenological study are used to illustrate characteristics of quality self-reflection. The guidelines are intended to be particularly beneficial for novice researchers who may find self-reflective writing to be daunting and unclear. Facilitating use of self-reflection may strengthen both the interpretive phenomenological body of work as well as that of all qualitative research.

Annual modulation of the galactic binary confusion noise background and LISA data analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seto, Naoki

2004-01-01

We study the anisotropies of the galactic confusion noise background and its effects on LISA data analysis. LISA has two data streams of gravitational wave signals relevant for the low frequency regime. Because of the anisotropies of the background, the matrix for their confusion noises has off-diagonal components and depends strongly on the orientation of the detector plane. We find that the sky-averaged confusion noise level √(S(f)) could change by a factor of 2 in 3 months and would be minimum when the orbital position of LISA is around either the spring or autumn equinox

A comparison of the effects of filtering and sensorineural hearing loss on patients of consonant confusions.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, M D; Reed, C M; Bilger, R C

1978-03-01

It has been found that listeners with sensorineural hearing loss who show similar patterns of consonant confusions also tend to have similar audiometric profiles. The present study determined whether normal listeners, presented with filtered speech, would produce consonant confusions similar to those previously reported for the hearing-impaired listener. Consonant confusion matrices were obtained from eight normal-hearing subjects for four sets of CV and VC nonsense syllables presented under six high-pass and six-low pass filtering conditions. Patterns of consonant confusion for each condition were described using phonological features in sequential information analysis. Severe low-pass filtering produced consonant confusions comparable to those of listeners with high-frequency hearing loss. Severe high-pass filtering gave a result comparable to that of patients with flat or rising audiograms. And, mild filtering resulted in confusion patterns comparable to those of listeners with essentially normal hearing. An explanation in terms of the spectrum, the level of speech, and the configuration of this individual listener's audiogram is given.

Is It Kingdom or Domains? Confusion & Solutions

Science.gov (United States)

Blackwell, Will H.

2004-01-01

A confusion regarding the number of kingdoms that should be recognized and the inclusion of domains in the traditional kingdom-based classification found in the higher levels of classification of organisms is presented. Hence, it is important to keep in mind future modifications that may occur in the classification systems and to recognize…

A Study on Mode Confusions in Adaptive Cruise Control Systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ahn, Dae Ryong; Yang, Ji Hyun; Lee, Sang Hun [Kookmin University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2015-05-15

Recent development in science and technology has enabled vehicles to be equipped with advanced autonomous functions. ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) are examples of such advanced autonomous systems added. Advanced systems have several operational modes and it has been observed that drivers could be unaware of the mode they are in during vehicle operation, which can be a contributing factor of traffic accidents. In this study, possible mode confusions in a simulated environment when vehicles are equipped with an adaptive cruise control system were investigated. The mental model of the system was designed and verified using the formal analysis method. Then, the user interface was designed on the basis of those of the current cruise control systems. A set of human-in-loop experiments was conducted to observe possible mode confusions and redesign the user interface to reduce them. In conclusion, the clarity and transparency of the user interface was proved to be as important as the correctness and compactness of the mental model when reducing mode confusions.

A Study on Mode Confusions in Adaptive Cruise Control Systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahn, Dae Ryong; Yang, Ji Hyun; Lee, Sang Hun

2015-01-01

Recent development in science and technology has enabled vehicles to be equipped with advanced autonomous functions. ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) are examples of such advanced autonomous systems added. Advanced systems have several operational modes and it has been observed that drivers could be unaware of the mode they are in during vehicle operation, which can be a contributing factor of traffic accidents. In this study, possible mode confusions in a simulated environment when vehicles are equipped with an adaptive cruise control system were investigated. The mental model of the system was designed and verified using the formal analysis method. Then, the user interface was designed on the basis of those of the current cruise control systems. A set of human-in-loop experiments was conducted to observe possible mode confusions and redesign the user interface to reduce them. In conclusion, the clarity and transparency of the user interface was proved to be as important as the correctness and compactness of the mental model when reducing mode confusions

Satellite Climate Data Records: Development, Applications, and Societal Benefits

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Wenze Yang

2016-04-01

Full Text Available This review paper discusses how to develop, produce, sustain, and serve satellite climate data records (CDRs in the context of transitioning research to operation (R2O. Requirements and critical procedures of producing various CDRs, including Fundamental CDRs (FCDRs, Thematic CDRs (TCDRs, Interim CDRs (ICDRs, and climate information records (CIRs are discussed in detail, including radiance/reflectance and the essential climate variables (ECVs of land, ocean, and atmosphere. Major international CDR initiatives, programs, and projects are summarized. Societal benefits of CDRs in various user sectors, including Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries, Energy, Heath, Water, Transportation, and Tourism are also briefly discussed. The challenges and opportunities for CDR development, production and service are also addressed. It is essential to maintain credible CDR products by allowing free access to products and keeping the production process transparent by making source code and documentation available with the dataset.

Societal costs of multiple sclerosis in Ireland.

Science.gov (United States)

Carney, Peter; O'Boyle, Derek; Larkin, Aidan; McGuigan, Christopher; O'Rourke, Killian

2018-05-01

This paper evaluates the impact of multiple sclerosis (MS) in Ireland, and estimates the associated direct, indirect, and intangible costs to society based on a large nationally representative sample. A questionnaire was developed to capture the demographics, disease characteristics, healthcare use, informal care, employment, and wellbeing. Referencing international studies, standardized survey instruments were included (e.g. CSRI, MFIS-5, EQ-5D) or adapted (EDSS) for inclusion in an online survey platform. Recruitment was directed at people with MS via the MS Society mailing list and social media platforms, as well as in traditional media. The economic costing was primarily conducted using a 'bottom-up' methodology, and national estimates were achieved using 'prevalence-based' extrapolation. A total of 594 people completed the survey in full. The sample had geographic, disease, and demographic characteristics indicating good representativeness. At an individual level, average societal cost was estimated at €47,683; the average annual costs for those with mild, moderate, and severe MS were calculated as €34,942, €57,857, and €100,554, respectively. For a total Irish MS population of 9,000, the total societal costs of MS amounted to €429m. Direct costs accounted for just 30% of the total societal costs, indirect costs amounted to 50% of the total, and intangible or QoL costs represented 20%. The societal cost associated with a relapse in the sample is estimated as €2,438. The findings highlight that up to 70% of the total costs associated with MS are not routinely counted. These "hidden" costs are higher in Ireland than the rest of Europe, due in part to significantly lower levels of workforce participation, a higher likelihood of permanent workforce withdrawal, and higher levels of informal care needs. The relationship between disease progression and costs emphasize the societal importance of managing and slowing the progression of the illness.

Taxonomic bias in biodiversity data and societal preferences.

Science.gov (United States)

Troudet, Julien; Grandcolas, Philippe; Blin, Amandine; Vignes-Lebbe, Régine; Legendre, Frédéric

2017-08-22

Studying and protecting each and every living species on Earth is a major challenge of the 21 st century. Yet, most species remain unknown or unstudied, while others attract most of the public, scientific and government attention. Although known to be detrimental, this taxonomic bias continues to be pervasive in the scientific literature, but is still poorly studied and understood. Here, we used 626 million occurrences from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), the biggest biodiversity data portal, to characterize the taxonomic bias in biodiversity data. We also investigated how societal preferences and taxonomic research relate to biodiversity data gathering. For each species belonging to 24 taxonomic classes, we used the number of publications from Web of Science and the number of web pages from Bing searches to approximate research activity and societal preferences. Our results show that societal preferences, rather than research activity, strongly correlate with taxonomic bias, which lead us to assert that scientists should advertise less charismatic species and develop societal initiatives (e.g. citizen science) that specifically target neglected organisms. Ensuring that biodiversity is representatively sampled while this is still possible is an urgent prerequisite for achieving efficient conservation plans and a global understanding of our surrounding environment.

Societal Dynamics Understanding Social Knowledge and Wisdom

CERN Document Server

Betz, Frederick

2012-01-01

At both a micro-information level and a macro-societal level, the concepts of “knowledge” and “wisdom” are complementary – in both decisions and in social structures and institutions.  At the decision level, knowledge is concerned with how to make a proper choice of means, where “best” is measured as the efficiency toward achieving an end.  Wisdom is concerned with how to make a proper choice of ends  that attain “best” values. At a societal level, knowledge is managed through science/technology and innovation.  And while science/technology is society's way to create new means with high efficiencies, they reveal nothing about values.  Technology can be used for good or for evil, to make the world into a garden or to destroy all life.  It is societal wisdom which should influence the choice of proper ends -- ends to make the world a garden. How can society make progress in wisdom as well as knowledge?  Historically, the disciplines of the physical sciences and biology have provided sci...

La Società Umanitaria e la diffusione del Metodo Montessori (1908-1923

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Irene Pozzi

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The Società Umanitaria ofMilan, between 1918 and 1923, played an essential role in spreading and developing the Montessori Method. Studying in the Historical Archive of Società Umanitaria the numerous documents there collected, the author reconstructed the crucial moments of the extremely significant collaboration between Maria Montessori and Augusto Osimo, General Secretary of the Società Umanitaria.This complex and in-depth investigation was guided by the analysis, in specific, of the training courses for Montessori teachers organised by Società Umanitaria, essentially unexamined before this study, that allowed the researcher to have a deep insight into the action of Società Umanitaria aimed to promote and implement the Montessori Method in Italy and all around the world.

Confusion in the Periodic Table of the Elements.

Science.gov (United States)

Fernelius, W. C.; Powell, W. H.

1982-01-01

Discusses long (expanded), short (condensed), and pyramidal periodic table formats and documents events leading to a periodic table in which subgroups (families) are designated with the letters A and B, suggesting that this format is confusing for those consulting the table. (JN)

Characteristics of Patients Who Report Confusion After Reading Their Primary Care Clinic Notes Online.

Science.gov (United States)

Root, Joseph; Oster, Natalia V; Jackson, Sara L; Mejilla, Roanne; Walker, Jan; Elmore, Joann G

2016-01-01

Patient access to online electronic medical records (EMRs) is increasing and may offer benefits to patients. However, the inherent complexity of medicine may cause confusion. We elucidate characteristics and health behaviors of patients who report confusion after reading their doctors' notes online. We analyzed data from 4,528 patients in Boston, MA, central Pennsylvania, and Seattle, WA, who were granted online access to their primary care doctors' clinic notes and who viewed at least one note during the 1-year intervention. Three percent of patients reported confusion after reading their visit notes. These patients were more likely to be at least 70 years of age (p education (p reading visit notes (relative risk [RR] 4.83; confidence interval [CI] 3.17, 7.36) compared to patients who were not confused. In adjusted analyses, they were less likely to report feeling more in control of their health (RR 0.42; CI 0.25, 0.71), remembering their care plan (RR 0.26; CI 0.17, 0.42), and understanding their medical conditions (RR 0.32; CI 0.19, 0.54) as a result of reading their doctors' notes compared to patients who were not confused. Patients who were confused by reading their doctors' notes were less likely to report benefits in health behaviors. Understanding this small subset of patients is a critical step in reducing gaps in provider-patient communication and in efforts to tailor educational approaches for patients.

Technology Education and Societal Change.

Science.gov (United States)

Gilberti, Anthony F.

1994-01-01

Citizens in a democracy should understand the relationship of technological development to societal change. The rationale for universal technological education stems from the ideals of cultural education, the responsibilities of democratic life, and the need for economic security. Technology education furthers understanding of our technological…

Development of an Updated Societal-Risk Goal for Nuclear Power Safety

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vicki Bier; Michael Corradini; Robert Youngblood; Caleb Roh; Shuji Liu

2014-07-01

This report briefly summarizes work done in FY 2013 on the subject LDRD. The working hypothesis is that societal disruption should be addressed in a safety goal. This is motivated by the point that the Fukushima disaster resulted in very little public dose, but enormous societal disruption; a goal that addressed societal disruption would fill a perceived gap in the US NRC safety goal structure. This year's work entailed analyzing the consequences of postulated accidents at various reactor sites in the US, specifically with a view to quantifying the number of people relocated and the duration of their relocation, to see whether this makes sense as a measure of societal disruption.

The Legal Dimension of RTI--Confusion Confirmed: A Response to Walker and Daves

Science.gov (United States)

Zirkel, Perry A.

2012-01-01

In this issue of "Learning Disability Quarterly" (LDQ), Professors Daves and Walker reply to my earlier LDQ article on confusion in the cases and commentary about the legal dimension of RTI. In this brief rejoinder, I show that their reply confirms rather than resolves the confusion in their original commentary in 2010. This persistent…

Annual Percentage Rate and Annual Effective Rate: Resolving Confusion in Intermediate Accounting Textbooks

Science.gov (United States)

Vicknair, David; Wright, Jeffrey

2015-01-01

Evidence of confusion in intermediate accounting textbooks regarding the annual percentage rate (APR) and annual effective rate (AER) is presented. The APR and AER are briefly discussed in the context of a note payable and correct formulas for computing each is provided. Representative examples of the types of confusion that we found is presented…

The interplay between societal concerns and the regulatory frame on GM crops in the European Union.

Science.gov (United States)

Devos, Yann; Reheul, Dirk; De Waele, Danny; Van Speybroeck, Linda

2006-01-01

Recapitulating how genetic modification technology and its agro-food products aroused strong societal opposition in the European Union, this paper demonstrates how this opposition contributed to shape the European regulatory frame on GM crops. More specifically, it describes how this opposition contributed to a de facto moratorium on the commercialization of new GM crop events in the end of the nineties. From this period onwards, the regulatory frame has been continuously revised in order to slow down further erosion of public and market confidence. Various scientific and technical reforms were made to meet societal concerns relating to the safety of GM crops. In this context, the precautionary principle, environmental post-market monitoring and traceability were adopted as ways to cope with scientific uncertainties. Labeling, traceability, co-existence and public information were installed in an attempt to meet the general public request for more information about GM agro-food products, and the specific demand to respect the consumers' and farmers' freedom of choice. Despite these efforts, today, the explicit role of public participation and/or ethical consultation during authorization procedures is at best minimal. Moreover, no legal room was created to progress to an integral sustainability evaluation during market procedures. It remains to be seen whether the recent policy shift towards greater transparency about value judgments, plural viewpoints and scientific uncertainties will be one step forward in integrating ethical concerns more explicitly in risk analysis. As such, the regulatory frame stands open for further interpretation, reflecting in various degrees a continued interplay with societal concerns relating to GM agro-food products. In this regard, both societal concerns and diversely interpreted regulatory criteria can be inferred as signaling a request - and even a quest - to render more explicit the broader-than-scientific dimension of the actual

Knowledge as Public Property : The Societal Relevance of Scientific Research

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bouter, Lex M

2008-01-01

Universities are funded by public means to a large extend. It’s reasonable to expect that society benefits from the results. For scientific research this means that it should at least have a potential societal impact. Universities and individual investigators must explicitly consider the societal

Psychometric properties of the Flemish translation of the NEECHAM Confusion Scale

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abraham Ivo L

2005-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Determination of a patient's cognitive status by use of a valid and reliable screening instrument is of major importance as early recognition and accurate diagnosis of delirium is necessary for effective management. This study determined the reliability, validity and diagnostic value of the Flemish translation of the NEECHAM Confusion Scale. Methods A sample of 54 elderly hip fracture patients with a mean age of 80.9 years (SD = 7.85 were included. To test the psychometric properties of the NEECHAM Confusion Scale, performance on the NEECHAM was compared to the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE, by using aggregated data based on 5 data collection measurement points (repeated measures. The CAM and MMSE served as gold standards. Results The alpha coefficient for the total NEECHAM score was high (0.88. Principal components analysis yielded a two-component solution accounting for 70.8% of the total variance. High correlations were found between the total NEECHAM scores and total MMSE (0.75 and total CAM severity scores (-0.73, respectively. Diagnostic values using the CAM algorithm as gold standard showed 76.9% sensitivity, 64.6% specificity, 13.5% positive and 97.5% negative predictive values, respectively. Conclusion This validation of the Flemish version of the NEECHAM Confusion Scale adds to previous evidence suggesting that this scale holds promise as a valuable screening instrument for delirium in clinical practice. Further validation studies in diverse clinical populations; however, are needed.

Risk management: Role of societal factors in major industrial accidents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hovden, J.; Rausand, M.; Sergeev, G.

1995-01-01

The paper discusses factors influencing the occurrence of major accidents in complex technological systems. Societal factors are identified as most significant in this context. Important types of societal factors are pin-pointed and discussed. The safety situation in the former Soviet Union and in today's Russian is described. The calamities at Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, and partly also Bhopal are discussed, and the role of societal factors identified. A main point of view is that it is not surprising that these catastrophes happened in the then existing conditions. What is surprising is that they did not happen earlier exclamation point

Confusion in practice: on nuclear safety responsibility subject of our nation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Jia

2014-01-01

Nuclear safety responsibility subject seems a unquestionable issue, but when I took part in the CNNC searching team of 'nuclear law legislation', I found that there are confusions on understanding of this concept and in application. The paper focuses on the content of nuclear safety responsibility, using legal and practical method to dig out the differences with the related and frequently confusing concepts, on which basis to analyze the situation of nuclear safety responsibility subject of our nation. In conclusion, I give suggestions on who shall be the nuclear safety responsibility subject. (author)

Societal costs and burden of otitis media in Portugal

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Speets AM

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Anouk Speets1, Judith Wolleswinkel1, Cristina Cardoso21Pallas health research and consultancy, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; 2GlaxoSmithKline, Algés, PortugalAbstract: This study aimed to estimate the resource consumption and societal impact of otitis media (OM in children younger than five years of age in Portugal. An Internet survey on generic childhood symptoms and diseases was administered to a sample of parents. This self-report survey had been previously implemented in other European countries. Medically confirmed OM was defined as symptoms of earache or “running ear” and/or a diagnosis of OM provided by a medical doctor. Direct medical, nonmedical, and indirect nonmedical costs were calculated for individual cases. Mean total costs per OM episode were estimated at €334. This corresponds to an estimated societal impact of 72 million €/year, of which 39% were indirect nonmedical costs. An epidemiological study should help to confirm the results of this study, and evaluate whether an intervention to reduce the occurrence and/or duration of OM may have an impact on societal costs and quality of life for affected families.Keywords: otitis media, costs, societal burden, Portugal

Factors influencing societal response of nanotechnology: an expert stakeholder analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gupta, Nidhi; Fischer, Arnout R. H.; Lans, Ivo A. van der; Frewer, Lynn J.

2012-01-01

Nanotechnology can be described as an emerging technology and, as has been the case with other emerging technologies such as genetic modification, different socio-psychological factors will potentially influence societal responses to its development and application. These factors will play an important role in how nanotechnology is developed and commercialised. This article aims to identify expert opinion on factors influencing societal response to applications of nanotechnology. Structured interviews with experts on nanotechnology from North West Europe were conducted using repertory grid methodology in conjunction with generalized Procrustes analysis to examine the psychological constructs underlying societal uptake of 15 key applications of nanotechnology drawn from different areas (e.g. medicine, agriculture and environment, chemical, food, military, sports, and cosmetics). Based on expert judgement, the main factors influencing societal response to different applications of nanotechnology will be the extent to which applications are perceived to be beneficial, useful, and necessary, and how 'real' and physically close to the end-user these applications are perceived to be by the public.

Factors influencing societal response of nanotechnology: an expert stakeholder analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, Nidhi; Fischer, Arnout R. H.; van der Lans, Ivo A.; Frewer, Lynn J.

2012-05-01

Nanotechnology can be described as an emerging technology and, as has been the case with other emerging technologies such as genetic modification, different socio-psychological factors will potentially influence societal responses to its development and application. These factors will play an important role in how nanotechnology is developed and commercialised. This article aims to identify expert opinion on factors influencing societal response to applications of nanotechnology. Structured interviews with experts on nanotechnology from North West Europe were conducted using repertory grid methodology in conjunction with generalized Procrustes analysis to examine the psychological constructs underlying societal uptake of 15 key applications of nanotechnology drawn from different areas (e.g. medicine, agriculture and environment, chemical, food, military, sports, and cosmetics). Based on expert judgement, the main factors influencing societal response to different applications of nanotechnology will be the extent to which applications are perceived to be beneficial, useful, and necessary, and how 'real' and physically close to the end-user these applications are perceived to be by the public.

Number of generations related to coupling constants by confusion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bennett, D.L.; Nielsen, H.B.

1987-01-01

In the context of random dynamics, the mechanism of confusion is used to obtain a relation between the number of generations and standard model coupling constants. Preliminary results predict the existence of four generations. (orig.)

Societal objectives as drivers in the search for criteria weights when ranking energy efficiency measures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sousa, José L.; Martins, António G.; Jorge, Humberto M.

2012-01-01

In this paper we address a ranking problem from a tender mechanism established by the Portuguese energy regulator to promote energy efficiency measures in electricity consumption. Measures candidates to this tender are subjected to previously known assessment rules, and weighted criteria. Our proposal has explicitly taken avoided consumption and cost of saved kWh as decision variables for defining two societal objectives. In order to define ranges for the weights of the criteria and reference performance values, the search for the most suitable sets of weights is done by an evolutionary algorithm. Measures were used that applied for funding in previous tender calls. The results demonstrate that in face of different sets of measures, the range of weights for each criterion may vary significantly. The proposal, besides helping to obtain a more suitable set of criteria weights, can also assist in the very process of formulating the criteria, in view of the regulator’s societal objectives, since it was found that some of the used criteria actually lack the ability to discriminate between candidate measures. After a post-processing analysis, the DM is presented with a set of criteria weights from which he can select the one that better reflects his preferences. - Highlights: ► We address a Portuguese energy efficiency fostering tender mechanism. ► We used a genetic algorithm to search for sets of criteria weights. ► We used societal objectives to guide the selection of energy efficiency measures. ► Flexibility in the weights can help finding the best possible use of public money.

Proper comparison among methods using a confusion matrix

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Salmon

2015-07-01

Full Text Available -1 IGARSS 2015, Milan, Italy, 26-31 July 2015 Proper comparison among methods using a confusion matrix 1,2 B.P. Salmon, 2,3 W. Kleynhans, 2,3 C.P. Schwegmann and 1J.C. Olivier 1School of Engineering and ICT, University of Tasmania, Australia 2...

The Role of Response Confusion in Proactive Interference

Science.gov (United States)

Dillon, Richard F.; Thomas, Heather

1975-01-01

In two experiments using the Brown-Peterson memory paradigm, instructions to guess had small effects on recall, but sizeable effects on incidence of prior list intrustion. However, results indicate that proactive interference is primarily the result of inability to generate correct items, rather than confusion between present and previous items.…

Societal risk approach to safeguards design and evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murphey, W.M.; Sherr, T.S.; Bennett, C.A.

1975-01-01

A comprehensive rationale for safeguards design and evaluation, and a framework for continuing systematic assessment of the system's effectiveness and efficient allocation of available safeguards resources for balanced protection, were developed. The societal risk approach employed considers the likelihood of successful destructive acts involving nuclear materials or facilities and the magnitude of the effects on society. The safeguards problem is described in terms of events affecting societal risk and adversary actions. Structure of the safeguards system and the evaluation of its adequacy are discussed. Adversary characteristics are also discussed

Societal Forces That ERODE Creativity

Science.gov (United States)

Sternberg, Robert; Kaufman, James C.

2018-01-01

Background/Context: Creativity is an indispensable force in intellectual, social, cultural, and economic development. Yet societal forces conspire to erode it. Educators have despaired for many years over how schools often fail to encourage creativity, but society as a whole is just as guilty. But how do schools and society fail to encourage, or…

The ‘Golden Age of Legislation’ in Finland 1863–79: Judicial Reforms in a Societal Context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jukka Kekkonen

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Finland was part of Russia’s multi-national empire from 1809–1917. This period of autonomy witnessed several different phases. The phase that started from the ascent of Alexander II to the throne and ended some decades later is known as the ‘Golden Age of Legislation.’ The Finnish Diet could convene from 1863 after a moratorium of a half a Century. This dynamic period witnessed a huge amount of legislative changes. Legislative structures typical to Estate society were dismantled and a legislative basis suitable for a capitalist economy was established. There were not only changes in private law; major changes were also made in other fields of law. For example, principles of criminal law were discussed in the Diet of 1863–64, and changes that modernized and made criminal punishments were enacted in 1866 even though a total reform of the Criminal Code was not realized before 1889. It is important to put these reforms in a societal context. These reforms can be explained by connecting them to the changing power structures of the Empire. Alexander II’s policy aimed at modernizing society and he set about doing this by maintaining an autocratic rule. This allowed Finland to carry out societal reforms; reforms which served the interests of a new commercial class recruited partly from the nobility and partly from the bourgeoisie. In comparison, it is clear that Finnish reforms and Russian reforms of 1864 had a common societal basis in their aim of serving the interests of the economy. However, this led to legal reforms in different fields of law reflecting the economic, societal and political conditions in Finland and in the Empire.

Visualization of Confusion Matrix for Non-Expert Users (Poster)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

E.M.A.L. Beauxis-Aussalet (Emmanuelle); L. Hardman (Lynda)

2014-01-01

htmlabstractMachine Learning techniques can automatically extract information from a variety of multimedia sources, e.g., image, text, sound, video. But it produces imperfect results since the multimedia content can be misinterpreted. Machine Learning errors are commonly measured using confusion

The societal cost of Taenia solium cysticercosis in Tanzania

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Trevisan, Chiara; Devleesschauwer, Brecht; Schmidt, Veronika

2017-01-01

was to estimate the societal cost of T. solium cysticercosis in Tanzania, by assessing both the health and economic burden. The societal cost of T. solium cysticercosis was assessed in humans and pigs based on data obtained by a systematic review. Experts' opinion was sought in cases where data were...... losses due to porcine cysticercosis. Based on data retrieved from the systematic review and burden assessments, T. solium cysticercosis contributed to a significant societal cost for the population. The annual number of NCC-associated epilepsy incident cases and deaths were 17,853 (95% Uncertainty......Taenia solium is a zoonotic parasite prevalent in many low income countries throughout Latin America, Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, including Tanzania. The parasite is recognized as a public health threat; however the burden it poses on populations of Tanzania is unknown. The aim of this study...

Factors influencing societal response of nanotechnology: an expert stakeholder analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gupta, Nidhi, E-mail: nidhi.gupta@wur.nl; Fischer, Arnout R. H., E-mail: arnout.fischer@wur.nl; Lans, Ivo A. van der, E-mail: Ivo.vanderLans@wur.nl [Wageningen University, Marketing and Consumer Behaviour Group (Netherlands); Frewer, Lynn J., E-mail: lynn.frewer@newcastle.ac.uk [Newcastle University, School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development (United Kingdom)

2012-05-15

Nanotechnology can be described as an emerging technology and, as has been the case with other emerging technologies such as genetic modification, different socio-psychological factors will potentially influence societal responses to its development and application. These factors will play an important role in how nanotechnology is developed and commercialised. This article aims to identify expert opinion on factors influencing societal response to applications of nanotechnology. Structured interviews with experts on nanotechnology from North West Europe were conducted using repertory grid methodology in conjunction with generalized Procrustes analysis to examine the psychological constructs underlying societal uptake of 15 key applications of nanotechnology drawn from different areas (e.g. medicine, agriculture and environment, chemical, food, military, sports, and cosmetics). Based on expert judgement, the main factors influencing societal response to different applications of nanotechnology will be the extent to which applications are perceived to be beneficial, useful, and necessary, and how 'real' and physically close to the end-user these applications are perceived to be by the public.

SOCIETAL CULTURE: A COMPARISON OF ROMANIAN, AUSTRIAN AND GERMAN STUDENTS PERSPECTIVE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

CATANA DOINA

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Our study compares the students’ view on the existing cultural practices with their ideal societal value system in compared societies. For the purpose of this investigation, Austria and Germany were selected to represent Central European values since they are seen as a ‘bridge’ between Eastern and Western European societal values. The research findings are helpful in identifying signs of cultural convergence of Romanian societal culture with Central European values. In doing so, our study will hopefully broaden the body of knowledge about the cultural harmonization between newer and older members of European Union. As seen in the literature review section, such studies started only a few years ago. Comparison of Romanian, Austrian and German students’ perspective on societal culture is performed for the first time by the authors of this study. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

The Role of Wilderness Protection and Societal Engagement as Indicators of Well-Being: An Examination of Change at the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness

Science.gov (United States)

Watson, Alan E.

2013-01-01

A societal decision to protect over 9 million acres of land and water for its wilderness character in the early 1960s reflected US wealth in natural resources, pride in the nation's cultural history and our commitment to the well-being of future generations to both experience wild nature and enjoy benefits flowing from these natural ecosystems.…

The Societal and Economic Value of Rotator Cuff Repair

Science.gov (United States)

Mather, Richard C.; Koenig, Lane; Acevedo, Daniel; Dall, Timothy M.; Gallo, Paul; Romeo, Anthony; Tongue, John; Williams, Gerald

2013-01-01

Background: Although rotator cuff disease is a common musculoskeletal problem in the United States, the impact of this condition on earnings, missed workdays, and disability payments is largely unknown. This study examines the value of surgical treatment for full-thickness rotator cuff tears from a societal perspective. Methods: A Markov decision model was constructed to estimate lifetime direct and indirect costs associated with surgical and continued nonoperative treatment for symptomatic full-thickness rotator cuff tears. All patients were assumed to have been unresponsive to one six-week trial of nonoperative treatment prior to entering the model. Model assumptions were obtained from the literature and data analysis. We obtained estimates of indirect costs using national survey data and patient-reported outcomes. Four indirect costs were modeled: probability of employment, household income, missed workdays, and disability payments. Direct cost estimates were based on average Medicare reimbursements with adjustments to an all-payer population. Effectiveness was expressed in quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). Results: The age-weighted mean total societal savings from rotator cuff repair compared with nonoperative treatment was $13,771 over a patient’s lifetime. Savings ranged from $77,662 for patients who are thirty to thirty-nine years old to a net cost to society of $11,997 for those who are seventy to seventy-nine years old. In addition, surgical treatment results in an average improvement of 0.62 QALY. Societal savings were highly sensitive to age, with savings being positive at the age of sixty-one years and younger. The estimated lifetime societal savings of the approximately 250,000 rotator cuff repairs performed in the U.S. each year was $3.44 billion. Conclusions: Rotator cuff repair for full-thickness tears produces net societal cost savings for patients under the age of sixty-one years and greater QALYs for all patients. Rotator cuff repair is cost

Understanding Societal Impact in Research and Technology Organisations using Productive Interactions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Dorp, Aad; Löwik, Sandor; de Weerd-Nederhof, Petra

2017-01-01

Research organisations receiving at least partly public funding are increasingly required to show their societal impact. Assessing societal impact is a complex task, because it involves very different aspects, is prone to bias from the assessor and even may be contradictory. Using the process and

A NOVEL TECHNIQUE TO IMPROVE PHOTOMETRY IN CONFUSED IMAGES USING GRAPHS AND BAYESIAN PRIORS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Safarzadeh, Mohammadtaher; Ferguson, Henry C.; Lu, Yu; Inami, Hanae; Somerville, Rachel S.

2015-01-01

We present a new technique for overcoming confusion noise in deep far-infrared Herschel space telescope images making use of prior information from shorter λ < 2 μm wavelengths. For the deepest images obtained by Herschel, the flux limit due to source confusion is about a factor of three brighter than the flux limit due to instrumental noise and (smooth) sky background. We have investigated the possibility of de-confusing simulated Herschel PACS 160 μm images by using strong Bayesian priors on the positions and weak priors on the flux of sources. We find the blended sources and group them together and simultaneously fit their fluxes. We derive the posterior probability distribution function of fluxes subject to these priors through Monte Carlo Markov Chain (MCMC) sampling by fitting the image. Assuming we can predict the FIR flux of sources based on the ultraviolet-optical part of their SEDs to within an order of magnitude, the simulations show that we can obtain reliable fluxes and uncertainties at least a factor of three fainter than the confusion noise limit of 3σ c = 2.7 mJy in our simulated PACS-160 image. This technique could in principle be used to mitigate the effects of source confusion in any situation where one has prior information of positions and plausible fluxes of blended sources. For Herschel, application of this technique will improve our ability to constrain the dust content in normal galaxies at high redshift

Societal Aging in the Netherlands : Exploratory System Dynamics Modeling and Analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Logtens, T.; Pruyt, E.; Gijsbers, G.W.

2012-01-01

Mismanagement of societal aging is an important threat to health care systems, social security systems, and the economy of many nations. a System Dynamics simulation model related to societal aging in the Netherlands and its implications for the Dutch welfare system is used here as a scenario

Insights into the concept of vitality: associations with participation and societal costs.

Science.gov (United States)

van Steenbergen, E; van Dongen, J M; Wendel-Vos, G C W; Hildebrandt, V H; Strijk, J E

2016-04-01

In healthcare, the focus is currently shifting from someone's disabilities to someone's abilities, which is also evident from the increasing focus on vitality. Vitality (here defined as energy, motivation and resilience) is an often used concept, which also aims at someone's capabilities. However, little is known about vitality yet; in particular about its association with participation and societal costs. Within a cross-sectional design, information regarding vitality, participation and societal costs was collected among 8015 Dutch adults aged 20 years and over. Vitality was measured using the validated Dutch Vitality Questionnaire (Vita-16). Information on economic (i.e. want/able to work, work absenteeism, work performance), societal (i.e. voluntary work, informal care giving) and social participation (i.e. quantity and quality of social contacts) and societal costs (i.e. healthcare and work-related costs) was collected using an internet survey. Significant associations were found between vitality and various economic (i.e.sustainable employability:want to work: β = 1.21, 95% CI: 0.99-1.43,able to work:β = 2.09, 95% CI: 1.79-2.38;work absenteeism: OR = 0.75, 95% CI: 0.71-0.79;work performance:β = 0.49, 95% CI: 0.46-0.52), societal (i.e.voluntary work, informal care) and social (i.e.quantity and quality of social contacts) participation measures, as well as between vitality and societal costs (i.e.healthcare costs:β = -213.73, 95% CI: €-311.13 to €-107.08),absenteeism costs: β = -338.57, 95% CI: €-465.36 to €-214.14 and presenteeism costs:β = -1293.31, 95% CI: €-1492.69 to €-1088.95). This study showed significant positive associations between vitality and economic, societal and social participation and negative associations between vitality and societal costs. This may stimulate research on interventions enhancing and maintaining vitality and thereby contributing to improved participation and reduced costs. © The Author 2015. Published by

A girl with headache, confusion and green urine.

Science.gov (United States)

Hufschmidt, Andreas; Krisch, Alexandra; Peschen, I

2009-07-01

The case of a 17-year-old girl with a history of headache, blurred vision, confusion, ataxia and syncope is presented. On admission, she had already recovered except for a slurring of speech. Her urine was found to be green. Screening for illegal drugs was negative, but gas chromatography with subsequent mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) revealed an extremely high concentration of flupirtine.

Construct Validity of the Societal Outreach Scale (SOS).

Science.gov (United States)

Fike, David S; Denton, Jason; Walk, Matt; Kish, Jennifer; Gorman, Ira

2018-04-01

The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) has been working toward a vision of increasing professional focus on societal-level health. However, performance of social responsibility and related behaviors by physical therapists remain relatively poorly integrated into practice. Promoting a focus on societal outreach is necessary for all health care professionals to impact the health of their communities. The objective was to document the validity of the 14-item Societal Outreach Scale (SOS) for use with practicing physical therapists. This study used a cross-sectional survey. The SOS was transmitted via email to all therapists who were licensed and practicing in 10 states in the United States that were purposefully selected to assure a broad representation. A sample of 2612 usable responses was received. Factor analysis was applied to assess construct validity of the instrument. Of alternate models, a 3-factor model best demonstrated goodness of fit with the sample data according to conventional indices (standardized root mean squared residual = .03, comparative fit index .96, root mean square error of approximation = .06). The 3 factors measured by the SOS were labeled Societal-Level Health Advocacy, Community Engagement/Social Integration, and Political Engagement. Internal consistency reliability was 0.7 for all factors. The 3-factor SOS demonstrated acceptable validity and reliability. Though the sample included a broad representation of physical therapists, this was a single cross-sectional study. Additional confirmatory factor analysis, reliability testing, and word refinement of the tool are warranted. Given the construct validity and reliability of the 3-factor SOS, it is recommended for use as a validated instrument to measure physical therapists' performance of social responsibility and related behaviors.

International Conference on Informatics and Communication Technologies for Societal Developmen

CERN Document Server

Bhojan, Anand; Peter, J

2015-01-01

This volume comprises research papers presented at the International Conference on Informatics and Communication Technologies for Societal Development (ICICTS 2014) held at Karunya University, India. The content focuses on the recent advancements in image or signal processing, computer vision, communication technologies, soft computing, advanced computing, data mining, and knowledge discovery. The primary objective of this volume is to facilitate advancement and application of the knowledge and to promote ideas that solve problems faced by society through cutting-edge technologies. The chapters contain selected articles from academicians, researchers, and industry experts in the form of frameworks, models, and architectures. Practical approaches, observations, and results of research that promotes societal development are also incorporated. This volume will serve as a useful compendium for interested readers and researchers working towards societal development from the technological perspective.

The role of wilderness protection and societal engagement as indicators of well-being: An examination of change at the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness

Science.gov (United States)

Alan E. Watson

2011-01-01

A societal decision to protect over 9 million acres of land and water for its wilderness character in the early 1960s reflected US wealth in natural resources, pride in the nation's cultural history and our commitment to the well-being of future generations to both experience wild nature and enjoy benefits flowing from these natural ecosystems. There is no...

Understanding the Societal Impact of Humanities Scholarship

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, David Budtz; Johansson, Lasse Gøhler

2016-01-01

in society. An important assumption in this paper is that impact should be studied both from conceptual, qualitative and quantitative perspectives. Any approach that focuses merely on scientific outputs (such as publications or citations) or that relies on purely bibliometric indicators will result...... both quantitative and qualitative tools, the paper argues that we need a better and more comprehensive understanding of the role the humanities as part of a wider web of societal institutions, networks, and agents. Granted that the impact of humanities breakthroughs cannot be located at clearly......The critical problem for understanding the societal impact of humanities scholarship is that we currently have no satisfactory tools for understanding how wider social impacts occur and, by implication, very few guidelines for stimulating a reflexive dialogue about the influence of the humanities...

Autism Spectrum Disorders in Popular Media: Storied Reflections of Societal Views

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kimberly Maich

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to explore how exceptional characters with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD are typified in a world that is becoming increasingly influenced by popular media. Considerations focus on how these representations may or may not affect realistic social understandings of children and adults with exceptionalities.  In order to make sense of and engage with such ‘storied representations’ a variety of perspectives are introduced depicting varied characterizations of those with ASD from current media sources, popular and independent movies, fictional novels, and children’s picture books.  How different representations both reflect and shape readers’ or viewers’ perceptions of ASD are explored.  Such perceptions impact students prior to entering the inclusive classroom, and are worthy of further investigation.  Additionally, why and how this may or may not relate to social reality and authentic ideas of personhood is questioned.

Factors influencing societal response of nanotechnology : an expert stakeholder analysis

OpenAIRE

Gupta, N.; Fischer, A.R.H.; Lans, van der, I.A.; Frewer, L.J.

2012-01-01

Nanotechnology can be described as an emerging technology and, as has been the case with other emerging technologies such as genetic modification, different socio-psychological factors will potentially influence societal responses to its development and application. These factors will play an important role in how nanotechnology is developed and commercialised. This article aims to identify expert opinion on factors influencing societal response to applications of nanotechnology. Structured i...

Factors influencing societal response of nanotechnology: an expert stakeholder analysis

OpenAIRE

Gupta, Nidhi; Fischer, Arnout R. H.; van der Lans, Ivo A.; Frewer, Lynn J.

2012-01-01

Nanotechnology can be described as an emerging technology and, as has been the case with other emerging technologies such as genetic modification, different socio-psychological factors will potentially influence societal responses to its development and application. These factors will play an important role in how nanotechnology is developed and commercialised. This article aims to identify expert opinion on factors influencing societal response to applications of nanotechnology. Structured i...

Conspiracy theories as part of history : The role of societal crisis situations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Prooijen, Jan Willem; Douglas, Karen M.

2017-01-01

In the present contribution, we examine the link between societal crisis situations and belief in conspiracy theories. Contrary to common assumptions, belief in conspiracy theories has been prevalent throughout human history. We first illustrate historical incidents suggesting that societal crisis

Infrastructures and societal change. A view from the large technical systems field

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vleuten, van der E.B.A.

2004-01-01

Infrastructural and societal changes intertwine in multiple ways. This makes the societal implications of infrastructural projects difficult to assess and anticipate. Yet in present day network societies this task is particularly urgent. This paper first identifies two positions that tend to

How fair is safe enough? The cultural approach to societal technology choice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rayner, S.; Cantor, R.

1987-01-01

This paper consists of an argument and a pilot study. First is a general, perhaps philosophical, argument against the National Academy's viewpoint that dealing with risk is a two-stage process consisting of (a) assessment of facts, and (b) evaluation of facts in sociopolitical context. They argue that societal risk intrinsically revolves around social relations as much as around evaluations of probability. Second, they outline one particular approach to analyzing societal risk management styles. They call this the fairness hypothesis. Rather than focusing on probabilities and magnitudes of undesired events, this approach emphasizes societal preferences for principles of achieving consent to a technology, distributing liabilities, and investing trust in institutions. Conflict rather than probability is the chief focus of this approach to societal risk management. This view is illustrated by a recent empirical pilot study that explored the fairness hypothesis in the context of new nuclear technologies

Societal costs of diabetes mellitus in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sortsø, C; Green, A; Jensen, Peter Bjødstrup

2016-01-01

AIM: To provide comprehensive real-world evidence on societal diabetes-attributable costs in Denmark. METHODS: National register data are linked on an individual level through unique central personal registration numbers in Denmark. All patients in the Danish National Diabetes Register in 2011 (N...... = 318 729) were included in this study. Complication status was defined according to data from the Danish National Hospital Register. Diabetes-attributable costs were calculated as the difference between costs of patients with diabetes and the expected costs given the annual resource consumption...... of the diabetes-free population. RESULTS: Societal costs attributable to diabetes were estimated to be at least 4.27 billion EUR in 2011, corresponding to 14,349 EUR per patient-year. A twofold higher healthcare resource usage was found for patients with diabetes as compared with the diabetes-free population...

Differences between individual and societal health state valuations: any link with personality?

Science.gov (United States)

Chapman, Benjamin P; Franks, Peter; Duberstein, Paul R; Jerant, Anthony

2009-08-01

The concept of "adaptation" has been proposed to account for differences between individual and societal valuations of specific health states in patients with chronic diseases. Little is known about psychological indices of adaptational capacity, which may predict differences in individual and societal valuations of health states. We investigated whether such differences were partially explained by personality traits in chronic disease patients. Analysis of baseline data of randomized controlled trial. Three hundred seventy patients with chronic disease. The NEO-five factor inventory measure of personality, EuroQoL-5D (EQ-5D) societal-based, and the EQ visual analogue scale individually-based measures of health valuation. Regression analyses modeled Dev, a measure of difference between the EQ-Visual Analogue Scale and EQ-5D, as a function of personality traits, sociodemographic factors, and chronic diseases. Individual valuations were significantly and clinically higher than societal valuations among patients in the second and third quartile of conscientiousness (Dev = 0.08, P = 0.01); among covariates, only depression (Dev = -0.04, P = 0.046) was also associated with Dev. Compared with societal valuations of a given health state, persons at higher quartiles of conscientiousness report less disutility associated with poor health. The effect is roughly twice that of some estimates of minimally important clinical differences on the EQ-5D and of depression. Although useful at the aggregate level, societal preference measures may systematically undervalue the health states of more conscientious individuals. Future work should examine the impact this has on individual patient outcome evaluation in clinical studies.

Influence of new societal factors on neovascular age-related macular degeneration outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Giocanti-Aurégan, Audrey; Chbat, Elige; Darugar, Adil; Morel, Christophe; Morin, Bruno; Conrath, John; Devin, François

2018-02-01

To assess the impact of unstudied societal factors for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) on functional outcomes after anti-VEGFs. Charts of 94 nAMD patients treated in the Monticelli-Paradis Centre, Marseille, France, were reviewed. Phone interviews were conducted to assess societal factors, including transportation, living status, daily reading and social security scheme (SSS). Primary outcome was the impact of family support and disease burden on functional improvement in nAMD. Between baseline and month 24 (M24), 42.4% of the variability in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was explained by the cumulative effect of the following societal factors: intermittent out-patient follow-up, marital status, daily reading, transportation type, commuting time. No isolated societal factor significantly correlated with ETDRS BCVA severity at M24. A trend to correlation was observed between the EDTRS score at M24 and the SSS (P = 0.076), economic burden (P = 0.075), time between diagnosis and treatment initiation (P = 0.070). A significant correlation was found for the disease burdensome on the patient (P = 0.034) and low vision rehabilitation (P = 0.014). Societal factors could influence functional outcomes in nAMD patients treated with anti-VEGFs. They could contribute to the healing process or sustain disease progression.

Productive confusions: learning from simulations of pandemic virus outbreaks in Second Life

Science.gov (United States)

Cárdenas, Micha; Greci, Laura S.; Hurst, Samantha; Garman, Karen; Hoffman, Helene; Huang, Ricky; Gates, Michael; Kho, Kristen; Mehrmand, Elle; Porteous, Todd; Calvitti, Alan; Higginbotham, Erin; Agha, Zia

2011-03-01

Users of immersive virtual reality environments have reported a wide variety of side and after effects including the confusion of characteristics of the real and virtual worlds. Perhaps this side effect of confusing the virtual and real can be turned around to explore the possibilities for immersion with minimal technological support in virtual world group training simulations. This paper will describe observations from my time working as an artist/researcher with the UCSD School of Medicine (SoM) and Veterans Administration San Diego Healthcare System (VASDHS) to develop trainings for nurses, doctors and Hospital Incident Command staff that simulate pandemic virus outbreaks. By examining moments of slippage between realities, both into and out of the virtual environment, moments of the confusion of boundaries between real and virtual, we can better understand methods for creating immersion. I will use the mixing of realities as a transversal line of inquiry, borrowing from virtual reality studies, game studies, and anthropological studies to better understand the mechanisms of immersion in virtual worlds. Focusing on drills conducted in Second Life, I will examine moments of training to learn the software interface, moments within the drill and interviews after the drill.

Oromo Oral Pun (Miliqqee): Confusion with Oromo Idiom (Jechama ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The nature of the study was of a qualitative and quantitative type and the data were analysed by describing the existing qualities of the puns on theoretical basis. The tools used were content analysis, questionnaire and interview. The result shows that idiomatic meanings have been used as puns, was confusion of puns with ...

Visual hallucinations in schizophrenia: confusion between imagination and perception.

Science.gov (United States)

Brébion, Gildas; Ohlsen, Ruth I; Pilowsky, Lyn S; David, Anthony S

2008-05-01

An association between hallucinations and reality-monitoring deficit has been repeatedly observed in patients with schizophrenia. Most data concern auditory/verbal hallucinations. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between visual hallucinations and a specific type of reality-monitoring deficit, namely confusion between imagined and perceived pictures. Forty-one patients with schizophrenia and 43 healthy control participants completed a reality-monitoring task. Thirty-two items were presented either as written words or as pictures. After the presentation phase, participants had to recognize the target words and pictures among distractors, and then remember their mode of presentation. All groups of participants recognized the pictures better than the words, except the patients with visual hallucinations, who presented the opposite pattern. The participants with visual hallucinations made more misattributions to pictures than did the others, and higher ratings of visual hallucinations were correlated with increased tendency to remember words as pictures. No association with auditory hallucinations was revealed. Our data suggest that visual hallucinations are associated with confusion between visual mental images and perception.

Delusional Confusion of Dreaming and Reality in Narcolepsy

Science.gov (United States)

Wamsley, Erin; Donjacour, Claire E.H.M.; Scammell, Thomas E.; Lammers, Gert Jan; Stickgold, Robert

2014-01-01

Study Objectives: We investigated a generally unappreciated feature of the sleep disorder narcolepsy, in which patients mistake the memory of a dream for a real experience and form sustained delusions about significant events. Design: We interviewed patients with narcolepsy and healthy controls to establish the prevalence of this complaint and identify its predictors. Setting: Academic medical centers in Boston, Massachusetts and Leiden, The Netherlands. Participants: Patients (n = 46) with a diagnosis of narcolepsy with cataplexy, and age-matched healthy healthy controls (n = 41). Interventions: N/A. Measurements and Results: “Dream delusions” were surprisingly common in narcolepsy and were often striking in their severity. As opposed to fleeting hypnagogic and hypnopompic hallucinations of the sleep/wake transition, dream delusions were false memories induced by the experience of a vivid dream, which led to false beliefs that could persist for days or weeks. Conclusions: The delusional confusion of dreamed events with reality is a prominent feature of narcolepsy, and suggests the possibility of source memory deficits in this disorder that have not yet been fully characterized. Citation: Wamsley E; Donjacour CE; Scammell TE; Lammers GJ; Stickgold R. Delusional confusion of dreaming and reality in narcolepsy. SLEEP 2014;37(2):419-422. PMID:24501437

Too Many Choices Confuse Patients With Dementia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. C. Hamdy MD

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Choices are often difficult to make by patients with Alzheimer Dementia. They often become acutely confused when faced with too many options because they are not able to retain in their working memory enough information about the various individual choices available. In this case study, we describe how an essentially simple benign task (choosing a dress to wear can rapidly escalate and result in a catastrophic outcome. We examine what went wrong in the patient/caregiver interaction and how that potentially catastrophic situation could have been avoided or defused.

A psycho-societal perspective on neoliberal welfare services in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Linda Lundgaard

2016-01-01

This article introduces a psycho-societal approach to the micro-processes of Danish neoliberal welfare services, elaborating a learning and identity perspective. My many years of encounters with professionals in welfare services have illuminated how they display a strong identification with...... of neoliberal policies and practices has dominated the Danish welfare sector. By applying a psycho-societal conceptual approach - illustrated by an empirical example - I sketch out how identification, ambivalence and defence are significant features of welfare service professionals’ learning and practices...

Predator confusion is sufficient to evolve swarming behaviour

OpenAIRE

Olson, Randal S.; Hintze, Arend; Dyer, Fred C.; Knoester, David B.; Adami, Christoph

2013-01-01

Swarming behaviours in animals have been extensively studied owing to their implications for the evolution of cooperation, social cognition and predator–prey dynamics. An important goal of these studies is discerning which evolutionary pressures favour the formation of swarms. One hypothesis is that swarms arise because the presence of multiple moving prey in swarms causes confusion for attacking predators, but it remains unclear how important this selective force is. Using an evolutionary mo...

Predator confusion is sufficient to evolve swarming behavior

OpenAIRE

Olson, Randal S.; Hintze, Arend; Dyer, Fred C.; Knoester, David B.; Adami, Christoph

2012-01-01

Swarming behaviors in animals have been extensively studied due to their implications for the evolution of cooperation, social cognition, and predator-prey dynamics. An important goal of these studies is discerning which evolutionary pressures favor the formation of swarms. One hypothesis is that swarms arise because the presence of multiple moving prey in swarms causes confusion for attacking predators, but it remains unclear how important this selective force is. Using an evolutionary model...

The Globalization of Higher Education as a Societal and Cultural Security Problem

Science.gov (United States)

Samier, Eugenie A.

2015-01-01

In this article, I propose a theory of the globalization of higher education as societal and cultural security problems for many regions of the world. The first section examines the field of security studies for theoretical frameworks appropriate to critiquing globalized higher education, including critical human, societal and cultural security…

The Theos/ComRes survey into public perception of Darwinism in the UK: a recipe for confusion.

Science.gov (United States)

Baker, Sylvia

2012-04-01

A survey of the general public in the UK, conducted in 2008, suggested that more than half of the British population are unconvinced by Darwinism. That survey, conducted by the polling company ComRes on behalf of the theological think-tank Theos, reported its full findings in March 2009 and found them to be "complex and confused." This paper argues that the confusion identified may have been partly engendered by the way in which the survey questionnaire was constructed and that the survey itself, not simply its respondents, was confused. A source of the confusion, it is argued, could be found, first, in the definitions used for the four positions of young earth creationism, theistic evolution, atheistic evolution and intelligent design. Second, a failure to define the key terms "evolution" and "science," used in some of the survey questions, resulted in responses that were difficult to interpret.

Fuzzy cluster means algorithm for the diagnosis of confusable disease

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... end platform while Microsoft Access was used as the database application. The system gives a measure of each disease within a set of confusable disease. The proposed system had a classification accuracy of 60%. Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, expert system Fuzzy cluster – means Algorithm, physician, Diagnosis ...

Linking the Observation of Essential Variables to Societal Benefits

Science.gov (United States)

Sylak-Glassman, E.

2017-12-01

Different scientific communities have established sets of commonly agreed upon essential variables to help coordinate data collection in a variety of Earth observation areas. As an example, the World Meteorological Organization Global Climate Observing System has identified 50 Essential Climate Variables (ECVs), such as sea-surface temperature and carbon dioxide, which are required to monitoring the climate and detect and attribute climate change. In addition to supporting climate science, measuring these ECVs deliver many types of societal benefits, ranging from disaster mitigation to agricultural productivity to human health. While communicating the value in maintaining and improving observational records for these variables has been a challenge, quantifying how the measurement of these ECVs results in the delivery of many different societal benefits may help support their continued measurement. The 2016 National Earth Observation Assessment (EOA 2016) quantified the impact of individual Earth observation systems, sensors, networks, and surveys (or Earth observation systems, for short) on the achievement of 217 Federal objectives in 13 societal benefit areas (SBAs). This study will demonstrate the use of the EOA 2016 dataset to show the different Federal objectives and SBAs that are impacted by the Earth observation systems used to measure ECVs. Describing how the measurements from these Earth observation systems are used not only to maintain the climate record but also to meet additional Federal objectives may help articulate the continued measurement of the ECVs. This study will act as a pilot for the use of the EOA 2016 dataset to map between the measurements required to observe additional sets of variables, such as the Essential Ocean Variables and Essential Biodiversity Variables, and the ability to achieve a variety of societal benefits.

RELATIONAL HEALING OF EARLY AFFECT-CONFUSION - PART 3 OF A CASE STUDY TRILOGY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard G. Erskine

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Part 3 of a case study trilogy on early affect-confusion describes the use of therapeutic dialogue, relational presence and supportive age regression in the psychotherapy of a client who lived on a “borderline” of early affect confusion. The concepts and methods of an in-depth, integrative and relational psychotherapy include a sensitivity to the client’s physiological and emotional expressions of implicit and sub-symbolic memories, therapeutic inference, an awareness of the client’s relational-needs, the effective use of a developmental image, as well the identification of an introjected other and the use of therapeutic interposition.

RTI Confusion in the Case Law and the Legal Commentary

Science.gov (United States)

Zirkel, Perry A.

2011-01-01

This article expresses the position that the current legal commentary and cases do not sufficiently differentiate response to intervention (RTI) from the various forms of general education interventions that preceded it, thus compounding confusion in professional practice as to legally defensible procedures for identifying children as having a…

Evaluation of the confusion matrix method in the validation of an automated system for measuring feeding behaviour of cattle.

Science.gov (United States)

Ruuska, Salla; Hämäläinen, Wilhelmiina; Kajava, Sari; Mughal, Mikaela; Matilainen, Pekka; Mononen, Jaakko

2018-03-01

The aim of the present study was to evaluate empirically confusion matrices in device validation. We compared the confusion matrix method to linear regression and error indices in the validation of a device measuring feeding behaviour of dairy cattle. In addition, we studied how to extract additional information on classification errors with confusion probabilities. The data consisted of 12 h behaviour measurements from five dairy cows; feeding and other behaviour were detected simultaneously with a device and from video recordings. The resulting 216 000 pairs of classifications were used to construct confusion matrices and calculate performance measures. In addition, hourly durations of each behaviour were calculated and the accuracy of measurements was evaluated with linear regression and error indices. All three validation methods agreed when the behaviour was detected very accurately or inaccurately. Otherwise, in the intermediate cases, the confusion matrix method and error indices produced relatively concordant results, but the linear regression method often disagreed with them. Our study supports the use of confusion matrix analysis in validation since it is robust to any data distribution and type of relationship, it makes a stringent evaluation of validity, and it offers extra information on the type and sources of errors. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Formal Methods Approach to the Analysis of Mode Confusion

Science.gov (United States)

Butler, Ricky W.; Miller, Steven P.; Potts, James N.; Carreno, Victor A.

2004-01-01

The goal of the new NASA Aviation Safety Program (AvSP) is to reduce the civil aviation fatal accident rate by 80% in ten years and 90% in twenty years. This program is being driven by the accident data with a focus on the most recent history. Pilot error is the most commonly cited cause for fatal accidents (up to 70%) and obviously must be given major consideration in this program. While the greatest source of pilot error is the loss of situation awareness , mode confusion is increasingly becoming a major contributor as well. The January 30, 1995 issue of Aviation Week lists 184 incidents and accidents involving mode awareness including the Bangalore A320 crash 2/14/90, the Strasbourg A320 crash 1/20/92, the Mulhouse-Habsheim A320 crash 6/26/88, and the Toulouse A330 crash 6/30/94. These incidents and accidents reveal that pilots sometimes become confused about what the cockpit automation is doing. Consequently, human factors research is an obvious investment area. However, even a cursory look at the accident data reveals that the mode confusion problem is much deeper than just training deficiencies and a lack of human-oriented design. This is readily acknowledged by human factors experts. It seems that further progress in human factors must come through a deeper scrutiny of the internals of the automation. It is in this arena that formal methods can contribute. Formal methods refers to the use of techniques from logic and discrete mathematics in the specification, design, and verification of computer systems, both hardware and software. The fundamental goal of formal methods is to capture requirements, designs and implementations in a mathematically based model that can be analyzed in a rigorous manner. Research in formal methods is aimed at automating this analysis as much as possible. By capturing the internal behavior of a flight deck in a rigorous and detailed formal model, the dark corners of a design can be analyzed. This paper will explore how formal

LOBBYING OPPORTUNITIES, CONFUSIONS AND MISREPRESENTATIONS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andreea Vass

2008-06-01

Full Text Available Lobby activities are often likened to the misuse of authority and bad practices. Such parallels generate problems that easily spiral down into crises and conflicts, and the symbiosis of politics and business turns into an ambiguous platform. Why should we look into the core of the suspicions regarding the intertwining and overlapping interests of political and business communities? The answer: because in Romania public interest is often defined in a private or personal framework, whereas private interests are defined in markedly public terms. Confusion sets us clearly apart from the effective Israeli, American, British, Czech, Polish or Magyar lobbyists. The same confusion has a damaging effect: we are unable to efficiently handle institutional relations and public-private relations, be they national or international, that is, European. To what extent is the politics-business relationship deemed appropriate in US and EU? Which are its constraints, prerequisites and possible sanctions? These are the questions which accompany our dilemmas that we clarify in this paper. We conclude with proposals on what can be done in promoting efficiently the Romanian private interests within the European institutions.

Rising to the challenges-Reflections on Future-oriented Technology Analysis

OpenAIRE

Georghiou, Luke; Cassingena Harper, Jennifer

2013-01-01

Drawing upon the presentations made at the fourth conference on Future-oriented Technology Analysis, this essay reflects on the implications of the current period of instability and discontinuity for the practice of FTA or foresight. In the past the demand environment for foresight on research and innovation policy favoured application to priority-setting and articulation of demand. New tendencies include a heightened search for breakthrough science and a focus on grand societal challenges. B...

The Reign of Confusion: ABC and the "Crisis in Iran."

Science.gov (United States)

Palmerton, Patricia R.

A study examined reports broadcast by ABC News between November 8, 1979 and December 7, 1979 in its series entitled "Crisis in Iran: America Held Hostage." Transcripts of approximately 50% of actual broadcasts were subjected to rhetorical critical analysis, from which the finding emerged that confusion was the predominant characteristic…

A societal cost-of-illness study of hemodialysis in Lebanon.

Science.gov (United States)

Rizk, Rana; Hiligsmann, Mickaël; Karavetian, Mirey; Salameh, Pascale; Evers, Silvia M A A

2016-12-01

Renal failure is a growing public health problem, and is mainly treated by hemodialysis. This study aims to estimate the societal costs of hemodialysis in Lebanon. This was a quantitative, cross-sectional cost-of-illness study conducted alongside the Nutrition Education for Management of Osteodystrophy trial. Costs were assessed with a prevalence-based, bottom-up approach, for the period of June-December 2011. The data of 114 patients recruited from six hospital-based units were collected through a questionnaire measuring healthcare costs, costs to patients and family, and costs in other sectors. Recall data were used for the base-case analysis. Sensitivity analyses employing various sources of resources use and costs were performed. Costs were uprated to 2015US$. Multiple linear regression was conducted to explore the predictors of societal costs. The mean 6-month societal costs were estimated at $9,258.39. The larger part was attributable to healthcare costs (91.7%), while costs to patient and family and costs in other sectors poorly contributed to the total costs (4.2% and 4.1%, respectively). In general, results were robust to sensitivity analyses. Using the maximum value for hospitalization resulted in the biggest difference (+15.5% of the base-case result). Female gender, being widowed/divorced, having hypertension comorbidity, and higher weekly time on dialysis were significantly associated with greater societal costs. Information regarding resource consumption and cost were not readily available. Rather, they were obtained from a variety of sources, with each having its own strengths and limitations. Hemodialysis represents a high societal burden in Lebanon. Using extrapolation, its total annual cost for the Lebanese society is estimated at $61,105,374 and the mean total annual cost ($18,516.7) is 43.70% higher than the gross domestic product per capita forecast for 2015. Measures to reduce the economic burden of hemodialysis should be taken, by promoting

Vowel identity between note labels confuses pitch identification in non-absolute pitch possessors.

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Alfredo Brancucci

Full Text Available The simplest and likeliest assumption concerning the cognitive bases of absolute pitch (AP is that at its origin there is a particularly skilled function which matches the height of the perceived pitch to the verbal label of the musical tone. Since there is no difference in sound frequency resolution between AP and non-AP (NAP musicians, the hypothesis of the present study is that the failure of NAP musicians in pitch identification relies mainly in an inability to retrieve the correct verbal label to be assigned to the perceived musical note. The primary hypothesis is that, when asked to identify tones, NAP musicians confuse the verbal labels to be attached to the stimulus on the basis of their phonetic content. Data from two AP tests are reported, in which subjects had to respond in the presence or in the absence of visually presented verbal note labels (fixed Do solmization. Results show that NAP musicians confuse more frequently notes having a similar vowel in the note label. They tend to confuse e.g. a 261 Hz tone (Do more often with Sol than, e.g., with La. As a second goal, we wondered whether this effect is lateralized, i.e. whether one hemisphere is more responsible than the other in the confusion of notes with similar labels. This question was addressed by observing pitch identification during dichotic listening. Results showed that there is a right hemispheric disadvantage, in NAP but not AP musicians, in the retrieval of the verbal label to be assigned to the perceived pitch. The present results indicate that absolute pitch has strong verbal bases, at least from a cognitive point of view.

Shaping Societal Impact: between control and cooperation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Messemaker, M.; Wolbers, J.J.; Treurniet, W.; Boersma, F.K.; Comes, T; Fiedrich, F; Fortier, S; Geldermann, J; Muller, T

2013-01-01

In our modern society, the impact of large-scale safety and security incidents can be large and diverse. Yet, this societal impact is makeable and controllable to a limited extent. At best, the effect of concrete response actions is that the direct damage is somewhat reduced and that the recovery is

Atomoxetine's Effect on Societal Costs in Sweden

Science.gov (United States)

Myren, Karl-Johan; Thernlund, Gunilla; Nylen, Asa; Schacht, Alexander; Svanborg, Par

2010-01-01

Objective: To compare societal costs between patients treated with atomoxetine and placebo in Sweden. Method: Ninety-nine pediatric ADHD patients were randomized to a 10-week double-blind treatment with atomoxetine (n = 49) or placebo (n = 50). All parents received four sessions of psycho-education. Parents filled out a resource utilization…

Societe d'energie de la Baie James, progress report 1991

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-01-01

The Societe d'energie de la Baie James is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hydro-Quebec and is responsible for harnessing the hydroelectric resources of the James Bay territory. The Societe executes, manages, and administers the design and construction of hydroelectric development projects in the James Bay territory as well as any other project assigned by Hydro-Quebec. In 1991, the Societe saw its strongest surge of activity since development projects were resumed in 1986. Work at the La Grande -2A, La Grande-1, Laforge-1, and Brisay developments, representing over 4,500 MW of installed capacity, continued in compliance with schedules and cost projections. The first three turbine generator units of La Grande-2A were commissioned and detailed design continued for Laforge-2 and Eastmain-1. At LaGrande-1, the spillway and two embankments were completed; at Brisay,excavation of headrace tunnels and the tailbay of the power station were completed; and in total, over $500 million in contracts and $54 million in purchases were made in 1991. 15 figs., 2 tabs

Societal impact metrics for non-patentable research in dentistry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hicks, D.; Isett, K.; Melkers, J.; Song, L.; Trivedi, R.

2016-07-01

Indicators of research impact tend to revolve around patents, licenses and startups. However, much university research is non-patentable and therefore doesn’t register in those metrics. That does not mean such research lacks impact, just that it follows different pathways to use in society. Without the visibility of patents, license income and jobs created in startups, society risks ignoring or discounting the societal impact of such research and therefore of undervaluing the research itself. In order to make visible the importance of research advances underpinning broader societal advance, in this project we explore the possibility of developing metrics of research impact for research whose results are relevant to professional practice. (Author)

Grand societal challenges in information systems research and education

CERN Document Server

vom Brocke, Jan; Hofmann, Sara; Tumbas, Sanja

2015-01-01

This book examines how information systems research and education can play a major role in contributing to solutions to the Societal Grand Challenges formulated in "The Millennium Project" (millenium-project.org). Individual chapters focus on specific challenges, review existing approaches and contributions towards solutions in information systems research and outline a research agenda for these challenges. The topics considered in this volume range from climate change, population growth, global ICT availability, breakthroughs in science and technology and energy demand to ethical decision-making, policymaking, gender status and transnational crime prevention. It is the first book to present ideas on how the Information Systems discipline can contribute to the solution on this wide spectrum of grand societal challenges.

The Role of Art in Emotional-Moral Reflection on Risky and Controversial Technologies : the Case of BNCI

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Roeser, S.; Alfano, V.R.; Nevejan, Caroline

2018-01-01

In this article, we explore the role that art can play in ethical reflection on risky and controversial technologies. New technologies often give rise to societal controversies about their potential risks and benefits. Over the last decades, social scientists, psychologists, and philosophers have

Understanding societal impact through productive interactions: ICT research as a case

OpenAIRE

Stefan de Jong; Katharine Barker; Deborah Cox; Thordis Sveinsdottir; Peter Van den Besselaar

2014-01-01

Universities are increasingly expected to fulfill a third mission in addition to those of research and education. Universities must demonstrate engagement with society through the application and exploitation of knowledge. As societal impact of research is uncertain, long term and always dependent on other factors, we argue here that evaluation should focus on the conditions under which societal impact is generated rather than on the impact itself. Here we focus on a specific set of those con...

Coastal defence and societal activities in the coastal zone: Compatible or conflicting interests?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Vuren, Saskia; Kok, Matthijs; Jorissen, Richard E.

2004-01-01

World-wide coastal zones are subject to physical and societal changes. Due to climate change sea level is expected to rise and storm conditions may become more intensive. Both may lead to shore erosion intensification in the coastal zone. Moreover, the coastal zone is intensely used for societal

Possible confusion between primary hypersomnia and adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oosterloo, M.; Lammers, G.; Overeem, S.; Noord, I. de; Kooij, J.J.S.

2006-01-01

We explored the possibility of diagnostic confusion between hypersomnias of central origin (narcolepsy and idiopathic hypersomnia, IH) and the adult form of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We included 67 patients with narcolepsy, 7 with IH and 61 with ADHD. All patients completed

When Inequality Fails: Power, Group Dominance, and Societal Change

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Felicia Pratto

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Social dominance theory was developed to account for why societies producing surplus take and maintain the form of group-based dominance hierarchies, in which at least one socially-constructed group has more power than another, and in which men are more powerful than women and adults more powerful than children. Although the theory has always allowed for societies to differ in their severity of group-based dominance and how it is implemented, it has predicted that alternative forms of societal organization will occur rarely and not last. This paper revisits aspects of the theory that allow for the possibility of societal alternatives and change. We also consider boundary conditions for the theory, and whether its current theoretical apparatus can account for societal change. By expanding the typical three-level dynamic system to describe societies (micro-meso-macro into four levels (including meta to consider how societies relate to one another, we identify political tensions that are unstable power structures rather than stable hierarchies. In research on institutions, we identify smaller-scale alternative forms of social organization. We identify logical, empirical, and theoretical shortcomings in social dominance theory’s account of stability and change, consider alternative forms of social organization, and suggest fruitful avenues for theoretical extension.

Unraveling the confusion behind hyaluronic acid efficacy in the treatment of symptomatic knee osteoarthritis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miller LE

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Larry E Miller,1 Roy D Altman,2 Louis F McIntyre3 1Miller Scientific Consulting, Inc., Asheville, NC, 2Department of Rheumatology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 3Northwell Physician Partners, Sleepy Hollow, NY, USA Abstract: Hyaluronic acid (HA is a commonly prescribed treatment for knee pain resulting from osteoarthritis (OA. Although numerous HA products have been approved for use by the US Food and Drug Administration, the efficacy of HA injections for knee OA remains disputed with meta-analyses and societal clinical guidelines drawing disparate conclusions. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS recently published a best-evidence systematic review and concluded that available data did not support the routine use of HA for knee OA. The purpose of the current article is to highlight issues that confound interpretation of meta-analyses on HA for knee OA, to provide realistic estimates of the true efficacy of HA injections in knee OA, and to provide commentary on the methods and conclusions from the AAOS systematic review. In general, the clinical benefit of HA is underestimated using conventional meta-analytic techniques. When accounting for differential control group effects in HA studies, it can be reasonably concluded that HA injections may be beneficial to an appreciable number of patients with knee OA. In addition, the systematic review methodology used by AAOS was questionable due to exclusion of numerous relevant studies and inclusion of studies that used HAs not approved for use in the US, both of which underestimated the true efficacy of HA injections. Overall, the efficacy of HA injections for knee OA is likely better than previously reported. Future clinical trials and meta-analyses should account for differential control group effects in order to avoid the continued confusion surrounding HA injection efficacy. Keywords: effect size, hyaluronic acid, injection, knee, minimal important difference

Ethical, legal and societal considerations on Zika virus epidemics complications in scaling-up prevention and control strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Tambo, Ernest; Madjou, Ghislaine; Khayeka-Wandabwa, Christopher; Olalubi, Oluwasogo A; Chengho, Chryseis F; Khater, Emad I M

2017-08-25

Much of the fear and uncertainty around Zika epidemics stem from potential association between Zika virus (ZIKV) complications on infected pregnant women and risk of their babies being born with microcephaly and other neurological abnormalities. However, much remains unknown about its mode of transmission, diagnosis and long-term pathogenesis. Worries of these unknowns necessitate the need for effective and efficient psychosocial programs and medical-legal strategies to alleviate and mitigate ZIKV related burdens. In this light, local and global efforts in maintaining fundamental health principles of moral, medical and legal decision-making policies, and interventions to preserve and promote individual and collectiveHuman Rights, autonomy, protection of the most vulnerable, equity, dignity, integrity and beneficence that should not be confused and relegated by compassionate humanitarian assistance and support. This paper explores the potential medical and ethical-legal implications of ZIKV epidemics emergency response packages and strategies alongside optimizing reproductive and mental health policies, programs and best practice measures. Further long-term cross-borders operational research is required in elucidating Zika-related population-based epidemiology, ethical-medical and societal implications in guiding evidence-based local and global ZIKV maternal-child health complications related approaches and interventions. Core programs and interventions including future Zika safe and effective vaccines for global Zika immunization program in most vulnerable and affected countries and worldwide should be prioritized.

Physics of societal issues calculations on national security, environment, and energy

CERN Document Server

Hafemeister, David

2007-01-01

Why this book on the Physics of Societal Issues? The subdivisions of physics - nuclear physics, particle physics, condensed-matter physics, biophysics - have their textbooks, while the subdivision of physics and society lacks an equation-oriented text on the physics of arms, energy and the environment. Physics of Societal Issues is intended for undergraduate and doctoral students who may work on applied topics, or who simply want to know why things are the way they are. Decisions guiding policies on nuclear arms, energy and the environment often seem mysterious and contradictory. What is the science behind the deployment of MIRVed ICBMs, the quest for space-based beam weapons, the fear of powerline EM fields, the wholesale acceptance of SUVs, the issues of climactic change, and the failure of the pre-embargo market to produce buildings and appliances that now save over 50 power plants? Physics of Societal Issues is three "mini-texts" in one: National Security (5 chapters): Weapons, offense, defense, verificat...

Advances in complex societal, environmental and engineered systems

CERN Document Server

Essaaidi, Mohammad

2017-01-01

This book addresses recent technological progress that has led to an increased complexity in many natural and artificial systems. The resulting complexity research due to the emergence of new properties and spatio-temporal interactions among a large number of system elements - and between the system and its environment - is the primary focus of this text. This volume is divided into three parts: Part one focuses on societal and ecological systems, Part two deals with approaches for understanding, modeling, predicting and mastering socio-technical systems, and Part three includes real-life examples. Each chapter has its own special features; it is a self-contained contribution of distinguished experts working on different fields of science and technology relevant to the study of complex systems. Advances in Complex Systems of Contemporary Reality: Societal, Environmental and Engineered Systems will provide postgraduate students, researchers and managers with qualitative and quantitative methods for handling th...

Brand confusion in South African Rugby – Super 12 brands vs ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Brand confusion in South African Rugby – Super 12 brands vs Currie-Cup brands? ... Through the application of marketing principles and practice, sport marketers should anticipate, manage ... 12 rugby brands and the apparent lack of differentiation from the traditional Currie Cup brands. ... AJOL African Journals Online.

Creating Societal Benefits and Corporate Profits

OpenAIRE

Raisch, Sebastian; Probst, Gilbert; Gomez, Peter; Zimmermann, Alexander

2014-01-01

The odds of launching a new business that creates value for both the company and the public can be improved with good planning. An in-depth analysis of how four companies created for-profit initiatives that also have high societal value suggests that each followed a similar step-by-step process to achieve what the researchers call synergistic value creation. Those steps include establishing cross-business incubators and installing multi-perspective monitoring systems.

Derivation of Color Confusion Lines for Pseudo-Dichromat Observers from Color Discrimination Thresholds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kahiro Matsudaira

2011-05-01

Full Text Available The objective is to develop a method of defining color confusion lines in the display RGB color space through color discrimination tasks. In the experiment, reference and test square patches were presented side by side on a CRT display. The subject's task is to set the test color where the color difference from the reference is just noticeable to him/her. In a single trial, the test color was only adjustable along one of 26 directions around the reference. Thus 26 colors with just noticeable difference (JND were obtained and made up a tube-like or an ellipsoidal shape around each reference. With color-anomalous subjects, the major axes of these shapes should be parallel to color confusion lines that have a common orientation vector corresponding to one of the cone excitation axes L, M, or S. In our method, the orientation vector was determined by minimizing the sum of the squares of the distances from JND colors to each confusion line. To assess the performance the method, the orientation vectors obtained by pseudo-dichromats (color normal observers with a dichromat simulator were compared to those theoretically calculated from the color vision model used in the simulator.

Societal Conditions and the Gender Difference in Well-Being: Testing a Three-Stage Model.

Science.gov (United States)

Zuckerman, Miron; Li, Chen; Diener, Edward F

2017-03-01

Findings from a meta-analysis on gender differences in self-esteem (Zuckerman et al., 2016) suggest that the relation between the degree to which societal conditions are favorable to women and gender difference in self-esteem might be quadratic; when conditions improve, women's self-esteem (relative to that of men) trends downward but when conditions continue to improve, women's self-esteem begins to trend upward. Testing whether these relations generalize to subjective well-being, the present study found a quadratic relation between improving societal conditions and the gender difference in life satisfaction and positive affect (women are lower than men when societal conditions are moderately favorable compared to when they are at their worst and at their best); the relation was linear for negative emotion (women report more negative emotions than men when societal conditions are better). Directions for future research that will address potential explanations for these results are proposed.

HOW FUTURE MANAGERS VIEW SOCIETAL CULTURE: A CROSS-COUNTRY COMPARISON

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

CATANA DOINA

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Our study aims at enriching the existing literature about the prospective managers view of an ideal societal value system and the existing cultural practices in their society. The findings about the students' perception on cultural practices and their expectations about societal culture are helpful in imagining the societal culture in its dynamics. The research sample consists of 727 students in business and engineering on undergraduate and graduate levels from Romania and Slovenia. The reason we have chosen to compare Romanian sample with the cultural profile of the "average" future manager from Slovenia is the scientific curiosity of finding out if there are signs of cultural convergence of Romania with a previous communist country, and an older member of European Union. In doing so, our study will hopefully broaden the body of knowledge about the cultural convergence (or divergence? between the former socialist countries joining European Union. The theoretical and methodological foundation is rooted in GLOBE international research project. Our findings revealed that at practices level,Romanians perceive significant higher Power Distance and significant lower mean value for Uncertainty Avoidance. At the expectations level, the Romanians and Slovenians are very similar in the desire concerning their societies orientation toward In group/Family Collectivism, Assertiveness and Performance Orientation, and record significant differenced in all the other societal values. The fact that for all the cultural expectations the future managers assign different mean values than for the correspondent practices make us expect that they will act to change their cultural environments. Still, the cultural orientation of Romanian future middle managers will differ in many regards from the Slovenian sample averages.

Opportunities for Increasing Societal Value of Remote Sensing Data ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Opportunities for Increasing Societal Value of Remote Sensing Data in South Africa's Strategic Development Priorities: A Review. ... Despite the enormous capital required to fund remote sensing initiatives, governments ... HOW TO USE AJOL.

Identity Confusion and Materialism Mediate the Relationship Between Excessive Social Network Site Usage and Online Compulsive Buying.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharif, Saeed Pahlevan; Khanekharab, Jasmine

2017-08-01

This study investigates the mediating role of identity confusion and materialism in the relationship between social networking site (SNS) excessive usage and online compulsive buying among young adults. A total of 501 SNS users aged 17 to 23 years (M = 19.68, SD = 1.65) completed an online survey questionnaire. A serial multiple mediator model was developed and hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. The results showed that excessive young adult SNS users had a higher tendency toward compulsive buying online. This was partly because they experienced higher identity confusion and developed higher levels of materialism. Targeted psychological interventions seeking to gradually increase identity clarity to buffer the detrimental effects of SNS usage and identity confusion in young adults are suggested.

Graceful Failure and Societal Resilience Analysis Via Agent-Based Modeling and Simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Schopf, P. S.; Cioffi-Revilla, C.; Rogers, J. D.; Bassett, J.; Hailegiorgis, A. B.

2014-12-01

Agent-based social modeling is opening up new methodologies for the study of societal response to weather and climate hazards, and providing measures of resiliency that can be studied in many contexts, particularly in coupled human and natural-technological systems (CHANTS). Since CHANTS are complex adaptive systems, societal resiliency may or may not occur, depending on dynamics that lack closed form solutions. Agent-based modeling has been shown to provide a viable theoretical and methodological approach for analyzing and understanding disasters and societal resiliency in CHANTS. Our approach advances the science of societal resilience through computational modeling and simulation methods that complement earlier statistical and mathematical approaches. We present three case studies of social dynamics modeling that demonstrate the use of these agent based models. In Central Asia, we exmaine mutltiple ensemble simulations with varying climate statistics to see how droughts and zuds affect populations, transmission of wealth across generations, and the overall structure of the social system. In Eastern Africa, we explore how successive episodes of drought events affect the adaptive capacity of rural households. Human displacement, mainly, rural to urban migration, and livelihood transition particularly from pastoral to farming are observed as rural households interacting dynamically with the biophysical environment and continually adjust their behavior to accommodate changes in climate. In the far north case we demonstrate one of the first successful attempts to model the complete climate-permafrost-infrastructure-societal interaction network as a complex adaptive system/CHANTS implemented as a ``federated'' agent-based model using evolutionary computation. Analysis of population changes resulting from extreme weather across these and other cases provides evidence for the emergence of new steady states and shifting patterns of resilience.

Societal development and the impact of information technology ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

There are several theories on societal development, especially concerning issues that are affecting globalization. Those issues include the impact of information technology on developing countries of Africa, the social and cultural schools of thought on globalization of information technology, the defining issues that are ...

Internalized societal attitudes moderate the impact of weight stigma on avoidance of exercise.

Science.gov (United States)

Vartanian, Lenny R; Novak, Sarah A

2011-04-01

Experiences with weight stigma negatively impact both psychological outcomes (e.g., body dissatisfaction, depression) and behavioral outcomes (e.g., dieting, exercise). However, not everyone is equally affected by experiences with weight stigma. This study examined whether internalized societal attitudes about weight moderated the impact of weight stigma. Adult participants (n = 111) completed measures of experiences with weight stigma, as well as two indexes of internalized societal attitudes (the moderators): Internalized anti-fat attitudes and internalization of societal standards of attractiveness. Psychological outcomes included self-esteem, body dissatisfaction, drive for thinness, and bulimic symptoms; behavioral outcomes included avoidance of exercise and self-reported exercise behavior. Weight stigma was positively correlated with body dissatisfaction, drive for thinness, and bulimic symptoms, and was negatively correlated with state and trait self-esteem. Both indexes of internalized attitudes moderated the association between weight stigma and avoidance of exercise: Individuals high in anti-fat attitudes and high in internalization of societal standards of attractiveness were more motivated to avoid exercise if they also experienced a high degree of weight stigma; individuals low in anti-fat attitudes and low in internalization were relatively unaffected. Avoidance of exercise was negatively correlated with self-reported strenuous exercise. These findings suggest that weight stigma can negatively influence motivation to exercise, particularly among individuals who have internalized societal attitudes about weight. Reducing internalization might be a means of minimizing the negative impact of weight stigma and of facilitating healthy weight management efforts.

Impact of Economic Hardship and Financial Threat on Suicide Ideation and Confusion.

Science.gov (United States)

Fiksenbaum, Lisa; Marjanovic, Zdravko; Greenglass, Esther; Garcia-Santos, Francisco

2017-07-04

The present study tested the extent to which perceived economic hardship is associated with psychological distress (suicide ideation and confusion) after controlling for personal characteristics. It also explored whether perceived financial threat (i.e., fearful anxious-uncertainty about the stability and security of one's personal financial situation) mediates the relationship between economic hardship and psychological distress outcomes. The theoretical model was tested in a sample of Canadian students (n = 211) and was validated in a community sample of employed Portuguese adults (n = 161). In both samples, the fit of the model was good. Parameter estimates indicated that greater experience of economic hardship increased with financial threat, which in turn increased with levels of suicide ideation and confusion. We discuss the practical implications of these results, such as for programs aimed at alleviating the burden of financial hardship, in our concluding remarks.

Origins Space Telescope: Breaking the Confusion Limit

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Edward L.; Origins Space Telescope Science and Technology Definition Team

2018-01-01

The Origins Space Telescope (OST) is the mission concept for the Far-Infrared Surveyor, one of the four science and technology definition studies of NASA Headquarters for the 2020 Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal survey. Origins will enable flagship-quality general observing programs led by the astronomical community in the 2030s.OST will have a background-limited sensitivity for a background 27,000 times lower than the Herschel background caused by thermal emission from Herschel's warm telescope. For continuum observations the confusion limit in a diffraction-limited survey can be reached in very short integration times at longer far-infrared wavelengths. But the confusion limit can be pierced for both the nearest and the farthest objects to be observed by OST. For outer the Solar System the targets' motion across the sky will provide a clear signature in surveys repeated after an interval of days to months. This will provide a size-frequency distribution of TNOs that is not biased toward high albedo objects.For the distant Universe the first galaxies and the first metals will provide a third dimension of spectral information that can be measured with a long-slit, medium resolution spectrograph. This will allow 3Dmapping to measure source densities as a function of redshift. The continuum shape associated with sourcesat different redshifts can be derived from correlation analyses of these 3D maps.Fairly large sky areas can be scanned by moving the spacecraft at a constant angular rate perpendicular to the orientation of the long slit of the spectrograph, avoiding the high overhead of step-and-stare surveying with a large space observatory.We welcome you to contact the Science and Technology Definition Team (STDT) with your science needs and ideas by emailing us at ost_info@lists.ipac.caltech.edu

Societal entrepreneurship and its significance for a practical ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2011-10-05

Oct 5, 2011 ... First of all, our motivation to focus on society and social ... societal entrepreneurs are particularly focused on network .... hospitality and tourism industry (Orsmond 2008a:195−196; ..... built on previous experience and technical knowledge as ... nevertheless committed to letting their employees share in.

Lorenzo Cini, Società civile e democrazia radicale

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Chiara Pievatolo

2013-02-01

Full Text Available La nostra collana Methexis ha pubblicato ad accesso aperto il volume di Lorenzo Cini, Società civile e democrazia radicale, Firenze, Firenze University Press, 2012. La versione digitale del testo, in formato PDF, è a disposizione di tutti presso l’archivio elettronico dell'editore.

The appeal of nostalgia: the influence of societal pessimism on support for populist radical right parties

OpenAIRE

Steenvoorden, E. (Eefje); Harteveld, E. (Eelco)

2017-01-01

textabstractIn the literature, explanations of support for populist radical right (PRR) parties usually focus on voters’ socio-structural grievances, political discontent or policy positions. This article suggests an additional and possibly overarching explanation: societal pessimism. The central argument is that the nostalgic character of PRR ideology resonates with societal pessimism among its voters. Using European Social Survey data from 2012, the study compares levels of societal pessimi...

Mirror-Image Confusions: Implications for Representation and Processing of Object Orientation

Science.gov (United States)

Gregory, Emma; McCloskey, Michael

2010-01-01

Perceiving the orientation of objects is important for interacting with the world, yet little is known about the mental representation or processing of object orientation information. The tendency of humans and other species to confuse mirror images provides a potential clue. However, the appropriate characterization of this phenomenon is not…

Dyscalculia, Dysgraphia, and Left-Right Confusion from a Left Posterior Peri-Insular Infarct

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Bhattacharyya

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The Gerstmann syndrome of dyscalculia, dysgraphia, left-right confusion, and finger agnosia is generally attributed to lesions near the angular gyrus of the dominant hemisphere. A 68-year-old right-handed woman presented with sudden difficulty completing a Sudoku grid and was found to have dyscalculia, dysgraphia, and left-right confusion. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI showed a focus of abnormal reduced diffusivity in the left posterior insula and temporoparietal operculum consistent with acute infarct. Gerstmann syndrome from an insular or peri-insular lesion has not been described in the literature previously. Pathological and functional imaging studies show connections between left posterior insular region and inferior parietal lobe. We postulate that the insula and operculum lesion disrupted key functional networks resulting in a pseudoparietal presentation.

Dyscalculia, dysgraphia, and left-right confusion from a left posterior peri-insular infarct.

Science.gov (United States)

Bhattacharyya, S; Cai, X; Klein, J P

2014-01-01

The Gerstmann syndrome of dyscalculia, dysgraphia, left-right confusion, and finger agnosia is generally attributed to lesions near the angular gyrus of the dominant hemisphere. A 68-year-old right-handed woman presented with sudden difficulty completing a Sudoku grid and was found to have dyscalculia, dysgraphia, and left-right confusion. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a focus of abnormal reduced diffusivity in the left posterior insula and temporoparietal operculum consistent with acute infarct. Gerstmann syndrome from an insular or peri-insular lesion has not been described in the literature previously. Pathological and functional imaging studies show connections between left posterior insular region and inferior parietal lobe. We postulate that the insula and operculum lesion disrupted key functional networks resulting in a pseudoparietal presentation.

How the Spectre of Societal Homogeneity Undermines Equitable Healthcare for Refugees

Science.gov (United States)

Razum, Oliver; Wenner, Judith; Bozorgmehr, Kayvan

2017-01-01

Recourse to a purported ideal of societal homogeneity has become common in the context of the refugee reception crisis – not only in Japan, as Leppold et al report, but also throughout Europe. Calls for societal homogeneity in Europe originate from populist movements as well as from some governments. Often, they go along with reduced social support for refugees and asylum seekers, for example in healthcare provision. The fundamental right to health is then reduced to a citizens’ right, granted fully only to nationals. Germany, in spite of welcoming many refugees in 2015, is a case in point: entitlement and access to healthcare for asylum seekers are restricted during the first 15 months of their stay. We show that arguments brought forward to defend such restrictions do not hold, particularly not those which relate to maintaining societal homogeneity. European societies are not homogeneous, irrespective of migration. But as migration will continue, societies need to invest in what we call "globalization within." Removing entitlement restrictions and access barriers to healthcare for refugees and asylum seekers is one important element thereof. PMID:28812828

`Hard science': a career option for socially and societally interested students? Grade 12 students' vocational interest gap explored

Science.gov (United States)

Struyf, Annemie; Boeve-de Pauw, Jelle; Van Petegem, Peter

2017-11-01

A key theme in science education research concerns the decline in young peoples' interest in science and the need for professionals in hard science. Goal Congruity Theory posits that an important aspect of the decision whether to pursue hard science for study or as a career is the perception that hard science careers do not fulfil social (working with people) and societal (serving or helping others) interests. In this qualitative study, we explore grade 12 students' perceptions about the social and societal orientation of hard science careers. Furthermore, we investigate the variation in students' social and societal interests. Six focus groups were conducted with 58 grade 12 students in Flanders. Our results indicate that a number of students hold stereotypical views about hard science careers' social orientation, while others believe cooperation with others is an important aspect of hard science careers nowadays. Furthermore, our results show that students believe hard science careers can be societally oriented in the sense that they often associate them with innovation or societal progress. Finally, our results indicate that students may differentiate direct versus indirect societal orientation. These findings contribute to literature regarding social and societal interests and students' perceptions of hard science careers.

The how and why of societal publications for citizen science projects and scientists.

Science.gov (United States)

van Vliet, Arnold J H; Bron, Wichertje A; Mulder, Sara

2014-05-01

In the scientific community, the importance of communication to society is often underestimated. Scientists and scientific organisations often lack the skills to organise such communication effectively. The Dutch citizen science phenology network Nature's Calendar has been successful in communicating to the general public via numerous newspaper articles, television appearances, presentations, websites and social media. We refer to these publications as societal publications. Due to active communication to mass media, we frequently reach millions of people. This communication helped us to involve thousands of volunteers in recording the timing of phenological events like the start of flowering, leaf unfolding and bird migration, but also several health-related events like hay fever symptoms and tick bites. In this paper, we analyse and present our experiences with the Nature's Calendar project regarding societal publications. Based on this analysis, we explain the importance of societal publications for citizen science projects and scientists in general, and we show how scientists can increase the news worthiness of scientific information and what factors and activities can increase the chances of media paying attention to this news. We show that societal publications help phenological networks by facilitating the recruitment, retention and instruction of observers. Furthermore, they stimulate the generation of new ideas and partners that lead to an increase in knowledge, awareness and behavioural change of the general public or specific stakeholders. They make projects, and scientists involved, better known to the public and increase their credibility and authority. Societal publications can catalyse the production of new publications, thereby enforcing the previous mentioned points.

The how and why of societal publications for citizen science projects and scientists

Science.gov (United States)

van Vliet, Arnold J. H.; Bron, Wichertje A.; Mulder, Sara

2014-05-01

In the scientific community, the importance of communication to society is often underestimated. Scientists and scientific organisations often lack the skills to organise such communication effectively. The Dutch citizen science phenology network Nature's Calendar has been successful in communicating to the general public via numerous newspaper articles, television appearances, presentations, websites and social media. We refer to these publications as societal publications. Due to active communication to mass media, we frequently reach millions of people. This communication helped us to involve thousands of volunteers in recording the timing of phenological events like the start of flowering, leaf unfolding and bird migration, but also several health-related events like hay fever symptoms and tick bites. In this paper, we analyse and present our experiences with the Nature's Calendar project regarding societal publications. Based on this analysis, we explain the importance of societal publications for citizen science projects and scientists in general, and we show how scientists can increase the newsworthiness of scientific information and what factors and activities can increase the chances of media paying attention to this news. We show that societal publications help phenological networks by facilitating the recruitment, retention and instruction of observers. Furthermore, they stimulate the generation of new ideas and partners that lead to an increase in knowledge, awareness and behavioural change of the general public or specific stakeholders. They make projects, and scientists involved, better known to the public and increase their credibility and authority. Societal publications can catalyse the production of new publications, thereby enforcing the previous mentioned points.

EARNED INCOME CREDIT: Opportunities To Make Recertification Program Less Confusing and More Consistent

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

2002-01-01

.... While it is important to ensure that all persons eligible for the EIC receive it, equally important is the need to identify and deny erroneous claims, whether due to fraud, negligence, or confusion...

Societal megatrends and trends in vehicle technologies

OpenAIRE

Duysinx, Pierre

2018-01-01

The confrence enviions the future trends in automotive technologies at the light of societal megatrends. Different emerging technologies for the vehicle powertrain are envisionned for the next decade: piston engines with natural gas, battery electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, fuel cells systems. In addition one must also consider the arrival of autonomous driving and of the race for lightweight design of cars.

Reduced Discrimination in the Tritanopic Confusion Line for Congenital Color Deficiency Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Costa, Marcelo F; Goulart, Paulo R K; Barboni, Mirella T S; Ventura, Dora F

2016-01-01

In congenital color blindness the red-green discrimination is impaired resulting in an increased confusion between those colors with yellow. Our post-receptoral physiological mechanisms are organized in two pathways for color perception, a red-green (protanopic and deuteranopic) and a blue-yellow (tritanopic). We argue that the discrimination losses in the yellow area in congenital color vision deficiency subjects could generate a subtle loss of discriminability in the tritanopic channel considering discrepancies with yellow perception. We measured color discrimination thresholds for blue and yellow of tritanopic channel in congenital color deficiency subjects. Chromaticity thresholds were measured around a white background (0.1977 u', 0.4689 v' in the CIE 1976) consisting of a blue-white and white-yellow thresholds in a tritanopic color confusion line of 21 congenital colorblindness subjects (mean age = 27.7; SD = 5.6 years; 14 deuteranomalous and 7 protanomalous) and of 82 (mean age = 25.1; SD = 3.7 years) normal color vision subjects. Significant increase in the whole tritanopic axis was found for both deuteranomalous and protanomalous subjects compared to controls for the blue-white (F 2,100 = 18.80; p color confusion axis is significantly reduced in congenital color vision deficiency compared to normal subjects. Since yellow discrimination was impaired the balance of the blue-yellow channels is impaired justifying the increased thresholds found for blue-white discrimination. The weighting toward the yellow region of the color space with the deuteranomalous contributing to that perceptual distortion is discussed in terms of physiological mechanisms.

A Process Towards Societal Value within a Community-Based Regional Development Project

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Åslund

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Processes, activities and tasks of a community-based area development project are described. The main process has been used three times and a model is presented. An earlier developed process map has been verified. The description of the project can help other communities to plan development projects. The illustration can be valuable for entrepreneurs who are planning a societal value initiative and for decision-makers and stakeholders who can contribute to, are concerned with, or may be affected by societal entrepreneurship. Observation, participating studies, dokumentations and an interview with the project leader has been carried out. Data have been analyzed and compared with the previously developed process map to achieve a deeper understanding of the processes within societal entrepreneurship. The purpose was to study and describe the processes of a community-based area development project and to compare it with a previously developed process map and to verify the process map.

Defensive medicine: No wonder policymakers are confused.

Science.gov (United States)

Kapp, Marshall B

2016-01-01

Discussions regarding defensive medical practice often result in proposals for public policy actions. Such proposals generally are premised on assumptions about defensive medicine, namely, that it (a) is driven by physicians' legal anxieties, (b) constitutes bad medical practice, (c) drives up health care costs, (d) varies depending on a jurisdiction's particular tort law climate, (e) depends on medical specialty and a physician's own prior experience as a malpractice defendant, and (f) is a rational response to actual legal risks confronting physicians. This article examines a sample of recent literature focusing on defensive medicine and finds that the messages conveyed vary widely, helping to explain the confusion experienced by many policymakers trying to improve the quality and affordability of health care.

Confusão de línguas, trauma e hospitalidade em Sándor Ferenczi

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alan Osmo

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Neste trabalho discutimos as ideias de confusão de línguas, de trauma e de hospitalidade no campo psicanalítico. Para Ferenczi, a relação adulto-criança é marcada por uma confusão decorrente de uma diferença de línguas, de forma que muitas vezes um não entende o outro. Nesse contexto, é possível a emergência do trauma patogênico. A experiência analítica, ao invés de levar o acontecimento traumático a domínios psíquicos melhores, pode reproduzir e até agravar o que foi vivido como catastrófico na infância. Neste sentido, o princípio de hospitalidade na clínica analítica é de suma importância para se evitar uma possível reprodução do trauma entre analista e analisando. Neste artigo utilizamos como referência principal a obra de Sándor Ferenczi, estabelecendo relações em alguns pontos com textos de Jacques Derrida e de Walter Benjamin, que discutem a origem da confusão de línguas e o problema da possibilidade da tradução.

Societal learning in epidemics: intervention effectiveness during the 2003 SARS outbreak in Singapore.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John M Drake

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Rapid response to outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases is impeded by uncertain diagnoses and delayed communication. Understanding the effect of inefficient response is a potentially important contribution of epidemic theory. To develop this understanding we studied societal learning during emerging outbreaks wherein patient removal accelerates as information is gathered and disseminated. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We developed an extension of a standard outbreak model, the simple stochastic epidemic, which accounts for societal learning. We obtained expressions for the expected outbreak size and the distribution of epidemic duration. We found that rapid learning noticeably affects the final outbreak size even when learning exhibits diminishing returns (relaxation. As an example, we estimated the learning rate for the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS in Singapore. Evidence for relaxation during the first eight weeks of the outbreak was inconclusive. We estimated that if societal learning had occurred at half the actual rate, the expected final size of the outbreak would have reached nearly 800 cases, more than three times the observed number of infections. By contrast, the expected outbreak size for societal learning twice as effective was 116 cases. CONCLUSION: These results show that the rate of societal learning can greatly affect the final size of disease outbreaks, justifying investment in early warning systems and attentiveness to disease outbreak by both government authorities and the public. We submit that the burden of emerging infections, including the risk of a global pandemic, could be efficiently reduced by improving procedures for rapid detection of outbreaks, alerting public health officials, and aggressively educating the public at the start of an outbreak.

Access. Challenge for Change/Societe Nouvelle Number Eleven.

Science.gov (United States)

Prinn, Elizabeth, Ed.

Access is a journal published three or four times a year by Challenge for Change/Societe Nouvelle (CCSN). CCSN is an experimental program established by the Government of Canada as a cooperative effort between the National Film Board of Canada and certain of the Government's departments. Its purposes are to improve communications, create greater…

Impacts of National Decarbonization Targets for Subnational Societal Priorities

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, W.; Iyer, G.

2017-12-01

Carbon mitigation has well-recognized linkages with other environmental and socioeconomic priorities, such as air pollution, economic development, employment, etc. While climate change is a global issue, many other societal priorities are local concerns. Since local efforts form the pillars of achieving co-benefits and avoiding dis-benefits at the national level, it is critical to go beyond national-level analyses and focus on the synergies and tradeoffs at the subnational level. Here we use the United States as an example to evaluate the impacts of mid-century national-level deep decarbonization target for state-level societal priorities. Based on the Global Change Assessment Model with state-level details for the US (GCAM-USA), we design two mid-century scenarios: A Reference scenario that assumes the U.S. undertakes no additional climate mitigation policy, and a Deep Decarbonization Scenario that assumes the U.S. achieves the NDC goal through 2025 (26-28% reduction relative to 2005 levels) and then follows a straight-line trajectory to 80% reductions in economy-wide GHG emissions by 2050 relative to 2005. We then compare these two scenarios for a variety of metrics of carbon mitigation and other societal priorities in 2050. We highlight two findings. First, the synergies and tradeoffs of carbon mitigation with other societal goals at the subnational level can be quite different from the national level. For example, while deep decarbonization could improve national energy security by reducing the overall dependence on energy imports, it may exacerbate energy independence goals for some states by increasing inter-state electricity imports. Second, achieving national-level decarbonization target could result in unequal regional impacts across states. We find uneven geographic impacts for air pollution (more co-reductions occur in the eastern states), economic costs (energy prices increase more in the northeastern states) and employment (jobs increase in the western

On the societal nature of praxis and organic research

Science.gov (United States)

Roth, Wolff-Michael

2016-03-01

In its focus on social practices, the feature article presents an interesting theoretical framework for rethinking not only where and how knowing and learning in science education exhibit themselves but also we might change our own research practice. The framework is not new to me, as I have advocated it explicitly for more than 15 years. But over time it became apparent to me that some particularities of participation in practice may be grounded more strongly in an orientation towards the societal nature of any human praxis. In this forum contribution, I present a theoretical approach built on societal-historical activity theory that also takes activism as a major category for theorizing participation. This approach not only covers the extent of the social practice framework but also allows us to make thematic the production of inequity and restrictions to access science and engineering that are characteristic of many societies.

Individual and societal consequences of hypoglycemia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dømgaard, Mikala; Bagger, Malene; Rhee, Nicolai Alexander

2015-01-01

BACKGROUND: Hypoglycemia and fear of hypoglycemia threaten individuals' ability to work and drive. We studied the effect of hypoglycemia on the individual and society, with a focus on possible implications of new European union legislation on patients' continued ability to drive. METHODS: A cross......-sectional survey of Danish Diabetes Association members was conducted to investigate individual and societal consequences of hypoglycemia. RESULTS: A total of 3117/9951 individuals with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) (32.2%) or type 2 diabetes (T2DM) (67.8%) completed the survey. The calculated incidence rates of self...

Integrating Socioeconomic Data into GEOSS to Enable Societal Benefits

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, R. S.; Yetman, G.

2009-12-01

Achieving the GEOSS vision of societal benefits from Earth observation data is a multi-faceted challenge. Linking Earth observation systems into an interoperable system of systems is an important first step, but not sufficient on its own to fulfill the ambitious GEOSS goal of improving decision making for disaster mitigation, public health, ecosystem and resource management, agriculture, and the other societal benefit areas. Significant attention needs to be given to interdisciplinary data integration, especially with regard to incorporating data and information on human activities and welfare into monitoring, modeling, and prediction activities. For example, the ability to assess, monitor, and predict the risks posed by different natural hazards is predicated on an understanding of the underlying exposure and vulnerability of different human populations and their economic assets to past, present, and future hazardous events. The NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) has pioneered the integration of socioeconomic data with remote sensing data within the NASA Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) and has contributed actively to both phase 1 and 2 of the GEOSS Architecture Implementation Pilot. We present here several use cases for socioeconomic data integration in GEOSS and recent experience in developing an interoperable Web Processing Service (WPS) for estimating population exposure as part of the GEOSS initial operating capability. We also discuss key scientific, technical, and policy challenges to developing GEOSS products and services that will be able to meet the needs of both interdisciplinary and applied users and in so doing help achieve the GEOSS goal of generating significant societal benefits.

The Serbian idea in an era of confused historical consciousness

OpenAIRE

Mitrović Milovan M.

2011-01-01

This paper, represents a hypothetical consideration of the phenomenology of the Serbian national idea, within the traumatic circumstances of the breakup of the Yugoslav state at the end of the 20th century, when the Serbian national issue was reopened in an exceptionally unfavorable geopolitical context for the Serbian people. The author specifically analyzes the ideological and political factors behind the Serbian confusion with the theoretical framework of Agnes Heller's critical interpreta...

Access. Challenge for Change/Societe Nouvelle Number Twelve.

Science.gov (United States)

Prinn, Elizabeth, Ed.; Henaut, Dorothy Todd, Ed.

This issue of Access, the journal issued periodically by Challenge for Change/Societe Nouvelle, contains two groups of articles. The first focuses upon the Skyriver Project, relating how a project was developed which used film and video tape as a means of helping Alaskan communities to assess their own needs and to advocate for themselves the…

IMAGING THE EPOCH OF REIONIZATION: LIMITATIONS FROM FOREGROUND CONFUSION AND IMAGING ALGORITHMS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vedantham, Harish; Udaya Shankar, N.; Subrahmanyan, Ravi

2012-01-01

Tomography of redshifted 21 cm transition from neutral hydrogen using Fourier synthesis telescopes is a promising tool to study the Epoch of Reionization (EoR). Limiting the confusion from Galactic and extragalactic foregrounds is critical to the success of these telescopes. The instrumental response or the point-spread function (PSF) of such telescopes is inherently three dimensional with frequency mapping to the line-of-sight (LOS) distance. EoR signals will necessarily have to be detected in data where continuum confusion persists; therefore, it is important that the PSF has acceptable frequency structure so that the residual foreground does not confuse the EoR signature. This paper aims to understand the three-dimensional PSF and foreground contamination in the same framework. We develop a formalism to estimate the foreground contamination along frequency, or equivalently LOS dimension, and establish a relationship between foreground contamination in the image plane and visibility weights on the Fourier plane. We identify two dominant sources of LOS foreground contamination—'PSF contamination' and 'gridding contamination'. We show that PSF contamination is localized in LOS wavenumber space, beyond which there potentially exists an 'EoR window' with negligible foreground contamination where we may focus our efforts to detect EoR. PSF contamination in this window may be substantially reduced by judicious choice of a frequency window function. Gridding and imaging algorithms create additional gridding contamination and we propose a new imaging algorithm using the Chirp Z Transform that significantly reduces this contamination. Finally, we demonstrate the analytical relationships and the merit of the new imaging algorithm for the case of imaging with the Murchison Widefield Array.

Corruption, Politics and Societal values in Tanzania: An evaluation ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Corruption, Politics and Societal values in Tanzania: An evaluation of the Mkapa administration's anti corruption efforts. Bruce Heilman, Lawrean Ndumbaro. Abstract. (Af. J. Political Science: 2001 7(1): 1-20). Full Text: EMAIL FULL TEXT EMAIL FULL TEXT · DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT.

Subdural Empyema Presenting with Seizure, Confusion, and Focal Weakness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David I Bruner

2012-12-01

Full Text Available While sinusitis is a common ailment, intracranial suppurative complications of sinusitis are rare and difficult to diagnose and treat. The morbidity and mortality of intracranial complications of sinusitis have decreased significantly since the advent of antibiotics, but diseases such as subdural empyemas and intracranial abscesses still occur, and they require prompt diagnosis, treatment, and often surgical drainage to prevent death or long-term neurologic sequelae. We present a case of an immunocompetent adolescent male with a subdural empyema who presented with seizures,confusion, and focal arm weakness after a bout of sinusitis.

Subdural Empyema Presenting with Seizure, Confusion, and Focal Weakness

Science.gov (United States)

Bruner, David I.; Littlejohn, Lanny; Pritchard, Amy

2012-01-01

While sinusitis is a common ailment, intracranial suppurative complications of sinusitis are rare and difficult to diagnose and treat. The morbidity and mortality of intracranial complications of sinusitis have decreased significantly since the advent of antibiotics, but diseases such as subdural empyemas and intracranial abscesses still occur, and they require prompt diagnosis, treatment, and often surgical drainage to prevent death or long-term neurologic sequelae. We present a case of an immunocompetent adolescent male with a subdural empyema who presented with seizures, confusion, and focal arm weakness after a bout of sinusitis. PMID:23358438

Risk assessment and societal choices

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Otway, H J

1975-02-15

Many countries are experiencing a period in which traditional values are being questioned; plans for further technological progress are being met by a variety of demands for a closer examination of the benefits and risks of large-scale technologies. In this paper the concepts of risk assessment are presented and a model is proposed which illustrates the importance of socio-psychological mechanisms in the acceptance of technological risks. The research plan of the Joint IAEA/IIASA Research Project is outlined: this work is directed toward gaining an improved understanding of how societies judge the acceptability of technologies and how societal attitudes and anticipated responses may be better integrated into the decision-making process. Some preliminary results are reported. (author)

Risk assessment and societal choices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Otway, H.J.

1975-01-01

Many countries are experiencing a period in which traditional values are being questioned; plans for further technological progress are being met by a variety of demands for a closer examination of the benefits and risks of large-scale technologies. In this paper the concepts of risk assessment are presented and a model is proposed which illustrates the importance of socio-psychological mechanisms in the acceptance of technological risks. The research plan of the Joint IAEA/IIASA Research Project is outlined: this work is directed toward gaining an improved understanding of how societies judge the acceptability of technologies and how societal attitudes and anticipated responses may be better integrated into the decision-making process. Some preliminary results are reported. (author)

Perceptual Confusions of the Manual Alphabet by Naive, Trained, and Familiar Users.

Science.gov (United States)

Hawes, M. Dixie; Danhauer, Jeffrey L.

1980-01-01

An investigation of the confusion resulting from reliance on visual perceptual teachers in the identification of dactylemes (handshapes) in the American Manual Alphabet (MA) is reported. A hierarchy of errors varying with subjects' degree of expertness in the MA is established. This can help manual communication teachers develop techniques for…

Low-literates’ support needs for societal participation learning : Empirical grounding of theory- and model-based design

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schouten, D.G.M.; Paulissen, R.T.; Hanekamp, M.; Groot, A.; Neerincx, M.A.; Cremers, A.H.M.

2017-01-01

Specialized learning support software can address the low societal participation of low-literate Dutch citizens. We use the situated Cognitive Engineering method to iteratively create a design specification for the envisioned system VESSEL: a Virtual Environment to Support the Societal participation

Is the societal burden of fatal occupational injury different among NORA industry sectors?

Science.gov (United States)

Biddle, Elyce Anne

2013-02-01

Since the implementation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, safety and health in the work environment has seen marked improvement. Although these improvements are laudable, workplace hazards continue to plague the American worker. Understanding the economic burden of fatalities by industry sector is important to setting broad occupational safety and health research priorities. Cost estimates provide additional information about how fatal injuries affect society and hence can improve injury prevention program planning, policy analysis, evaluation, and advocacy. This study estimated the total, mean, and median societal costs by worker and case characteristic in 2003-2006 for the industry sectors identified in the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA). Analyses were conducted with restricted access to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries data. These data exclude military personnel, decedents with unknown age or sex, and fatalities occurring in New York City. Societal costs were estimated using the cost-of-illness approach, which combines direct and indirect costs to yield an overall cost of an fatal occupational injury. During this period, the cost of the 22,197 fatal occupational injuries exceeded $21 billion. The mean and median costs of these fatalities were $960,000 and $944,000 respectively. Total societal costs by NORA sector ranged from a high of $5.8 billion in Services to a low of $530 million in Healthcare and Social Assistance with mean costs ranging from the nearly $800,000 in Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing to almost $1.1 million in Mining. The societal costs-total, mean, and median costs-of case and worker characteristics for occupational fatal injuries varied within each NORA sector. To have the greatest societal impact, these costs can be used to target resources for public and private sector research by industry. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Is the Societal burden of fatal occupational injury different among NORA industry sectors?

Science.gov (United States)

Biddle, Elyce Anne

2015-01-01

Problem Since the implementation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, safety and health in the work environment has seen marked improvement. Although these improvements are laudable, workplace hazards continue to plague the American worker. Understanding the economic burden of fatalities by industry sector is important to setting broad occupational safety and health research priorities. Cost estimates provide additional information about how fatal injuries affect society and hence can improve injury prevention program planning, policy analysis, evaluation, and advocacy. Method This study estimated the total, mean, and median societal costs by worker and case characteristic in 2003–2006 for the industry sectors identified in the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA). Analyses were conducted with restricted access to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries data. These data exclude military personnel, decedents with unknown age or sex, and fatalities occurring in New York City. Societal costs were estimated using the cost-of-illness approach, which combines direct and indirect costs to yield an overall cost of an fatal occupational injury. Results During this period, the cost of the 22,197 fatal occupational injuries exceeded $21 billion. The mean and median costs of these fatalities were $960,000 and $944,000 respectively. Total societal costs by NORA sector ranged from a high of $5.8 billion in Services to a low of $530 million in Healthcare and Social Assistance with mean costs ranging from the nearly $800,000 in Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing to almost $1.1 million in Mining. Discussion The societal costs—total, mean, and median costs—of case and worker characteristics for occupational fatal injuries varied within each NORA sector. Impact on Industry To have the greatest societal impact, these costs can be used to target resources for public and private sector

Econometric models for predicting confusion crop ratios

Science.gov (United States)

Umberger, D. E.; Proctor, M. H.; Clark, J. E.; Eisgruber, L. M.; Braschler, C. B. (Principal Investigator)

1979-01-01

Results for both the United States and Canada show that econometric models can provide estimates of confusion crop ratios that are more accurate than historical ratios. Whether these models can support the LACIE 90/90 accuracy criterion is uncertain. In the United States, experimenting with additional model formulations could provide improved methods models in some CRD's, particularly in winter wheat. Improved models may also be possible for the Canadian CD's. The more aggressive province/state models outperformed individual CD/CRD models. This result was expected partly because acreage statistics are based on sampling procedures, and the sampling precision declines from the province/state to the CD/CRD level. Declining sampling precision and the need to substitute province/state data for the CD/CRD data introduced measurement error into the CD/CRD models.

Conspiracy theories as part of history: The role of societal crisis situations.

Science.gov (United States)

van Prooijen, Jan-Willem; Douglas, Karen M

2017-07-01

In the present contribution, we examine the link between societal crisis situations and belief in conspiracy theories. Contrary to common assumptions, belief in conspiracy theories has been prevalent throughout human history. We first illustrate historical incidents suggesting that societal crisis situations-defined as impactful and rapid societal change that calls established power structures, norms of conduct, or even the existence of specific people or groups into question-have stimulated belief in conspiracy theories. We then review the psychological literature to explain why this is the case. Evidence suggests that the aversive feelings that people experience when in crisis-fear, uncertainty, and the feeling of being out of control-stimulate a motivation to make sense of the situation, increasing the likelihood of perceiving conspiracies in social situations. We then explain that after being formed, conspiracy theories can become historical narratives that may spread through cultural transmission. We conclude that conspiracy theories originate particularly in crisis situations and may form the basis for how people subsequently remember and mentally represent a historical event.

The Influence of Psychological and Societal Factors on Student ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study examined the influence of psychological and societal factors on students' performance in mathematics at Senior Secondary School Level in. Ilorin metropolis of Kwara state. A simple random sampling technique was used to sample three hundred secondary school students who supplied information on the ...

Development of stock markets, societal norms and legal institutions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Garretsen, Harry; Lensink, Robert; Sterken, Elmer

2000-01-01

We explain the development of stock markets by both legal and societal determinants and analyze the relevance of both determinants in the Levine-Zervos (1998) cross-sectional growth regressions. We argue that the legal indicators as developed by La Porta, Lopez-de-Silanes, Shleifer and Vishny (1998)

To freeze or not to freeze embryos: clarity, confusion and conflict.

Science.gov (United States)

Goswami, Mohar; Murdoch, Alison P; Haimes, Erica

2015-06-01

Although embryo freezing is a routine clinical practice, there is little contemporary evidence on how couples make the decision to freeze their surplus embryos, or of their perceptions during that time. This article describes a qualitative study of 16 couples who have had in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment. The study question was 'What are the personal and social factors that patients consider when deciding whether to freeze embryos?' We show that while the desire for a baby is the dominant drive, couples' views revealed more nuanced and complex considerations in the decision-making process. It was clear that the desire to have a baby influenced couples' decision-making and that they saw freezing as 'part of the process'. However, there were confusions associated with the term 'freezing' related to concerns about the safety of the procedure. Despite being given written information, couples were confused about the practical aspects of embryo freezing, which suggests they were preoccupied with the immediate demands of IVF. Couples expressed ethical conflicts about freezing 'babies'. We hope the findings from this study will inform clinicians and assist them in providing support to couples confronted with this difficult decision-making.

SKB's program for societal research 2004-2011. An evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soederberg, Olof

2012-04-01

This evaluation of the program of societal research that SKB conducted the years 2004-2011 has been performed on behalf of Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company (SKB). The review has focused on answers to a series of questions as follows: General questions - Why was a program started? - What was SKB's purpose with the program? - Does the result mean that the objective has been achieved? - Has the program had effects (positive or negative) that were not anticipated when the purpose was formulated? - Strengths and weaknesses of the program? Questions about the implementation - How did announcement and selection procedures work? - Which forms were used for reporting results from the research projects? Questions about the continued investment in societal research - Are there such needs? - In that case, is it in SKB's interest to contribute financially to such research? - What forms might be appropriate if SKB sees interest to contribute financially to such research?

Mapping the Delivery of Societal Benefit through the International Arctic Observations Assessment Framework

Science.gov (United States)

Lev, S. M.; Gallo, J.

2017-12-01

The international Arctic scientific community has identified the need for a sustained and integrated portfolio of pan-Arctic Earth-observing systems. In 2017, an international effort was undertaken to develop the first ever Value Tree framework for identifying common research and operational objectives that rely on Earth observation data derived from Earth-observing systems, sensors, surveys, networks, models, and databases to deliver societal benefits in the Arctic. A Value Tree Analysis is a common tool used to support decision making processes and is useful for defining concepts, identifying objectives, and creating a hierarchical framework of objectives. A multi-level societal benefit area value tree establishes the connection from societal benefits to the set of observation inputs that contribute to delivering those benefits. A Value Tree that relies on expert domain knowledge from Arctic and non-Arctic nations, international researchers, Indigenous knowledge holders, and other experts to develop a framework to serve as a logical and interdependent decision support tool will be presented. Value tree examples that map the contribution of Earth observations in the Arctic to achieving societal benefits will be presented in the context of the 2017 International Arctic Observations Assessment Framework. These case studies will highlight specific observing products and capability groups where investment is needed to contribute to the development of a sustained portfolio of Arctic observing systems.

Trading of shares in the Societates Publicanorum?

OpenAIRE

Poitras, Geoffrey; Geranio, Manuela

2016-01-01

This paper demonstrates the often repeated modern claim of significant trading in ‘shares of the societates publicanorum’ (partes) during the late Roman Republic cannot be supported using the available ‘primary sources’. Building on recent contributions detailing the economy of the late Republic, in general, and the tax farming activities of the publicani, in particular, an alternative more plausible legal and commercial explanation of the ‘primary sources’ – especially In Vatinium [12.29] an...

Professionalism and maintenance of certification: using vignettes describing interpersonal dilemmas to stimulate reflection and learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Bernabeo, Elizabeth C; Reddy, Siddharta G; Ginsburg, Shiphra; Holmboe, Eric S

2014-01-01

Physicians do not always agree on "rules" governing behavior in professionally challenging situations. Little is known about contextual factors that influence physician approaches in these situations. We explored the individual-, social-, and societal-level factors that physicians consider when responding to 2 common professional dilemmas. We were particularly interested in knowing the extent to which physicians engage in self-reflection as a result of responding to the vignettes. A cross-sectional Web-based survey was sent to a random sample of 396 physicians, prompting them to respond to scripted professional dilemmas. A total of 120 physicians responded, yielding a response rate of 32.6%. Physicians responded to these dilemmas in highly variable ways, negotiating a complex array of contextual factors in their decisions. Interacting factors involving individual-level physician (eg, worry, guilt), patient (eg, nature of medical condition or relationship with patient), and social/societal (eg, policy, what peers or colleagues do) were important drivers in physician responses. Qualitative analysis revealed that several interacting themes guide physician approaches to professional dilemmas: patient welfare; types of patients; political, ethical, or legal issues; guiding principles; values; rules; and habits. Physicians negotiate a complex set of individual-, social-, and societal-level factors in response to professional dilemmas. This finding has important implications for the promotion and assessment of professional behavior in practicing physicians. Reflecting on scenarios may be an opportunity for physicians to learn about how and why they make decisions in difficult situations. © 2014 The Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions, the Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education, and the Council on Continuing Medical Education, Association for Hospital Medical Education.

Countering Climate Confusion in the Classroom: New Methods and Initiatives

Science.gov (United States)

McCaffrey, M.; Berbeco, M.; Reid, A. H.

2014-12-01

Politicians and ideologues blocking climate education through legislative manipulation. Free marketeers promoting the teaching of doubt and controversy to head off regulation. Education standards and curricula that skim over, omit, or misrepresent the causes, effects, risks and possible responses to climate change. Teachers who unknowingly foster confusion by presenting "both sides" of a phony scientific controversy. All of these contribute to dramatic differences in the quality and quantity of climate education received by U.S. students. Most U.S. adults and teens fail basic quizzes on energy and climate basics, in large part, because climate science has never been fully accepted as a vital component of a 21st-century science education. Often skipped or skimmed over, human contributions to climate change are sometimes taught as controversy or through debate, perpetuating a climate of confusion in many classrooms. This paper will review recent history of opposition to climate science education, and explore initial findings from a new survey of science teachers on whether, where and how climate change is being taught. It will highlight emerging effective pedagogical practices identified in McCaffrey's Climate Smart & Energy Wise, including the role of new initiatives such as the Next Generation Science Standards and Green Schools, and detail efforts of the Science League of America in countering denial and doubt so that educators can teach consistently and confidently about climate change.

Confusion and Agitation after a Recent Kidney Transplantation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hussein Magdi

2008-01-01

Full Text Available A 51-year-old man, who received a living related transplant from his wife and anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG as induction therapy, developed delayed graft function after transplantation. One day after he received an i.v. dose of ganciclovir, the patient developed hallucinations, confusion and agitation, which worsened the following day. CT-scan of the brain and cerebrospinal fluid were unremarkable. Ganciclovir-induced encepha-lopathy was considered the most likely reason for the patient′s neurological condition, since he recovered completely a few days after discontinuation of this drug. Since anti-CMV prophylactic treatment is now widely used after transplantation, a high index of suspicion is required to diagnose ganciclovir (or acyclovir induced neurotoxicity.

High levels of confusion for cholesterol awareness campaigns.

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Danika V

2008-09-15

Earlier this year, two industry-sponsored advertising campaigns for cholesterol awareness that target the general public were launched in Australia. These campaigns aimed to alert the public to the risks associated with having high cholesterol and encouraged cholesterol testing for wider groups than those specified by the National Heart Foundation. General practitioners should be aware of the potential for the two campaigns to confuse the general public as to who should be tested, and where. The campaign sponsors (Unilever Australasia and Pfizer) each have the potential to benefit by increased market share for their products, and increased profits. These disease awareness campaigns are examples of what is increasingly being termed "condition branding" by pharmaceutical marketing experts.

Reduced Discrimination in the Tritanopic Confusion Line for Congenital Color Deficiency Adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcelo Fernandes Costa

2016-03-01

Full Text Available In congenital color blindness the red-green discrimination is impaired resulting in an increased confusion between those colors with yellow. Our post-receptoral physiological mechanisms are organized in two pathways for color perception, a red-green (protanopic and deuteranopic and a blue-yellow (tritanopic. We argue that the discrimination losses in the yellow area in congenital color vision deficiency subjects could generate a subtle loss of discriminability in the tritanopic channel considering discrepancies with yellow perception. We measured color discrimination thresholds for blue and yellow of tritanopic channel in congenital color deficiency subjects. Chromaticity thresholds were measured around a white background (0.1977 u’, 0.4689 v’ in the CIE 1976 consisting of a blue-white and white-yellow thresholds in a tritanopic color confusion line of 21 congenital colorblindness subjects (mean age = 27.7; SD= 5.6 years; 14 deuteranomalous and 7 protanomalous and of 82 (mean age = 25.1; SD= 3.7 years normal color vision subjects. Significant increase in the whole tritanopic axis was found for both deuteranomalous and protanomalous subjects compared to controls for the blue-white (F2,100= 18.80; p< 0.0001 and white-yellow (F2,100= 22.10; p< 0.0001 thresholds. A Principal Component Analysis found a weighting toward to the yellow thresholds induced by deuteranomalous subjects. In conclusion, the discrimination in the tritanopic color confusion axis is significantly reduced in congenital color vision deficiency compared to normal subjects. Since yellow discrimination was impaired the balance of the blue-yellow channels is impaired justifying the increased thresholds found for blue-white discrimination. The weighting toward the yellow region of the color space with the deuteranomalous contributing to that perceptual distortion is discussed in terms of physiological mechanisms.

The effect of cognitive load on social categorization in the category confusion paradigm

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Spears, R; Haslam, SA; Jansen, R

1999-01-01

The category confusion paradigm (Taylor, Fiske, Etcoff & Ruderman, 1978) was used to examine the relationship between cognitive load and the extent of social categorization. The original prediction made by Taylor et al. (1978; Experiment 2) and inferences from the cognitive miser model suggest that

Measuring societal effects of transdisciplinary research projects: design and application of an evaluation method.

Science.gov (United States)

Walter, Alexander I; Helgenberger, Sebastian; Wiek, Arnim; Scholz, Roland W

2007-11-01

Most Transdisciplinary Research (TdR) projects combine scientific research with the building of decision making capacity for the involved stakeholders. These projects usually deal with complex, societally relevant, real-world problems. This paper focuses on TdR projects, which integrate the knowledge of researchers and stakeholders in a collaborative transdisciplinary process through structured methods of mutual learning. Previous research on the evaluation of TdR has insufficiently explored the intended effects of transdisciplinary processes on the real world (societal effects). We developed an evaluation framework for assessing the societal effects of transdisciplinary processes. Outputs (measured as procedural and product-related involvement of the stakeholders), impacts (intermediate effects connecting outputs and outcomes) and outcomes (enhanced decision making capacity) are distinguished as three types of societal effects. Our model links outputs and outcomes of transdisciplinary processes via the impacts using a mediating variables approach. We applied this model in an ex post evaluation of a transdisciplinary process. 84 out of 188 agents participated in a survey. The results show significant mediation effects of the two impacts "network building" and "transformation knowledge". These results indicate an influence of a transdisciplinary process on the decision making capacity of stakeholders, especially through social network building and the generation of knowledge relevant for action.

Conflicts and con-fusions confounding compassion in acute care: Creating dialogical moral space.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Jenny; Strube, Petra; Mitchell, Marion; Henderson, Amanda

2017-01-01

Compassion, understood as empathy for another who is experiencing physical, mental, emotional and/or spiritual suffering, is an essential element of our shared understandings of nursing and the constitution of the professional nurse. Theoretical foundation: Charles Taylor account of ethics which concerns 'what or who is it good to be' rather than the predominant analytical moral philosophy approach which concentrates on 'what ought one to do' is the core concern of this discussion. An ontological appreciation of our shared human condition is the premise upon which the discussion is based. This article proposes that concept by opening a dialogical space, nurses can engage in reflection and sense making wherein they explore individually and collectively the conflicts and confusions encountered in their day-to-day work. Through their dialogues, nurses - individually and collectively - orient and reorient themselves and each other towards what they see as meaningful and purposeful in their lives and in doing so they are well positioned to reaffirm their commitment to compassion as a value which both anchors and orients their day-to-day work. The provision of opportunities in the workplace, in the form of dialogue, to articulate often unspoken assumptions and frameworks in which nursing work is carried out can not only initiate the building of pathways of support but also assist nurses reaffirm their compassion - arguably the essence of their nursing practice.

Mental Rotation Does Not Account for Sex Differences in Left-Right Confusion

Science.gov (United States)

Ocklenburg, Sebastian; Hirnstein, Marco; Ohmann, Hanno Andreas; Hausmann, Markus

2011-01-01

Several studies have demonstrated that women believe they are more prone to left-right confusion (LRC) than men. However, while some studies report that there is also a sex difference in LRC tasks favouring men, others report that men and women perform equally well. Recently, it was suggested that sex differences only emerge in LRC tasks when they…

Geospatial decision support systems for societal decision making

Science.gov (United States)

Bernknopf, R.L.

2005-01-01

While science provides reliable information to describe and understand the earth and its natural processes, it can contribute more. There are many important societal issues in which scientific information can play a critical role. Science can add greatly to policy and management decisions to minimize loss of life and property from natural and man-made disasters, to manage water, biological, energy, and mineral resources, and in general, to enhance and protect our quality of life. However, the link between science and decision-making is often complicated and imperfect. Technical language and methods surround scientific research and the dissemination of its results. Scientific investigations often are conducted under different conditions, with different spatial boundaries, and in different timeframes than those needed to support specific policy and societal decisions. Uncertainty is not uniformly reported in scientific investigations. If society does not know that data exist, what the data mean, where to use the data, or how to include uncertainty when a decision has to be made, then science gets left out -or misused- in a decision making process. This paper is about using Geospatial Decision Support Systems (GDSS) for quantitative policy analysis. Integrated natural -social science methods and tools in a Geographic Information System that respond to decision-making needs can be used to close the gap between science and society. The GDSS has been developed so that nonscientists can pose "what if" scenarios to evaluate hypothetical outcomes of policy and management choices. In this approach decision makers can evaluate the financial and geographic distribution of potential policy options and their societal implications. Actions, based on scientific information, can be taken to mitigate hazards, protect our air and water quality, preserve the planet's biodiversity, promote balanced land use planning, and judiciously exploit natural resources. Applications using the

Preparation to care for confused older patients in general hospitals: a study of UK health professionals.

Science.gov (United States)

Griffiths, Amanda; Knight, Alec; Harwood, Rowan; Gladman, John R F

2014-07-01

in the UK, two-thirds of patients in general hospitals are older than 70, of whom half have dementia or delirium or both. Our objective was to explore doctors, nurses and allied health professionals' perceptions of their preparation to care for confused older patients on general hospital wards. : using a quota sampling strategy across 11 medical, geriatric and orthopaedic wards in a British teaching hospital, we conducted 60 semi-structured interviews with doctors, nurses and allied healthcare professionals and analysed the data using the Consensual Qualitative Research approach. : there was consensus among participants that education, induction and in-service training left them inadequately prepared and under-confident to care for confused older patients. Many doctors reported initial assessments of confused older patients as difficult. They admitted inadequate knowledge of mental health disorders, including the diagnostic features of delirium and dementia. Handling agitation and aggression were considered top priorities for training, particularly for nurses. Multidisciplinary team meetings were highly valued but were reported as too infrequent. Participants valued specialist input but reported difficulties gaining such support. Communication with confused patients was regarded as particularly challenging, both in terms of patients making their needs known, and staff conveying information to patients. Participants reported emotional and behavioural responses including frustration, stress, empathy, avoidance and low job satisfaction. : our findings indicate that a revision of training across healthcare professions in the UK is required, and that increased specialist support should be provided, so that the workforce is properly prepared to care for older patients with cognitive problems. © The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Geriatrics Society.

Implementation of computer-based patient records in primary care: the societal health economic effects.

OpenAIRE

Arias-Vimárlund, V.; Ljunggren, M.; Timpka, T.

1996-01-01

OBJECTIVE: Exploration of the societal health economic effects occurring during the first year after implementation of Computerised Patient Records (CPRs) at Primary Health Care (PHC) centres. DESIGN: Comparative case studies of practice processes and their consequences one year after CPR implementation, using the constant comparison method. Application of transaction-cost analyses at a societal level on the results. SETTING: Two urban PHC centres under a managed care contract in Ostergötland...

Factors influencing societal response of nanotechnology : an expert stakeholder analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gupta, N.; Fischer, A.R.H.; Lans, van der I.A.; Frewer, L.J.

2012-01-01

Nanotechnology can be described as an emerging technology and, as has been the case with other emerging technologies such as genetic modification, different socio-psychological factors will potentially influence societal responses to its development and application. These factors will play an

Cellular hemangioma and angioblastoma of the spine, originally classified as hemangioendothelioma. A confusing diagnosis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Been, H. D.; Fidler, M. W.; Bras, J.

1994-01-01

The authors report two cases of vascular tumors of the spine, classified originally as benign and malignant hemangioendothelioma, and after revision, as cellular hemangioma and angioblastomatosis, respectively. Problems in interpretation of the confusing term hemangioendothelioma and treatment

The yes and the No - and the in between - reflections on inclusive school development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bladt, Mette; Tofteng, Ditte Maria Børglum

at schools. Themes which in an overall perspective, connects to a vision for a democratic school development and a inclusive educational sector. The project is conducted as an action research project. This means in short that the project is occupied with three key features: participation, democracy...... the kids) at the school. This participatory approach is underlining the notion of democracy which is both connected to the projects own organization, but also connected to the broader societal development of inclusive education as something which the actors at the school could be important players...... science which is a strong part of our own work reality being employed at a University college. Action research and the project as a way to develop new ways of thinking inclusive education and schools. And as a last point, what kind of reflection back to the societal and political level does the results...

Good research practices for measuring drug costs in cost-effectiveness analyses: a societal perspective: the ISPOR Drug Cost Task Force report--Part II.

Science.gov (United States)

Garrison, Louis P; Mansley, Edward C; Abbott, Thomas A; Bresnahan, Brian W; Hay, Joel W; Smeeding, James

2010-01-01

Major guidelines regarding the application of cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) have recommended the common and widespread use of the "societal perspective" for purposes of consistency and comparability. The objective of this Task Force subgroup report (one of six reports from the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research [ISPOR] Task Force on Good Research Practices-Use of Drug Costs for Cost Effectiveness Analysis [Drug Cost Task Force (DCTF)]) was to review the definition of this perspective, assess its specific application in measuring drug costs, identify any limitations in theory or practice, and make recommendations regarding potential improvements. Key articles, books, and reports in the methodological literature were reviewed, summarized, and integrated into a draft review and report. This draft report was posted for review and comment by ISPOR membership. Numerous comments and suggestions were received, and the report was revised in response to them. The societal perspective can be defined by three conditions: 1) the inclusion of time costs, 2) the use of opportunity costs, and 3) the use of community preferences. In practice, very few, if any, published CEAs have met all of these conditions, though many claim to have taken a societal perspective. Branded drug costs have typically used actual acquisition cost rather than the much lower social opportunity costs that would reflect only short-run manufacturing and distribution costs. This practice is understandable, pragmatic, and useful to current decision-makers. Nevertheless, this use of CEA focuses on static rather than dynamic efficacy and overlooks the related incentives for innovation. Our key recommendation is that current CEA practice acknowledge and embrace this limitation by adopting a new standard for the reference case as one of a "limited societal" or "health systems" perspective, using acquisition drug prices while including indirect costs and community preferences. The

Challenge Based Innovation: Translating Fundamental Research into Societal Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Kurikka, Joona; Utriainen, Tuuli; Repokari, Lauri

2016-01-01

This paper is based on work done at IdeaSquare, a new innovation experiment at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research. The paper explores the translation of fundamental research into societal applications with the help of multidisciplinary student teams, project- and problem-based learning and design thinking methods. The theme is…

Productive interactions for societal impact: Developing a research information system for agriculture (RIS-Agric) at Stellenbosch University, South Africa

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Boshoff, N.; Esterhuyse, H.

2016-07-01

Assessments of the societal impact of research rely on primary data as input to the relevant indicators. In the current project, the data collection for indicator construction is guided by the SIAMPI approach to societal impact assessment. According to SIAMPI, the achievement of societal impact involves two elements: stakeholders and productive interactions. The latter includes three kinds of interactions: direct personal interactions; indirect interactions where contact is mediated by a material or human ‘carrier’; and financial interactions that refer to the economic exchanges between researchers and stakeholders. The question to be explored is whether the assessment of the societal impact of research can be facilitated by capturing any direct, indirect and financial interactions between researchers and societal stakeholders in a research information system. CREST/SciSTIP is developing such a system, called RIS-Agric, in cooperation with the Faculty of AgriSciences at Stellenbosch University and four agricultural research funders in South Africa that represent different agricultural commodities. A RIS with productive interactions at its core – and the funded research project as the unit of observation – will produce the necessary data for indicators linked to the societal impact of research, in addition to generating insights about the ‘pathway’ from research to societal impact. The indicators need to be ‘socially robust’ in the sense that their validation processes should include the research beneficiaries and their representatives. In doing so, RIS-Agric will produce a useful, standardised measurement mechanism that is aligned across the different commodities. The focus on productive interactions will be supplemented by other methods in order to enable the quantification of societal impact in the form of ‘impact scores’. (Author)

Controllable and reversible inversion of the electronic structure in nickel N-confused porphyrin: a case when MCD matters.

Science.gov (United States)

Sripothongnak, Saovalak; Ziegler, Christopher J; Dahlby, Michael R; Nemykin, Victor N

2011-08-01

Nickel N-confused tetraphenylporphyrin, 1, and nickel 2-N-methyl-N-confused tetraphenylporphyrin, 1-Me, exhibit unusual sign-reversed (positive-to-negative intensities in ascending energy) MCD spectra in the Q-type band region, suggesting a rare ΔHOMO ΔLUMO combination characteristic for the meso-(tetraaryl)porphyrins. DFT, time-dependent DFT, and semiempirical ZINDO/S calculations on 1, 1-Me, and 1(-) confirm the experimental finding and successfully explain the MCD pattern in the target compounds. © 2011 American Chemical Society

Linguistic confusion in economics: utility, causality, product differentiation, and the supply of natural resources.

Science.gov (United States)

Simon, J L

1982-01-01

Lack of careful attention to the language used in the discussion of economic concepts has resulted in considerable confusion and error. 2 frequent sources of confusion include tautology and the absence of operational definitions of concepts. This paper outlines a more effective scientific practice through reference to 2 economic examples: 1) the concept of utility, where it is demonstrated that choice of an operational definition of the concept facilitates interpersonal comparisons; and 2) causality, where a multidimensional operational definition is needed to discriminate among the various meanings of the term in theoretical, empirical, and policy contexts. The paper further discusses the example of natural resource scarcity, where application of the term "finite" reveals that there is no empirical evidence of physical limits to growth in the use of resources. A more appropriate measure of scarcity is the economic concept of price.

Model Based Reasoning by Introductory Students When Analyzing Earth Systems and Societal Challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Holder, L. N.; Herbert, B. E.

2014-12-01

Understanding how students use their conceptual models to reason about societal challenges involving societal issues such as natural hazard risk assessment, environmental policy and management, and energy resources can improve instructional activity design that directly impacts student motivation and literacy. To address this question, we created four laboratory exercises for an introductory physical geology course at Texas A&M University that engages students in authentic scientific practices by using real world problems and issues that affect societies based on the theory of situated cognition. Our case-study design allows us to investigate the various ways that students utilize model based reasoning to identify and propose solutions to societally relevant issues. In each of the four interventions, approximately 60 students in three sections of introductory physical geology were expected to represent and evaluate scientific data, make evidence-based claims about the data trends, use those claims to express conceptual models, and use their models to analyze societal challenges. Throughout each step of the laboratory exercise students were asked to justify their claims, models, and data representations using evidence and through the use of argumentation with peers. Cognitive apprenticeship was the foundation for instruction used to scaffold students so that in the first exercise they are given a partially completed model and in the last exercise students are asked to generate a conceptual model on their own. Student artifacts, including representation of earth systems, representation of scientific data, verbal and written explanations of models and scientific arguments, and written solutions to specific societal issues or environmental problems surrounding earth systems, were analyzed through the use of a rubric that modeled authentic expertise and students were sorted into three categories. Written artifacts were examined to identify student argumentation and

Revealing the consequences and errors of substance arising from the inverse confusion between the crystal (ligand) field quantities and the zero-field splitting ones

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rudowicz, Czesław, E-mail: crudowicz@zut.edu.pl [Institute of Physics, West Pomeranian University of Technology, Al. Piastów 17, 70-310 Szczecin (Poland); Karbowiak, Mirosław [Faculty of Chemistry, University of Wrocław, ul. F. Joliot-Curie 14, 50-383 Wrocław (Poland)

2015-01-01

Survey of recent literature has revealed a doubly-worrying tendency concerning the treatment of the two distinct types of Hamiltonians, namely, the physical crystal field (CF), or equivalently ligand field (LF), Hamiltonians and the zero-field splitting (ZFS) Hamiltonians, which appear in the effective spin Hamiltonians (SH). The nature and properties of the CF (LF) Hamiltonians have been mixed up in various ways with those of the ZFS Hamiltonians. Such cases have been identified in a rapidly growing number of studies of the transition-ion based systems using electron magnetic resonance (EMR), optical spectroscopy, and magnetic measurements. These findings have far ranging implications since these Hamiltonians are cornerstones for interpretation of magnetic and spectroscopic properties of the single transition ions in various crystals or molecules as well as the exchange coupled systems (ECS) of transition ions, e.g. single molecule magnets (SMM) or single ion magnets (SIM). The seriousness of the consequences of such conceptual problems and related terminological confusions has reached a level that goes far beyond simple semantic issues or misleading keyword classifications of papers in journals and scientific databases. The prevailing confusion, denoted as the CF=ZFS confusion, pertains to the cases of labeling the true ZFS quantities as purportedly the CF (LF) quantities. Here we consider the inverse confusion between the CF (LF) quantities and the SH (ZFS) ones, denoted the ZFS=CF confusion, which consists in referring to the parameters (or Hamiltonians), which are the true CF (LF) quantities, as purportedly the ZFS (or SH) quantities. Specific cases of the ZFS=CF confusion identified in recent textbooks, reviews and papers, especially SMM- and SIM-related ones, are surveyed and the pertinent misconceptions are clarified. The serious consequences of the terminological confusions include misinterpretation of data from a wide range of experimental techniques and

The Societal Benefits and Costs of School Dropout Recovery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

James S. Catterall

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This article reports an analysis of the societal benefits and costs of recovering school dropouts. Successful recovery is defined by subsequent graduation from high school. The analysis is based on established estimates of the societal costs of dropping out including reduced government tax collections and higher social costs of welfare, healthcare, and crime. These potential costs are cast as benefits when a dropout is recovered. A large dropout recovery program provides the setting for the analysis. Rigorous attention is given to accurate estimation of the number of students who would not have graduated without the program in the year assessed and to the induced public costs of their continued education. Estimated benefits are weighed against the total annual public costs of the program, which operates in 65 school centers and commands an annual budget of about $70 million. The estimated benefit-cost ratio for this program is 3 to 1, a figure comparable to benefit-cost ratio estimates reported in studies of dropout prevention. The sensitivity of this conclusion to specific assumptions within the analysis is discussed.

Critical Infrastructure for Ocean Research and Societal Needs in 2030

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

National Research Council

2011-04-22

The United States has jurisdiction over 3.4 million square miles of ocean expanse greater than the land area of all fifty states combined. This vast marine area offers researchers opportunities to investigate the ocean's role in an integrated Earth system, but also presents challenges to society, including damaging tsunamis and hurricanes, industrial accidents, and outbreaks of waterborne diseases. The 2010 Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Horizon oil spill and 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami are vivid reminders that a broad range of infrastructure is needed to advance our still-incomplete understanding of the ocean. The National Research Council (NRC)'s Ocean Studies Board was asked by the National Science and Technology Council's Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology, comprised of 25 U.S. government agencies, to examine infrastructure needs for ocean research in the year 2030. This request reflects concern, among a myriad of marine issues, over the present state of aging and obsolete infrastructure, insufficient capacity, growing technological gaps, and declining national leadership in marine technological development; issues brought to the nation's attention in 2004 by the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. A 15-member committee of experts identified four themes that encompass 32 future ocean research questions enabling stewardship of the environment, protecting life and property, promoting economic vitality, and increasing fundamental scientific understanding. Many of the questions in the report (e.g., sea level rise, sustainable fisheries, the global water cycle) reflect challenging, multidisciplinary science questions that are clearly relevant today, and are likely to take decades of effort to solve. As such, U.S. ocean research will require a growing suite of ocean infrastructure for a range of activities, such as high quality, sustained time series observations or autonomous monitoring at a broad range of spatial and temporal scales

EBM, HTA, and CER: clearing the confusion.

Science.gov (United States)

Luce, Bryan R; Drummond, Michael; Jönsson, Bengt; Neumann, Peter J; Schwartz, J Sanford; Siebert, Uwe; Sullivan, Sean D

2010-06-01

The terms evidence-based medicine (EBM), health technology assessment (HTA), comparative effectiveness research (CER), and other related terms lack clarity and so could lead to miscommunication, confusion, and poor decision making. The objective of this article is to clarify their definitions and the relationships among key terms and concepts. This article used the relevant methods and policy literature as well as the websites of organizations engaged in evidence-based activities to develop a framework to explain the relationships among the terms EBM, HTA, and CER. This article proposes an organizing framework and presents a graphic demonstrating the differences and relationships among these terms and concepts. More specific terminology and concepts are necessary for an informed and clear public policy debate. They are even more important to inform decision making at all levels and to engender more accountability by the organizations and individuals responsible for these decisions.

Self-concept clarity buffers the impact of societal threat to safety on right-wing authoritarianism.

Science.gov (United States)

Russo, Silvia; Manzi, Claudia; Roccato, Michele

2017-01-01

Exposure to societal threat can elicit an increase in right-wing authoritarianism (RWA). In this study, using a quasi-experimental vignette design (Italian community sample, N = 86), we tested the moderating role of self-concept clarity (SCC). A moderated regression showed that manipulated societal threat to safety fostered RWA only among low SCC scorers. It is concluded that SCC is an important resource for individuals facing threat conditions.

Autonomous technology - sources of confusion: a model for explanation and prediction of conceptual shifts.

Science.gov (United States)

Stensson, Patrik; Jansson, Anders

2014-01-01

Today, autonomous is often used for technology with a more intelligent self-management capability than common automation. This concept usage is maladaptive, ignoring both the distinction between autonomy and heteronomy according to Kant's categorical imperative and that the meaning of autonomy implies qualities technology cannot have. Being autonomous is about having the right to be wrong, a right justified by accountability and insightful understanding of real-life values, and it is about being externally uncontrollable. The contemporary use of autonomy as well as similar concepts is discussed and a model is presented showing how six sources of confusion interact in a vicious circle that impede human authority and autonomy. Our goal is to sort out these confusions and contribute to a development in which the different roles of machines and people, and human responsibilities, are explicated rather than blurred, which should facilitate the forming of truly beneficial and complementary systems.

Novas mediações societárias entre o público e o privado

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rotta, Edemar

2003-01-01

Full Text Available A crise do capitalismo e do socialismo real, no final do século vinte, desencadeia uma rediscussão a respeito de novos projetos societários. Retoma-se a reflexão em torno dos fundamentos da modernidade, procurando compreender as bases em que foram construídos os “modelos” societários e que problemas apresentaram em seu processo de implementação prática. Essa reflexão demonstra os limites do projeto moderno e evoca os diversos atores sociais a explicitarem suas propostas de organização societária a partir dos condicionantes que vivem em suas realidades concretas e das possibilidades que possuem. Esse texto procura apresentar alguns aspectos de como ocorre essa reflexão na Fronteira Noroeste do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, que vive um momento importante de discussão a respeito de suas possibilidades de desenvolvimento

Societal costs of home and hospital end-of-life care for palliative care patients in Ontario, Canada.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Mo; Guerriere, Denise N; Coyte, Peter C

2015-11-01

In Canada, health system restructuring has led to a greater focus on home-based palliative care as an alternative to institutionalised palliative care. However, little is known about the effect of this change on end-of-life care costs and the extent to which the financial burden of care has shifted from the acute care public sector to families. The purpose of this study was to assess the societal costs of end-of-life care associated with two places of death (hospital and home) using a prospective cohort design in a home-based palliative care programme. Societal cost includes all costs incurred during the course of palliative care irrespective of payer (e.g. health system, out-of-pocket, informal care-giving costs, etc.). Primary caregivers of terminal cancer patients were recruited from the Temmy Latner Centre for Palliative Care in Toronto, Canada. Demographic, service utilisation, care-giving time, health and functional status, and death data were collected by telephone interviews with primary caregivers over the course of patients' palliative trajectory. Logistic regression was conducted to model an individual's propensity for home death. Total societal costs of end-of-life care and component costs were compared between home and hospital death using propensity score stratification. Costs were presented in 2012 Canadian dollars ($1.00 CDN = $1.00 USD). The estimated total societal cost of end-of-life care was $34,197.73 per patient over the entire palliative trajectory (4 months on average). Results showed no significant difference (P > 0.05) in total societal costs between home and hospital death patients. Higher hospitalisation costs for hospital death patients were replaced by higher unpaid caregiver time and outpatient service costs for home death patients. Thus, from a societal cost perspective, alternative sites of death, while not associated with a significant change in total societal cost of end-of-life care, resulted in changes in the distribution of

Cultural estrangement: the role of personal and societal value discrepancies.

Science.gov (United States)

Bernard, Mark M; Gebauer, Jochen E; Maio, Gregory R

2006-01-01

Study 1 examined whether cultural estrangement arises from discrepancies between personal and societal values (e.g., freedom) rather than from discrepancies in attitudes toward political (e.g., censorship) or mundane (e.g., pizza) objects. The relations between different types of value discrepancies, estrangement, subjective well-being, and need for uniqueness also were examined. Results indicated that personal-societal discrepancies in values and political attitudes predicted estrangement, whereas mundane attitude discrepancies were not related to estrangement. As expected, value discrepancies were the most powerful predictor of estrangement. Value discrepancies were not related to subjective well-being but fulfilled a need for uniqueness. Study 2 replicated the relations between value discrepancies, subjective well-being, and need for uniqueness while showing that a self-report measure of participants' values and a peer-report measure of the participants' values yielded the same pattern of value discrepancies. Together, the studies reveal theoretical and empirical benefits of conceptualizing cultural estrangement in terms of value discrepancies.

What's in a Name? Moral Education and Terminological Precision.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheek, Dallas Henderson; Cheek, Carole Maxwell

1993-01-01

Although many blame societal relativism for lack of moral vision, the term "moral education" is not being used with clarity and specificity. Confusing it with values/ethics/character training makes curricular application difficult. (SK)

Review of the Nomenclature of the Retaining Ligaments of the Cheek: Frequently Confused Terminology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yeui Seok Seo

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Since the time of its inception within facial anatomy, wide variability in the terminology as well as the location and extent of retaining ligaments has resulted in confusion over nomenclature. Confusion over nomenclature also arises with regard to the subcutaneous ligamentous attachments, and in the anatomic location and extent described, particularly for zygomatic and masseteric ligaments. Certain historical terms—McGregor’s patch, the platysma auricular ligament, parotid cutaneous ligament, platysma auricular fascia, temporoparotid fasica (Lore’s fascia, anterior platysma-cutaneous ligament, and platysma cutaneous ligament—delineate retaining ligaments of related anatomic structures that have been conceptualized in various ways. Confusion around the masseteric cutaneous ligaments arises from inconsistencies in their reported locations in the literature because the size and location of the parotid gland varies so much, and this affects the relationship between the parotid gland and the fascia of the masseter muscle. For the zygomatic ligaments, there is disagreement over how far they extend, with descriptions varying over whether they extend medially beyond the zygomaticus minor muscle. Even the ‘main’ zygomatic ligament’s denotation may vary depending on which subcutaneous plane is used as a reference for naming it. Recent popularity in procedures using threads or injectables has required not only an accurate understanding of the nomenclature of retaining ligaments, but also of their location and extent. The authors have here summarized each retaining ligament with a survey of the different nomenclature that has been introduced by different authors within the most commonly cited published papers.

Revealing the consequences and errors of substance arising from the inverse confusion between the crystal (ligand) field quantities and the zero-field splitting ones

Science.gov (United States)

Rudowicz, Czesław; Karbowiak, Mirosław

2015-01-01

Survey of recent literature has revealed a doubly-worrying tendency concerning the treatment of the two distinct types of Hamiltonians, namely, the physical crystal field (CF), or equivalently ligand field (LF), Hamiltonians and the zero-field splitting (ZFS) Hamiltonians, which appear in the effective spin Hamiltonians (SH). The nature and properties of the CF (LF) Hamiltonians have been mixed up in various ways with those of the ZFS Hamiltonians. Such cases have been identified in a rapidly growing number of studies of the transition-ion based systems using electron magnetic resonance (EMR), optical spectroscopy, and magnetic measurements. These findings have far ranging implications since these Hamiltonians are cornerstones for interpretation of magnetic and spectroscopic properties of the single transition ions in various crystals or molecules as well as the exchange coupled systems (ECS) of transition ions, e.g. single molecule magnets (SMM) or single ion magnets (SIM). The seriousness of the consequences of such conceptual problems and related terminological confusions has reached a level that goes far beyond simple semantic issues or misleading keyword classifications of papers in journals and scientific databases. The prevailing confusion, denoted as the CF=ZFS confusion, pertains to the cases of labeling the true ZFS quantities as purportedly the CF (LF) quantities. Here we consider the inverse confusion between the CF (LF) quantities and the SH (ZFS) ones, denoted the ZFS=CF confusion, which consists in referring to the parameters (or Hamiltonians), which are the true CF (LF) quantities, as purportedly the ZFS (or SH) quantities. Specific cases of the ZFS=CF confusion identified in recent textbooks, reviews and papers, especially SMM- and SIM-related ones, are surveyed and the pertinent misconceptions are clarified. The serious consequences of the terminological confusions include misinterpretation of data from a wide range of experimental techniques and

High Religiosity and Societal Dysfunction in the United States during the First Decade of the Twenty-First Century

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Georges Delamontagne

2010-10-01

Full Text Available This study provides independent empirical evidence that bears upon the truth or falsity of recently formulated hypotheses regarding reciprocal relationships between levels of religiosity and societal dysfunction. Gregory S. Paul's findings, published in the Journal of Religion and Society (2005, Free Inquiry (2008, and Evolutionary Psychology (2009, have demonstrated that high degrees of theism are associated with high degrees of societal dysfunction among the prosperous democracies. Whereas his research employs numerous scatter diagrams and bivariate correlations involving measures of religiosity and societal dysfunction pertaining to 17 nation states, the current study's units of analysis are the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Additionally, the utilization of multiple regression analysis allows the detection of the effects of other potentially relevant explanatory variables, such as educational attainment, income level, and race. The findings are only minimally supportive of Paul's hypotheses regarding the contributions of high religiosity to societal dysfunction and to the effects of societal dysfunction upon religiosity. Simultaneously, the results of correlational and regression analyses attest to the more substantial explanatory power of the social inequality variables of education, income, and race. Accordingly, it is argued that “American Exceptionalism,” when understood as referring to a society manifesting the coexistence of high levels of theism and high levels of societal dysfunction, is best explained by the United States' high degree of social inequality, compared with other modern industrialized democracies.

Radiation technology in ground nut improvement and societal deployment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murty, G.S.S.; Badigannavar, A.M.; Kale, D.M.

2004-01-01

The best way to summarize the impact of mutation research in ground nut for societal deployment is for 1) developing suitable varieties for different agro-climatic zones in the country, 2) providing a source material for developing new varieties by other universities, 3) replacing traditional crops with TG varieties, 4) transforming socioeconomic status of peanut peasants and 5) enhanced ground nut productivity

Societal perspective on the burden of migraine in The Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Roijen, L.; Essink-Bot, M. L.; Koopmanschap, M. A.; Michel, B. C.; Rutten, F. F.

1995-01-01

This study presents a comprehensive overview of the societal burden of migraine in The Netherlands. We assessed the direct and indirect costs of this disease, and the health status of patients with migraine. We developed the 'illness and labour' (I&L) questionnaire to collect data on the effect of

Character and Citizenship Education: Conversations between Personal and Societal Values

Science.gov (United States)

Sim, Jasmine B.-Y.; Low, Ee Ling

2012-01-01

The theme of this special issue is "Character and Citizenship Education: Conversations between Personal and Societal Values." Character education and citizenship education, taken separately or as a single entity are currently riding high on the political and educational policy agendas of several governments (Arthur, 2003; Berkowitz & Bier, 2007;…

In Defense of Societal Issues as Organizers for School Science.

Science.gov (United States)

Yager, Robert E.

1983-01-01

Offers a defense of societal issues as organizers for school science programs in response to criticisms of this thesis discussed in SE 534 649. Indicates that there appears to be no evidence that using nontraditional topics as organizers will make science more subject to manipulation and perversion. (JN)

Inclusion of salt form on prescription medication labeling as a source of patient confusion: a pilot study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

McDougall DJ

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Background: It has been estimated that 10,000 patient injuries occur in the US annually due to confusion involving drug names. An unexplored source of patient misunderstandings may be medication salt forms. Objective: The objective of this study was to assess patient knowledge and comprehension regarding the salt forms of medications as a potential source of medication errors. Methods: A 12 item questionnaire which assessed patient knowledge of medication names on prescription labels was administered to a convenience sample of patients presenting to a family practice clinic. Descriptive statistics were calculated and multivariate analyses were performed. Results: There were 308 responses. Overall, 41% of patients agreed they find their medication names confusing. Participants correctly answered to salt form questions between 12.1% and 56.9% of the time. Taking more prescription medications and higher education level were positively associated with providing more correct answers to 3 medication salt form knowledge questions, while age was negatively associated. Conclusions: Patient misconceptions about medication salt forms are common. These findings support recommendations to standardize the inclusion or exclusion of salt forms. Increasing patient education is another possible approach to reducing confusion.

Societal acceptance of wind farms: Analysis of four common themes across Australian case studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hall, N.; Ashworth, P.; Devine-Wright, P.

2013-01-01

Australia's renewable energy target (RET) seeks to provide 20 per cent of Australia's electricity generation from renewable energy sources by 2020. As wind power is relatively advanced, it was anticipated that wind power will contribute a major component of the early target. However, high levels of societal resistance to wind farms, combined with new regulatory policies, indicate the RET may not be dominated by wind power. This research involved an examination of seven case studies around wind farm deployment. Qualitative interviews were the primary data for the case studies and analysed using methods informed by grounded theory. Despite the diversity of stakeholder views, the qualitative analysis identified strong community support for wind farms but four common themes emerged that influence this societal acceptance of wind farms in Australia: trust, distributional justice, procedural justice and place attachment. Without addressing these factors through integration into policy development and engagement approaches, wind energy is unlikely to provide the early and majority of new renewable energy. Similar international experiences are incorporated in the discussion of the Australian wind industry's societal acceptance. - Highlights: ► Seven case studies of wind farms in Australia are described. ► Acceptance affects whether wind significantly contributes to the Aust. RE target. ► Four themes were identified regarding societal acceptance of Australian wind farms. ► Four themes are trust, distributional and procedural justice, and place attachment. ► International similarities to the Australian experience are provided

Attempt at a de-confusion. Units, biological effects of radiation limits and their meaning

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mueck, K

1986-01-01

In the wake of the Chernobyl accident the public was greatly confused by the press because units quite unknown before used and large numbers suggested danger; the meaning of limits for radionuclide concentrations in foods was also misunderstood. The present paper attempts a clarification. (G.Q.).

Taking a Societal Sector Perspective on Youth Learning and Development

Science.gov (United States)

McLaughlin, Milbrey; London, Rebecca A.

2013-01-01

A societal sector perspective looks to a broad array of actors and agencies responsible for creating the community contexts that affect youth learning and development. We demonstrate the efficacy of this perspective by describing the Youth Data Archive, which allows community partners to define issues affecting youth that transcend specific…

Predicting consonant recognition and confusions in normal-hearing listeners

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zaar, Johannes; Dau, Torsten

2017-01-01

, Kollmeier, and Kohlrausch [(1997). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 102, 2892–2905]. The model was evaluated based on the extensive consonant perception data set provided by Zaar and Dau [(2015). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 138, 1253–1267], which was obtained with normal-hearing listeners using 15 consonant-vowel combinations...... confusion groups. The large predictive power of the proposed model suggests that adaptive processes in the auditory preprocessing in combination with a cross-correlation based template-matching back end can account for some of the processes underlying consonant perception in normal-hearing listeners....... The proposed model may provide a valuable framework, e.g., for investigating the effects of hearing impairment and hearing-aid signal processing on phoneme recognition....

Persistent Confusions about Hypothesis Testing in the Social Sciences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christopher Thron

2015-05-01

Full Text Available This paper analyzes common confusions involving basic concepts in statistical hypothesis testing. One-third of the social science statistics textbooks examined in the study contained false statements about significance level and/or p-value. We infer that a large proportion of social scientists are being miseducated about these concepts. We analyze the causes of these persistent misunderstandings, and conclude that the conventional terminology is prone to abuse because it does not clearly represent the conditional nature of probabilities and events involved. We argue that modifications in terminology, as well as the explicit introduction of conditional probability concepts and notation into the statistics curriculum in the social sciences, are necessary to prevent the persistence of these errors.

Analysis of Water Conflicts across Natural and Societal Boundaries: Integration of Quantitative Modeling and Qualitative Reasoning

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Y.; Balaram, P.; Islam, S.

2009-12-01

Water issues and problems have bewildered humankind for a long time yet a systematic approach for understanding such issues remain elusive. This is partly because many water-related problems are framed from a contested terrain in which many actors (individuals, communities, businesses, NGOs, states, and countries) compete to protect their own and often conflicting interests. We argue that origin of many water problems may be understood as a dynamic consequence of competition, interconnections, and feedback among variables in the Natural and Societal Systems (NSSs). Within the natural system, we recognize that triple constraints on water- water quantity (Q), water quality (P), and ecosystem (E)- and their interdependencies and feedback may lead to conflicts. Such inherent and multifaceted constraints of the natural water system are exacerbated often at the societal boundaries. Within the societal system, interdependencies and feedback among values and norms (V), economy (C), and governance (G) interact in various ways to create intractable contextual differences. The observation that natural and societal systems are linked is not novel. Our argument here, however, is that rigid disciplinary boundaries between these two domains will not produce solutions to the water problems we are facing today. The knowledge needed to address water problems need to go beyond scientific assessment in which societal variables (C, G, and V) are treated as exogenous or largely ignored, and policy research that does not consider the impact of natural variables (E, P, and Q) and that coupling among them. Consequently, traditional quantitative methods alone are not appropriate to address the dynamics of water conflicts, because we cannot quantify the societal variables and the exact mathematical relationships among the variables are not fully known. On the other hand, conventional qualitative study in societal domain has mainly been in the form of individual case studies and therefore

Developing and Testing a Method to Measure Academic Societal Impact

Science.gov (United States)

Phillips, Paul; Moutinho, Luiz; Godinho, Pedro

2018-01-01

This paper aims to extend understanding of the business and societal impact of academic research. From a business school perspective, it has taken stock of the role of academic research and relevance in business and society. The proposed conceptual framework highlights the forces influencing the pursuit of academic rigour and relevance in…

Dazzle camouflage and the confusion effect: the influence of varying speed on target tracking.

Science.gov (United States)

Hogan, Benedict G; Cuthill, Innes C; Scott-Samuel, Nicholas E

2017-01-01

The formation of groups is a common strategy to avoid predation in animals, and recent research has indicated that there may be interactions between some forms of defensive coloration, notably high-contrast 'dazzle camouflage', and one of the proposed benefits of grouping: the confusion effect. However, research into the benefits of dazzle camouflage has largely used targets moving with constant speed. This simplification may not generalize well to real animal systems, where a number of factors influence both within- and between-individual variation in speed. Departure from the speed of your neighbours in a group may be predicted to undermine the confusion effect. This is because individual speed may become a parameter through which the observer can individuate otherwise similar targets: an 'oddity effect'. However, dazzle camouflage patterns are thought to interfere with predator perception of speed and trajectory. The current experiment investigated the possibility that such patterns could ameliorate the oddity effect caused by within-group differences in prey speed. We found that variation in speed increased the ease with which participants could track targets in all conditions. However, we found no evidence that motion dazzle camouflage patterns reduced oddity effects based on this variation in speed, a result that may be informative about the mechanisms behind this form of defensive coloration. In addition, results from those conditions most similar to those of published studies replicated previous results, indicating that targets with stripes parallel to the direction of motion are harder to track, and that this pattern interacts with the confusion effect to a greater degree than background matching or orthogonal-to-motion striped patterns.

Astrobiology, discovery, and societal impact

CERN Document Server

Dick, Steven J

2018-01-01

The search for life in the universe, once the stuff of science fiction, is now a robust worldwide research program with a well-defined roadmap probing both scientific and societal issues. This volume examines the humanistic aspects of astrobiology, systematically discussing the approaches, critical issues, and implications of discovering life beyond Earth. What do the concepts of life and intelligence, culture and civilization, technology and communication mean in a cosmic context? What are the theological and philosophical implications if we find life - and if we do not? Steven J. Dick argues that given recent scientific findings, the discovery of life in some form beyond Earth is likely and so we need to study the possible impacts of such a discovery and formulate policies to deal with them. The remarkable and often surprising results are presented here in a form accessible to disciplines across the sciences, social sciences, and humanities.

Fairness hypothesis and managing the risks of societal technology choices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cantor, R.; Rayner, S.

1986-08-01

Much of the literature on risk perception and management has asked how society should resolve the question, ''How safe is safe enough'' There has been political and technical disagreement over the types of answers that may be given, as well as over the social values attached to perceived probabilities and magnitudes of various outcomes. Despite controversy, there seems to have been a large measure of consensus that, ''How safe is safe enough'' is the right question to ask. This paper sets out to question that assumption. Various ingenious techniques of risk analysis have sought to discover the real risks inherent in various activities, but from a sociocultural viewpoint it can be seen that no single answer can be given to the problem of adequate safety in a complex society which contains a wide variety of perceptual biases about danger, expectations of the good life, and levels of demand for safety. The paper argues that, from a societal risk-management perspective, we should be addressing a different range of questions that views societal risk as a whole rather than as the sum of individual hazards. Resolving the question, ''How safe is safe enough'' is less important in making societal technology choices than ''How fair is safe enough?'' A recent empirical pilot study is reported which explored the fairness hypotheses in the context of nuclear power. The results indicate that the process of technology choice should recognize explicitly the preferred principles different parties hold with respect to obtaining consent from those affected by the risks, distributing the liabilities, and justifying trust in the relevant institutions. The paper closes with a discussion of future prospects for the fairness approach in areas such as noxious facility siting

Cultural Norms for Adult Corporal Punishment of Children and Societal Rates of Endorsement and Use of Violence.

Science.gov (United States)

Lansford, Jennifer E; Dodge, Kenneth A

2008-07-01

OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that societal rates of corporal punishment of children predict societal levels of violence, using "culture" as the unit of analysis. DESIGN: Data were retrieved from the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample of anthropological records, which includes 186 cultural groups, to represent the world's 200 provinces based on diversity of language, economy, political organization, descent, and historical time. Independent coders rated the frequency and harshness of corporal punishment of children, inculcation of aggression in children, warfare, interpersonal violence among adults, and demographic, socioeconomic, and parenting covariates. RESULTS: More frequent use of corporal punishment was related to higher rates of inculcation of aggression in children, warfare, and interpersonal violence. These relations held for inculcation of aggression in children and warfare after controlling for demographic, socioeconomic, and parenting confounds. CONCLUSION: More frequent use of corporal punishment is related to higher prevalence of violence and endorsement of violence at a societal level. The findings are consistent with theories that adult violence becomes more prevalent in contexts in which corporal punishment is frequent, that the use of corporal punishment increases the probability that children will engage in violent behaviors during adulthood, and that violence in one social domain tends to influence behavior in other domains. If corporal punishment leads to higher levels of societal violence, then reducing parents' use of corporal punishment should lead to reductions in societal violence manifested in other ways.

A Rare Cause of Confusion: Steroid-Responsive Encephalopathy Associated with Autoimmune Thyroiditis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura Virginia Gonzalez

2015-02-01

Full Text Available An 81-year-old female patient required numerous admissions for symptoms of confusion, visual hallucinations, myoclonus and seizures, which were treated as stroke, infections and viral encephalitis with some improvement after treatment but with recurrence that caused her to be readmitted to hospital. On the last admission, she was found to have very high antithyroid antibodies and a diagnosis of Hashimoto’s encephalopathy was made, with an overwhelming response to steroids.

Appropriate methodologies for assessing the societal cost and benefits of conservation programs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Power, J.M.; Gill, G.S.; Harvey, K.M.

1983-01-01

The use of cost-benefit analysis for assessing the societal cost and benefits of conservation programmes is discussed. It is concluded that it should not be the sole criterion for project choice. (U.K.)

How firms talk about sustainability and the societal role of business

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Erik Kloppenborg

2000-01-01

The aim of this paper is to study the language of sustainability in a business context. Based on information excerpted from two Scandinavian firm web sites a closer examination of reasoning and arguing concerning sustainability and the societal role of business is performed. The interpretation...

Innovative and responsible governance of nanotechnology for societal development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roco, Mihail C.; Harthorn, Barbara; Guston, David; Shapira, Philip

2011-01-01

Governance of nanotechnology is essential for realizing economic growth and other societal benefits of the new technology, protecting public health and environment, and supporting global collaboration and progress. The article outlines governance principles and methods specific for this emerging field. Advances in the last 10 years, the current status and a vision for the next decade are presented based on an international study with input from over 35 countries.

Areva. 2007 figures economic, social, societal and environmental data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2007-01-01

This document presents the 2007 economic, social, societal and environmental data of the Areva Group. Content: 1 - Improvement initiative: Continuous improvement, Innovation; 2 - Financial performance: 2007 results; 3 - Commitment to employees: Stakeholder relations, Health and safety, Radiation protection, Radiological impacts, Technological risks, Workforce, Workforce and training; 4 - Environment: Water, Energy, Gaseous releases, Liquid releases, Conventional waste, Radioactive waste; 5 - Reporting and performance indicators: Reporting methodology, Auditors' report, Social indicators, Environmental indicators

Areva 2006 figures - Economic, social, societal and environmental data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2006-01-01

This document presents the 2006 economic, social, societal and environmental data of the Areva Group. Content: 1 - Improvement initiative: Continuous improvement, Innovation, stakeholder relations, local economic development, Financial performance; 2 - Commitment to employees: Health and safety, Radiation protection, Radiological impacts, Technological risks, employees and training; 3 - Environment: Water, Energy, Gaseous releases, Liquid releases, Conventional waste, Radioactive waste; 4 - Reporting and performance indicators: Reporting methodology, Auditors' report, Social indicators, Environmental indicators

The influence of world societal forces on social tolerance. A time comparative study of prejudices in 32 countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Hadler, Markus

2012-01-01

Societal variation in xenophobia, homophobia, and other prejudices is frequently explained by the economic background and political history of different countries. This article expands these explanations by considering the influence of world societal factors on individual attitudes. The empirical analysis is based on survey data collected within the World Value Survey and European Values Study framework between 1989 and 2010. Data are combined to a three-wave cross-sectional design including about 130,000 respondents from 32 countries. Results show that xenophobia and homophobia are influenced by the national political history, societal affluence, and the presence of international organizations. Global forces, however, are of particular importance for homophobia.

The Treatment of Six Sigma in Introductory Operations Management Textbooks: Clearing Up the Confusion

Science.gov (United States)

Ravinder, Handanhal; Misra, Ram B.

2016-01-01

This paper critically examines the treatment of the statistical basis for Six Sigma and process capability in popular operations management textbooks. It discusses areas of confusion and suggest ways of treating the topic that make sense to instructors as well as students. Even though Six Sigma was introduced almost 30 years ago, misconceptions…

Realizing NASA's Goal of Societal Benefits From Earth Observations in Mesoamerica Through the SERVIR Project

Science.gov (United States)

Hardin, D. M.; Irwin, D.; Sever, T.; Graves, S.

2006-12-01

-term Prediction Research and Transition (SpoRT) Center, generates 24 hour-forecasts twice daily utilizing the Weather Research and Forecast Model (WRF). Originally aimed at forecasts for the United States, the SPoRT team extended their work to cover the Mesoamerican region. Following testing at the RPC the system was installed in Panama and is currently producing forecasts that are used by tour guides, boat captains on river and ocean fishing tours, and cruise ship captains. This capability fits perfectly with NASA's goals since an existing project was modified, at minimal cost, to provide societal benefits to the population of a different geographic region. On June 30, 2006 several new applications matured and the inventory of decision support products was significantly expanded. As a result the SERVIR website was reorganized to reflect the changes. The degree of change was sufficient for the developers to designate it as a new release of SERVIR. The applications include a Real-Time Image Viewer, a customized version of NASA World Wind for Mesoamerica known as SERVIR- VIZ (developed by IAGT) and the SERVIR Data Portal (developed by the Water Center of the Humid Tropics Latin America and the Caribbean). The success of the SERVIR project is reflected by its choice by NASA as the decision support system for the Ecological Forecasting National Application. The SERVIR model is also under consideration for other regions of the globe. Potential areas for development are Africa, South America and the Caribbean.

Gauging the societal impacts of natural disasters using a capability approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Gardoni, Paolo; Murphy, Colleen

2010-07-01

There is a widely acknowledged need for a single composite index that provides a comprehensive picture of the societal impact of disasters. A composite index combines and logically organizes important information policy-makers need to allocate resources for the recovery from natural disasters; it can also inform hazard mitigation strategies. This paper develops a Disaster Impact Index (DII) to gauge the societal impact of disasters on the basis of the changes in individuals' capabilities. The DII can be interpreted as the disaster impact per capita. Capabilities are dimensions of individual well-being and refer to the genuine opportunities individuals have to achieve valuable states and activities (such as being adequately nourished or being mobile). After discussing the steps required to construct the DII, this article computes and compares the DIIs for two earthquakes of similar magnitude in two societies at different levels of development and of two disasters (earthquake and wind storm) in the same society.

Forecasting Significant Societal Events Using The Embers Streaming Predictive Analytics System.

Science.gov (United States)

Doyle, Andy; Katz, Graham; Summers, Kristen; Ackermann, Chris; Zavorin, Ilya; Lim, Zunsik; Muthiah, Sathappan; Butler, Patrick; Self, Nathan; Zhao, Liang; Lu, Chang-Tien; Khandpur, Rupinder Paul; Fayed, Youssef; Ramakrishnan, Naren

2014-12-01

Developed under the Intelligence Advanced Research Project Activity Open Source Indicators program, Early Model Based Event Recognition using Surrogates (EMBERS) is a large-scale big data analytics system for forecasting significant societal events, such as civil unrest events on the basis of continuous, automated analysis of large volumes of publicly available data. It has been operational since November 2012 and delivers approximately 50 predictions each day for countries of Latin America. EMBERS is built on a streaming, scalable, loosely coupled, shared-nothing architecture using ZeroMQ as its messaging backbone and JSON as its wire data format. It is deployed on Amazon Web Services using an entirely automated deployment process. We describe the architecture of the system, some of the design tradeoffs encountered during development, and specifics of the machine learning models underlying EMBERS. We also present a detailed prospective evaluation of EMBERS in forecasting significant societal events in the past 2 years.

TREATMENT PLANNING, PACING, AND COUNTERTRANSFERENCE: PERSPECTIVES ON THE PSYCHOTHERAPY OF EARLY AFFECT-CONFUSION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard G. Erskine

2012-12-01

Full Text Available This article is a rejoinder and elaboration on the article “Early Affect-Confusion: The ‘Borderline’ Between Despair and Rage: Part 1 of a Case Study Trilogy” and addresses the distinction between personality style, pattern, and disorder. It describes the pacing of a time-limited psychotherapy, the use of phenomenological inquiry in resolving transferential enactments, and the psychological function of idealization.

Improving societal acceptance of rad waste management policy decisions: an approach based on complex intelligence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rao, Suman

2008-01-01

In today's context elaborate public participation exercises are conducted around the world to elicit and incorporate societal risk perceptions into nuclear policy Decision-Making. However, on many occasions, such as in the case of rad waste management, the society remains unconvinced about these decisions. This naturally leads to the questions: are techniques for incorporating societal risk perceptions into the rad waste policy decision making processes sufficiently mature? How could societal risk perceptions and legal normative principles be better integrated in order to render the decisions more equitable and convincing to society? Based on guidance from socio-psychological research this paper postulates that a critical factor for gaining/improving societal acceptance is the quality and adequacy of criteria for option evaluation that are used in the policy decision making. After surveying three rad waste public participation cases, the paper identifies key lacunae in criteria abstraction processes as currently practiced. A new policy decision support model CIRDA: Complex Intelligent Risk Discourse Abstraction model that is based on the heuristic of Risk-Risk Analysis is proposed to overcome these lacunae. CIRDA's functionality of rad waste policy decision making is modelled as a policy decision-making Abstract Intelligent Agent and the agent program/abstraction mappings are presented. CIRDA is then applied to a live (U.K.) rad waste management case and the advantages of this method as compared to the Value Tree Method as practiced in the GB case are demonstrated. (author)

Scintillating confusion: Evaluation of a technique for measuring compact structure in weak radio sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spangler, S.R.; Cordes, J.M.; Meyers, K.A.

1979-01-01

An attractive scheme for investigating compact structure in weak radio sources is to study the scintillation properties of confusion in a large single-dish radio telescope. We have investigated the utility of this technique by observing the scintillations of 860-MHz confusion of the NRAO 300' (91 m) telescope. Analysis of these data indicated a reduction in the mean scintillation index with decreasing flux density which implied that weaker sources possessed less compact structure. More direct observations indicated that the weak sources of interest were not significantly deficient in compact structure, so the first result is probably due to properties of the IPS process in the strong scintillation regime. Our results may be due to overresolution (by the IPS process in the strong scintillation regime) of the ''hot spots'' responsible for scintillation in most strong sources at frequencies below 1000 MHz, or may indicate abnormally strong turbulence in the solar wind during August, 1977. Future applications of this method would be best conducted at lower frequencies with larger reflectors or short-spacing interferometers

Quantitative histologic study on confusion of the cerebellar cortex architecture in perinatally irradiated mice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sasaki, S.

1986-01-01

This study was designed to know dose-response relationship and age-dependence for two types of confusion of the cerebellar cortex architecture. The first is inhibition of the laminar-pattern development, and the second is persistent remaining of granule cells in the molecular and Purkinje layer which implies disturbance of cell migration. Male B6C3F 1 mice were used. Animals were irradiated at day 0 to 6 of the postnatal age or day 17 of the prenatal age with doses ranging from 50 to 700 rad of γ-rays, and killed at 60 days of age. Confusion of architecture was analysed using microscopic photographs. Development of the laminar-pattern was inhibited by irradiation with 100 rad or higher doses at day 0 to 3. There was a distinct regional difference in inhibition of the laminar-pattern development. Remaining of granule cells was detected after irradiation with 50 or higher doses at day 0 or 2. Irradiation at day 1 to 4 was most effective to disturb cell migration, though ectopic granule cells were detected in all irradiated groups. (orig.)

Cost of illness of atrial fibrillation: a nationwide study of societal impact.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnsen, Søren Paaske; Dalby, Lene Worsaae; Täckström, Tomas; Olsen, Jens; Fraschke, Anina

2017-11-10

The prevalence of atrial fibrillation is increasing rapidly; however, to date, population-based data are lacking on the attributable cost of illness of atrial fibrillation from a societal perspective, including both direct and indirect costs. The study was an incidence-based cost-of-illness study based on national registries covering the entire population of Denmark. We identified all patients with a first-time hospital diagnosis of atrial fibrillation between 2001 and 2012. For every atrial fibrillation patient, we identified three age- and sex-matched controls from the general population. Both the total and the attributable costs of atrial fibrillation were estimated based on individual level information on hospital care (in- and out-patient contacts), primary sector care, use of prescription drugs and productivity loss. Average 3-year societal costs per patient attributable to atrial fibrillation were estimated to be €20,403-26,544 during the study period. The costs were highest during the first year after diagnosis of atrial fibrillation. Admission costs constituted the largest cost component, whereas primary sector costs and medicine costs only constituted minor components. The attributable costs were more than two-fold higher among patients experiencing a stroke. The total 3-year cost attributable to atrial fibrillation in Denmark was estimated to be €219-295 million. The societal costs attributable to atrial fibrillation are significant. Reducing the need for hospitalizations, in particular from stroke, is a key factor in controlling the costs.

The timing and societal synchronisation of energy demand

OpenAIRE

Mattioli, G; Shove, E; Torriti, J

2014-01-01

It is increasingly important to know about when energy is used in the home, at work and on the move. Issues of time and timing have not featured strongly in energy policy analysis and in modelling, much of which has focused on estimating and reducing total average annual demand per capita. If smarter ways of balancing supply and demand are to take hold, and if we are to make better use of decarbonised forms of supply, it is essential to understand and intervene in patterns of societal synchro...

Comprehensive safeguards evaluation methods and societal risk analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Richardson, J.M.

1982-03-01

Essential capabilities of an integrated evaluation methodology for analyzing safeguards systems are discussed. Such a methodology must be conceptually meaningful, technically defensible, discriminating and consistent. A decompostion of safeguards systems by function is mentioned as a possible starting point for methodology development. The application of a societal risk equation to safeguards systems analysis is addressed. Conceptual problems with this approach are discussed. Technical difficulties in applying this equation to safeguards systems are illustrated through the use of confidence intervals, information content, hypothesis testing and ranking and selection procedures

A Cross-Cultural Study of Gifted Students' Scientific, Societal, and Moral Questions Concerning Science

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kirsi Tirri

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This study investigated the number and nature of gifted female and male students' scientific, societal, and moral questions concerning science. The participants (=658 of this study were 16–19-year-old international students from 55 countries and two continents, Asia and Europe. They applied to participate in the Millennium Youth Camp held in 2011 in Finland. The students came from scientifically and mathematically oriented schools, and they had shown an interest towards science through competitions, school success, and their own research. The students were asked to formulate questions they would like to get answers to during the camp. The nature and number of the students' questions were analyzed with qualitative and quantitative content analysis. The results showed that the boys asked more scientific questions than the girls, and the girls asked more societal questions than the boys. The students asked less questions about morality than scientific or societal questions. The most common questions about morality were related to pollution and fresh air, environmental problems, and water protection. The results point to the need for teachers to teach socioscientific issues and discuss moral questions related to science.

Applications and societal benefits of plastics.

Science.gov (United States)

Andrady, Anthony L; Neal, Mike A

2009-07-27

This article explains the history, from 1600 BC to 2008, of materials that are today termed 'plastics'. It includes production volumes and current consumption patterns of five main commodity plastics: polypropylene, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene and polyethylene terephthalate. The use of additives to modify the properties of these plastics and any associated safety, in use, issues for the resulting polymeric materials are described. A comparison is made with the thermal and barrier properties of other materials to demonstrate the versatility of plastics. Societal benefits for health, safety, energy saving and material conservation are described, and the particular advantages of plastics in society are outlined. Concerns relating to littering and trends in recycling of plastics are also described. Finally, we give predictions for some of the potential applications of plastic over the next 20 years.

How do young people in Cambodia perceive the impact of societal attitudes, media and religion on suicidal behaviour?

Science.gov (United States)

Jegannathan, Bhoomikumar; Kullgren, Gunnar; Dahlblom, Kjerstin

2016-03-01

Young people in low and middle income countries (LMICs) in societal transitions with rapidly changing norms face an increased risk of suicide. This study explores how young people in Cambodia understand the impact on suicidal behaviour from societal attitudes, media and religion. Focus group discussions were held with school students from a suburban area. Thematic analysis was used to interpret the data. Participants perceived the prevailing suicide-stigmatizing societal attitudes, the double-edged media and suicide-ambiguity in Buddhist religion as challenging. Globalization was recognized as contradicting with traditional Cambodian norms and values. Suicide prevention programmes should take into consideration the complex picture of suicide that young people are exposed to. © The Author(s) 2015.

Human choice and climate change. Volume 1: The societal framework

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raynor, S.; Malone, E.

1998-01-01

This book is Volume 1 of a four-volume set which assesses social science research that is relevant to global climate change from a wide-ranging interdisciplinary perspective. Attention is focused on the societal framework as it relates to climate change. This series is indispensable reading for scientists and engineers wishing to make an effective contribution to the climate change policy debate

Awareness of Societal Issues among High School Biology Teachers Teaching Genetics

Science.gov (United States)

Lazarowitz, Reuven; Bloch, Ilit

2005-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate how aware high school biology teachers are of societal issues (values, moral, ethic, and legal issues) while teaching genetics, genetics engineering, molecular genetics, human heredity, and evolution. The study includes a short historical review of World War II atrocities during the Holocaust when…

The societal cost of Taenia solium cysticercosis in Tanzania.

Science.gov (United States)

Trevisan, Chiara; Devleesschauwer, Brecht; Schmidt, Veronika; Winkler, Andrea Sylvia; Harrison, Wendy; Johansen, Maria Vang

2017-01-01

Taenia solium is a zoonotic parasite prevalent in many low income countries throughout Latin America, Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, including Tanzania. The parasite is recognized as a public health threat; however the burden it poses on populations of Tanzania is unknown. The aim of this study was to estimate the societal cost of T. solium cysticercosis in Tanzania, by assessing both the health and economic burden. The societal cost of T. solium cysticercosis was assessed in humans and pigs based on data obtained by a systematic review. Experts' opinion was sought in cases where data were not retrievable. The health burden was assessed in terms of annual number of neurocysticercosis (NCC) associated epilepsy incident cases, deaths and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), while the economic burden was assessed in terms of direct and indirect costs imposed by NCC-associated epilepsy and potential losses due to porcine cysticercosis. Based on data retrieved from the systematic review and burden assessments, T. solium cysticercosis contributed to a significant societal cost for the population. The annual number of NCC-associated epilepsy incident cases and deaths were 17,853 (95% Uncertainty Interval (UI), 5666-36,227) and 212 (95% UI, 37-612), respectively. More than 11% (95% UI, 6.3-17) of the pig population was infected with the parasite when using tongue examination as diagnostic method. For the year 2012 the number of DALYs per thousand person-years for NCC-associated epilepsy was 0.7 (95% UI, 0.2-1.6). Around 5 million USD (95% UI, 797,535-16,933,477) were spent due to NCC-associated epilepsy and nearly 3 million USD (95% UI, 1,095,960-5,366,038) were potentially lost due to porcine cysticercosis. Our results show that T. solium imposes a serious public health, agricultural and economic threat for Tanzania. We urge that a One Health approach, which involves the joint collaboration and effort of veterinarians, medical doctors, agricultural extension officers

Categorical Confusion? The Strategic Implications of Recognizing Challenges Either as Irregular or Traditional

Science.gov (United States)

2012-02-01

strategies, and even tactics, were seriously flawed systemically. But the urge to categorize and clarify, after the fashion of Victorian entomologists...strategic think- ing today is a confused jumble of briefly fashionable buzzwords of uncertain authority or merit. This con- 2 fusion of ideas rests and...concep- tual subject permits. 1. Clarity in definition matters greatly. It may be fashionable and expedient to deploy fuzzy blurring descriptors like

Permeable Binaries, Societal Grand Challenges, and the Roles of the Twenty-first-century Archival and Recordkeeping Profession

OpenAIRE

Gilliland, AJ

2015-01-01

Building upon recent work, this paper demonstrates how 21st century recordkeeping concerns are integral to societal grand challenges that have been identified by governments, think tanks, scholarly organisations and affected communities around the globe. Using the example of forced displacement and migration the paper focuses on ways in which recordkeeping is inextricably linked to both the causes and possible digital, policy and educational mechanisms for addressing certain aspects of societ...

Postmodernism in Belgrade architecture: Between cultural modernity and societal modernization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Blagojević Ljiljana

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The paper explores the introduction and articulation of ideas and aesthetic practice of postmodernism in architecture of late socialism in Yugoslavia, with the focus on Belgrade architecture scene. Theoretical and methodological point of departure of this analysis is Jürgen Habermas's thesis of modernity as an incomplete, i.e., unfinished project, from his influential essay “Die Moderne: Ein unvollendetes Projekt” (1980. The thematic framework of the paper is shifted towards issues raised by Habermas which concern relations of cultural modernity and societal modernization, or rather towards consideration of architectural postmodernity in relation to the split between culture and society. The paper investigates architectural discourse which was profiled in Belgrade in 1980s, in a historical context of cultural modernity simultaneous with Habermas's text, but in different conditions of societal modernization of Yugoslav late socialism. In that, the principle methodological question concerns the interpretation of postmodern architecture as part of the new cultural production within the social restructuration of late and/or end of socialism as a system, that being analogous to Fredric Jameson's thesis of “Postmodernism, Or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism” (1984.

Psychiatric diagnoses are not mental processes: Wittgenstein on conceptual confusion.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenman, Stephen; Nasti, Julian

2012-11-01

Empirical explanation and treatment repeatedly fail for psychiatric diagnoses. Diagnosis is mired in conceptual confusion that is illuminated by Ludwig Wittgenstein's later critique of philosophy (Philosophical Investigations). This paper examines conceptual confusions in the foundation of psychiatric diagnosis from some of Wittgenstein's important critical viewpoints. Diagnostic terms are words whose meanings are given by usages not definitions. Diagnoses, by Wittgenstein's analogy with 'games', have various and evolving usages that are connected by family relationships, and no essence or core phenomenon connects them. Their usages will change according to the demands and contexts in which they are employed. Diagnoses, like many psychological terms, such as 'reading' or 'understanding', are concepts that refer not to fixed behavioural or mental states but to complex apprehensions of the relationship of a variety of behavioural phenomena with the world. A diagnosis is a sort of concept that cannot be located in or explained by a mental process. A diagnosis is an exercise in language and its usage changes according to the context and the needs it addresses. Diagnoses have important uses but they are irreducibly heterogeneous and cannot be identified with or connected to particular mental processes or even with a unity of phenomena that can be addressed empirically. This makes understandable not only the repeated failure of empirical science to replicate or illuminate genetic, neurophysiologic, psychic or social processes underlying diagnoses but also the emptiness of a succession of explanatory theories and treatment effects that cannot be repeated or stubbornly regress to the mean. Attempts to fix the meanings of diagnoses to allow empirical explanation will and should fail as there is no foundation on which a fixed meaning can be built and it can only be done at the cost of the relevance and usefulness of diagnosis.

Emerging research in micro and nano systems: opportunities and challenges for societal impact

Science.gov (United States)

Gianchandani, Yogesh B.

2010-02-01

In just a few decades, micro and nano technologies have changed the way that we live - how we work and communicate; the food and medicine that we consume; the clothing that we use; and the entertainment that we seek. While these technologies are being actively investigated in several research communities, the potential for continued societal impact is constrained by resources available for system-level research. Given the long time-lines and levels of investment that are typically necessary to develop functional systems, strategic prioritization of research directions from the perspective of societal needs can be helpful. This paper outlines the findings of an NSF-sponsored road-mapping workshop that was held in 2009, with the intention of initiating a conversation about the opportunities and challenges for micro and nano systems. Four areas of need were discussed: environmental sensing; health care; infrastructure monitoring; and energy alternatives. Possible research trajectories were identified by envisioning technological goals for the year 2040, and linking these to horizons for 2015 and 2025. This paper also provides few examples of current research in each of the four application domains. It is noted that a systems perspective can help to keep the research focused, accelerating and amplifying the societal gain with available resources. Practical and affordable solutions at the system level will require partnerships between specialists, and also between academia and industry.

"The Voyage of the Dawn Treader": The World at the Dawn of 2006-2011. Understanding societal themes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sanchen Henning

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This article offers a snapshot of the societal dynamics of individual countries around the world, integrated into a global view to provide the tourism and hospitality industry insight into potential customer needs and perceptions. The OPUS Reports on the Global Dynamics at the Dawn of 20...are published annually since 2006 in the Journal of Organisational and Social Dynamics in London. The researchers were interested in a metaphoric tour of the world's social dynamics over time as perceived from both the Systems psychodynamics and Positive psychology theoretical paradigms. The research methodology was qualitative using a case study approach where each of the six (2006- 2011 years' integrated hypotheses was studied as a separate case study. The six cases were integrated into new hypotheses reflecting how global social dynamics changed over the years. The findings were presented as hypotheses per individual country followed by an integrated global hypothesis. The three main emerging themes were framed as Identity, Hope and Love. Identity contains the sub-theme of Facelessness, described as the fragmentation of cultures, a loss of cultural identity and a search for shared social meaning. Hope embodies the theme Knight/s in shining armour which describes youth as saviours and Obama as saviour. The loss of Hope is illustrated by the sub-themes of the impotence of the older generation, pessimism, fear and the death of a way of life. Love consists of human connection described as affiliation, support and trust. The lack of Love consists of human alienation described as loneliness, aggression and violence. The findings of the study identify societal themes that can be operationalized in the tourism and hospitality industry through targeted offerings to provide in the unmet needs of society. In addition, training interventions to improve customer service and return on investment can be based on the findings of this research.

Transition management: reflexive governance of societal complexity through searching, learning and experimenting

NARCIS (Netherlands)

J. Rotmans (Jan); D.A. Loorbach (Derk)

2008-01-01

textabstractOur society faces a number of persistent problems whose symptoms are becoming more and more apparent. Persistent problems are complex because they are: deeply embedded in our societal structures; uncertain because of the hardly reducible structural uncertainty they include; difficult to

Sunscreens with Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) Nano-Particles : A Societal Experiment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jacobs, J.F.; Van de Poel, I.; Osseweijer, P.

2010-01-01

The risks of novel technologies, such as nano(bio)technology cannot be fully assessed due to the existing uncertainties surrounding their introduction into society. Consequently, the introduction of innovative technologies can be conceptualised as a societal experiment, which is a helpful approach

[Confusion as a presentation symptom of pseudomigraine with pleocytosis in a paediatric patient].

Science.gov (United States)

Soto-Insuga, V; López-Villanueva, L; Rodrigo, M; Mois Aroyo, I; Losada, R; Soriano-Guillén, L

2014-06-01

Transient headache and neurological deficits with cerebrospinal fluid lymphocytic pleocytosis (Handl) syndrome is a rare condition of unknown origin that is characterized by episodes of severe headache, transient neurological deficits that recur over less than 3 months, and lymphocytic pleocytosis in CSF. We report the case of a 14 year-old girl who presented with headache and vomiting that lasted 4 days, later combined with a clinical presentation of confusion, with a decrease in the level of consciousness, aphasia, peripheral facial paralysis, ataxia and fever for 24 hours. CSF analysis showed pleocytosis (110 cells/ml) and proteinorrachia (87 mg/dl). Electroencephalogram in the acute time showed generalized slowing, and later a focal slowing in the left hemisphere. She suffered 7 episodes of migraine (severe headache and vomiting) in the following two months, remaining asymptomatic thereafter. This is the first pediatric case published in the literature that presents with an agitated and/or confused state. This condition must be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients with headache and acute altered level of consciousness, in order to avoid prolonged treatments or unnecessary invasive testing. Copyright © 2013 Asociación Española de Pediatría. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Societal and ethical issues in human biomonitoring – a view from science studies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bauer Susanne

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Human biomonitoring (HBM has rapidly gained importance. In some epidemiological studies, the measurement and use of biomarkers of exposure, susceptibility and disease have replaced traditional environmental indicators. While in HBM, ethical issues have mostly been addressed in terms of informed consent and confidentiality, this paper maps out a larger array of societal issues from an epistemological perspective, i.e. bringing into focus the conditions of how and what is known in environmental health science. Methods In order to analyse the effects of HBM and the shift towards biomarker research in the assessment of environmental pollution in a broader societal context, selected analytical frameworks of science studies are introduced. To develop the epistemological perspective, concepts from "biomedical platform sociology" and the notion of "epistemic cultures" and "thought styles" are applied to the research infrastructures of HBM. Further, concepts of "biocitizenship" and "civic epistemologies" are drawn upon as analytical tools to discuss the visions and promises of HBM as well as related ethical problematisations. Results In human biomonitoring, two different epistemological cultures meet; these are environmental science with for instance pollution surveys and toxicological assessments on the one hand, and analytical epidemiology investigating the association between exposure and disease in probabilistic risk estimation on the other hand. The surveillance of exposure and dose via biomarkers as envisioned in HBM is shifting the site of exposure monitoring to the human body. Establishing an HBM platform faces not only the need to consider individual decision autonomy as an ethics issue, but also larger epistemological and societal questions, such as the mode of evidence demanded in science, policy and regulation. Conclusion The shift of exposure monitoring towards the biosurveillance of human populations involves fundamental

Anticipating the Future, Influencing the Present: Assessing the Societal Implications of Emerging Technologies

Science.gov (United States)

Michelson, Evan S.

A growing challenge for the American policymaking system is to respond effectively to a wide range of interconnected, complex, long-term science and technology issues. Simultaneously, current approaches and institutions of governance are ill suited to address these multidimensional challenges. As the next generation of innovations in science and technology is arriving at an accelerating rate, the governance system is lagging behind. This realization leads to a vital overarching consideration that steers this study: What approaches are well suited to anticipate the longer-term societal implications of emerging technologies in the 21st Century? This study identifies and examines strategies for anticipating the longer-term societal implications of emerging technologies by way of a qualitative case study. It explores one area of technology (nanotechnology), in one particular governance system (the United States), and with a focus on one high profile non-governmental organization (NGO) involved in addressing a range of nanotechnology's societal and policy implications: the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN). Based at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, PEN's goal was to ensure "that as nanotechnologies advance, possible risks are minimized, public and consumer engagement remains strong, and the potential benefits of these new technologies are realized." The conceptual framework of anticipatory governance guides the research, which offers a real-world example about how anticipatory governance applies in the nongovernmental sector and shows how this idea links to broader theoretical debates about the policymaking process. The study's main conclusion is that PEN utilized a set of interconnected strategies related to advancing foresight, operating in a boundary-spanning role, and promoting communications and public engagement in its attempt to influence, anticipate, and shape the societal implications of emerging technologies. The findings are

Integrating societal perspectives and values for improved stewardship of a coastal ecosystem engineer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Steven B. Scyphers

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Oyster reefs provide coastal societies with a vast array of ecosystem services, but are also destructively harvested as an economically and culturally important fishery resource, exemplifying a complex social-ecological system (SES. Historically, societal demand for oysters has led to destructive and unsustainable levels of harvest, which coupled with multiple other stressors has placed oyster reefs among the most globally imperiled coastal habitats. However, more recent studies have demonstrated that large-scale restoration is possible and that healthy oyster populations can be sustained with effective governance and stewardship. However, both of these require significant societal support or financial investment. In our study, we explored relationships among how coastal societies (1 perceive and value oyster ecosystem services, (2 recognize and define problems associated with oyster decline, and (3 perceive or support stewardship initiatives. We specifically focused on the SES of eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica and coastal societies in the northern Gulf of Mexico, a region identified as offering among the last and best opportunities to sustainably balance conservation objectives with a wild fishery. We found that, in addition to harvest-related benefits, oysters were highly valued for providing habitat, mitigating shoreline erosion, and improving water quality or clarity. Our results also showed that although most respondents recognized that oyster populations have declined, many respondents characterized the problem differently than most scientific literature does. Among a variety of initiatives for enhancing sustainability, spawning sanctuaries and reef restoration were well supported in all states, but support for harvest reductions was less consistent. Our study suggests that public support for maintaining both harvest and ecosystem services exists at societal levels and that enhancing public awareness regarding the extent and causes

Perceived societal expectations of boys and girls on the learning of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper reports on an investigation into perceived societal expectations of boys and girls in the learning of English as a second language and how they may affect their performance in English tests and examinations. One hundred and twenty eight (64 female and 64 male) pupils in Grades 8 to 11 from four representative ...

76 FR 11437 - Application To Export Electric Energy; Societe Generale Energy Corp.

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-02

... reliability of the U.S. electric power supply system. Copies of this application will be made available, upon... surplus energy purchased from electric utilities, Federal power marketing agencies and other entities... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY [OE Docket No. EA-376] Application To Export Electric Energy; Societe...

Dialogue as a tool for societal valorization of environmental and industrial biotechnology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Metze, T.A.P.; Schuitmaker, Tjerk Jan; Bitsch, Lise; Betten, W.; de Cock Buning, T.; Broerse, J.

2013-01-01

In this project we explored and experimented with how a meaningful dialogue can be operationalized most effectively in the terms of enhancing societal valorisation of environmental and industrial biotechnology. We did so in the context of the Dutch research consortium BE-Basic. The project is

Societal and ethical aspects of the Fukushima accident.

Science.gov (United States)

Oughton, Deborah

2016-10-01

The Fukushima Nuclear Power Station accident in Japan in 2011 was a poignant reminder that radioactive contamination of the environment has consequences that encompass far more than health risks from exposure to radiation. Both the accident and remediation measures have resulted in serious societal impacts and raise questions about the ethical aspects of risk management. This article presents a brief review of some of these issues and compares similarities and differences with the lessons learned from the 1986 Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident in Ukraine. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2016;12:651-653. © 2016 SETAC. © 2016 SETAC.

Why are some languages confused for others? Investigating data from the Great Language Game.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hedvig Skirgård

Full Text Available In this paper we explore the results of a large-scale online game called 'the Great Language Game', in which people listen to an audio speech sample and make a forced-choice guess about the identity of the language from 2 or more alternatives. The data include 15 million guesses from 400 audio recordings of 78 languages. We investigate which languages are confused for which in the game, and if this correlates with the similarities that linguists identify between languages. This includes shared lexical items, similar sound inventories and established historical relationships. Our findings are, as expected, that players are more likely to confuse two languages that are objectively more similar. We also investigate factors that may affect players' ability to accurately select the target language, such as how many people speak the language, how often the language is mentioned in written materials and the economic power of the target language community. We see that non-linguistic factors affect players' ability to accurately identify the target. For example, languages with wider 'global reach' are more often identified correctly. This suggests that both linguistic and cultural knowledge influence the perception and recognition of languages and their similarity.

Why are some languages confused for others? Investigating data from the Great Language Game.

Science.gov (United States)

Skirgård, Hedvig; Roberts, Seán G; Yencken, Lars

2017-01-01

In this paper we explore the results of a large-scale online game called 'the Great Language Game', in which people listen to an audio speech sample and make a forced-choice guess about the identity of the language from 2 or more alternatives. The data include 15 million guesses from 400 audio recordings of 78 languages. We investigate which languages are confused for which in the game, and if this correlates with the similarities that linguists identify between languages. This includes shared lexical items, similar sound inventories and established historical relationships. Our findings are, as expected, that players are more likely to confuse two languages that are objectively more similar. We also investigate factors that may affect players' ability to accurately select the target language, such as how many people speak the language, how often the language is mentioned in written materials and the economic power of the target language community. We see that non-linguistic factors affect players' ability to accurately identify the target. For example, languages with wider 'global reach' are more often identified correctly. This suggests that both linguistic and cultural knowledge influence the perception and recognition of languages and their similarity.

New Structural Interpretation of the Central Confusion Range, Western Utah, Based On Balanced Cross Sections

Science.gov (United States)

Yezerski, D.; Greene, D. C.

2009-12-01

The Confusion Range is a topographically low mountain range in the Basin and Range of west-central Utah, located east of and in the hanging wall of the Snake Range core complex. Previous workers have used a gravity sliding model to interpret the Confusion Range as a large structural trough or synclinorium (e.g. Hose, 1977). Based on existing mapping (Hose, 1965; Hintze, 1974) and new field data, we use balanced and restored cross sections to reinterpret the structure of the Confusion Range as an east-vergent fold-and-thrust belt formed during the Sevier Orogeny. The Confusion Range consists of Cambro-Ordovician through Triassic strata, with predominantly thick-bedded, competent carbonate rocks in the lower Paleozoic (lPz) section and incompetent shales and thin-bedded carbonates in the upper Paleozoic (uPz) section. The contrasting mechanical behavior of these stratigraphic sections results in faulted folds within uPz carbonates above detachments in shale-rich units, deforming in response to ramp-flat thrust faulting of the underlying lPz units. East of the axis of the Conger Mountain (Mtn) syncline, we attribute the increase in structural elevation of lPz rocks to a subsurface thrust sheet consisting of lPz strata that advanced eastward via a high-angle ramp from a lower detachment in the Kanosh Shale to an upper detachment in the Pilot Shale. The doubling of lPz strata that resulted continues through the eastern Confusion Range where a series of small-displacement thrust faults comprising the Kings Canyon thrust system gently tilt strata to the west. In the Conger Range, west of the Conger Mtn syncline, our analysis focuses on reinterpreting the geometrically unlikely folding depicted in previous cross sections as more admissible, fault-cored, asymmetric, detached folding. In our interpretation, resistance created by a steeply-dipping thrust ramp in the lPz section west of Conger Mtn resulted in folding of uPz strata into an east-vergent anticline. Continued east

Energy Saving in Greenhouse Horticulture as a response to changing societal demands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verstegen, J.A.A.M.; Westerman, A.D.; Bremmer, J.; Ravensbergen, P.

2004-01-01

In response to societal demands, the Dutch government implemented policy measures to reduce the use of fossil energy in greenhouse horticulture. A survey study was conducted to analyse behavioural aspects of horticultural growers to see 1) if they know about the policy measures and know what they

Ontological confusions but not mentalizing abilities predict religious belief, paranormal belief, and belief in supernatural purpose.

Science.gov (United States)

Lindeman, Marjaana; Svedholm-Häkkinen, Annika M; Lipsanen, Jari

2015-01-01

The current research tested the hypothesis that the abilities for understanding other people's minds give rise to the cognitive biases that underlie supernatural beliefs. We used structural equation modeling (N=2789) to determine the roles of various mentalizing tendencies, namely self-reported affective and cognitive empathy (i.e., mind reading), actual cognitive and affective empathic abilities, hyper-empathizing, and two cognitive biases (core ontological confusions and promiscuous teleology) in giving rise to supernatural beliefs. Support for a path from mentalizing abilities through cognitive biases to supernatural beliefs was weak. The relationships of mentalizing abilities with supernatural beliefs were also weak, and these relationships were not substantially mediated by cognitive biases. Core ontological confusions emerged as the best predictor, while promiscuous teleology predicted only a small proportion of variance. The results were similar for religious beliefs, paranormal beliefs, and for belief in supernatural purpose. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Iceland’s External Affairs from 1550-1815: Danish societal and political cover concurrent with a highly costly economic policy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Baldur Þórhallsson

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The paper argues that there is not necessarily a correlation between political, economic and societal shelter. Iceland received considerable societal and political shelter from Denmark in the period under study, but Denmark failed to provide its remote island with economic cover. Firstly, and most importantly, it provided substantial and highly valuable societal shelter. Copenhagen was the main channel by which new knowledge and technology could enter Iceland. The islanders benefited from educational, health-care and social policies of the crown and it played an invaluable role in preserving Iceland’s cultural heritage. Secondly, Denmark provided partial protection of Icelandic waters and land though Iceland’s peripheral position continued to be its main protection from outside attacks. However, at the end of our period, the Danish kingdom was in decline and unable to provide political cover. Nevertheless, increased centralization, initiated from Denmark, provided internal order and political stability and citizens became more equal before the law. Thirdly, Icelanders paid a heavy price for the Danish trade monopoly though Icelanders continued to receive partial economic and societal shelter from foreign merchants and fishermen. The crown’s policies towards Iceland can largely be explained by current ideological trends at any given time. By being in constant contact with the European continent through Denmark, Icelandic society was part of the societal, political and economic evolution in Europe and managed to avoid isolation despite its geographical remoteness.

Metallic iron for water treatment: leaving the valley of confusion

Science.gov (United States)

Makota, Susanne; Nde-Tchoupe, Arnaud I.; Mwakabona, Hezron T.; Tepong-Tsindé, Raoul; Noubactep, Chicgoua; Nassi, Achille; Njau, Karoli N.

2017-12-01

Researchers on metallic iron (Fe0) for environmental remediation and water treatment are walking in a valley of confusion for 25 years. This valley is characterized by the propagation of different beliefs that have resulted from a partial analysis of the Fe0/H2O system as (1) a reductive chemical reaction was considered an electrochemical one and (2) the mass balance of iron has not been really addressed. The partial analysis in turn has been undermining the scientific method while discouraging any real critical argumentation. This communication re-establishes the complex nature of the Fe0/H2O system while recalling that, finally, proper system analysis and chemical thermodynamics are the most confident ways to solve any conflicting situation in Fe0 environmental remediation.

Delictual Negligence of Educators in Schools: The Confusing Influence of the "in loco parentis" Doctrine

Science.gov (United States)

Potgieter, Johan

2004-01-01

This article points out that the "in loco parentis" maxim is partly to blame for introducing the confusing "reasonable parent" doctrine as the test for delictual negligence of educators in the school context. It is argued that the standard of care exercised by parents over their children is not appropriate to determine the negligence of educators.…

BALANCING ON THE BORDERLINE OF EARLY AFFECT-CONFUSION - PART 2 OF A CASE STUDY TRILOGY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard G. Erskine

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Part 2 of a case study trilogy on early affect-confusion describes the psychotherapy relationship between an angry/helpless client and the psychotherapist’s skill in balancing the “borderline” between behavioral management and affect attunement, historical inquiry and normalization, validation and shame. The therapeutic use of bifurcated questions and juxtaposition reactions is illustrated.

Progress toward developing a practical societal response to severe convection (2005 EGU Sergei Soloviev Medal Lecture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. A. Doswell III

2005-01-01

Full Text Available A review of severe convection in the context of geophysical hazards is given. Societal responses to geophysical hazards depend, in part, on the ability to forecast the events and the degree of certainty with which forecasts can be made. In particular, the spatio-temporal specificity and lead time of those forecasts are critical issues. However, societal responses to geophysical hazards are not only dependent on forecasting. Even perfect forecasts might not be sufficient for a meaningful societal response without the development of considerable infrastructure to allow a society to respond properly and in time to mitigate the hazard. Geophysical hazards of extreme magnitude are rare events, a fact that tends to make funding support for appropriate preparations difficult to obtain. Focusing on tornadoes as a prototypical hazard from severe convective storms, the infrastructure for dealing with them in the USA is reviewed. Worldwide implications of the experience with severe convective storms in the USA are discussed, with an emphasis on its relevance to the situation in Europe.

Influencing governance of a public-private partnership in plant genomics: The societal interface group as a new instrument for public involvement.

Science.gov (United States)

Hanssen, Lucien; Gremmen, Bart

2013-08-01

The Centre for BioSystems Genomics (CBSG) is a Dutch public-private partnership in plant genomics active in potato and tomato research and exploitation. Its Societal Interface Group (SIG) has been developed to inform its communication strategy and governance practice. This new instrument identifies and discusses early signals from society by bringing together people from different societal backgrounds with members of CBSG management. This interactive learning process facilitates the inclusion of public concerns and needs in scientific developments in the field of plant genomics, and simultaneously enables genomics scientists to search for more societal aims, meanings, and starting points for their research agenda. Analysis of the SIG sessions revealed that the input of public expertise is not threatening or irrational, but provides the opportunity to harness the creative potential of future users highly relevant for the development of societal practices in which plant genomics plays a role.

Faculty experiences with rapid integration of male nursing students within a patriarchal societal context.

Science.gov (United States)

Kulakac, Ozen; Arslan, Ilkay; Sucu Dag, Gülten; O'Lynn, Chad

2015-11-01

In 2007, reforms by the Turkish government forced a rapid integration of male nursing students into previously all-female schools. The minimal amount of time for faculty preparation, little guidance from nursing leaders and the extant literature, and a societal context of patriarchy created unique challenges for faculty. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore and interpret the experiences of nursing faculty as they adapted to the sudden inclusion of men in schools of nursing. A qualitative descriptive study Nine schools from six regions across Turkey 99 nursing faculty who were 22 to 55years of age, primarily female (97.8%), married (65.6%). Focus groups were used to collect data. Data were analyzed using constant comparison and tripartite discussion. Analysis yielded three categories, seven themes, and seven subthemes describing variable experiences, perceptions, and adaptive strategies. The findings presented contradictions characterized by both optimism and concern following the rapid infusion of men into schools of nursing. Concerns primarily centered on the state of gender relations in a larger patriarchal society. The findings foster reflection and discourse as societies characterized by relatively rigid and traditional gender roles confront rapid cultural change and growing calls for diversity within nursing. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Economic Burden of Visual Impairment and Comorbid Fatigue: A Cost-of-Illness Study (From a Societal Perspective).

Science.gov (United States)

Schakel, Wouter; van der Aa, Hilde P A; Bode, Christina; Hulshof, Carel T J; van Rens, Ger H M B; van Nispen, Ruth M A

2018-04-01

To investigate the burden of visual impairment and comorbid fatigue in terms of impact on daily life, by estimating societal costs (direct medical costs and indirect non-health care costs) accrued by these conditions. This cost-of-illness study was performed from a societal perspective. Cross-sectional data of visually impaired adults and normally sighted adults were collected through structured telephone interviews and online surveys, respectively. Primary outcomes were fatigue severity (FAS), impact of fatigue on daily life (MFIS), and total societal costs. Cost differences between participants with and without vision loss, and between participants with and without fatigue, were examined by (adjusted) multivariate regression analyses, including bootstrapped confidence intervals. Severe fatigue (FAS ≥ 22) and high fatigue impact (MFIS ≥ 38) was present in 57% and 40% of participants with vision loss (n = 247), respectively, compared to 22% (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 4.6; 95% confidence interval [CI] [2.7, 7.6]) and 11% (adjusted OR 4.8; 95% CI [2.7, 8.7]) in those with normal sight (n = 233). A significant interaction was found between visual impairment and high fatigue impact for total societal costs (€449; 95% CI [33, 1017]). High fatigue impact was associated with significantly increased societal costs for participants with visual impairment (mean difference €461; 95% CI [126, 797]), but this effect was not observed for participants with normal sight (€12; 95% CI [-527, 550]). Visual impairment is associated with an increased prevalence of high fatigue impact that largely determines the economic burden of visual impairment. The substantial costs of visual impairment and comorbid fatigue emphasize the need for patient-centered interventions aimed at decreasing its impact.

Societal rationality; towards an understanding of decision making processes in society

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wahlstroem, Bjoern

2001-01-01

In a search for new ways to structure decision making on complex and controversial issues it is necessary to build an understanding of why traditional decision making processes break down. One reason is connected to the issues themselves. They represent steps into the unknown and decisions should therefore be made with prudence. A second reason is connected to a track record according to which new technologies are seen as generating more problems than solutions. A third and more fundamental reason is connected to the decision making processes themselves and a need to find better ways to approach difficult questions in the society. One way to approach societal decision making processes is to investigate their hidden rationality in an attempt to understand causes of observed difficulties. The paper is based mainly on observations from the nuclear industry, but it builds also on controversies experienced in attempts to agree on global efforts towards sustainable approaches to development. It builds on an earlier paper, which discussed the basis of rationality both on an individual and a societal level. Research in societal decision making has to rely on a true multi-disciplinary approach. It is nor enough to understand the technical and scientific models by which outcomes are predicted, but it is also necessary to understand how people make sense of their environment and how they co-operate. Rationality is in this connection one of the key concepts, with an understanding that people always are rational in their own frame of action. The challenge in this connection is to understand how this subjective rationality is formed. Societal rationality has to do with the allocation of resources. There are decisions in which several conflicting views have to be considered. Spending time and resources ex ante may support a consensus ex post, but unfortunately there is no panacea for approaching difficult decisions. Decisions with an uncertain future have to be more robust than

Societal rationality; towards an understanding of decision making processes in society

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wahlstroem, Bjoern [Technical Research Centre of Finland, Espoo (Finland)

2001-07-01

In a search for new ways to structure decision making on complex and controversial issues it is necessary to build an understanding of why traditional decision making processes break down. One reason is connected to the issues themselves. They represent steps into the unknown and decisions should therefore be made with prudence. A second reason is connected to a track record according to which new technologies are seen as generating more problems than solutions. A third and more fundamental reason is connected to the decision making processes themselves and a need to find better ways to approach difficult questions in the society. One way to approach societal decision making processes is to investigate their hidden rationality in an attempt to understand causes of observed difficulties. The paper is based mainly on observations from the nuclear industry, but it builds also on controversies experienced in attempts to agree on global efforts towards sustainable approaches to development. It builds on an earlier paper, which discussed the basis of rationality both on an individual and a societal level. Research in societal decision making has to rely on a true multi-disciplinary approach. It is nor enough to understand the technical and scientific models by which outcomes are predicted, but it is also necessary to understand how people make sense of their environment and how they co-operate. Rationality is in this connection one of the key concepts, with an understanding that people always are rational in their own frame of action. The challenge in this connection is to understand how this subjective rationality is formed. Societal rationality has to do with the allocation of resources. There are decisions in which several conflicting views have to be considered. Spending time and resources ex ante may support a consensus ex post, but unfortunately there is no panacea for approaching difficult decisions. Decisions with an uncertain future have to be more robust than

Predicted fire behavior and societal benefits in three eastern Sierra Nevada vegetation types

Science.gov (United States)

C.A. Dicus; K. Delfino; D.R. Weise

2009-01-01

We investigated potential fire behavior and various societal benefits (air pollution removal, carbon sequestration, and carbon storage) provided by woodlands of pinyon pine (Pinus monophylla) and juniper (Juniperus californica), shrublands of Great Basin sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) and rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa...

The Role of Language in the Selection of Entrepreneurial Opportunities for Societal Support

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Steinberg, Philip; Urbig, Diemo; Procher, Vivien D.; Dana, Leo-Paul

2017-01-01

The evaluation and selection of entrepreneurial opportunities for societal support often takes place in a global and, thereby, foreign language context. While previous research demonstrated that foreign language use influences individuals’ decision-making, our knowledge on the impact of foreign

Value of information analysis from a societal perspective: a case study in prevention of major depression.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohseninejad, Leyla; van Baal, Pieter H M; van den Berg, Matthijs; Buskens, Erik; Feenstra, Talitha

2013-06-01

Productivity losses usually have a considerable impact on cost-effectiveness estimates while their estimated values are often relatively uncertain. Therefore, parameters related to these indirect costs play a role in setting priorities for future research from a societal perspective. Until now, however, value of information analyses have usually applied a health care perspective for economic evaluations. Hence, the effect of productivity losses has rarely been investigated in such analyses. The aim of the current study therefore was to investigate the effects of including or excluding productivity costs in value of information analyses. Expected value of information analysis (EVPI) was performed in cost-effectiveness evaluation of prevention from both societal and health care perspectives, to give us the opportunity to compare different perspectives. Priorities for future research were determined by partial EVPI. The program to prevent major depression in patients with subthreshold depression was opportunistic screening followed by minimal contact psychotherapy. The EVPI indicated that regardless of perspective, further research is potentially worthwhile. Partial EVPI results underlined the importance of productivity losses when a societal perspective was considered. Furthermore, priority setting for future research differed according to perspective. The results illustrated that advise for future research will differ for a health care versus a societal perspective and hence the value of information analysis should be adjusted to the perspective that is relevant for the decision makers involved. The outcomes underlined the need for carefully choosing the suitable perspective for the decision problem at hand. Copyright © 2013 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Confusion deepens over N.S. Mutsu

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1984-01-01

The problem regarding the nuclear ship Mutsu has developed into a major political issue, and has been thrown into confusion, since a group in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party decided that the nuclear ship should be out of commission, and the construction of the new home port should be suspended. The commercial operation of nuclear ships is not expected soon, and the government plan to spend 60 billion to 100 billion yen for the construction of the new home port is questioned. The group to consider the nuclear ship urged the government to make serious effort to resume the experiment of the Mutsu as soon as possible, and the Nuclear Ship Council of the AEC considered the construction of the new home port as unavoidable, and emphasized the importance of nuclear ship development. This seemed to end the argument, but the above decision was made. Five major papers are also divided over the question of the Mutsu. Local people demand the government to observe the five-party agreement on the construction of the new home port at Sekinehama. Four top executives of the Liberal Democratic Party made a four-point decision, but it was so ambiguous that it may be interpreted in various ways. This decision threatens the existence of the AEC as the highest organ on the atomic energy policy of Japan. The role as an experimental nuclear ship should be fulfiled anyway. (Kako, I.)

Theorizing Learning in Life History - a psycho-societal approach

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olesen, Henning Salling

2007-01-01

to the understanding of knowledge, based on examples from the author's research into professional learning (general practitioners). The pivotal role of language use and language socialisation is explained in brief, developing a psychodynamic complement to a language game concept of language use.......  Taking it's point of departure in some critical remarks to some of the most important recent theorizing of learning, this article presents an alternative framework for theorizing learning as a subjective process in a social and societal context, based in life history research. Key concepts...

Words and wards: a model of reflective writing and its uses in medical education.

Science.gov (United States)

Shapiro, Johanna; Kasman, Deborah; Shafer, Audrey

2006-01-01

Personal, creative writing as a process for reflection on patient care and socialization into medicine ("reflective writing") has important potential uses in educating medical students and residents. Based on the authors' experiences with a range of writing activities in academic medical settings, this article sets forth a conceptual model for considering the processes and effects of such writing. The first phase (writing) is individual and solitary, consisting of personal reflection and creation. Here, introspection and imagination guide learners from loss of certainty to reclaiming a personal voice; identifying the patient's voice; acknowledging simultaneously valid yet often conflicting perspectives; and recognizing and responding to the range of emotions triggered in patient care. The next phase (small-group reading and discussion) is public and communal, where sharing one's writing results in acknowledging vulnerability, risk-taking, and self-disclosure. Listening to others' writing becomes an exercise in mindfulness and presence, including witnessing suffering and confusion experienced by others. Specific pedagogical goals in three arenas-professional development, patient care and practitioner well-being - are linked to the writing/reading/listening process. The intent of presenting this model is to help frame future intellectual inquiry and investigation into this innovative pedagogical modality.

Linking soil systems to societal value systems

Science.gov (United States)

Helming, Katharina; Daedlow, Katrin; Techen, Anja; Kaiser, David Brian

2017-04-01

Sustainable management of soils is needed to avoid soil degradation and to maintain soil functions. This requires the assessment of how human activities drive soil management, how soil management affect soil functions and soil degradation, which trade-offs occur and how they compromise sustainable development targets. In the frame of the German research programme "Soils as a sustainable resource for the bio-economy - BonaRes", we developed an enhanced approach of the DPSIR (driver-pressure-state-impact-response) cycle which helps to assess these interrelations. Because not all soil functions can be maximized simultaneously in space and time and trade-offs are inevitable, it depends on the societal value system to decide which management practices and respective soil functional performances are valued sustainably. We analysed the applicability of three valuation concepts being prominent in research about social-ecological systems, namely resource efficiency, ecosystem services, and ethics and equity. The concept of resource efficiency is based in the life-cycle thinking and is often applied at the level of the farming systems and in the context of bio-economy strategies. It covers the use of natural (water, energy, nutrients, land) and economic resources. At the landscape level, the concept of ecosystem services is prominent. Here, the contribution of soils to the provisioning, regulating and cultural services of the natural ecosystems is considered. Ethical considerations include the intrinsic values of nature as well as issues of local and global equity between different societal groups, generations, and localities. The three concepts cover different problem dimensions and complexity levels of soil management and decision making. Alone, none of them are capable to discover complex questions of sustainable soil management and development. Rather, the exact spatial and temporal framing of the sustainability problem at stake determines which combination of the value

Why are some languages confused for others? Investigating data from the Great Language Game

Science.gov (United States)

2017-01-01

In this paper we explore the results of a large-scale online game called ‘the Great Language Game’, in which people listen to an audio speech sample and make a forced-choice guess about the identity of the language from 2 or more alternatives. The data include 15 million guesses from 400 audio recordings of 78 languages. We investigate which languages are confused for which in the game, and if this correlates with the similarities that linguists identify between languages. This includes shared lexical items, similar sound inventories and established historical relationships. Our findings are, as expected, that players are more likely to confuse two languages that are objectively more similar. We also investigate factors that may affect players’ ability to accurately select the target language, such as how many people speak the language, how often the language is mentioned in written materials and the economic power of the target language community. We see that non-linguistic factors affect players’ ability to accurately identify the target. For example, languages with wider ‘global reach’ are more often identified correctly. This suggests that both linguistic and cultural knowledge influence the perception and recognition of languages and their similarity. PMID:28379970

Space-based societal applications—Relevance in developing countries

Science.gov (United States)

Bhaskaranarayana, A.; Varadarajan, C.; Hegde, V. S.

2009-11-01

Space technology has the vast potential for addressing a variety of societal problems of the developing countries, particularly in the areas of communication, education and health sectors, land and water resources management, disaster management and weather forecasting. Both remote sensing and communication technologies can be used to achieve this goal. With its primary emphasis on application of space technology, on an end-to-end basis, towards national development, the Indian Space Programme has distinguished itself as one of the most cost-effective and development-oriented space programmes in the world. Developing nations are faced with the enormous task of carrying development-oriented education to the masses at the lower strata of their societies. One important feature of these populations is their large number and the spread over vast and remote areas of these nations, making the reaching out to them a difficult task. Satellite communication (Satcom) technology offers the unique capability of simultaneously reaching out to very large numbers, spread over vast areas, including the remote corners of the country. It is a strong tool to support development education. India has been amongst the first few nations to explore and put to use the Satcom technology for education and development-oriented services to the rural masses. Most of the developing countries have inadequate infrastructure to provide proper medical care to the rural population. Availability of specialist doctors in rural areas is a major bottleneck. Use of Satcom and information technology to connect rural clinics to urban hospitals through telemedicine systems is one of the solutions; and India has embarked upon an effective satellite-based telemedicine programme. Space technology is also useful in disaster warning and management related applications. Use of satellite systems and beacons for locating the distressed units on land, sea or air is well known to us. Indian Space Research Organisation

Towards a Theory of Societal Co-Evolution: Individualism versus Collectivism

OpenAIRE

Ahuja, Kartik; Zhang, Simpson; van der Schaar, Mihaela

2014-01-01

Substantial empirical research has shown that the level of individualism vs. collectivism is one of the most critical and important determinants of societal traits, such as economic growth, economic institutions and health conditions. But the exact nature of this impact has thus far not been well understood in an analytical setting. In this work, we develop one of the first theoretical models that analytically studies the impact of individualism-collectivism on the society. We model the growt...

Access to Information About Stuttering and Societal Knowledge of Stuttering

OpenAIRE

Gabel, Rodney; Brackenbury, Tim; Irani, Farzan

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine societal knowledge of stuttering, access to information sources, and the influence of information sources on knowledge of stuttering. 185 participants from Northwest Ohio were surveyed. Results of the study indicated that the general public varies in their knowledge of stuttering and that majority of participants had not accessed information about stuttering, and the few who had, did so a long time ago. Finally, access to information sources had little...

Assessing and Responding to the Risks of Global and Societal Changes in the MENA Region

Science.gov (United States)

Lange, Manfred

2017-04-01

Interactions and feedbacks between rapidly increasing multiple pressures on water, energy and food security drive social-ecological systems at multiple scales towards critical thresholds in countries of the Eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA Region). The MENA Region is expected to experience significantly above-global-mean changes in climatic conditions and has been designated as one of the global "climate change hot spots" (Giorgi, F., 2006). The MENA region is also characterized by one of the highest rates of population growth on Earth, having seen a 3.7-fold increase in population between 1950 to 2000. The region is expected to continue to see a roughly doubling of its population until 2050 (Population Reference Bureau, 2001). Significant gender inequalities and an extremely high rate of youth unemployment are repercussions of such developments that exacerbate the societal pressures and tensions in the region. In addition, the events of the "Arab Spring", have resulted in major political, economic and societal transitions and have frequently been accompanied by significant armed struggles within and between countries of the MENA Region. These developments and the still ongoing conflicts in parts of the region render this region to one of the global "political, societal and humanitarian hot-spots". Responding to these challenges requires integrated science and a close relationship between policy makers and stakeholders, a need that Future Earth (www.futureearth.org) has been designed to respond to. In order to address the requirements of nation states and local communities, Future Earth has adopted a regional governance structure. This has resulted in the establishment of the Future Earth MENA Regional Center at the Cyprus Institute (FEMRC) in Nicosia, Cyprus, as one of five Regional Centers worldwide. One of the major challenges in establishing a regional Future-Earth-related research agenda lies in a comprehensive assessments of the

Diagnostic confusion resulting from CD56 expression by cutaneous myeloid sarcoma

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sheeja T. Pullarkat

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Myeloid sarcomas are tumor masses composed of aggregates of malignant myeloid precursors in extramedullary sites including the skin. We report a case of myeloid sarcoma in a patient who presented with an ear lobe mass and facial nerve paralysis. Expression of CD56 by the malignant cells led to an initial misdiagnosis as Merkel cell tumor. Comprehensive pathological evaluation confirmed the diagnosis of myeloid sarcoma with aberrant expression of CD56 and carrying the translocation t(8;21 (q22;q22. Aberrant antigen expression by cutaneous myeloid sarcomas can cause diagnostic confusion with other cutaneous neoplasms. This is especially relevant when myeloid sarcoma is the sole manifestation of acute myeloid leukemia.

Geological disposal of nuclear waste: II. From laboratory data to the safety analysis – Addressing societal concerns

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grambow, Bernd; Bretesché, Sophie

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Models for repository safety can only partly be validated. • Long term risks need to be translated in the context of societal temporalities. • Social sciences need to be more strongly involved into safety assessment. - Abstract: After more than 30 years of international research and development, there is a broad technical consensus that geologic disposal of highly-radioactive waste will provide for the safety of humankind and the environment, now, and far into the future. Safety analyses have demonstrated that the risk, as measured by exposure to radiation, will be of little consequence. Still, there is not yet an operating geologic repository for highly-radioactive waste, and there remains substantial public concern about the long-term safety of geologic disposal. In these two linked papers, we argue for a stronger connection between the scientific data (paper I, Grambow et al., 2014) and the safety analysis, particularly in the context of societal expectations (paper II). In this paper (II), we assess the meaning of the technical results and derived models (paper I) for the determination of the long-term safety of a repository. We consider issues of model validity and their credibility in the context of a much broader historical, epistemological and societal context. Safety analysis is treated in its social and temporal dimensions. This perspective provides new insights into the societal dimension of scenarios and risk analysis. Surprisingly, there is certainly no direct link between increased scientific understanding and a public position for or against different strategies of nuclear waste disposal. This is not due to the public being poorly informed, but rather due to cultural cognition of expertise and historical and cultural perception of hazards to regions selected to host a geologic repository. The societal and cultural dimension does not diminish the role of science, as scientific results become even more important in distinguishing

Uso da técnica de confusão sexual no manejo populacional de Cryptoblabes gnidiella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae em videira

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José Eudes de Morais Oliveira

2014-11-01

Full Text Available O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a eficiência da técnica de confusão sexual, com o feromônio sexual sintético composto (Z-11-hexadecenal (Z11-16: Ald a 1,8% e (Z-13-octadecenal (Z13-18: Ald a 1,8%, no controle da população de traça-dos-cachos, Cryptoblabes gnidiella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae, em cultivares de videiras (Vitis vinifera destinadas à produção de vinhos. Os experimentos foram realizados em duas localidades na região do Vale do São Francisco, em áreas comerciais de produção de uva para processamento, com as cultivares Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Tempranillo e Chenin Blanc. Os tratamentos avaliados foram os seguintes: confusão sexual com uso de liberadores Splat ("specialized pheromone and lure application technology", aplicados com pistola manual a 500 pontos por hectare (2 g por ponto; e testemunha sem aplicação. O efeito da técnica sobre os adultos de C. gnidiella foi avaliado com uso de armadilha tipo Delta, iscada em um septo com 2 g de feromônio sintético da mesma formulação. Os danos nos cachos foram avaliados à colheita. O uso da técnica de confusão sexual reduziu a captura de adultos de C. gnidiella em mais de 59% na 'Tempranillo', 68% na 'Chenin Blanc', 80% na 'Cabernet Sauvignon' e 97% na 'Petit Verdot'. À época da colheita, os danos nos frutos foram reduzidos de 65 a 100% nas áreas tratadas. O feromônio sexual sintético é eficaz para reduzir o acasalamento de C. gnidiella em vinhedos, com o uso da técnica de confusão sexual.

Biological and societal dimensions of lead poisoning in birds in the USA

Science.gov (United States)

Friend, Milton; Franson, J. Christian; Anderson, William L.

2008-01-01

The ingestion of spent lead shot was known to cause mortality in wild waterfowl in the US a century before the implementation of nontoxic shot regulations began in 1972. The biological foundation for this transition was strongly supported by both field observations and structured scientific investigations. Despite the overwhelming evidence, various societal factors forestalled the full transition to nontoxic shot for waterfowl hunting until 1991. Now, nearly 20 years later, these same factors weigh heavily in current debates about nontoxic shot requirements for hunting other game birds, requiring nontoxic bullets for big game hunting in California Condor range and for restricting the use of small lead sinkers and jig heads for sport-fishing. As with waterfowl, a strong science-based foundation is requisite for further transitions to nontoxic ammunition and fishing weights. Our experiences have taught us that the societal aspects of this transition are as important as the biological components and must be adequately addressed before alternatives to toxic lead ammunition, fishing weights, and other materials will be accepted as an investment in wildlife conservation.

Tradução e adaptação cultural da escala de confusão de NEECHAM Traducción y adaptación cultural de la escala de confusión de NEECHAM Translation and cultural adaption of the NEECHAM confusion scales

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Hugo Neves

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Apesar dos problemas e dos riscos associados à Confusão Aguda (CA, a literatura sugere grandes dificuldades no seu diagnóstico, por parte dos profissionais de saúde, nomeadamente, pelos enfermeiros. O uso de instrumentos de avaliação que, através da aplicação de critérios, permitam uma avaliação rigorosa sistematizada e que conduza a níveis de detecção mais eficazes, torna-se necessário. Com este estudo pretendeu-se traduzir e validar uma escala capaz de diagnosticar a CA de forma a promover a saúde e segurança do doente confuso. Após uma revisão sistemática da literatura optou-se pelo uso da escala NEECHAM Confusion Scale. O processo de tradução utilizado baseou-se no método recomendado pela International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR. Após a utilização da NEECHAM Confusion Scale observou-se uma elevada consistência interna (Alpha Cronbach=0,913, uma boa correlação com os scores da Escala de Glasgow (r=0,866 p=0,000 e divisão da escala em duas dimensões pela análise das cargas factoriais e pela análise da rotação varimax. Sugerimos e defendemos a importância da utilização da NEECHAM, associada a formação sobre o fenómeno, o que permitirá produzir melhores índices de reconhecimento, ao mesmo tempo que permitirá a validação de intervenções adequadas ao doente confuso.A pesar de los problemas y de los riesgos asociados a la Confusión Aguda (CA, la literatura sugiere grandes dificultades en su diagnóstico, por parte de los profesionales de salud, en particular por parte de los enfermeros. El uso de instrumentos de evaluación que, mediante la aplicación de criterios, permitan una evaluación rigurosa sistematizada y que conduzca a niveles de detección más eficaces es una necesidad. Con este estudio se pretendió traducir y validar una escala capaz de diagnosticar la CA de forma a promover la salud y la seguridad del enfermo con delirium. Tras una revisión sistem

Reflection as a Deliberative and Distributed Practice: Assessing Neuro-Enhancement Technologies via Mutual Learning Exercises (MLEs).

Science.gov (United States)

Zwart, Hub; Brenninkmeijer, Jonna; Eduard, Peter; Krabbenborg, Lotte; Laursen, Sheena; Revuelta, Gema; Toonders, Winnie

2017-01-01

In 1968, Jürgen Habermas claimed that, in an advanced technological society, the emancipatory force of knowledge can only be regained by actively recovering the 'forgotten experience of reflection'. In this article, we argue that, in the contemporary situation, critical reflection requires a deliberative ambiance, a process of mutual learning, a consciously organised process of deliberative and distributed reflection. And this especially applies, we argue, to critical reflection concerning a specific subset of technologies which are actually oriented towards optimising human cognition (neuro-enhancement). In order to create a deliberative ambiance, fostering critical upstream reflection on emerging technologies, we developed (in the context of a European 7 th Framework Programme project on neuro-enhancement and responsible research and innovation, called NERRI) the concept of a mutual learning exercise (MLE). Building on a number of case studies, we analyse what an MLE involves, both practically and conceptually, focussing on key aspects such as ambiance and expertise, the role of 'genres of the imagination' and the profiles of various 'subcultures of debate'. Ideally, an MLE becomes a contemporary version of the Socratic agora, providing a stage where multiple and sometimes unexpected voices and perspectives mutually challenge each other, in order to strength-en the societal robustness and responsiveness of emerg-ing technologies.

Continent of pessimism or continent of realism? A multilevel study into the impact of macro-economic outcomes and political institutions on societal pessimism, European Union 2006-2012.

Science.gov (United States)

Steenvoorden, Eefje H; van der Meer, Tom Wg

2017-06-01

The often-posed claim that Europe is a pessimistic continent is not unjustified. In 2012, 53 percent of European Union (EU) citizens were pessimistic about their country. Surprisingly, however, societal pessimism has received very little scientific attention. In this article, we examine to what extent political and economic factors drive societal pessimism. In terms of political factors, we expect that supranationalization, political instability, and corruption increase societal pessimism, as they diminish national political power and can inspire collective powerlessness. Economically, we expect that the retrenchment of welfare state provisions and economic decline drive societal pessimism, as these developments contribute to socioeconomic vulnerability. We assess the impact of these political and economic factors on the level of societal pessimism in the EU, both cross-nationally and over time, through multilevel analyses of Eurobarometer data (13 waves between 2006 and 2012 in 23 EU countries). Our findings show that the political factors (changes in government, corruption) primarily explain cross-national differences in societal pessimism, while the macro-economic context (economic growth, unemployment) primarily explains longitudinal trends within countries. These findings demonstrate that, to a large extent, societal pessimism cannot be viewed separately from its political and economic context.

Stress and well-being at work: A century of empirical trends reflecting theoretical and societal influences.

Science.gov (United States)

Bliese, Paul D; Edwards, Jeffrey R; Sonnentag, Sabine

2017-03-01

In various forms, research on stress and well-being has been a part of the Journal of Applied Psychology ( JAP ) since its inception. In this review, we examine the history of stress research in JAP by tracking word frequencies from 606 abstracts of published articles in the journal. From these abstracts, we define 3 eras: a 50 year-era from 1917 to 1966, a 30-year era from 1967 to 1996, and a 20-year era from 1997 to the present. Each era is distinct in terms of the number of articles published and the general themes of the topic areas examined. We show that advances in theory are a major impetus underlying research topics and the number of publications. Our review also suggests that articles have increasingly tended to reflect broader events occurring in society such as recessions and workforce changes. We conclude by offering ideas about the future of stress and well-being research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Fragments on teachers' reflective practicum

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Živković Predrag Ž.

2013-01-01

Full Text Available in many historical and comparative overviews of the works, in which there is an analytical discussion of the dominant pedagogical theories in the twentieth century, John Dewey (Dewey, 1933 is referred to as the founder and creator of the concept of reflection (reflective thought and knowledge in practice. Reflection as a concept is understood as the forms and the form of problem solving, as well as continuously thinking about the causes of problems in situations in situ, including active and systematically and consistently changing connecting ideas with solutions to the problems and situations that preceded them (Hatton & Smith, 1995. Reflective thinking is the most general level to tackle practical problems, allowing the ''recommended'' doubts and confusion before proposing possible solutions to the problem. Dewey wrote about a reflective action which refers to the use of solutions to the problem and to thinking through the course of the action. in later works of the authors who have dealt with this problem, an unambiguous link can be observed between the so-called ''professional'' action and the reflection on action which, in this cyclical relationship, leads to visible changes (Zeichner & Gore, 1984. Already at first glance, this implies a connection with experiential learning and adult position of observation and reflection in various models of experiential learning, which will be discussed later. it would be useful to compare this method with a cyclic action of routine as an expression of impulse, tradition and authority. Reflective action, as opposed to the routine, is a consistently and carefully thought-out action (practice reflection, which is an ''awakened'' knowledge and belief, and that is an expression of openness, accountability and commitment. We are ready for reflection, says Schon, when the ''knowledge-in-action'' - a kind of knowledge that professionals notice when it is acted spontaneously - occurs suddenly and unintentionally

Societal representations on the accident with caesium-137

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chaves, E.G.

1998-01-01

The influence of societal representations on the theme of nuclear energy are reviewed in the light of the public's reactions to the accident with the capsule of 137 Cs in Goiania. As a starting point, it is accepted that the panic caused by the accident can be properly understood only if human subjectivity is taken into consideration. This perspective is required whenever events unfold which put human life and the environment at risk. Faced with the accident, the public internalized radioactivity - an element unknown to them - as a certainty of contracting cancer and ultimately death, despite the fact that such outcomes can only be the result of excessive exposure to radioactivity. (author)

Societal transformations in the face of climate. Research priorities for the next decade

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Driessen, P.J.; Behagel, J.H.; Hegger, D.; Mees, H.; Rijswick, M.; Termeer, K.

2015-01-01

Climate change Creates new challenges for the global society. Responding to climate change is a complex process of societal transformations that should be studied as such. The contribution of the social sciences is crucial to the understanding of these processes of change. The growing body of

A First Look at Gender Inequality as a Societal Risk Factor for Dating Violence.

Science.gov (United States)

Gressard, Lindsay A; Swahn, Monica H; Tharp, Andra Teten

2015-09-01

One of ten U.S. high school students is a victim of adolescent dating violence (ADV). Understanding ADV risk factors guides prevention efforts; however, research examining community- and societal-level risk factors is scant. Societal gender inequality is a known risk factor for violence against women, but has yet to be explored in relation to ADV. This study aims to determine whether the Gender Inequality Index (GII) correlates with levels of physical and sexual ADV victimization across U.S. states. State-representative prevalence rates of self-reported physical and sexual ADV victimization were obtained from the 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. The state GII includes five indicators: (1) maternal mortality; (2) adolescent birth rate; (3) government representation; (4) educational attainment; and (5) labor force participation. Pearson correlation coefficients determined the association between physical and sexual ADV victimization, the GII, and GII indicators. Analyses were conducted in August 2014. Among U.S. states, the prevalence of physical ADV victimization in 2013 ranged from 7.0% to 14.8%, and the prevalence of sexual ADV victimization ranged from 7.8% to 13.8%. The GII was significantly associated with the state prevalence of female physical ADV victimization (r=0.48, pgender inequality may be a societal-level risk factor for female physical ADV victimization. As ADV prevention strategies are implemented at the state level, further research examining the effect of gender inequality on ADV is needed. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Out of sight, out of mind - societal considerations in offshore development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rothermund, H.C.

1996-01-01

This paper deals with societal considerations in connection with the UK offshore development. The offshore oil and gas industry seems remote from most people's lives, but its responsibilities has been recognised towards people and the environment. The author discusses the industry's changing response to these issues in three areas such as the creation of wealth, the health and safety of those involved in its operations, and the protection of the environment

A conceptual framework for characterizing forest areas with high societal values: experiences from the Pacific Northwest of USA and Central Europe

Science.gov (United States)

Tina Simonèiè; Thomas A. Spies; Robert L. Deal; Andrej Bonèina

2015-01-01

In recent decades, much work has been invested to describe forest allocations with high societal values. Yet, few comparative analyses have been conducted on their importance and differences across the regions of the globe. This paper introduces a conceptual framework to characterize forest priority areas defined as areas with identified higher importance of societal...

Crafting smart textiles : a meaningful way towards societal sustainability in the fashion field?

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Kuusk, K.; Tomico, O.; Langereis, G.R.; Wensveen, S.A.G.

2012-01-01

Smart textiles with its vast range of possibilities provide a considerable opportunity. for societal sustainability for the waste-oriented fashion industry. May the new textdes react to the environment, wearer, have a mind of its own or simply provoke and inspire people -it is a great tooi for the

The views of experts and the public regarding societal preferences for innovation in nanotechnology

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Gupta, N.

2013-01-01

Nanotechnology represents an emerging technology with varied application areas. It has been identified as the next scientific breakthrough with potential for positive impacts for society. The development and application of emerging technologies has been shown to be contingent upon societal responses

A antropologia numa era de confusão

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Maybury-Lewis David

2002-01-01

Full Text Available A Antropologia sempre procurou entender a natureza humana e as variedades da cultura humana. Esta tarefa ambiciosa enfrentou constantemente dificuldades teóricas e metodológicas. A teoria da evolução social foi apresentada como sendo preconceituosa e baseada em poucas evidências, inclusive com uma inferência racista em uma época de dominação européia. Os antídotos - rigoroso trabalho de campo inspirado no funcionalismo, estruturalismo ou culturalismo - eram também vistos como contaminados por hierarquias de uma ordem mundial colonialista. A atenção pós-moderna a este "orientalismo" em um mundo pós-colonial produziu textos no sentido de atentar os antropólogos para estas questões, o que acarretou um declínio na produção e no entendimento antropológico. Esta conferência considera estes dilemas, os correntes debates sobre "cultura" e "sobrevivência cultural" e como antropólogos deveriam proceder nesta nova era de confusão, produzida pela globalização e pelo aparecimento do Estado-nação.

Clarification of the confusion concerning the crystal-field quantities vs the zero-field splitting quantities in magnetism studies: Part II-Survey of literature dealing with model studies of spin systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rudowicz, C.

2008-01-01

For respective quantities, i.e., Hamiltonians, parameters, and energy level splittings, related to two physically distinct notions X and Y, various cases of confused terminology have been identified in literature. Referring to a quantity related actually to the notion Y using incorrectly the name of another well-defined notion X constitutes, what may be defined for short as, the type X=Y confusion. An ongoing survey of magnetism literature indicates that quantities related to zero-field splitting (ZFS) or equivalently fine structure (FS) are most often confused with those related to crystal-field (CF) or equivalently ligand field (LF). In this review the CF=ZFS confusion cases, i.e., labelling actual ZFS/FS quantities as purportedly 'CF/LF' ones, appearing in magnetism studies are surveyed and clarified. Part I covers the cases occurring in literature dealing with specific compounds. In this part model studies of spin systems are surveyed. The cases of terminology mixing up actual ZFS/FS quantities with purported CF/LF ones are identified and presented comprehensively in tabular form. To facilitate discussion, problems pertinent for the CF=ZFS confusion are categorized into several groups, including origin of the two notions, physical consequences, usage of specific numerical values, invoking real magnetic spin systems, and properties of spin S=1/2 systems. Physical implications of this confusion for interpretation of model results are also considered. Overall implications of incorrect terminology go beyond simple semantic issues and concern possible misinterpretation of data describing various physical properties of models studied. Such terminology contributes also to misleading keyword classifications of papers in journals and scientific databases. Other types of confusion identified in survey of magnetism literature will be discussed in separate reviews

Does aerobic training alleviate fatigue and improve societal participation in patients with multiple sclerosis? A randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Heine, Martin; Verschuren, Olaf; Hoogervorst, Erwin Lj; van Munster, Erik; Hacking, Hub Ga; Visser-Meily, Anne; Twisk, Jos Wr; Beckerman, Heleen; de Groot, Vincent; Kwakkel, Gert

2017-10-01

Evidence supporting the effectiveness of aerobic training, specific for fatigue, in severely fatigued patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) is lacking. To estimate the effectiveness of aerobic training on MS-related fatigue and societal participation in ambulant patients with severe MS-related fatigue. Patients ( N = 90) with severe MS-related fatigue were allocated to 16-week aerobic training or control intervention. Primary outcomes were perceived fatigue (Checklist Individual Strength (CIS20r) fatigue subscale) and societal participation. An improvement of ⩾8 points on the CIS20r fatigue subscale was considered clinically relevant. Outcomes were assessed by a blinded observer at baseline, 2, 4, 6 and 12 months. Of the 89 patients that started treatment (median Expanded Disability Status Scale (interquartile range), 3.0 (2.0-3.6); mean CIS20r fatigue subscale (standard deviation (SD)), 42.6 (8.0)), 43 received aerobic training and 46 received the control intervention. A significant post-intervention between-group mean difference (MD) on the CIS20r fatigue subscale of 4.708 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.003-8.412; p  = 0.014) points was found in favour of aerobic training that, however, was not sustained during follow-up. No effect was found on societal participation. Aerobic training in MS patients with severe fatigue does not lead to a clinically meaningful reduction in fatigue or societal participation when compared to a low-intensity control intervention.

Teaching Societal and Ethical Implications of Nanotechnology to Engineering Students through Science Fiction

Science.gov (United States)

Berne, Rosalyn W.; Schummer, Joachim

2005-01-01

Societal and ethical implications of nanotechnology have become a hot topic of public debates in many countries because both revolutionary changes and strong public concerns are expected from its development. Because nanotechnology is, at this point, mostly articulated in visionary and futuristic terms, it is difficult to apply standard methods of…

Linking Earth Observations and Models to Societal Information Needs: The Case of Coastal Flooding

Science.gov (United States)

Buzzanga, B. A.; Plag, H. P.

2016-12-01

Coastal flooding is expected to increase in many areas due to sea level rise (SLR). Many societal applications such as emergency planning and designing public services depend on information on how the flooding spectrum may change as a result of SLR. To identify the societal information needs a conceptual model is needed that identifies the key stakeholders, applications, and information and observation needs. In the context of the development of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), which is implemented by the Group on Earth Observations (GEO), the Socio-Economic and Environmental Information Needs Knowledge Base (SEE-IN KB) is developed as part of the GEOSS Knowledge Base. A core function of the SEE-IN KB is to facilitate the linkage of societal information needs to observations, models, information and knowledge. To achieve this, the SEE-IN KB collects information on objects such as user types, observational requirements, societal goals, models, and datasets. Comprehensive information concerning the interconnections between instances of these objects is used to capture the connectivity and to establish a conceptual model as a network of networks. The captured connectivity can be used in searches to allow users to discover products and services for their information needs, and providers to search for users and applications benefiting from their products. It also allows to answer "What if?" questions and supports knowledge creation. We have used the SEE-IN KB to develop a conceptual model capturing the stakeholders in coastal flooding and their information needs, and to link these elements to objects. We show how the knowledge base enables the transition of scientific data to useable information by connecting individuals such as city managers to flood maps. Within the knowledge base, these same users can request information that improves their ability to make specific planning decisions. These needs are linked to entities within research

Elements of societal perception of farm animal welfare: A quantitative study in the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boogaard, B.K.; Oosting, S.J.; Bock, B.B.

2006-01-01

To study societal perception of animal welfare in The Netherlands and to search for intervention possibilities to influence this perception, 1074 randomly selected Dutch respondents completed a questionnaire on animal welfare. We analysed 15 propositions (4-point Likert scale) and through factor

Societal individualism–collectivism and uncertainty avoidance as cultural moderators of relationships between job resources and strain

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Winny; Allen, Tammy D.; Zhang, Haiyan

2017-01-01

Summary The job demands–resources model is a dominant theoretical framework that describes the influence of job demands and job resources on employee strain. Recent research has highlighted that the effects of job demands on strain vary across cultures, but similar work has not explored whether this is true for job resources. Given that societal characteristics can influence individuals' cognitive structures and, to a lesser extent, values in a culture, we address this gap in the literature and argue that individuals' strain in reaction to job resources may differ across cultures. Specifically, we theorize that the societal cultural dimensions of individualism–collectivism and uncertainty avoidance shape individual‐level job resource–strain relationships, as they dictate which types of resources (i.e., individual vs. group preference‐oriented and uncertainty‐reducing vs. not) are more likely to be valued, used, or effective in combating strain within a culture. Results revealed that societal individualism–collectivism and uncertainty avoidance independently moderated the relationships between certain job resources (i.e., job control, participation in decision making, and clear goals and performance feedback) and strain (i.e., job satisfaction and turnover intentions). This study expands our understanding of the cross‐cultural specificity versus generalizability of the job demands–resources model. PMID:29780207

Societal individualism-collectivism and uncertainty avoidance as cultural moderators of relationships between job resources and strain.

Science.gov (United States)

Jang, Seulki; Shen, Winny; Allen, Tammy D; Zhang, Haiyan

2018-05-01

The job demands-resources model is a dominant theoretical framework that describes the influence of job demands and job resources on employee strain. Recent research has highlighted that the effects of job demands on strain vary across cultures, but similar work has not explored whether this is true for job resources. Given that societal characteristics can influence individuals' cognitive structures and, to a lesser extent, values in a culture, we address this gap in the literature and argue that individuals' strain in reaction to job resources may differ across cultures. Specifically, we theorize that the societal cultural dimensions of individualism-collectivism and uncertainty avoidance shape individual-level job resource-strain relationships, as they dictate which types of resources (i.e., individual vs. group preference-oriented and uncertainty-reducing vs. not) are more likely to be valued, used, or effective in combating strain within a culture. Results revealed that societal individualism-collectivism and uncertainty avoidance independently moderated the relationships between certain job resources (i.e., job control, participation in decision making, and clear goals and performance feedback) and strain (i.e., job satisfaction and turnover intentions). This study expands our understanding of the cross-cultural specificity versus generalizability of the job demands-resources model.

Integrated societal risk assessment framework for nuclear power and renewable energy sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Sang Hun; Kang, Hyun Gook

2015-01-01

Recently, the estimation of the social cost of energy sources has been emphasized as various novel energy options become feasible in addition to conventional ones. In particular, the social cost of introducing measures to protect power-distribution systems from power-source instability and the cost of accident-risk response for various power sources must be investigated. To account for these risk factors, an integrated societal risk assessment framework, based on power-uncertainty analysis and accident-consequence analysis, is proposed. In this study, we applied the proposed framework to nuclear power plants, solar photovoltaic systems, and wind-turbine generators. The required capacity of gas-turbine power plants to be used as backup power facilities to compensate for fluctuations in the power output from the main power source was estimated based on the performance indicators of each power source. The average individual health risk per terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity produced by each power source was quantitatively estimated by assessing accident frequency and the consequences of specific accident scenarios based on the probabilistic risk assessment methodology. This study is expected to provide insight into integrated societal risk analysis, and can be used to estimate the social cost of various power sources

Integrated societal risk assessment framework for nuclear power and renewable energy sources

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Sang Hun; Kang, Hyun Gook [Dept. of Nuclear and Quantum Engineering, KAIST, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2015-06-15

Recently, the estimation of the social cost of energy sources has been emphasized as various novel energy options become feasible in addition to conventional ones. In particular, the social cost of introducing measures to protect power-distribution systems from power-source instability and the cost of accident-risk response for various power sources must be investigated. To account for these risk factors, an integrated societal risk assessment framework, based on power-uncertainty analysis and accident-consequence analysis, is proposed. In this study, we applied the proposed framework to nuclear power plants, solar photovoltaic systems, and wind-turbine generators. The required capacity of gas-turbine power plants to be used as backup power facilities to compensate for fluctuations in the power output from the main power source was estimated based on the performance indicators of each power source. The average individual health risk per terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity produced by each power source was quantitatively estimated by assessing accident frequency and the consequences of specific accident scenarios based on the probabilistic risk assessment methodology. This study is expected to provide insight into integrated societal risk analysis, and can be used to estimate the social cost of various power sources.

Air Quality Management Using Modern Remote Sensing and Spatial Technologies and Associated Societal Costs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Waheed Uddin

2006-09-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a study of societal costs related to public health due to the degradation of air quality and the lack of physical activity, both affected by our built environment. The paper further shows road safety as another public health concern. Traffic fatalities are the number one cause of death in the world. Traffic accidents result in huge financial loss to the people involved and the related public health cost is a significant part of the total societal cost. Motor vehicle exhausts and industrial emissions, gasoline vapors, and chemical solvents as well as natural sources emit nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds, which are precursors to the formation of ground-level Ozone. High concentration values of ground-level Ozone in hot summer days produce smog and lead to respiratory problems and loss in worker’s productivity. These factors and associated economic costs to society are important in establishing public policy and decision-making for sustainable transportation and development of communities in both industrialized and developing countries. This paper presents new science models for predicting ground-level Ozone and related air quality degradation. The models include predictor variables of daily climatological data, traffic volume and mix, speed, aviation data, and emission inventory of point sources. These models have been implemented in the user friendly AQMAN computer program and used for a case study in Northern Mississippi. Lifecycle benefits from reduced societal costs can be used to implement sustainable transportation policies, enhance investment decision-making, and protect public health and the environment.

Access to Information About Stuttering and Societal Knowledge of Stuttering.

Science.gov (United States)

Gabel, Rodney; Brackenbury, Tim; Irani, Farzan

2010-08-01

The purpose of this study was to examine societal knowledge of stuttering, access to information sources, and the influence of information sources on knowledge of stuttering. 185 participants from Northwest Ohio were surveyed. Results of the study indicated that the general public varies in their knowledge of stuttering and that majority of participants had not accessed information about stuttering, and the few who had, did so a long time ago. Finally, access to information sources had little influence on knowledge of stuttering. Implications for future research are discussed.

A risk standard based on societal cost with bounded consequences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Worledge, D.H.

1982-01-01

A risk standard is proposed that relates the frequency of occurrence of single events to the consequences of the events. Maximum consequences and risk aversion are used to give the cumulative risk curve a shape similar to the results of a risk assessment and to bound the expectation of deaths. Societal costs in terms of deaths are used to fix the parameters of the model together with an approximate comparison with individual risks. The proposed standard is compared with some practical applications of risk assessment to nuclear reactor systems

Societal concerns about pork and pork production and their relationships on the production system

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kanis, E.; Groen, A.F.; Greef, de K.H.

2003-01-01

Pork producers in Western Europe more and more encounter a variety of societal concerns about pork and pork production. So far, however, producers predominantly focused on low consumer prices, therewith addressing just one concern. This resulted in an intensive and large-scale production system,

Topic D. Retrievability: a spectrum of views radioactive waste disposal: taking societal views into account

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rip, A.; Smit, W.A.; Van der Meulen, B.J.R.

1994-01-01

This work deals with the radioactive waste disposal. It takes into account the societal views. The main results as well as the methodological approach of argumentation patterns and argumentation scenarios are presented. (O.L.). 7 refs

Zoonotic and Non-Zoonotic Diseases in Relation to Human Personality and Societal Values: Support for the Parasite-Stress Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Randy Thornhill

2010-04-01

Full Text Available The parasite-stress model of human sociality proposes that humans' ontogenetic experiences with infectious diseases as well as their evolutionary historical interactions with these diseases exert causal influences on human psychology and social behavior. This model has been supported by cross-national relationships between parasite prevalence and human personality traits, and between parasite prevalence and societal values. Importantly, the parasite-stress model emphasizes the causal role of non-zoonotic parasites (which have the capacity for human-to-human transmission, rather than zoonotic parasites (which do not, but previous studies failed to distinguish between these conceptually distinct categories. The present investigation directly tested the differential predictive effects of zoonotic and non-zoonotic (both human-specific and multihost parasite prevalence on personality traits and societal values. Supporting the parasite-stress model, cross-national differences in personality traits (unrestricted sexuality, extraversion, openness to experiences and in societal values (individualism, collectivism, gender equality, democratization are predicted specifically by non-zoonotic parasite prevalence.

Economy and Society: Strategies for a More Equal Distribution of Societal Power

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erich Hoedl

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Unequal distribution of societal power is to a large extent responsible for poverty, hunger, the destruction of nature, and inhuman living conditions. From the perspective of its redistribution, we distinguish three basic means of power: The ownership of material and immaterial properties, the kind of organisation and the values according to which properties and their organisation are handled. This framework permits us to identify crucial power structures in less industrialised and industrial countries and within the financial, real productive, political and social subsystems of the society and allows us to sketch strategies for redistribution of societal power: Industrial countries have to reduce their real and financial capital inputs in favour of higher human capital investments and increase their direct investments in less industrialised countries, supported by a Global Marshall Plan. Less industrialised countries need to enhance both their industrial and alternative sectors, establish more democratic structures and human-centered educational systems. By these cooperative strategies the costs of former colonialism can be partly refunded. The main obstacle for such global cooperation is the global financial system, which has to be decentralised towards a multi-currency system, including regional currencies and barter. In the real productive sector, financial governance and capital-oriented hierarchies should be markedly reduced, which will increase creativity and productivity of work, underpinned by an enlarged human-centered education. Redistributing the prevailing power of the financial and productive sector rests considerably on democratic governance, which has to include increasing informal and legitimate interests and prevent plutocratic tendencies. For this, an economic democracy should be evolved where each individual not only has a vote, but also a guaranteed minimum income. Individual security, welfare and well-being are the

N-Confused Porphyrin Immobilized on Solid Supports: Synthesis and Metal Ions Sensing Efficacy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sara R. D. Gamelas

2018-04-01

Full Text Available In this work, the N-confused porphyrin 5,10,15,20-tetraphenyl-2-aza-21-carbaporphyrin (NCTPP was immobilized on neutral or cationic supports based on silica and on Merrifield resin. The new materials were characterized by appropriate techniques (UV-Vis spectroscopy, SEM, and zeta potential analysis. Piezoelectric quartz crystal gold electrodes were coated with the different hybrids and their ability to interact with heavy metals was evaluated. The preliminary results obtained showed that the new materials can be explored for metal cations detection and the modification of the material surface is a key factor in tuning the metal selectivity.

Does your organization use gender inclusive forms? Nurses' confusion about trans* terminology.

Science.gov (United States)

Carabez, Rebecca; Pellegrini, Marion; Mankovitz, Andrea; Eliason, Mickey; Scott, Megan

2015-11-01

To describe nurses confusion around trans* terminology and to provide a lesson in Trans* 101 for readers. Of the estimated 9 million persons in the United States of America who are identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, about 950,000 (0.2-0.5% of adult population) are identified as trans* (a term that encompasses the spectrum, including transgender, transsexual, trans man, trans woman and other terms). The Institute of Medicine (2011, The health of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people: Building a foundation for better understanding. The National Academies Press, Washington, DC) identified transgender persons as an understudied population with significant need for health research, yet the nursing literature contains little guidance for educating nurses on trans* issues. This is a mixed methods structured interview design with nurse key informants. The scripted interview was based on the Health Care Equality Index, which evaluates patient-centred care to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender patients and families. These data were part of a larger research study that explored the current state of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender-sensitive nursing practice. Undergraduate nursing students recruited and interviewed 268 nurse key informants about gender inclusive forms (capable of identifying trans* patients) at their agencies. Only 5% reported use of gender inclusive forms, 44% did not know about inclusive forms, 37% did not understand what a gender inclusive form was and 14% confused gender with sexual orientation. The study demonstrated a critical need for education in gender identity and sexual orientation terminology. The lack of understanding of concepts and terminology may affect basic care of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender patients especially those who identify as transgender. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Triple confusion: An interesting case of proteinuria in pregnancy.

Science.gov (United States)

Guru, Pramod K; Ramaeker, Devon M; Jeybalan, Arundhathi; Shah, Nirav A; Bastacky, Sheldon; Liang, Kelly V

2016-01-01

Pregnancy-related renal diseases are unique and need special attention, both for diagnosis and management. The major confounding factors for diagnosis are the physiological multiorgan changes that occur throughout the gestational period. Proper diagnosis of the renal disease is also important, given the impact of varied management options both on the maternal and fetal health. A young middle-aged female with a long-standing history of diabetes presented to the hospital with worsening proteinuria in her second trimester of pregnancy. Clinical history, examinations, and laboratory analysis did not give any clues for diagnosis of a specific disease entity. This led us to take the risk of renal biopsy for a tissue diagnosis. The odds of renal biopsy favored the management decision in her case, thereby avoiding the confusions prior to biopsy. The pathological diagnosis is a surprise though not a unique entity on its own (minimal change disease in pregnancy). The case illustrates the disparity of clinical presentations and the pathology in patients, and the importance of renal biopsy in pregnant patients in particular.

Climato-economic livability predicts societal collectivism and political autocracy better than parasitic stress does

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van de Vliert, E.; Postmes, T.

A 121-nation study of societal collectivism and a 174-nation study of political autocracy show that parasitic stress does not account for any variation in these components of culture once the interactive impacts of climatic demands and income resources have been accounted for. Climato-economic

Personal Values and Attitudes towards Societal and Environmental Accountability: A Study of MBA Students

Science.gov (United States)

Bhattacharyya, Asit

2016-01-01

Efforts to promote corporate societal and environmental accountability (SEA) should be informed by an understanding of stakeholders' attitudes toward enhanced accountability standards. However, little is known regarding current attitudes on this subject or the determinants of these attitudes. To address this issue, this study examines the…

A Sensory-Driven Trade-Off between Coordinated Motion in Social Prey and a Predator's Visual Confusion.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bertrand H Lemasson

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Social animals are capable of enhancing their awareness by paying attention to their neighbors, and prey found in groups can also confuse their predators. Both sides of these sensory benefits have long been appreciated, yet less is known of how the perception of events from the perspectives of both prey and predator can interact to influence their encounters. Here we examined how a visual sensory mechanism impacts the collective motion of prey and, subsequently, how their resulting movements influenced predator confusion and capture ability. We presented virtual prey to human players in a targeting game and measured the speed and accuracy with which participants caught designated prey. As prey paid more attention to neighbor movements their collective coordination increased, yet increases in prey coordination were positively associated with increases in the speed and accuracy of attacks. However, while attack speed was unaffected by the initial state of the prey, accuracy dropped significantly if the prey were already organized at the start of the attack, rather than in the process of self-organizing. By repeating attack scenarios and masking the targeted prey's neighbors we were able to visually isolate them and conclusively demonstrate how visual confusion impacted capture ability. Delays in capture caused by decreased coordination amongst the prey depended upon the collection motion of neighboring prey, while it was primarily the motion of the targets themselves that determined capture accuracy. Interestingly, while a complete loss of coordination in the prey (e.g., a flash expansion caused the greatest delay in capture, such behavior had little effect on capture accuracy. Lastly, while increases in collective coordination in prey enhanced personal risk, traveling in coordinated groups was still better than appearing alone. These findings demonstrate a trade-off between the sensory mechanisms that can enhance the collective properties that

Clan in Transition: Societal Changes of Villages in China from the Perspective of Water Pollution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qidong Huang

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Societal relations in rural areas have entered into a new stage of adjustment over the past decade. However, the adjustment, which might bring about profound societal changes in countryside as well as in China as a whole, have not been paid much attention and very few studies have been conducted from the perspective of ecological resource crises. We use the case of a village as an example to show how water pollution, as one of the contributory factors, possibly affect the transition of clans and societal changes in Chinese villages. Through observation and interviews, we find that there is an apparent rise of “New Clanism” within clans, which gradually abandons the tradition of supremacy of clan interests and places family or individual interests at top priority. We also find that clan boundaries get increasingly obscure since the integrity of clans is undermined by the rise of new interest groups across clans, but the boundaries remain relatively clear due to the consistency (albeit incomplete of clan interests. Some new clan élites and representatives of new interest groups get involved in village governance, which indicates that their goals have shifted from natural resources to social or political capital. The significance of our findings is that they provide not only a unique perspective for the interaction between society and resources, but also some new ideas for the future study of rural China at the environment-social interface.

Societal value of generic medicines beyond cost-saving through reduced prices.

Science.gov (United States)

Dylst, Pieter; Vulto, Arnold; Simoens, Steven

2015-01-01

This paper aims to provide an overview of the added societal value of generic medicines beyond their cost-saving potential through reduced prices. In addition, an observational case study will document the impact of generic entry on access to pharmacotherapy in The Netherlands and an illustrative exercise was carried out to highlight the budget impact of generic entry. A narrative literature review was carried out to explore the impact of generic medicines on access to pharmacotherapy, innovation and medication adherence. Data from the Medicines and Medical Devices Information Project database in The Netherlands were used for the case study in which the impact of generic medicine entrance on the budget and the number of users was calculated as an illustrative exercise. Generic medicines have an additional societal value beyond their cost-saving potential through reduced prices. Generic medicines increase access to pharmacotherapy, provide a stimulus for innovation by both originator companies and generic companies and, under the right circumstances, have a positive impact on medication adherence. Generic medicines offer more to society than just their cost-saving potential through reduced prices. As such, governments must not focus only on the prices of generic medicines as this will threaten their long-term sustainability. Governments must therefore act appropriately and implement a coherent set of policies to increase the use of generic medicines.

Bit Bang 4: Future of internet - Societal, business, governance and technological aspects

OpenAIRE

Neuvo, Yrjö (ed.); Karvonen, Elina (ed.)

2012-01-01

Bit Bang – Future of the Internet: Societal, business, governance and technological aspects was the fourth multidisciplinary post-graduate course for doctoral students at Aalto University. Altogether 24 students were selected from five Aalto University Schools: School of Arts, Design and Architecture; School of Economics; School of Electrical Engineering; School of Engineering; and School of Science. Bit Bang is part of the MIDE (Multidisciplinary Institute of Digitalisation and Energy) resea...

Exploring Societal Preferences for Energy Sufficiency Measures in Switzerland

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moser, Corinne; Rösch, Andreas; Stauffacher, Michael

2015-01-01

Many countries are facing a challenging transition toward more sustainable energy systems, which produce more renewables and consume less energy. The latter goal can only be achieved through a combination of efficiency measures and changes in people’s lifestyles and routine behaviors (i.e., sufficiency). While research has shown that acceptance of technical efficiency is relatively high, there is a lack of research on societal preferences for sufficiency measures. However, this is an important prerequisite for designing successful interventions to change behavior. This paper analyses societal preferences for different energy-related behaviors in Switzerland. We use an online choice-based conjoint analysis (N = 150) to examine preferences for behaviors with high technical potentials for energy demand reduction in the following domains: mobility, heating, and food. Each domain comprises different attributes across three levels of sufficiency. Respondents were confronted with trade-off situations evoked through different fictional lifestyles that comprised different combinations of attribute levels. Through a series of trade-off decisions, participants were asked to choose their preferred lifestyle. The results revealed that a vegetarian diet was considered the most critical issue that respondents were unwilling to trade off, followed by distance to workplace and means of transportation. The highest willingness to trade off was found for adjustments in room temperature, holiday travel behaviors, and living space. Participants’ preferences for the most energy-sufficient lifestyles were rather low. However, the study showed that there were lifestyles with substantive energy-saving potentials that were well accepted among respondents. Our study results suggest that the success of energy-sufficiency interventions might depend strongly on the targeted behavior. We speculate that they may face strong resistance (e.g., vegetarian diet). Thus, it seems promising to

Exploring Societal Preferences for Energy Sufficiency Measures in Switzerland

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moser, Corinne, E-mail: corinne.moser@zhaw.ch [Institute of Sustainable Development, School of Engineering, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Winterthur (Switzerland); Natural and Social Science Interface, Institute for Environmental Decisions, Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zürich, Zürich (Switzerland); Rösch, Andreas [Natural and Social Science Interface, Institute for Environmental Decisions, Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zürich, Zürich (Switzerland); Stauffacher, Michael [Natural and Social Science Interface, Institute for Environmental Decisions, Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zürich, Zürich (Switzerland); Transdisciplinarity Laboratory, Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zürich, Zürich (Switzerland)

2015-09-16

Many countries are facing a challenging transition toward more sustainable energy systems, which produce more renewables and consume less energy. The latter goal can only be achieved through a combination of efficiency measures and changes in people’s lifestyles and routine behaviors (i.e., sufficiency). While research has shown that acceptance of technical efficiency is relatively high, there is a lack of research on societal preferences for sufficiency measures. However, this is an important prerequisite for designing successful interventions to change behavior. This paper analyses societal preferences for different energy-related behaviors in Switzerland. We use an online choice-based conjoint analysis (N = 150) to examine preferences for behaviors with high technical potentials for energy demand reduction in the following domains: mobility, heating, and food. Each domain comprises different attributes across three levels of sufficiency. Respondents were confronted with trade-off situations evoked through different fictional lifestyles that comprised different combinations of attribute levels. Through a series of trade-off decisions, participants were asked to choose their preferred lifestyle. The results revealed that a vegetarian diet was considered the most critical issue that respondents were unwilling to trade off, followed by distance to workplace and means of transportation. The highest willingness to trade off was found for adjustments in room temperature, holiday travel behaviors, and living space. Participants’ preferences for the most energy-sufficient lifestyles were rather low. However, the study showed that there were lifestyles with substantive energy-saving potentials that were well accepted among respondents. Our study results suggest that the success of energy-sufficiency interventions might depend strongly on the targeted behavior. We speculate that they may face strong resistance (e.g., vegetarian diet). Thus, it seems promising to

A flexible object-based software framework for modeling complex systems with interacting natural and societal processes.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Christiansen, J. H.

2000-06-15

The Dynamic Information Architecture System (DIAS) is a flexible, extensible, object-based framework for developing and maintaining complex multidisciplinary simulations. The DIAS infrastructure makes it feasible to build and manipulate complex simulation scenarios in which many thousands of objects can interact via dozens to hundreds of concurrent dynamic processes. The flexibility and extensibility of the DIAS software infrastructure stem mainly from (1) the abstraction of object behaviors, (2) the encapsulation and formalization of model functionality, and (3) the mutability of domain object contents. DIAS simulation objects are inherently capable of highly flexible and heterogeneous spatial realizations. Geospatial graphical representation of DIAS simulation objects is addressed via the GeoViewer, an object-based GIS toolkit application developed at ANL. DIAS simulation capabilities have been extended by inclusion of societal process models generated by the Framework for Addressing Cooperative Extended Transactions (FACET), another object-based framework developed at Argonne National Laboratory. By using FACET models to implement societal behaviors of individuals and organizations within larger DIAS-based natural systems simulations, it has become possible to conveniently address a broad range of issues involving interaction and feedback among natural and societal processes. Example DIAS application areas discussed in this paper include a dynamic virtual oceanic environment, detailed simulation of clinical, physiological, and logistical aspects of health care delivery, and studies of agricultural sustainability of urban centers under environmental stress in ancient Mesopotamia.

Societal and ethical implications of anti-spoofing technologies in biometrics.

Science.gov (United States)

Rebera, Andrew P; Bonfanti, Matteo E; Venier, Silvia

2014-03-01

Biometric identification is thought to be less vulnerable to fraud and forgery than are traditional forms of identification. However biometric identification is not without vulnerabilities. In a 'spoofing attack' an artificial replica of an individual's biometric trait is used to induce a system to falsely infer that individual's presence. Techniques such as liveness-detection and multi-modality, as well as the development of new and emerging modalities, are intended to secure biometric identification systems against such threats. Unlike biometrics in general, the societal and ethical issues raised by spoofing and anti-spoofing techniques have not received much attention. This paper examines these issues.

Programs with societal benefits at the Cornell University TRIGA reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clark, D.D.; Aderhold, H.C.; Hossain, T.Z.

1993-01-01

In its 30 yr of operation, the Cornell TRIGA reactor has been used for many educational and research programs that provide general benefits to society. In addition to supporting graduate-level education of nuclear scientists and engineers, it has been extensively used in undergraduate and graduate courses and research by nonspecialists and, through the medium of tours, in education of the general public. Some educational functions have been described previously. In this paper, examples are presented of research of societal interest in nonnuclear fields. The first two rely mainly on radiography, and the remaining five on neutron activation analysis (NAA)

Societal transformation and adaptation necessary to manage dynamics in flood hazard and risk mitigation (TRANS-ADAPT)

Science.gov (United States)

Fuchs, Sven; Thaler, Thomas; Bonnefond, Mathieu; Clarke, Darren; Driessen, Peter; Hegger, Dries; Gatien-Tournat, Amandine; Gralepois, Mathilde; Fournier, Marie; Mees, Heleen; Murphy, Conor; Servain-Courant, Sylvie

2015-04-01

Facing the challenges of climate change, this project aims to analyse and to evaluate the multiple use of flood alleviation schemes with respect to social transformation in communities exposed to flood hazards in Europe. The overall goals are: (1) the identification of indicators and parameters necessary for strategies to increase societal resilience, (2) an analysis of the institutional settings needed for societal transformation, and (3) perspectives of changing divisions of responsibilities between public and private actors necessary to arrive at more resilient societies. This proposal assesses societal transformations from the perspective of changing divisions of responsibilities between public and private actors necessary to arrive at more resilient societies. Yet each risk mitigation measure is built on a narrative of exchanges and relations between people and therefore may condition the outputs. As such, governance is done by people interacting and defining risk mitigation measures as well as climate change adaptation are therefore simultaneously both outcomes of, and productive to, public and private responsibilities. Building off current knowledge this project will focus on different dimensions of adaptation and mitigation strategies based on social, economic and institutional incentives and settings, centring on the linkages between these different dimensions and complementing existing flood risk governance arrangements. The policy dimension of adaptation, predominantly decisions on the societal admissible level of vulnerability and risk, will be evaluated by a human-environment interaction approach using multiple methods and the assessment of social capacities of stakeholders across scales. As such, the challenges of adaptation to flood risk will be tackled by converting scientific frameworks into practical assessment and policy advice. In addressing the relationship between these dimensions of adaptation on different temporal and spatial scales, this

Societal Preferences for Funding Orphan Drugs in the United Kingdom: An Application of Person Trade-Off and Discrete Choice Experiment Methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Bourke, Siobhan M; Plumpton, Catrin O; Hughes, Dyfrig A

2018-05-01

It is unclear whether UK National Health Service (NHS) policies for orphan drugs, which permit funding of non-cost-effective treatments, reflect societal preferences. We conducted person trade-off (PTO) and discrete choice experiment (DCE) among 3950 adults selected to be representative of the UK general population. Experimental design was informed by surveys of patients affected by rare diseases, their caregivers, health care staff, and policymakers. Societal preferences were estimated in relation to treating a common disease, increases in waiting lists, or filling of vacant NHS posts. Results of the DCE were applied to recently licensed orphan drugs. On the basis of equal cost, the majority of respondents to the PTO (54%; 95% confidence interval [CI] 50-59) chose to allocate funds equally between patients treated for rare diseases and those treated for common diseases, with 32% (95% CI 28-36) favoring treating rare diseases over treating common diseases (14%; 95% CI 11-17), which this reduced to 23% (95% CI 20-27) when rare disease treatments were 10 times more expensive. When framed differently, more respondents prioritized not increasing waiting list size (43%; 95% CI 39-48) than to treat rare disease patients (34%; 95% CI 30-38). The DCE indicated a greater preference for treating a common disease over a rare disease. Respondents agreed with five of 12 positive appraisal recommendations for orphan drugs, even if their list price was higher, but preferred the NHS not to fund the remainder. The general public does not value rarity as a sufficient reason to justify special consideration for additional NHS funding of orphan drugs. This has implications regarding the appropriateness of operating higher thresholds of cost-effectiveness. Copyright © 2018 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Making sense out of confusion: a review of fire-oak papers published in the past 50 years

Science.gov (United States)

Patrick H. Brose; Thomas A. Waldrop

2014-01-01

The existing fire-oak literature is contradictory on whether fire helps or hinders the oak regeneration process. This confusion occurs because the fire-oak studies have been conducted under a wide variety of conditions. In this paper, we review the fire-oak literature by stand age class, season of burn, and number of burns to identify commonalities and trends. Overall...

Integrated societal risk assessment framework for nuclear power and renewable energy sources

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sang Hun Lee

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Recently, the estimation of the social cost of energy sources has been emphasized as various novel energy options become feasible in addition to conventional ones. In particular, the social cost of introducing measures to protect power-distribution systems from power-source instability and the cost of accident-risk response for various power sources must be investigated. To account for these risk factors, an integrated societal risk assessment framework, based on power-uncertainty analysis and accident-consequence analysis, is proposed. In this study, we applied the proposed framework to nuclear power plants, solar photovoltaic systems, and wind-turbine generators. The required capacity of gas-turbine power plants to be used as backup power facilities to compensate for fluctuations in the power output from the main power source was estimated based on the performance indicators of each power source. The average individual health risk per terawatt-hours (TWh of electricity produced by each power source was quantitatively estimated by assessing accident frequency and the consequences of specific accident scenarios based on the probabilistic risk assessment methodology. This study is expected to provide insight into integrated societal risk analysis, and can be used to estimate the social cost of various power sources.

Developing a global ocean observing system that prioritises ecosystem variables from a political and societal point of view

Science.gov (United States)

Miloslavich, P.; Bax, N. J.; Simmons, S. E.; Appeltans, W.; Garcia, M.

2016-02-01

The Biology and Ecosystems Panel of GOOS aims to develop and coordinate efforts to implement a sustained and targeted global ocean observation system. This system will be driven by societal needs (including the Sustainable Development Goals), and identify Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs) to inform priority scientific and societal questions that will facilitate critical policy development and management decision-making on ocean and coastal resource sustainability and health. Mature EOVs need to have global relevance and the capacity for global measurement. Our goal is to implement at least one (set of) mature EOVs by 2019, and identify a further three (sets of) pilot EOVs with a clear pathway to maturity. Our initial work includes (1) identifying drivers and pressures of societal and scientific needs, and (2) identifying internationally agreed goals that need sustained global observations of ocean biological & ecosystem variables for a healthy ocean. We reviewed 24 major conventions/international organizations (including the CBD and 16 UN related) to identify the societal needs these organizations address through their goals, and to produce a set of overlapping objectives. Main drivers identified in these conventions were: knowledge (science/data access), development (sustainable economic growth), conservation (biodiversity & ecosystems), sustainable use (biodiversity & resources), environmental quality (health), capacity building (technology transfer), food security, threat prevention and impact mitigation (to different pressures) and improved management (integrated ecosystem approach). The main pressures identified were climate change, ocean acidification, extreme weather events, overfishing/ overexploitation, pollution/ eutrophication, mining, solid wastes. Our next step will be to develop consensus with the observing community about the EOVs that will meet these needs and support the expansion of these identified EOVs into successful global observing systems.

Two Discrete RuCp* (Cp*=Pentamethylcyclopentadienyl) Binding Modes of N-Confused Porphyrins: Peripheral π Complex and Sitting Atop Ruthenocenophane Complex by Skeletal Transformation.

Science.gov (United States)

Yamamoto, Takaaki; Mitsuno, Koki; Mori, Shigeki; Itoyama, Shuhei; Shiota, Yoshihito; Yoshizawa, Kazunari; Ishida, Masatoshi; Furuta, Hiroyuki

2018-05-07

Complexation of a RuCp* cation with N-confused tetraarylporphyrins (NCPs) forms directly bound ruthenium(II) pentamethylcyclopentadienyl (Cp*) π-complex on a specific meso-aryl group (e.g., phenyl) neighboring peripheral imino nitrogen of NCPs in high yields. In contrast, in the case of NCPs bearing bulky meso-substituents (e.g., 3,5-di-tert-butylphenyl), new ruthenocenophane-like complex embedded on an N-confused calix[4]phyrin was formed through multiple C-H bond activation of methyl groups of Cp* ligand. The mechanistic insight into the formation of the ruthenocenophane was derived from DFT calculations. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Cognitive tests predict real-world errors: the relationship between drug name confusion rates in laboratory-based memory and perception tests and corresponding error rates in large pharmacy chains.

Science.gov (United States)

Schroeder, Scott R; Salomon, Meghan M; Galanter, William L; Schiff, Gordon D; Vaida, Allen J; Gaunt, Michael J; Bryson, Michelle L; Rash, Christine; Falck, Suzanne; Lambert, Bruce L

2017-05-01

Drug name confusion is a common type of medication error and a persistent threat to patient safety. In the USA, roughly one per thousand prescriptions results in the wrong drug being filled, and most of these errors involve drug names that look or sound alike. Prior to approval, drug names undergo a variety of tests to assess their potential for confusability, but none of these preapproval tests has been shown to predict real-world error rates. We conducted a study to assess the association between error rates in laboratory-based tests of drug name memory and perception and real-world drug name confusion error rates. Eighty participants, comprising doctors, nurses, pharmacists, technicians and lay people, completed a battery of laboratory tests assessing visual perception, auditory perception and short-term memory of look-alike and sound-alike drug name pairs (eg, hydroxyzine/hydralazine). Laboratory test error rates (and other metrics) significantly predicted real-world error rates obtained from a large, outpatient pharmacy chain, with the best-fitting model accounting for 37% of the variance in real-world error rates. Cross-validation analyses confirmed these results, showing that the laboratory tests also predicted errors from a second pharmacy chain, with 45% of the variance being explained by the laboratory test data. Across two distinct pharmacy chains, there is a strong and significant association between drug name confusion error rates observed in the real world and those observed in laboratory-based tests of memory and perception. Regulators and drug companies seeking a validated preapproval method for identifying confusing drug names ought to consider using these simple tests. By using a standard battery of memory and perception tests, it should be possible to reduce the number of confusing look-alike and sound-alike drug name pairs that reach the market, which will help protect patients from potentially harmful medication errors. Published by the BMJ

Anti-profit beliefs: How people neglect the societal benefits of profit.

Science.gov (United States)

Bhattacharjee, Amit; Dana, Jason; Baron, Jonathan

2017-11-01

Profit-seeking firms are stereotypically depicted as immoral and harmful to society. At the same time, profit-driven enterprise has contributed immensely to human prosperity. Though scholars agree that profit can incentivize societally beneficial behaviors, people may neglect this possibility. In 7 studies, we show that people see business profit as necessarily in conflict with social good, a view we call anti-profit beliefs . Studies 1 and 2 demonstrate that U.S. participants hold anti-profit views of real U.S. firms and industries. Study 3 shows that hypothetical organizations are seen as doing more harm when they are labeled "for-profit" rather than "non-profit," while Study 4 shows that increasing harm to society is viewed as a strategy for increasing a hypothetical firm's long-run profitability. Studies 5-7 demonstrate that carefully prompting subjects to consider the long run incentives of profit can attenuate anti-profit beliefs, while prompting short run thinking does nothing relative to a control. Together, these results suggest that the default view of profits is zero-sum. While people readily grasp how profit can incentivize firms to engage in practices that harm others, they neglect how it can incentivize firms to engage in practices that benefit others. Accordingly, people's stereotypes of profit-seeking firms are excessively negative. Even in one of the most market-oriented societies in history, people doubt the contributions of profit-seeking industry to societal progress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

RESPONSE TO THE RICHARD ERSKINES ARTICLE RELATIONAL HEALING OF EARLY AFFECT-CONFUSION - PART 3 OF A CASE STUDY TRILOGY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maša Žvelc

2013-10-01

Full Text Available This article provides four responses from senior psychotherapists and supervisors to Erskine’s articleRelational Healing of Early Affect-Confusion. The authors approach the third part of case study trilogy from their particular perspective and provide both challenge and respect for the author’s work.

Coherence, competence, and confusion in narratives of middle childhood.

Science.gov (United States)

Weinstein, Lissa; Shustorovich, Ellen

2011-01-01

Middle childhood is a pivotal time in character development during which enduring internal structures are formed. Fiction can offer insights into the cognitive and affective shifts of this developmental phase and how they are transformed in adulthood. While the success of beloved books for latency age children lies in the solutions they offer to the conflict between the pull toward independence and the pull back to the safety of childhood, the enduring stories for adults about children in their middle years can be seen as works of mourning for the relationship with the parents and the childhood self, but more importantly as attempts to transform their experience of middle childhood through the retrospective creation of a coherence that was initially absent. Thematic and structural elements distinguish two groups of stories for adults: the first appears to solve the conflicts of this period by importing adult knowledge and perspective into the narrative of childhood; the second describes the unconscious disorganizing aspects of this period, thereby offering readers a chance to reorganize their own memories, to make a coherent whole out of the fragmented, the confusing, and the unresolved.

[Asymmetric confusability effect in recognition memory of cats pictures].

Science.gov (United States)

Ando, M; Hakoda, Y

1999-06-01

Performance superiority of the addition of features in the stimuli over the deletion on recognition (asymmetric confusability effect) has been shown in previous studies (Pezdek, Maki, Valencia-Laver, Whetstone, Stoeckert, & Dougherty, 1988; Ando & Hakoda, 1998). We investigated the same effect by using a familiar living thing (cat) as a stimulus. Ten subjects were given a recognition task using pictures of cats with feature changes (additions, deletions, or no change). Results showed that the picture with deletions were easier to recognize than those with additions, which was opposite to the previous studies. Then, we examined the possibility that performance superiority of the deletions over the additions was mediated by the factor of impression. Another group of 18 subjects was asked to rate the impression scales consisting of a "typicality-reality factor", a "stability-balance factor", and a "grotesque-disgust factor". Results showed that there was a significant difference in impression ratings for each factor between the additions and the deletions, and that impression ratings predicted recognition performance well. It was concluded that performance superiority of the deletions over the additions was mediated by the factor of impression.

Contrast, contours and the confusion effect in dazzle camouflage.

Science.gov (United States)

Hogan, Benedict G; Scott-Samuel, Nicholas E; Cuthill, Innes C

2016-07-01

'Motion dazzle camouflage' is the name for the putative effects of highly conspicuous, often repetitive or complex, patterns on parameters important in prey capture, such as the perception of speed, direction and identity. Research into motion dazzle camouflage is increasing our understanding of the interactions between visual tracking, the confusion effect and defensive coloration. However, there is a paucity of research into the effects of contrast on motion dazzle camouflage: is maximal contrast a prerequisite for effectiveness? If not, this has important implications for our recognition of the phenotype and understanding of the function and mechanisms of potential motion dazzle camouflage patterns. Here we tested human participants' ability to track one moving target among many identical distractors with surface patterns designed to test the influence of these factors. In line with previous evidence, we found that targets with stripes parallel to the object direction of motion were hardest to track. However, reduction in contrast did not significantly influence this result. This finding may bring into question the utility of current definitions of motion dazzle camouflage, and means that some animal patterns, such as aposematic or mimetic stripes, may have previously unrecognized multiple functions.

Creating value from societal challenges; Waarde creeren uit maatschappelijke uitdagingen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2013-10-15

The Dutch government requested the Advisory Council for Science and Technology Policy (AWT) to report on how to contribute to addressing societal challenges through (1) the top sector policy, (2) the profiling policy, and (3) the European framework program Horizon 2020, or a combination of these policies. The AWT bases his opinion on the nature of the societal challenges, the commitment of the business community and the commitment of the knowledge institutes (Chapter 2). Next, follow the reasons why the market insufficiently picks up the challenges, the tools that the government can deploy to do something about it, and the constraints that the government runs into (Chapter 3). Subsequently four cases are discussed (energy, healthcare, mobility and security), followed by experiences in other countries (Chapter 4). Finally, conclusions and recommendations are given (chapter 5 and 6) [Dutch] Het kabinet vraagt de AWT om advies uit te brengen over de vraag hoe in Nederland optimaal kan worden bijgedragen aan de aanpak van maatschappelijke uitdagingen via (1) het topsectorenbeleid, (2) het profileringsbeleid, en (3) het Europese kaderprogramma Horizon 2020, dan wel een combinatie van deze beleidsprogramma's. De AWT baseert zijn advies op de aard van de maatschappelijke uitdagingen, de inzet van het bedrijfsleven en de inzet van de kennisinstellingen (hoofdstuk 2). Dan volgen de redenen waarom de markt deze uitdagingen onvoldoende oppakt, de instrumenten die de overheid kan inzetten om hier iets aan te doen en de beperkingen waar de overheid tegenaan loopt (hoofdstuk 3). Daarna komen vier casussen aan bod (energie, zorg, mobiliteit en veiligheid), gevolgd door ervaring in enkele andere landen (hoofdstuk 4). Het advies besluit met conclusies en aanbevelingen (hoofdstuk 5 en 6)

Creating value from societal challenges; Waarde creeren uit maatschappelijke uitdagingen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2013-10-15

The Dutch government requested the Advisory Council for Science and Technology Policy (AWT) to report on how to contribute to addressing societal challenges through (1) the top sector policy, (2) the profiling policy, and (3) the European framework program Horizon 2020, or a combination of these policies. The AWT bases his opinion on the nature of the societal challenges, the commitment of the business community and the commitment of the knowledge institutes (Chapter 2). Next, follow the reasons why the market insufficiently picks up the challenges, the tools that the government can deploy to do something about it, and the constraints that the government runs into (Chapter 3). Subsequently four cases are discussed (energy, healthcare, mobility and security), followed by experiences in other countries (Chapter 4). Finally, conclusions and recommendations are given (chapter 5 and 6) [Dutch] Het kabinet vraagt de AWT om advies uit te brengen over de vraag hoe in Nederland optimaal kan worden bijgedragen aan de aanpak van maatschappelijke uitdagingen via (1) het topsectorenbeleid, (2) het profileringsbeleid, en (3) het Europese kaderprogramma Horizon 2020, dan wel een combinatie van deze beleidsprogramma's. De AWT baseert zijn advies op de aard van de maatschappelijke uitdagingen, de inzet van het bedrijfsleven en de inzet van de kennisinstellingen (hoofdstuk 2). Dan volgen de redenen waarom de markt deze uitdagingen onvoldoende oppakt, de instrumenten die de overheid kan inzetten om hier iets aan te doen en de beperkingen waar de overheid tegenaan loopt (hoofdstuk 3). Daarna komen vier casussen aan bod (energie, zorg, mobiliteit en veiligheid), gevolgd door ervaring in enkele andere landen (hoofdstuk 4). Het advies besluit met conclusies en aanbevelingen (hoofdstuk 5 en 6)

Importance of risk comparison for individual and societal decision-making after the Fukushima disaster.

Science.gov (United States)

Murakami, Michio

2018-01-30

Risk comparison is essential for effective societal and individual decision-making. After the Fukushima disaster, studies compared radiation and other disaster-related risks to determine the effective prioritizing of measures for response. Evaluating the value of risk comparison information can enable effective risk communication. In this review, the value of risk comparison after the Fukushima disaster for societal and individual decision-making is discussed while clarifying the concept of radiation risk assessment at low doses. The objectives of radiation risk assessment are explained within a regulatory science framework, including the historical adoption of the linear non-threshold theory. An example of risk comparison (i.e. radiation risk versus evacuation-related risk in nursing homes) is used to discuss the prioritization of pre-disaster measures. The effective communication of risk information by authorities is discussed with respect to group-based and face-to-face approaches. Furthermore, future perspectives regarding radiation risk comparisons are discussed. © The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Japan Radiation Research Society and Japanese Society for Radiation Oncology.

The appeal of nostalgia: the influence of societal pessimism on support for populist radical right parties

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Steenvoorden, E. (Eefje); Harteveld, E. (Eelco)

2017-01-01

textabstractIn the literature, explanations of support for populist radical right (PRR) parties usually focus on voters’ socio-structural grievances, political discontent or policy positions. This article suggests an additional and possibly overarching explanation: societal pessimism. The central

Report on Current Praxis of Policies and Activities Supporting Societal Engagement in Research and Innovation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kuhn, Rainer; Mbungu, Grace; Anderson, Edward; Chonkova, Blagovesta; Damianova, Zoya; Davis, Houda; Dencker, Siri; Jørgensen, Marie-Louise; Kozarev, Ventseslav; Larsen, Gy; Mulder, Henk; Pfersdorf, Simon

2014-01-01

The aim of the “Engage2020 Project” 1 is to promote the use of engagement methods and policies that support societal engagement in research and innovation by mapping what is practiced and spreading awareness of the opportunities amongst researchers, policy makers, and other interested parties. The

Are life-extending treatments for terminal illnesses a special case? Exploring choices and societal viewpoints

NARCIS (Netherlands)

N. McHugh (Neil); van Exel, J. (Job); H. Mason (Helen); Godwin, J. (Jon); M. Collins (Marissa); Donaldson, C. (Cam); R.M. Baker (Rachel)

2018-01-01

textabstractCriteria used by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to assess life-extending, end-of-life (EoL) treatments imply that health gains from such treatments are valued more than other health gains. Despite claims that the policy is supported by societal values,

Beyond Climate and Weather Science: Expanding the Forecasting Family to Serve Societal Needs

Science.gov (United States)

Barron, E. J.

2009-05-01

The ability to "anticipate" the future is what makes information from the Earth sciences valuable to society - whether it is the prediction of severe weather or the future availability of water resources in response to climate change. An improved ability to anticipate or forecast has the potential to serve society by simultaneously improving our ability to (1) promote economic vitality, (2) enable environmental stewardship, (3) protect life and property, as well as (4) improve our fundamental knowledge of the earth system. The potential is enormous, yet many appear ready to move quickly toward specific mitigation and adaptation strategies assuming that the science is settled. Five important weakness must be addressed first: (1) the formation of a true "climate services" function and capability, (2) the deliberate investment in expanding the family of forecasting elements to incorporate a broader array of environmental factors and impacts, (3) the investment in the sciences that connect climate to society, (4) a deliberate focus on the problems associated with scale, in particular the difference between the scale of predictive models and the scale associated with societal decisions, and (5) the evolution from climate services and model predictions to the equivalent of "environmental intelligence centers." The objective is to bring the discipline of forecasting to a broader array of environmental challenges. Assessments of the potential impacts of global climate change on societal sectors such as water, human health, and agriculture provide good examples of this challenge. We have the potential to move from a largely reactive mode in addressing adverse health outcomes, for example, to one in which the ties between climate, land cover, infectious disease vectors, and human health are used to forecast and predict adverse human health conditions. The potential exists for a revolution in forecasting, that entrains a much broader set of societal needs and solutions. The

Functions of Utopia: How Utopian Thinking Motivates Societal Engagement.

Science.gov (United States)

Fernando, Julian W; Burden, Nicholas; Ferguson, Adam; O'Brien, Léan V; Judge, Madeline; Kashima, Yoshihisa

2018-05-01

Images of ideal societies, utopias, are all around us; yet, little is known of how utopian visions affect ordinary people's engagement with their societies. As goals for society, utopias may elicit processes of collective self-regulation, in which citizens are critical of, or take action to change, the societies they live in. In three studies, we investigated the psychological function of utopian thinking. In Study 1, measured utopianism was correlated with the activation of three utopian functions: change, critique, and compensation. In Study 2, primed utopian thinking consistently enhanced change and criticism intentions. Study 3 also provided evidence that mental contrasting-first imagining a utopian vision and then mentally contrasting the current society to this vision-underlies the facilitative effect of utopian thinking on societal engagement.

Investigating source confusion in PMN J1603-4904

Science.gov (United States)

Krauß, F.; Kreter, M.; Müller, C.; Markowitz, A.; Böck, M.; Burnett, T.; Dauser, T.; Kadler, M.; Kreikenbohm, A.; Ojha, R.; Wilms, J.

2018-02-01

PMN J1603-4904 is a likely member of the rare class of γ-ray emitting young radio galaxies. Only one other source, PKS 1718-649, has been confirmed so far. These objects, which may transition into larger radio galaxies, are a stepping stone to understanding AGN evolution. It is not completely clear how these young galaxies, seen edge-on, can produce high-energy γ rays. PMN J1603-4904 has been detected by TANAMI Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations and has been followed-up with multiwavelength observations. A Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope Large Area Telescope (Fermi-LAT) γ-ray source has been associated with this young galaxy in the LAT catalogs. We have obtained Chandra observations of the source to consider the possibility of source confusion due to the relatively large positional uncertainty of Fermi-LAT. The goal was to investigate the possibility of other X-ray bright sources in the vicinity of PMN J1603-4904 that could be counterparts to the γ-ray emission. With Chandra/ACIS, we find no other sources in the uncertainty ellipse of Fermi-LAT data, which includes an improved localization analysis of eight years of data. We further study the X-ray fluxes and spectra. We conclude that PMN J1603-4904 is indeed the second confirmed γ-ray bright young radio galaxy.

[Confused Germanic blasphemy. Jacob Moleschott and materialistic medicine].

Science.gov (United States)

de Liguori, Girolamo

2005-01-01

Starting from the reading of a recent biography of the Dutch materialistic physiologist Jacopo Moleschott (1822-1893), this article proposes a brief survey of the impact, especially in Italy, of the materialistic paradigm, not only in the field of medicine and of the natural sciences, but also in that of philosophy and of literature. From the rejection and ferocious criticisms of the Jesuits, such as Padre Previti, to the harsh ironies of Tommaseo--who, in reference to the academic lessons of Moleschott, spoke of "confused Germanic blasphemy"--, the survey proceeds to a recognition of the role and influence of Moleschott's perspective in the field of medicine, in that of science, and especially in the philosophical and epistemological debate on the relation between the experimental sciences and philosophy. The survey then proceeds to touch on the classical controversy over the Chemische Briefe of Liebig (1844), the dispute with Bufalini on the new way of thinking about the relation between physiology and pathology, and the influence exerted by the Dutch physiologist on Salvatore Tommasi. The article in the end broadens to include a rapid analysis of Moleschott's contribution to the field of literature, as well as to the more complicated debate on the natural sciences and materialism, which still today presents, beyond the outdated models of positivistic scientism, well-grounded themes of interest, if not of validity.

SOCIETAL IMPLICATIONS OF GREAT HANSHIN-AWAJI EARTHQUAKE DISASTER OF JANUARY 17,1995

OpenAIRE

Haruo, HAYASHI; Yoshiaki, KAWATA; Associate Professor, Research Center for Disaster Reduction Systems, Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University; Professor, Research Center for Disaster Reduction Systems, Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University

1995-01-01

A brief overview of what happened during the first month after the Hyogoken-nambu earthquake of January 17,1995 is given in terms both of the emergency responses initiated and the societal impact. For emergency responses, formal organization responses are discussed in reference to "Saigai taisaku kihon-ho (the Fundamental Disaster Management Law)" and "Saigai kyujyo-ho (the Disaster Relief Law)". Using the Kobe Fire Department as an example, search and rescue efforts as well as fire suppressi...

Societal implications of great Hanshin-awaji earthquake disaster of January 17, 1995

OpenAIRE

KAWATA, Yoshiaki; HAYASHI, Haruo

1995-01-01

A brief overview of what happened during the first month after the Hyogoken-nambu earthquake of January 17, 1995 is given in terms both of the emergency responses initiated and the societal impact. For emergency responses, formal organization responses are discussed in reference to "Saigai taisaku kihon-ho (the Fundamental Disaster Management Law)" and "Saigai kyujyo-ho (the Disaster Relief Law)". Using the Kobe Fire Department as an example, search and rescue efforts as well as fire suppress...

Illuminating the Psychological Experience of Elderly Loneliness from a Societal Perspective: A Qualitative Study of Alienation between Older People and Society.

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Anna; Chau, Anson K C; Fang, Yang; Woo, Jean

2017-07-21

Loneliness is a common experience among older people that is associated with health risks and negative well-being. As a psychological phenomenon, it has typically been defined in Western research literature as the discrepancy between desired and actual interpersonal relations. In our qualitative study in Hong Kong, we offer insight into ageing and loneliness in an urban environment of the non-Western world and propose to reconceptualise loneliness by exploring older people's experience of alienation at the societal level as an important but often neglected dimension of their loneliness. Thirty-seven community-dwelling, Chinese adults aged 65 and above were interviewed in focus groups and their accounts analysed and interpreted using a phenomenological approach. Findings revealed that focus group participants perceived insufficient care for older people, a growing distance between themselves and society, and their disintegrating identity in society to be primary sources of societal alienation. In response, older people adopted a more passive lifestyle, attributed marginalisation and inequality to old age, and developed negative feelings including unease towards ageing, vulnerability and helplessness, and anger. The emergence of these key components and underlying themes of societal alienation illuminated neglected facets of the psychological phenomenon of loneliness and highlighted new implications for policy, practice, and research from a societal perspective to address older people's loneliness in urban settings.

A prevalence-based approach to societal costs occurring in consequence of child abuse and neglect

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Background Traumatization in childhood can result in lifelong health impairment and may have a negative impact on other areas of life such as education, social contacts and employment as well. Despite the frequent occurrence of traumatization, which is reflected in a 14.5 percent prevalence rate of severe child abuse and neglect, the economic burden of the consequences is hardly known. The objective of this prevalence-based cost-of-illness study is to show how impairment of the individual is reflected in economic trauma follow-up costs borne by society as a whole in Germany and to compare the results with other countries’ costs. Methods From a societal perspective trauma follow-up costs were estimated using a bottom-up approach. The literature-based prevalence rate includes emotional, physical and sexual abuse as well as physical and emotional neglect in Germany. Costs are derived from individual case scenarios of child endangerment presented in a German cost-benefit-analysis. A comparison with trauma follow-up costs in Australia, Canada and the USA is based on purchasing power parity. Results The annual trauma follow-up costs total to a margin of EUR 11.1 billion for the lower bound and to EUR 29.8 billion for the upper bound. This equals EUR 134.84 and EUR 363.58, respectively, per capita for the German population. These results conform to the ones obtained from cost studies conducted in Australia (lower bound) and Canada (upper bound), whereas the result for the United States is much lower. Conclusion Child abuse and neglect result in trauma follow-up costs of economically relevant magnitude for the German society. Although the result is well in line with other countries’ costs, the general lack of data should be fought in order to enable more detailed future studies. Creating a reliable cost data basis in the first place can pave the way for long-term cost savings. PMID:23158382

A prevalence-based approach to societal costs occurring in consequence of child abuse and neglect

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Habetha Susanne

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Traumatization in childhood can result in lifelong health impairment and may have a negative impact on other areas of life such as education, social contacts and employment as well. Despite the frequent occurrence of traumatization, which is reflected in a 14.5 percent prevalence rate of severe child abuse and neglect, the economic burden of the consequences is hardly known. The objective of this prevalence-based cost-of-illness study is to show how impairment of the individual is reflected in economic trauma follow-up costs borne by society as a whole in Germany and to compare the results with other countries’ costs. Methods From a societal perspective trauma follow-up costs were estimated using a bottom-up approach. The literature-based prevalence rate includes emotional, physical and sexual abuse as well as physical and emotional neglect in Germany. Costs are derived from individual case scenarios of child endangerment presented in a German cost-benefit-analysis. A comparison with trauma follow-up costs in Australia, Canada and the USA is based on purchasing power parity. Results The annual trauma follow-up costs total to a margin of EUR 11.1 billion for the lower bound and to EUR 29.8 billion for the upper bound. This equals EUR 134.84 and EUR 363.58, respectively, per capita for the German population. These results conform to the ones obtained from cost studies conducted in Australia (lower bound and Canada (upper bound, whereas the result for the United States is much lower. Conclusion Child abuse and neglect result in trauma follow-up costs of economically relevant magnitude for the German society. Although the result is well in line with other countries’ costs, the general lack of data should be fought in order to enable more detailed future studies. Creating a reliable cost data basis in the first place can pave the way for long-term cost savings.

Reflecting reflection in supervision

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lystbæk, Christian Tang

associated with reflection and an exploration of alternative conceptions that view reflection within the context of settings which have a more group- and team-based orientation. Drawing on an action research project on health care supervision, the paper questions whether we should reject earlier views...... of reflection, rehabilitate them in order to capture broader connotations or move to new ways of regarding reflection that are more in keeping with not only reflective but also emotive, normative and formative views on supervision. The paper presents a critical perspective on supervision that challenge...... the current reflective paradigm I supervision and relate this to emotive, normative and formative views supervision. The paper is relevant for Nordic educational research into the supervision and guidance...

Expert views on societal responses to different applications of nanotechnology: a comparative analysis of experts in countries with different economic and regulatory environments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gupta, Nidhi, E-mail: guptanidhi12@gmail.com; Fischer, Arnout R. H., E-mail: arnout.fischer@wur.nl [Wageningen University, Marketing and Consumer Behaviour Group (Netherlands); George, Saji, E-mail: saji_george@nyp.gov.sg [Nanyang Polytechnic, Centre for Sustainable Nanotechnology, School of Chemical and Life Sciences (Singapore); Frewer, Lynn J., E-mail: lynn.frewer@newcastle.ac.uk [Newcastle University, School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development (United Kingdom)

2013-08-15

The introduction of different applications of nanotechnology will be informed by expert views regarding which (types of) application will be most societally acceptable. Previous research in Northern Europe has indicated that experts believe that various factors will be influential, predominant among these being public perceptions of benefit, need and consumer concern about contact with nanomaterials. These factors are thought by experts to differentiate societal acceptance and rejection of nanotechnology applications. This research utilises a larger sample of experts (N = 67) drawn from Northern America, Europe, Australasia, India and Singapore to examine differences in expert opinion regarding societal acceptance of different applications of nanotechnology within different technological environments, consumer cultures and regulatory regimes. Perceived risk and consumer concerns regarding contact with nano-particles are thought by all experts to drive rejection, and perceived benefits to influence acceptance, independent of country. Encapsulation and delivery of nutrients in food was thought to be the most likely to raise societal concerns, while targeted drug delivery was thought most likely to be accepted. Lack of differentiation between countries suggests that expert views regarding social acceptance may be homogenous, independent of local contextual factors.

Expert views on societal responses to different applications of nanotechnology: a comparative analysis of experts in countries with different economic and regulatory environments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gupta, Nidhi; Fischer, Arnout R. H.; George, Saji; Frewer, Lynn J.

2013-01-01

The introduction of different applications of nanotechnology will be informed by expert views regarding which (types of) application will be most societally acceptable. Previous research in Northern Europe has indicated that experts believe that various factors will be influential, predominant among these being public perceptions of benefit, need and consumer concern about contact with nanomaterials. These factors are thought by experts to differentiate societal acceptance and rejection of nanotechnology applications. This research utilises a larger sample of experts (N = 67) drawn from Northern America, Europe, Australasia, India and Singapore to examine differences in expert opinion regarding societal acceptance of different applications of nanotechnology within different technological environments, consumer cultures and regulatory regimes. Perceived risk and consumer concerns regarding contact with nano-particles are thought by all experts to drive rejection, and perceived benefits to influence acceptance, independent of country. Encapsulation and delivery of nutrients in food was thought to be the most likely to raise societal concerns, while targeted drug delivery was thought most likely to be accepted. Lack of differentiation between countries suggests that expert views regarding social acceptance may be homogenous, independent of local contextual factors

Evaluating Attributions of Delay and Confusion in Young Bilinguals: Special Insights from Infants Acquiring a Signed and a Spoken Language.

Science.gov (United States)

Petitto, Laura Ann; Holowka, Siobhan

2002-01-01

Examines whether early simultaneous bilingual language exposure causes children to be language delayed or confused. Cites research suggesting normal and parallel linguistic development occurs in each language in young children and young children's dual language developments are similar to monolingual language acquisition. Research on simultaneous…

Value of Information Analysis from a Societal Perspective : A Case Study in Prevention of Major Depression

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mohseninejad, Leyla; van Baal, Pieter H. M.; van den Berg, Matthijs; Buskens, Erik; Feenstra, Talitha

Objectives: Productivity losses usually have a considerable impact on cost-effectiveness estimates while their estimated values are often relatively uncertain. Therefore, parameters related to these indirect costs play a role in setting priorities for future research from a societal perspective.

Climate Change Risk Perception in Taiwan: Correlation with Individual and Societal Factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Yingying; Han, Ziqiang

2018-01-08

This study differentiates the risk perception and influencing factors of climate change along the dimensions of global severity and personal threat. Using the 2013 Taiwan Social Change Survey (TSGS) data (N = 2001) as a representative sample of adults from Taiwan, we investigated the influencing factors of the risk perceptions of climate change in these two dimensions (global severity and personal threat). Logistic regression models were used to examine the correlations of individual factors (gender, age, education, climate-related disaster experience and risk awareness, marital status, employment status, household income, and perceived social status) and societal factors (religion, organizational embeddedness, and political affiliations) with the above two dimensions. The results demonstrate that climate-related disaster experience has no significant impact on either the perception of global severity or the perception of personal impact. However, climate-related risk awareness (regarding typhoons, in particular) is positively associated with both dimensions of the perceived risks of climate change. With higher education, individuals are more concerned about global severity than personal threat. Regarding societal factors, the supporters of political parties have higher risk perceptions of climate change than people who have no party affiliation. Religious believers have higher risk perceptions of personal threat than non-religious people. This paper ends with a discussion about the effectiveness of efforts to enhance risk perception of climate change with regard to global severity and personal threat.

Energy and society. [Effects of energy development on natural and societal environments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Starr, C

1976-04-01

It is now clear that quality of life, material welfare, health, employment, and income are affected by energy availability and cost and there is no return to the cheap abundant energy of the past. This paper examines the feasibility of adjusting our energy systems so that we simultaneously decrease unemployment, costs, dependence on foreign resources, undesirable effluents and impacts on the biosphere. The major societal effects of energy systems developed by man can be related to four predominant technical sectors: first, the use of work animals; second, the direct conversion into mechanical work of inanimate stored solar energy (hydropower, wood, farm waste, and fossil fuels); third, the use of electricity as an energy form derived from these sources; and fourth, the use of nuclear energy as a primary source. Since the past and potential impacts of these developments are so many, only a few are explored here - chiefly those relationships of energy flow to the societal materialistic targets of health, security, social stability, upward mobility, and leisure. The traditional target of economic growth may be one of best composite means of achieving all of these materialistic goals, thus, industrial growth has been a prime objective. Other contributors to social development have been greater productivity in agriculture, improved transportation and communications, and shorter working hours. Two main topics discussed are: The Industrialization of Society and Food, Population, and Energy. (MCW)

Modeling Climate and Societal Resilience in the Mediterranean During the Last Millennium

Science.gov (United States)

Wagner, S.; Xoplaki, E.; Luterbacher, J.; Zorita, E.; Fleitmann, D.; Preiser-Kapeller, J.; Toreti, A., , Dr; Sargent, A. M.; Bozkurt, D.; White, S.; Haldon, J. F.; Akçer-Ön, S.; Izdebski, A.

2017-12-01

Past civilisations were influenced by complex external and internal forces, including changes in the environment, climate, politics and economy. A geographical hotspot of the interplay between those agents is the Mediterranean, a cradle of cultural and scientific development. We analyse a novel compilation of high-quality hydroclimate proxy records and spatial reconstructions from the Mediterranean and compare them with two Earth System Model simulations (CCSM4, MPI-ESM-P) for three historical time intervals - the Crusaders, 1095-1290 CE; the Mamluk regime in Transjordan, 1260-1516 CE; and the Ottoman crisis and Celâlî Rebellion, 1580-1610 CE - when environmental and climatic stress tested the resilience of complex societies. ESMs provide important information on the dynamical mechanisms and underlying processes that led to anomalous hydroclimatic conditions of the past. We find that the multidecadal precipitation and drought variations in the Central and Eastern Mediterranean during the three periods cannot be explained by external forcings (solar variations, tropical volcanism); rather they were driven by internal climate dynamics. The integrated analysis of palaeoclimate proxies, climate reconstructions and model simulations sheds light on our understanding of past climate change and its societal impact. Finally, our research emphasises the need to further study the societal dimension of environmental and climate change in the past, in order to properly understand the role that climate has played in human history.

Alternative futures for societal change: The Shared Socio-Economic Pathways (SSPs) (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

O'Neill, B. C.

2013-12-01

Deciding how best to respond to the challenge of climate change requires anticipating not only how climate might change in the future, but how society might change as well. Changes in population and economic growth, innovation, technological development, governance, culture, and lifestyle all will affect the energy use and land use that drive climate change, as well as society's capacity to reduce emissions or adapt to climate change impacts. Developing a set of alternative scenarios for societal development is one way to capture and explore the uncertainty in future conditions. The climate change research community has produced a new set of five such scenarios, called Shared Socio-Economic Pathways (SSPs), that is intended to underpin scientific studies, assessments, and policy dialogues for the next decade or more. The SSPs include both qualitative narratives and quantitative projections of key elements such as population, economic growth, urbanization, and educational attainment. They are designed to span a wide range of future conditions in terms of the challenges they present to both adaptation and mitigation. The SSPs are one component of a larger scenario framework which also includes a set of radiative forcing pathways and climate model simulations based on them. Alternative climate futures will be integrated with the alternative societal futures represented by the SSPs to investigate climate change impacts as well as mitigation and adaptation response options.

Risk management in a humanitarian context - how can the application of risk management activities to initial registration in Dadaab increase societal safety?

OpenAIRE

Nodland, Jeanneth

2011-01-01

Master's thesis in Risk management and societal safety The aim of this thesis is to establish the relationship between initial registration and societal safety, to make the reader aware of how the UNHCR in Dadaab is conducting initial registration, and to show that the application of risk management activities on camp management activities can increase the reliability of an operation. The thesis will show that the identification of vulnerabilities embedded within a system, and implementing...

Chaos and confusion in DSM-5 diagnosis of Internet Gaming Disorder: Issues, concerns, and recommendations for clarity in the field.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuss, Daria J; Griffiths, Mark D; Pontes, Halley M

2017-06-01

Background The umbrella term "Internet addiction" has been criticized for its lack of specificity given the heterogeneity of potentially problematic behaviors that can be engaged in online as well as different underlying etiological mechanisms. This has led to the naming of specific online addictions, the most notable being Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD). Methods Using the contemporary literature concerning IGD and cognate topics, issues and concerns relating to the concept of IGD are examined. Results Internet addiction and IGD are not the same, and distinguishing between the two is conceptually meaningful. Similarly, the diagnosis of IGD as proposed in the appendix of the latest (fifth) edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) remains vague regarding whether or not games need to be engaged in online, stating that IGD typically involves specific Internet games, but can also include offline games, adding to the lack of clarity. A number of authors have voiced concerns regarding the viability of including the word "Internet" in IGD, and instead proposed to use the term "video gaming disorder" or simply "gaming disorder," suggesting addiction to video gaming can also occur offline. Conclusion The DSM-5 has caused more confusion than clarity regarding the disorder, reflected by researchers in the field contesting a supposedly reached consensus for IGD diagnosis.

Post-communist democracy vs. totalitarianism: Contrasting patterns of need satisfaction and societal frustration.

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Klicperová-Baker, Martina; Košťál, Jaroslav

2017-01-01

Roč. 50, č. 2 (2017), s. 99-111 ISSN 0967-067X R&D Projects: GA ČR GA15-11062S Grant - others:AV ČR(CZ) StrategieAV21/14 Program:StrategieAV Institutional support: RVO:68081740 Keywords : Totalitarianism * Post- communism * Frustration * Societal frustration * Democracy * Memory * Maslow * Hierarchy of needs Subject RIV: AN - Psychology OBOR OECD: Psychology (including human - machine relations) Impact factor: 0.607, year: 2016

Post-communist democracy vs. totalitarianism: Contrasting patterns of need satisfaction and societal frustration.

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Klicperová-Baker, Martina; Košťál, Jaroslav

2017-01-01

Roč. 50, č. 2 (2017), s. 99-111 ISSN 0967-067X R&D Projects: GA ČR GA15-11062S Grant - others:AV ČR(CZ) StrategieAV21/14 Program:StrategieAV Institutional support: RVO:68081740 Keywords : Totalitarianism * Post-communism * Frustration * Societal frustration * Democracy * Memory * Maslow * Hierarchy of needs Subject RIV: AN - Psychology OBOR OECD: Psychology (including human - machine relations) Impact factor: 0.607, year: 2016

Fungos filamentosos isolados do solo do Parque Nacional Serra das Confusões, Piauí, Brasil

OpenAIRE

Malaquias de Lima Maciel, Josilene

2008-01-01

O solo é considerado um dos principais habitats para a comunidade de microrganismos, dentre os quais os fungos. O Parque Nacional Serra das Confusões, Estado do Piauí, Brasil, é considerado área prioritária para a conservação da biodiversidade da Caatinga, devido à sua extrema importância biológica. Com objetivo de isolar e identificar fungos filamentos da Caatinga de modo a ampliar o conhecimento sobre a micota deste bioma, 20 amostras de solo foram coletadas até 20 cm de prof...

Sources of Confusion in the Determination of ASTM Repetitive Member Factors for the Allowable Properties of Wood Products

Science.gov (United States)

S. Verrill; D. Kretschmann

2012-01-01

It is generally accepted that there should be an upward repetitive member allowable property adjustment. ASTM D245 (2011c) and ASTM D1990 (2011b) specify a 1.15 factor for allowable bending stress. This factor is also listed in ASTM D6555 (2011a, Table 1). In this technical note, sources of confusion regarding appropriate repetitive member factors are identified. This...

Brand name confusion: Subjective and objective measures of orthographic similarity.

Science.gov (United States)

Burt, Jennifer S; McFarlane, Kimberley A; Kelly, Sarah J; Humphreys, Michael S; Weatherall, Kimberlee; Burrell, Robert G

2017-09-01

Determining brand name similarity is vital in areas of trademark registration and brand confusion. Students rated the orthographic (spelling) similarity of word pairs (Experiments 1, 2, and 4) and brand name pairs (Experiment 5). Similarity ratings were consistently higher when words shared beginnings rather than endings, whereas shared pronunciation of the stressed vowel had small and less consistent effects on ratings. In Experiment 3 a behavioral task confirmed the similarity of shared beginnings in lexical processing. Specifically, in a task requiring participants to decide whether 2 words presented in the clear (a probe and a later target) were the same or different, a masked prime word preceding the target shortened response latencies if it shared its initial 3 letters with the target. The ratings of students for word and brand name pairs were strongly predicted by metrics of orthographic similarity from the visual word identification literature based on the number of shared letters and their relative positions. The results indicate a potential use for orthographic metrics in brand name registration and trademark law. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Modeled effects of an improved building insulation scenario in Europe on air pollution, health and societal costs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bønløkke, Jakob Hjort; Holst, Gitte Juel; Sigsgaard, Torben

2015-01-01

scenario in Europe would have substantial benefits on health through improvements in air pollution. Health effects and societal cost savings may significantly counterbalance investment costs and should be taken into account when evaluating strategies for mitigation of global warming....... with extensions. Mean annual changes in the main air pollutants were derived for each country. World Health Organization (WHO) and European Union (EU) data on populations and on impacts of pollutants were used to derive health effects and costs. Effects on indoor air quality were not assessed. Results: Projected...... 78678 LY in Europe. A total of 7173 cases of persistent chronic bronchitis could be avoided annually. Several other health outcomes improved similarly. The saved societal costs totaled 6.64 billion € annually. Conclusions: In addition to carbon emission reductions, an improved building insulation...

National Contexts Influencing Principals' Time Use and Allocation: Economic Development, Societal Culture, and Educational System

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Moosung; Hallinger, Philip

2012-01-01

This study examines the impact of macro-context factors on the behavior of school principals. More specifically, the article illuminates how a nation's level of economic development, societal culture, and educational system influence the amount of time principals devote to their job role and shape their allocation of time to instructional…

Empowering Graduate Students to Lead on Interdisciplinary Societal Issues

Science.gov (United States)

Grubert, E.

2015-12-01

Challenging societal problems that cannot be solved by one method or one discipline alone, like epidemic preparedness, mental health, and climate change, demand leadership and the ability to work across disciplines from those with specialized expertise. Teaching leadership at the graduate school level is a challenge that many schools are striving to meet, through mechanisms like project-based courses, leadership skill development workshops, and others. We argue that some of the most valuable but most difficult leadership skills to learn are those that require cultural norms that are fundamentally different from those traditionally encountered in graduate school. These include the ability to make informed decisions based on limited knowledge and resources, the need to make choices in the face of uncertainty, and the recognition that one ultimately bears responsibility for the outcomes. These skills are also among the most important for students planning on nonacademic careers. Acquiring such skills requires a focus on learning-by-doing and a culture of graduate student empowerment. This submission focuses on the experience of students in a student-centered, interdisciplinary, cross-campus leadership program called Emerging Leaders in Science and Society (ELISS), hosted by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). ELISS establishes the expectation that students act as leaders, which in itself reframes leadership as an achievable goal. A major finding from two years of experience with ELISS is the critical importance of establishing cultures of trust and empowerment at the graduate level in order to foster development of transferable skills. ELISS graduate students specifically focus on interdisciplinary collaboration (the 13 2015 fellows come from 13 academic disciplines); stakeholder engagement, primarily focused on outreach to both traditional and nontraditional experts in our communities outside of academia; and solution-generating rather

How Multilevel Societal Learning Processes Facilitate Transformative Change: A Comparative Case Study Analysis on Flood Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claudia Pahl-Wostl

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Sustainable resources management requires a major transformation of existing resource governance and management systems. These have evolved over a long time under an unsustainable management paradigm, e.g., the transformation from the traditionally prevailing technocratic flood protection toward the holistic integrated flood management approach. We analyzed such transformative changes using three case studies in Europe with a long history of severe flooding: the Hungarian Tisza and the German and Dutch Rhine. A framework based on societal learning and on an evolutionary understanding of societal change was applied to identify drivers and barriers for change. Results confirmed the importance of informal learning and actor networks and their connection to formal policy processes. Enhancing a society's capacity to adapt is a long-term process that evolves over decades, and in this case, was punctuated by disastrous flood events that promoted windows of opportunity for change.

Testing a Poisson Counter Model for Visual Identification of Briefly Presented, Mutually Confusable Single Stimuli in Pure Accuracy Tasks

Science.gov (United States)

Kyllingsbaek, Soren; Markussen, Bo; Bundesen, Claus

2012-01-01

The authors propose and test a simple model of the time course of visual identification of briefly presented, mutually confusable single stimuli in pure accuracy tasks. The model implies that during stimulus analysis, tentative categorizations that stimulus i belongs to category j are made at a constant Poisson rate, v(i, j). The analysis is…

Climato-economic livability predicts societal collectivism and political autocracy better than parasitic stress does.

Science.gov (United States)

Van de Vliert, Evert; Postmes, Tom

2012-04-01

A 121-nation study of societal collectivism and a 174-nation study of political autocracy show that parasitic stress does not account for any variation in these components of culture once the interactive impacts of climatic demands and income resources have been accounted for. Climato-economic livability is a viable rival explanation for the reported effects of parasitic stress on culture.

Role of liability preferences in societal technology choices: results of a pilot study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cantor, R.; Rayner, S.; Braid, B.

1985-01-01

At the 1984 Annual Meeting of the Society for Risk Analysis, Steve Rayner presented a paper that challenged the conventional wisdom of risk management research. In that paper, he argued that resolving the question, ''How safe is safe enough.'' is less important in making societal technology choices than ''How fair is safe enough.'' Adopting the fairness question as the concern of risk management would imply that the process of technology choice explicitly recognize the preferred principles different parties hold with respect to obtaining consent from those affected by the risks, distributing the liabilities, and justifying trust in the relevant institutions. This paper discusses a recent empirical pilot study which explored the fairness hypothesis in the context of nuclear power. Individual interviews and focus groups were conducted to examine whether or not preferred principles for liability distributions were consistent with those suggested by the cultural characteristics of the constituency. The results suggest that for this type of societal technology choice, violation of these preferred principles may be a major source of the conflict between different constituencies. Additionally, the study contributes towards the development of a new approach in risk management that combines the cultural model of risk perceptions with the decision-theoretic approaches found in economics and psychology

Learning in Life History - psycho-societal interpretation of biographies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olesen, Henning Salling

2008-01-01

Taking its point of departure from some critical remarks about some of the most important recent theorizing of learning, this article presents an alternative framework for theorizing learning as a subjective process in a social and societal context, based on life history research. The key concepts...... of subjectivity and experience, derived from European critical theory, are briefly introduced with respect to their intellectual background. Based on examples from the author’s research into the professional learning, the article outlines the implications of these concepts in relation to an understanding...... of emotional aspects of learning in everyday life and to an understanding of knowledge. The pivotal role of language use and language socialisation is explained in brief, and a psychodynamic complement to a language game concept of language use is developed....

A cost-benefit analysis of the outpatient smoking cessation services in Taiwan from a societal viewpoint.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Pei-Ching; Lee, Yue-Chune; Tsai, Shih-Tzu; Lai, Chih-Kuan

2012-05-01

This study applied a cost-benefit analysis from a societal viewpoint to evaluate the Outpatient Smoking Cessation Services (OSCS) program. The costs measured in this study include the cost to the health sector, non-health sectors, the patients and their family, as well as the loss of productivity as a result of smoking. The benefits measured the medical costs savings and the earnings due to the increased life expectancy of a person that has stopped smoking for 15 years. Data were obtained from the primary data of a telephone survey, the literatures and reports from the Outpatient Smoking Cessation Management Center and government. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to verify the robustness of the results. There were 169,761 cases that participated in the outpatient smoking cessation program in the years 2007 and 2008, of those cases, 8,282 successfully stopped smoking. The total cost of the OSCS program was 18 million USD. The total benefits of the program were 215 million USD with a 3% discount rate; the net benefit to society was 196 million USD. After conducting sensitivity analyses on the different abstinence, relapse, and discount rates, from a societal perspective, the benefits still far exceeded the costs, while from a health care perspective, there was only a net benefit when the respondent's abstinence rate was used. From a societal perspective, the OSCS program in Taiwan is cost-beneficial. This study provides partial support for the policy makers to increase the budget and expand the OSCS program.

Reflections on fertility and postponed parenthood-interviews with highly educated women and men without children in Sweden.

Science.gov (United States)

Eriksson, Carola; Larsson, Margareta; Skoog Svanberg, Agneta; Tydén, Tanja

2013-05-01

Different reasons influence the current low birth-rate and the postponement of the birth of the first child throughout Europe. The aim of this study was to explore how highly educated women and men in Sweden reflect on fertility and postponed parenthood. We interviewed women (n = 22) and men (n = 18) who had started their professional careers and still had no children. Data were analysed with qualitative content analysis. Fertility was perceived as an unconsidered capacity, sometimes unpredictable, and different for women and men, but nevertheless taken for granted. The participants were of the opinion that fertility could be restored by assisted reproductive technologies or replaced by alternatives to a biological child. Postponed parenthood was described as an adaptation to societal changes and current discourses about parenthood as well as a consequence of a contemporary lifestyle with many competing priorities. Highly educated young women and men in contemporary Sweden have competing priorities when planning and setting goals for their lives, and having children is one of them. They describe fertility as an imperceptible and retrievable capacity and postponed parenthood as a rational adaptation to changes in society. These findings suggest that increased information about the limitations of human reproduction is needed, but also that societal support for younger parents is of utmost importance.

All this grassroots, real life knowledge: Comparing perceived with realised concerns of including non-academic evaluators in societal impact assessment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Derrick, G.E.; Samuel, G.S.

2016-07-01

New research assessment frameworks that include societal impact criteria, also require the inclusion on non-academic evaluators (users) as part of the assessment panels. Little research has been conducted on how these user evaluators are received by traditionally academic-led panels, and how their presence influences evaluation outcomes. This is especially the case for evaluations including societal impact criteria. This article uses a mixed-methods approach to explore academic-evaluator concerns about the inclusion of user-evaluators in the assessment process. In addition, it explores how their involvement, influenced the outcomes of the evaluation process. (Author)

Societal Uplift and Productive Efficiency: Corporate Use of Vocational Education in Ellsworth, Pennsylvania, 1900-1915.

Science.gov (United States)

Hyser, Raymond M.

About 1900, James W. Ellsworth created the educational system of Ellsworth, Pennsylvania. His aim was to have the system serve a dual purpose: the societal uplift of foreign miners to make them better citizens and the improvement of the company's productive efficiency. Ellsworth's school offered traditional courses along with training in English…

Societal Factors Affecting Communication and Cooperation Between Industry and Accounting Education at Castleton State College.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Neil, Bryan L.

The purpose of the practicum was to determine the societal factors existing in the accounting industry and accounting education, with the aim of integrating the changing regulations and environment of the industry into the classroom at Castleton State College (Vermont). A group of certified public accountants were surveyed by Likert scale to learn…

Object-centered representations support flexible exogenous visual attention across translation and reflection.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Zhicheng

2013-11-01

Visual attention can be deployed to stimuli based on our willful, top-down goal (endogenous attention) or on their intrinsic saliency against the background (exogenous attention). Flexibility is thought to be a hallmark of endogenous attention, whereas decades of research show that exogenous attention is attracted to the retinotopic locations of the salient stimuli. However, to the extent that salient stimuli in the natural environment usually form specific spatial relations with the surrounding context and are dynamic, exogenous attention, to be adaptive, should embrace these structural regularities. Here we test a non-retinotopic, object-centered mechanism in exogenous attention, in which exogenous attention is dynamically attracted to a relative, object-centered location. Using a moving frame configuration, we presented two frames in succession, forming either apparent translational motion or in mirror reflection, with a completely uninformative, transient cue presented at one of the item locations in the first frame. Despite that the cue is presented in a spatially separate frame, in both translation and mirror reflection, behavioralperformance in visual search is enhanced when the target in the second frame appears at the same relative location as the cue location than at other locations. These results provide unambiguous evidence for non-retinotopic exogenous attention and further reveal an object-centered mechanism supporting flexible exogenous attention. Moreover, attentional generalization across mirror reflection may constitute an attentional correlate of perceptual generalization across lateral mirror images, supporting an adaptive, functional account of mirror images confusion. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Nuclear power in societal flux. The renewal of nuclear power in Finland in the context of global concern over energy security

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Litmanen, Tapio

2010-01-01

This paper will address nuclear power's relationship with societal flux. The history of nuclear power indicates that this type of technology is unusually to societal flux. Instability in nuclear power's societal status is created by the ambiguous nature of the technology itself, changing public opinion, the fluidity of political judgments, the flow of cultural meanings attaching to nuclear power and the unpredictability of media processing. Even though the risks of nuclear technology are highly regulated by the companies themselves and by the state and public administration, it remains capable of inflaming political debate and igniting controversy. One public opinion survey after another reveals how divisive nuclear power is. Unlike most other industrial activities nuclear power decision-making involves extraordinary levels of political consideration, societal processing and cultural valuation by stakeholders and the media. In order to illustrate the idea of societal flux, the paper will deal with major shifts in Finnish nuclear power policy since the 1950s, focusing particularly, however, on changes between 1986-2010. The recent changes in the country's nuclear power policy prove interesting having proceeded from a phase of rejection during the period 1986-1993, to a revival between 1994-2002 and renewal between 2002-2009. The rejection period ended in 1993 during which time the Parliament of Finland had rejected the further construction of nuclear power plants in the wake of the Chernobyl accident. In less than a decade, however, nuclear power policy changed. The revival period ended in 2001 as Parliament ratified a Decision in Principle for the final disposal of spent nuclear fuel and in 2002 for the construction of a new nuclear power plant unit, Olkiluoto 3. Characteristic of the ongoing renewal period is that in 2008-2009 the nuclear industry submitted three further applications for the construction of new NPP units. Thus Finland today has acquired a

ATWS: a reappraisal, part II, evaluation of societal risks due to reactor protection systems failure. Vol. 3. Pwr risk analysis. Phase report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lellouche, G.S.

1976-08-01

This document is the third volume of part 2 in a series of studies which will examine the basis for the problem of Anticipated Transients Without Scram (ATWS). The purpose of part 2 is an evaluation of societal risks due to RPS failure based on more current data and methodology than used in WASH-1270. This volume examines and documents the potential contribution to societal risk due to ATWS in the PWR. Volumes 1 and 2 described a similar analysis for the BWR

The Evolution of Scientific Trajectories in Rice: Mapping the Relation between Research and Societal Priorities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ciarli, T.; Rafols, I.

2016-07-01

How do specific technologies emerge? How is the scientific research related to technologies prioritised, in governments, firms, universities, and other actors involved in research? Related to these questions is the question of how we investigate trajectories of science and technologies, and how to model their relation. In this paper we aim to answer the initial question for a case study, rice, proposing to use new data, methods, and indicators. We discuss a number of insights on the evolution of the research trajectory on rice since the 1980’s, worldwide and for a number of countries which dominate the world rankings in rice production and/or in rice publications. Using a number of socio-economic indicators at the country level, we relate priorities on the research side (publication topics) and on the societal side finding limited relations between supply and demand of research. In the paper we also discuss the combination of scientometric and socio-economic indicators, suggesting that they may be useful for future research on the relation between societal needs and research priorities. (Author)

A cross-national exploration of societal-level factors associated with child physical abuse and neglect.

Science.gov (United States)

Klevens, Joanne; Ports, Katie A; Austin, Chelsea; Ludlow, Ivan J; Hurd, Jacqueline

2017-11-28

Children around the world experience violence at the hands of their caregivers at alarming rates. A recent review estimates that a minimum of 50% of children in Asia, Africa, and North America experienced severe physical violence by caregivers in the past year, with large variations between countries. Identifying modifiable country-level factors driving these geographic variations has great potential for achieving population-level reductions in rates of child maltreatment. This study builds on previous research by focusing on caregiver-reported physical abuse and neglect victimisation, examining 22 societal factors representing 11 different constructs among 42 countries from 5 continents at different stages of development. Our findings suggest that gender inequity may be important for both child physical abuse and neglect. Indicators of literacy and development may also be important for child neglect. Given the limitations of the correlational findings and measurement issues, it is critical to continue to investigate societal-level factors of child maltreatment so that interventions and prevention efforts can incorporate strategies that have the greatest potential for population-level impact.

[An ethical reflection on outreaching mental health care].

Science.gov (United States)

Liégeois, A; Eneman, M

Care providers have a conflicting societal role: on the one hand they must respect the autonomy of individuals with psychiatric problems, but on the other hand they often feel the need to offer these individuals outreaching care. To compile an ethical reflection on some of the ways in which outreaching mental health care interventions can be provided in a responsible manner. This ethical reflection is based on an ethical advice by the Ethics committee for Mental Health Care of the Brothers of Charity in Flanders. The method combines ethical discussion and a study of the relevant literature. A good starting point is a relational view of the human being that emphasises connectedness and involvement. Consequently, the care provider begins to intervene in the care programme by building a trusting relationship with the person with psychiatric problems. This is how these persons, their close family and friends and care providers exercise their responsibility. There is a gradation of responsibility that extends in a continuous line: personal responsibility develops into shared responsibility which can then become vicarious responsibility. On that basis there is also a gradation in the nature of outreaching care; the care providers first make themselves available and give information, then provide advice, negotiate, persuade, increase pressure, and finally take over and force the person with psychiatric problems. The care providers choose in dialogue and in a considered and consistent way for the appropriate form of outreaching care, in line with the degree of responsibility that the person with psychiatric problems can assume.

The complexity of heritage and societal development - The example of Gjirokastra, Albania

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bosse Lagerqvist

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Albania is formerly the most closed country in Europe and has suffered from severe economic and political problems during the last two decades. In the southern part lies Gjirokastra, birthplace of former dictator Enver Hoxha, and home to diverse communities of Albanians and Greeks. Gjirokastra Old Town, proclaimed Museum City by the regime in 1961 and later turned into a UNESCO World Heritage City, climbs the steep western side of the Drinos valley. During the communist era the city was heavily industrialized with a metal work factory as well as factories for products such as shoes, refrigerators, and umbrellas. On the eastern side is the archaeological site of the ancient city of Antigonea, thus defining a landscape with long historical processes and a multitude of narratives and interpretations. In recent years this landscape has witnessed increased efforts to secure what are perceived heritage values, focusing on the older structures i.e. the world heritage part of the city and the archaeological site. However, the structures of post-war era of Albania contribute significantly to the full context of the landscape, but since the mid-1990s and the collapse of Albanian post-communist economy the former industrial sites are increasingly deteriorating. Parallel with severe economic problems with massive volumes of unemployed, a criminally based economy on drug trafficking is increasing. This paper will discuss the societally based problems in securing different heritage assets for a positive societal development.

Chaos in World Politics: A Reflection

Science.gov (United States)

Ferreira, Manuel Alberto Martins; Filipe, José António Candeias Bonito; Coelho, Manuel F. P.; Pedro, Isabel C.

Chaos theory results from natural scientists' findings in the area of non-linear dynamics. The importance of related models has increased in the last decades, by studying the temporal evolution of non-linear systems. In consequence, chaos is one of the concepts that most rapidly have been expanded in what research topics respects. Considering that relationships in non-linear systems are unstable, chaos theory aims to understand and to explain this kind of unpredictable aspects of nature, social life, the uncertainties, the nonlinearities, the disorders and confusion, scientifically it represents a disarray connection, but basically it involves much more than that. The existing close relationship between change and time seems essential to understand what happens in the basics of chaos theory. In fact, this theory got a crucial role in the explanation of many phenomena. The relevance of this kind of theories has been well recognized to explain social phenomena and has permitted new advances in the study of social systems. Chaos theory has also been applied, particularly in the context of politics, in this area. The goal of this chapter is to make a reflection on chaos theory - and dynamical systems such as the theories of complexity - in terms of the interpretation of political issues, considering some kind of events in the political context and also considering the macro-strategic ideas of states positioning in the international stage.

Severe Space Weather Events--Understanding Societal and Economic Impacts: A Workshop Report - Extended Summary

Science.gov (United States)

2009-01-01

The effects of space weather on modern technological systems are well documented in both the technical literature and popular accounts. Most often cited perhaps is the collapse within 90 seconds of northeastern Canada's Hydro-Quebec power grid during the great geomagnetic storm of March 1989, which left millions of people without electricity for up to 9 hours. This event exemplifies the dramatic impact that severe space weather can have on a technology upon which modern society critically depends. Nearly two decades have passed since the March 1989 event. During that time, awareness of the risks of severe space weather has increased among the affected industries, mitigation strategies have been developed, new sources of data have become available, new models of the space environment have been created, and a national space weather infrastructure has evolved to provide data, alerts, and forecasts to an increasing number of users. Now, 20 years later and approaching a new interval of increased solar activity, how well equipped are we to manage the effects of space weather? Have recent technological developments made our critical technologies more or less vulnerable? How well do we understand the broader societal and economic impacts of severe space weather events? Are our institutions prepared to cope with the effects of a 'space weather Katrina,' a rare, but according to the historical record, not inconceivable eventuality? On May 22 and 23, 2008, a one-and-a-half-day workshop held in Washington, D.C., under the auspices of the National Research Council's (NRC's) Space Studies Board brought together representatives of industry, the federal government, and the social science community to explore these and related questions. The key themes, ideas, and insights that emerged during the presentations and discussions are summarized in 'Severe Space Weather Events--Understanding Societal and Economic Impacts: A Workshop Report' (The National Academies Press, Washington, D

Early Evaluation of the VIIRS Calibration, Cloud Mask and Surface Reflectance Earth Data Records

Science.gov (United States)

Vermote, Eric; Justice, Chris; Csiszar, Ivan

2014-01-01

Surface reflectance is one of the key products fromVIIRS and as withMODIS, is used in developing several higherorder land products. The VIIRS Surface Reflectance (SR) Intermediate Product (IP) is based on the heritageMODIS Collection 5 product (Vermote, El Saleous, & Justice, 2002). The quality and character of surface reflectance depend on the accuracy of the VIIRS Cloud Mask (VCM), the aerosol algorithms and the adequate calibration of the sensor. The focus of this paper is the early evaluation of the VIIRS SR product in the context of the maturity of the operational processing system, the Interface Data Processing System (IDPS). After a brief introduction, the paper presents the calibration performance and the role of the surface reflectance in calibration monitoring. The analysis of the performance of the cloud mask with a focus on vegetation monitoring (no snow conditions) shows typical problems over bright surfaces and high elevation sites. Also discussed is the performance of the aerosol input used in the atmospheric correction and in particular the artifacts generated by the use of the Navy Aerosol Analysis and Prediction System. Early quantitative results of the performance of the SR product over the AERONET sites showthatwith the fewadjustments recommended, the accuracy iswithin the threshold specifications. The analysis of the adequacy of the SR product (Land PEATE adjusted version) in applications of societal benefits is then presented. We conclude with a set of recommendations to ensure consistency and continuity of the JPSS mission with the MODIS Land Climate Data Record.

Abused, confused, and misused words a writer's guide to usage, spelling, grammar, and sentence structure

CERN Document Server

Embree, Mary

2012-01-01

Have you been putting bullion in your soup? Is incorrect spelling starting to have a negative affect on your term papers? Do you wonder what someone is inferring when they tell you to pick up a dictionary? These are just a few of the commonly misunderstood words discussed and explained in Abused, Confused, and Misused Words, an entertaining and informative look at the ever-changing nature of the English language. An alphabetical list of words that are frequently misspelled or misused is accompanied by a style guide to usage rules that tells you how and why

Iceland’s External Affairs from 1400 to the Reformation: Anglo-German Economic and Societal Shelter in a Danish Political Vacuum

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Baldur Þórhallsson

2013-06-01

Full Text Available The paper applies the assumption that small states/entities need economic and political shelter in order to prosper, to the case of Iceland in the period from 1400 to the Reformation in the mid-16th century. Also, it applies the findings from the first paper in this ‘hexalogy’ (a six-paper series on Iceland’s external relations in a historical context, i.e. that Iceland enjoyed societal shelter in the Middle Ages, to this period. The aim is both to analyse whether or not Icelanders enjoyed economic, political and societal cover from their engagements with the Danes, English and Germans and to evaluate the validity of the ‘shelter theory’. The paper argues that Iceland enjoyed considerable economic and societal shelter from its encounters with English and German merchants and fishermen in a period in which Danish political cover was formally in place but was not effective in practice. Moreover, the paper claims that the shelter theory, and small-state studies in general, need to take notice of the importance of social communication with the outside world for a small entity/state. Also, the Danish political vacuum in our late Medieval Period provided the islanders with economic opportunities and social engagements with the wider world. This was at the cost of continued domestic clashes between the islanders themselves, on the one hand, and between them and ‘outsiders’ on the other. Our findings indicate that in the case of Iceland there might be a trade-off between the benefits of strict political cover by a single external actor, and the economic and societal opportunities accompanied by a lack of political affiliations.

Arab Societal Awareness of Dental Veneers.

Science.gov (United States)

Alfouzan, Afnan; Al-Sanie, Aisha A; Al-Dhafiri, Reem A

2018-03-01

The aim of this study is to assess the Arab society's knowledge, awareness, and attitudes toward dental veneers. A cross-sectional study was performed by collecting data through an online questionnaire created using the Survey Monkey website and distributed among Middle Eastern societies through social media to ascertain participants' knowledge and awareness regarding dental veneers. The sample included Arab laypeople who were over 18 years old, to represent the awareness of the majority regarding dental veneers. The sample of this study included 1,332 subjects from different Middle Eastern nationalities, mainly Saudis, Kuwaitis, and Emiratis (15.6% of males and 84.4% of females). The results of this study showed that the total knowledge of dental veneers is 50.12%. The respondents with the highest level of knowledge acquired their information mainly from newspapers and magazines, followed by the Internet, then dentists, then social media, and, finally, friends and relatives. Cost was the only factor limiting 38.4% of subjects from receiving veneers, and 56% of the subjects would receive veneers if they were free of cost. In total, 72.6% of the respondents believed that veneers are currently overused. The knowledge and awareness of dental veneers were below a satisfactory level. Participants who relied on social media as a source of information had lower knowledge levels. This study emphasized the need for continual societal education regarding dental veneers.

Teacher Collaboration in Times of Uncertainty and Societal Change: The Case Study of Post-Soviet Ukraine

Science.gov (United States)

Kutsyuruba, Benjamin

2013-01-01

The work of teachers is subject to changing not only policies and reforms but also the complexities and contradictions of societal transformations. This paper examines teachers' perceptions of the impact of post-Soviet transformations on teacher collaboration amid the changing education policies and reforms in Ukraine. Drawing on qualitative…

Il XLIV Congresso della Società Italiana di Reumatologia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Oliviero

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Il 17-20 Ottobre 2007 al Lido di Venezia presso il Palazzo del Casinò e il Palazzo del Cinema si è svolto il XLIV Congresso Nazionale della Società Italiana di Reumatologia (SIR. Numerosi esperti nazionali e internazionali hanno esposto le più importanti acquisizioni nel campo della ricerca clinica e di base reumatologiche. I tre giorni del congresso sono stati caratterizzati da letture, sessioni scientifiche, corsi educazionali, incontri con gli esperti, sezioni poster, corsi di aggiornamento su temi speciali, e diversi simposi. Tra i temi affrontati, particolare rilievo è stato dedicato ai singoli fattori implicati nella patogenesi delle malattie reumatiche, quali le citochine, i fagociti, le cellule endoteliali, i linfociti, i fibroblasti e gli autoanticorpi. In questo ambito un contributo di rilievo è stato offerto dai numerosi relatori stranieri ospiti del convegno. Dal punto di vista clinico, sono...

Barcoding snakeheads (Teleostei, Channidae) revisited: Discovering greater species diversity and resolving perpetuated taxonomic confusions

Science.gov (United States)

Conte-Grand, Cecilia; Britz, Ralf; Dahanukar, Neelesh; Raghavan, Rajeev; Pethiyagoda, Rohan; Tan, Heok Hui; Hadiaty, Renny K.; Yaakob, Norsham S.

2017-01-01

Snakehead fishes of the family Channidae are predatory freshwater teleosts from Africa and Asia comprising 38 valid species. Snakeheads are important food fishes (aquaculture, live food trade) and have been introduced widely with several species becoming highly invasive. A channid barcode library was recently assembled by Serrao and co-workers to better detect and identify potential and established invasive snakehead species outside their native range. Comparing our own recent phylogenetic results of this taxonomically confusing group with those previously reported revealed several inconsistencies that prompted us to expand and improve on previous studies. By generating 343 novel snakehead coxI sequences and combining them with an additional 434 coxI sequences from GenBank we highlight several problems with previous efforts towards the assembly of a snakehead reference barcode library. We found that 16.3% of the channid coxI sequences deposited in GenBank are based on misidentifications. With the inclusion of our own data we were, however, able to solve these cases of perpetuated taxonomic confusion. Different species delimitation approaches we employed (BIN, GMYC, and PTP) were congruent in suggesting a potentially much higher species diversity within snakeheads than currently recognized. In total, 90 BINs were recovered and within a total of 15 currently recognized species multiple BINs were identified. This higher species diversity is mostly due to either the incorporation of undescribed, narrow range, endemics from the Eastern Himalaya biodiversity hotspot or the incorporation of several widespread species characterized by deep genetic splits between geographically well-defined lineages. In the latter case, over-lumping in the past has deflated the actual species numbers. Further integrative approaches are clearly needed for providing a better taxonomic understanding of snakehead diversity, new species descriptions and taxonomic revisions of the group. PMID

Neurofibromatosis type 1 and the "elephant man's" disease: the confusion persists: an ethnographic study.

Science.gov (United States)

Legendre, Claire-Marie; Charpentier-Côté, Catherine; Drouin, Régen; Bouffard, Chantal

2011-02-09

In 1986, two Canadian geneticists had demonstrated that Joseph Merrick, better known as the Elephant Man, suffered from the Proteus syndrome and not from neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), as was alleged by dermatologist Parkes in 1909. Despite this and although the two diseases differ at several levels: prevalence, diagnostic criteria, clinical manifestations and transmission, the confusion between NF1 and the "elephant man's" disease continues in medical and social representations by current linguistic usage, and in some media reports. With this article, we want to 1) document the persistence and extent of this fallacy, 2) identify certain critical factors that contribute to its persistence, and 3) evaluate its impact on the health and well being of patients with NF1 and their family members. Participant observation in the course of an ethnographic study on intergenerational dialogue between individuals with neurofibromatosis and their parents - Analysis of the scientific literature and of pinpoint articles in the print and online news media. Our findings show that because physicians have little knowledge about NF1, several print and online news media and a lot of physicians continue to make the confusion between NF1 and the disease the "elephant man". This misconception contributes to misinformation about the disease, feeding prejudices against affected patients, exacerbating the negative impacts of the disease on their quality of life, their cognitive development, their reproductive choices, as well as depriving them of proper care and appropriate genetic counseling. If family physicians and pediatricians were properly informed about the disease, they could refer their patients with NF1 to NF clinics and to specialists. Thus, patients and their family members would benefit from better-tailored clinical management of their cases, perhaps even optimal management. [corrected

Neurofibromatosis type 1 and the "elephant man's" disease: the confusion persists: an ethnographic study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claire-Marie Legendre

2011-02-01

Full Text Available In 1986, two Canadian geneticists had demonstrated that Joseph Merrick, better known as the Elephant Man, suffered from the Proteus syndrome and not from neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1, as was alleged by dermatologist Parkes in 1909. Despite this and although the two diseases differ at several levels: prevalence, diagnostic criteria, clinical manifestations and transmission, the confusion between NF1 and the "elephant man's" disease continues in medical and social representations by current linguistic usage, and in some media reports. With this article, we want to 1 document the persistence and extent of this fallacy, 2 identify certain critical factors that contribute to its persistence, and 3 evaluate its impact on the health and well being of patients with NF1 and their family members.Participant observation in the course of an ethnographic study on intergenerational dialogue between individuals with neurofibromatosis and their parents - Analysis of the scientific literature and of pinpoint articles in the print and online news media.Our findings show that because physicians have little knowledge about NF1, several print and online news media and a lot of physicians continue to make the confusion between NF1 and the disease the "elephant man". This misconception contributes to misinformation about the disease, feeding prejudices against affected patients, exacerbating the negative impacts of the disease on their quality of life, their cognitive development, their reproductive choices, as well as depriving them of proper care and appropriate genetic counseling.If family physicians and pediatricians were properly informed about the disease, they could refer their patients with NF1 to NF clinics and to specialists. Thus, patients and their family members would benefit from better-tailored clinical management of their cases, perhaps even optimal management. [corrected

PRP in OA knee - update, current confusions and future options.

Science.gov (United States)

Dhillon, Mandeep S; Patel, Sandeep; John, Rakesh

2017-01-01

Positive results have been uniformly observed by various researchers for platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in early osteoarthritis (OA) knee in the past few years. PRP has clearly demonstrated its supremacy in comparison to hyaluronic acid (HA) and placebo in various clinical trials and is undoubtedly the best option available for symptomatic treatment in early OA. The release of growth factors from PRP occurs immediately and lasts for around three weeks and the clinical effect tends to wane down by the end of the year. Prolonged and sustained release of growth factors from platelets could possibly help in much better biological healing and sustained clinical effects. PRP in combination with biocompatible carriers could be one way of achieving this. Gelatin hydrogel PRP and chitosan PRP seem to be promising based on early in vitro studies and animal studies. PRP in combination with hyaluronic acid also seems to be additive. This article intends to discuss the present status of the PRP, confusions surrounding its use, upcoming trends and ideas for improvising PRP for use early OA knees based on available evidence. © The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2017.

[The Confusion Assessment Method: Transcultural adaptation of a French version].

Science.gov (United States)

Antoine, V; Belmin, J; Blain, H; Bonin-Guillaume, S; Goldsmith, L; Guerin, O; Kergoat, M-J; Landais, P; Mahmoudi, R; Morais, J A; Rataboul, P; Saber, A; Sirvain, S; Wolfklein, G; de Wazieres, B

2018-04-03

The Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) is a validated key tool in clinical practice and research programs to diagnose delirium and assess its severity. There is no validated French version of the CAM training manual and coding guide (Inouye SK). The aim of this study was to establish a consensual French version of the CAM and its manual. Cross-cultural adaptation to achieve equivalence between the original version and a French adapted version of the CAM manual. A rigorous process was conducted including control of cultural adequacy of the tool's components, double forward and back translations, reconciliation, expert committee review (including bilingual translators with different nationalities, a linguist, highly qualified clinicians, methodologists) and pretesting. A consensual French version of the CAM was achieved. Implementation of the CAM French version in daily clinical practice will enable optimal diagnosis of delirium diagnosis and enhance communication between health professionals in French speaking countries. Validity and psychometric properties are being tested in a French multicenter cohort, opening up new perspectives for improved quality of care and research programs in French speaking countries. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Ecologic Footprints versus Gross Domestic Product: how indicators of societal development appear and operate in public media

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petersen, Lars Kjerulf

Public communication about societal concerns and challenges revolve to a large extent around different indicators, the prominence and use of which may reveal the status of social values and discourses, including sustainability values and environmental discourses. This paper presents a study of on...

Status, Power, and Intergroup Relations: The Personal Is the Societal.

Science.gov (United States)

Fiske, Susan T; Dupree, Cydney H; Nicolas, Gandalf; Swencionis, Jillian K

2016-10-01

Hierarchies in the correlated forms of power (resources) and status (prestige) are constants that organize human societies. This article reviews relevant social psychological literature and identifies several converging results concerning power and status. Whether rank is chronically possessed or temporarily embodied, higher ranks create psychological distance from others, allow agency by the higher ranked, and exact deference from the lower ranked. Beliefs that status entails competence are essentially universal. Interpersonal interactions create warmth-competence compensatory tradeoffs. Along with societal structures (enduring inequality), these tradeoffs reinforce status-competence beliefs. Race, class, and gender further illustrate these dynamics. Although status systems are resilient, they can shift, and understanding those change processes is an important direction for future research, as global demographic changes disrupt existing hierarchies.

Società Italiani Uniti: do triunfo à decadência. A emergência do fascismo

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rosane Siqueira Teixeira

Full Text Available O presente artigo apresenta parte do resultado da pesquisa realizada sobre a Società Italiani Uniti, uma associação italiana marcada pela emergência do fascismo, que existiu em Araraquara (SP entre os anos de 1920 e 1941. Pretende-se traçar a sua trajetória, do triunfo à decadência, discutindo suas funções, coesão e consenso.

The Role of Social Media in Societal Change: Cases in Finland of Fifth Estate Activity on Facebook

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Niina Sormanen

2015-11-01

Full Text Available The Internet can be used to reconfigure access to information and people in ways that can support networked individuals and enhance their relative communicative power vis-à-vis other individuals and institutions, such as by supporting collective action, sourcing of information, and whistle blowing. The societal and political significance of the Internet is a matter of academic debate, with some studies suggesting a powerful role in creating a “Fifth Estate,” and other studies challenging such claims. Research on this issue has not yet comprehensively focused on social network sites and those operating in a very liberal-democratic context. Based on an embedded case study of Facebook use in Finland, this study focuses on the uses of social media in building communicative power, such as in capacity to foster social movements in ways that conform to conceptions of the Internet’s Fifth Estate. The case study combines qualitative and quantitative methods to examine a sample of 2,300 Facebook pages and their online and offline activities and impact qualities. The results located 27 pages that reached a threshold we established for identifying online social movements with the potential for enhancing their communicative power, with a small minority of four cases appearing to have actualized communicative power. These findings not only reinforce the potential of Fifth Estate activity on social media but also underline the challenges of societal change in this predominantly entertainment-oriented social context. In addition, the study showcases the intertwined process of online and offline attributes affecting societal influence of online social movements.

Clinical validation of a non-heteronormative version of the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS)

OpenAIRE

Lindner, Philip; Martell, Christopher; Bergström, Jan; Andersson, Gerhard; Carlbring, Per

2013-01-01

Introduction: Despite welcomed changes in societal attitudes and practices towards sexual minorities, instances of heteronormativity can still be found within healthcare and research. The Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS) is a valid and reliable self-rating scale of social anxiety, which includes one item (number 14) with an explicit heteronormative assumption about the respondents sexual orientation. This heteronormative phrasing may confuse, insult or alienate sexual minority responde...

IRSN - Institute of Radiation protection and Nuclear Safety. Report 2014. Corporate societal responsibility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Repussard, Jacques; Dufer, Bruno

2015-06-01

After a discussion of the importance of the societal responsibility of the IRSN as a collective approach, and as an asset for nuclear safety, this report first addresses how to preserve the environment and to manage the risks (reduction of carbon print in the policy of trips and travels, improvement of energy efficiency of IRSN buildings). It describes how to maintain the social commitment at a high level, how to develop responsible purchases and sales, how to strengthen relationships between stakeholders

Leaders' charismatic leadership and followers' commitment — The moderating dynamics of value erosion at the societal level

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gebert, D.; Heinitz, K.; Buengeler, C.K.

2016-01-01

In modern societies, followers might dissociate from their leaders. In our conceptual paper we discuss how the societal-level process of value erosion (Sennett, 2005) influences this phenomenon. First, we outline in what way value erosion will lead to followers' leadership-related cynicism on the

Reflections from a living smart campus

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hengstenberg, Yann; Eckardt, Franziska; Benneworth, Paul Stephen

2017-01-01

Universities and their campuses can play important roles in the economic performances of their regions, for example through stimulating high technology entrepreneurship and helping to create new economic growth paths. Furthermore, universities can stimulate societal knowledge exchange to contribute

River basins as social-ecological systems: linking levels of societal and ecosystem water metabolism in a semiarid watershed

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Violeta Cabello

2015-09-01

Full Text Available River basin modeling under complexity requires analytical frameworks capable of dealing with the multiple scales and dimensions of environmental problems as well as uncertainty in the evolution of social systems. Conceptual and methodological developments can now be framed using the wide socio-eco-hydrological approach. We add hierarchy theory into the mix to discuss the conceptualization of river basins as complex, holarchic social-ecological systems. We operationalize the social-ecological systems water metabolism framework in a semiarid watershed in Spain, and add the governance dimension that shapes human-environment reciprocity. To this purpose, we integrate an eco-hydrological model with the societal metabolism accounting scheme for land use, human activity, and water use. We explore four types of interactions: between societal organization and water uses/demands, between ecosystem organization and their water requirements/supplies, between societal metabolism and aquatic ecosystem health, and between water demand and availability. Our results reveal a metabolic pattern of a high mountain rural system striving to face exodus and agricultural land abandonment with a multifunctional economy. Centuries of social-ecological evolution shaping waterscapes through traditional water management practices have influenced the eco-hydrological functioning of the basin, enabling adaptation to aridity. We found a marked spatial gradient on water supply, use pattern, and impact on water bodies from the head to the mouth of the basin. Management challenges posed by the European water regulatory framework as a new driver of social-ecological change are highlighted.

Silver nanoparticles: technological advances, societal impacts, and metrological challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Calderón-Jiménez, Bryan; Johnson, Monique E.; Montoro Bustos, Antonio R.; Murphy, Karen E.; Winchester, Michael R.; Vega Baudrit, José R.

2017-02-01

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) show different physical and chemical properties compared to their macroscale analogs. This is primarily due to their small size and, consequently, the exceptional surface area of these materials. Presently, advances in the synthesis, stabilization, and production of AgNPs have fostered a new generation of commercial products and intensified scientific investigation within the nanotechnology field. The use of AgNPs in commercial products is increasing and impacts on the environment and human health are largely unknown. This article discusses advances in AgNP production and presents an overview of the commercial, societal, and environmental impacts of this emerging nanoparticle (NP), and nanomaterials in general. Finally, we examine the challenges associated with AgNP characterization, discuss the importance of the development of NP reference materials (RMs) and explore their role as a metrological mechanism to improve the quality and comparability of NP measurements.

Silver Nanoparticles: Technological Advances, Societal Impacts, and Metrological Challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Calderón-Jiménez, Bryan; Johnson, Monique E; Montoro Bustos, Antonio R; Murphy, Karen E; Winchester, Michael R; Vega Baudrit, José R

2017-01-01

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) show different physical and chemical properties compared to their macroscale analogs. This is primarily due to their small size and, consequently, the exceptional surface area of these materials. Presently, advances in the synthesis, stabilization, and production of AgNPs have fostered a new generation of commercial products and intensified scientific investigation within the nanotechnology field. The use of AgNPs in commercial products is increasing and impacts on the environment and human health are largely unknown. This article discusses advances in AgNP production and presents an overview of the commercial, societal, and environmental impacts of this emerging nanoparticle (NP), and nanomaterials in general. Finally, we examine the challenges associated with AgNP characterization, discuss the importance of the development of NP reference materials (RMs) and explore their role as a metrological mechanism to improve the quality and comparability of NP measurements.

Societal risk approach to safeguards design and evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bennett, C.A.; Murphey, W.M.; Sherr, T.S.

1975-06-01

There has been much discussion and public debate concerning the effectiveness of the national system of safeguards against malevolent acts involving nuclear materials. Useful dialogue on this subject has been hampered by the lack of well-defined objectives, system parameters and boundary conditions as a framework for communication. This study provides such a framework. Expressing the safeguards objective in terms of societal risk represents a change in focus, rather than intent, from the earlier view of safeguards as a system for protecting nuclear material against theft or diversion. The study defines both the safeguards problem and the safeguards system in terms that can be related to the general safeguards objective. It is axiomatic that the first step to an effective solution is a careful definition of the problem. The significant and immediate value of this study lies in the rigorous definition and systematic organization of recognized elements into a coherent and comprehensive pattern. Although the title specifically addresses design and evaluation, the framework provided by the study will be a useful management tool for safeguards implementation and administration as well. (U.S.)

Renewable energy systems: A societal and technological platform

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Polatidis, Heracles; Haralambopoulos, Dias A. [University of the Aegean, Mytilene (Greece). Department of Environment

2007-02-15

Today, the analysis of renewable energy places the emphasis on the technological and economic attributes with social and environmental impact assessment providing for a rather static, narrow frame of analysis. The participation and response of social actors and other stakeholders is usually of a traditional type, with consultation documents and public meetings, collection of complaints and suggestion schemes. This often encourages parochialism and an over-concentration on relatively trivial issues. It is, therefore, imperative to establish a new participatory planning platform to incorporate the wider socio-economic aspects of renewable energy systems and to provide for an operational analytical decomposition of them. In this work the issue of decomposition analysis is clarified, and a new agenda for the societal and technological decomposition analysis of renewable energy systems is developed. A case study is disclosed to present the relevance of the established platform for integrated (renewable) energy systems planning. Innovative aspects comprise of the simultaneous inclusion of decision analysis and social acceptance methods and tools in concert with the related public participation techniques. (author)

New Classification for Heart Failure with Mildly Reduced Ejection Fraction; Greater clarity or more confusion?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sunil Nadar

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The latest European Society of Cardiology (ESC guidelines for the diagnosis and management of heart failure include a new patient group for those with heart failure with mildly reduced ejection fraction (HFmrEF. By defining this group of patients as a separate entity, the ESC hope to encourage more research focusing on patients with HFmrEF. Previously, patients with this condition were caught between two classifications—heart failure with reduced ejection fraction and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. Hopefully, the inclusion of new terminology will not increase confusion, but rather aid our understanding of heart failure, a complex clinical syndrome.

Blog Citations as Indicators of the Societal Impact of Research : Content Analysis of Social Sciences Blogs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hamid R. Jamali

2015-06-01

Full Text Available This article analyzes motivations behind social sciences blog posts citing journal articles in order to find out whether blog citations are good indicators for the societal impact or benefits of research. A random sample of 300 social sciences blog posts (out of 1,233 blog posts from ResearchBlogging.org published between 01/01/2012 to 18/06/2014 were subjected to content analysis. The 300 blog posts had 472 references including 424 journal articles from 269 different journals. Sixty‐one (22.68% of all cited journals were from the social sciences and most of the journals with high frequency were highly cited general science journals such as PNAS and Science. Seventy‐five percent of all journals were referenced only once. The average age of articles cited at the time of citation was 5.8 years. Discussion and criticism were the two main categories of motivations. Overall, the study shows the potential of blog citations as an altmetric measure and as a proxy for assessing the research impact. A considerable number of citation motivations in blogs such as disputing a belief, suggesting policies, providing a solution to a problem, reacting to media, criticism and the like seemed to support gaining societal benefits. Societal benefits are considered as helping stimulate new approaches to social issues, or informing public debate and policymaking. Lower self‐citation (compared to some other altmetric measures such as tweets and the fact that blogging involves generating content (i.e. an intellectual process give them an advantage for altmetrics. However, limitations and contextual issues such as disciplinary differences and low uptake of altmetrics, in general, in scholarly communication should not be ignored when using blogs as a data source for altmetrics.

Physical, Ecological, and Societal Indicators for the National Climate Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Kenney, Melissa A.; Chen, Robert; Baptista, Sandra R.; Quattrochi, Dale; O'Brien, Sheila

2011-01-01

The National Climate Assessment (NCA) is being conducted under the auspices of the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), pursuant to the Global Change Research Act of 1990, Section 106, which requires a report to Congress every 4 years. The current NCA (http://globalchange.gov/what-we-do/assessment/) differs in multiple ways from previous U.S. climate assessment efforts, being: (1) more focused on supporting the Nation s activities in adaptation and mitigation and on evaluating the current state of scientific knowledge relative to climate impacts and trends; (2) a long-term, consistent process for evaluation of climate risks and opportunities and providing information to support decision-making processes within regions and sectors; and (3) establishing a permanent assessment capacity both inside and outside of the federal government. As a part of ongoing, long-term assessment activities, the NCA intends to develop an integrated strategic framework and deploy climate-relevant physical, ecological, and societal indicators. The NCA indicators framework is underdevelopment by the NCA Development and Advisory Committee Indicators Working Group and are envisioned as a relatively small number of policy-relevant integrated indicators designed to provide a consistent, objective, and transparent overview of major variations in climate impacts, vulnerabilities, adaptation, and mitigation activities across sectors, regions, and timeframes. The potential questions that could be addressed by these indicators include: How do we know that there is a changing climate and how is it expected to change in the future? Are important climate impacts and opportunities occurring or predicted to occur in the future? Are we adapting successfully? What are the vulnerabilities and resiliencies given a changing climate? Are we preparing adequately for extreme events? It is not expected that the NCA societal indicators would be linked directly to a single decision or portfolio of

More Energy and Less Work, but New Crises: How the Societal Metabolism-Labour Nexus Changes from Agrarian to Industrial Societies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Willi Haas

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The scientific finding that humanity is overburdening nature and thus risks further ecological crises is almost uncontroversial. Main reason for the crises is the drastic increase in the societal metabolism, which is accomplished through labour. In this article, we examine the societal metabolism-labour nexus in two energy regimes: a valley in the Ethiopian highlands, typical of an agrarian society, and a village in Austria, typical of an industrial society. In the Ethiopian village, the supply of food demands almost the entire labour force, thus limiting the capacity to facilitate material flows beyond food provision. In the Austrian village, fewer working hours, lower workloads but 50 times higher useful energy allow to accumulate stocks like buildings 70 times higher than the Ethiopian case. With fossil energy, industrial societies decisively expand their energy supply and reduce labour hours at the cost of high carbon emissions, which are almost non-existent in the Ethiopian case. To overcome the resulting ecological crises, there is a call to drastically reduce fossil fuel consumption. Such an abandonment of fossil fuels might have as far reaching consequences for the societal metabolism-labour nexus and consequently human labour as the introduction of fossil fuels has had.

Societal Impacts of Natural Decadal Climate Variability - The Pacemakers of Civilizations

Science.gov (United States)

Mehta, V. M.

2017-12-01

Natural decadal climate variability (DCV) is one of the oldest areas of climate research. Building on centuries-long literature, a substantial body of research has emerged in the last two to three decades, focused on understanding causes, mechanisms, and impacts of DCV. Several DCV phenomena - the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) or the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO), tropical Atlantic sea-surface temperature gradient variability (TAG for brevity), West Pacific Warm Pool variability, and decadal variability of El Niño-La Niña events - have been identified in observational records; and are associated with variability of worldwide atmospheric circulations, water vapor transport, precipitation, and temperatures; and oceanic circulations, salinity, and temperatures. Tree-ring based drought index data going back more than 700 years show presence of decadal hydrologic cycles (DHCs) in North America, Europe, and South Asia. Some of these cycles were associated with the rise and fall of civilizations, large-scale famines which killed millions of people, and acted as catalysts for socio-political revolutions. Instrument-measured data confirm presence of such worldwide DHCs associated with DCV phenomena; and show these DCV phenomena's worldwide impacts on river flows, crop productions, inland water-borne transportation, hydro-electricity generation, and agricultural irrigation. Fish catch data also show multiyear to decadal catch variability associated with these DCV phenomena in all oceans. This talk, drawn from my recently-published book (Mehta, V.M., 2017: Natural Decadal Climate Variability: Societal Impacts. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, 326 pp.), will give an overview of worldwide impacts of DCV phenomena, with specific examples of socio-economic-political impacts. This talk will also describe national and international security implications of such societal impacts, and worldwide food security implications. The talk will end with an outline of needed

Satellite Power System (SPS) societal assessment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1980-12-01

Construction and operation of a 60-unit (300 GW) domestic SPS over the period 2000 to 2030 would stress many segments of US society. A significant commitment of resources (land, energy, materials) would be required, and a substantial proportion of them would have to be committed prior to the production of any SPS electricity. Estimated resource demands, however, seem to be within US capabilities. Modifications will be required of institutions called upon to deal with SPS. These include financial, managerial and regulatory entities and, most particularly, the utility industry. Again, the required changes, while certainly profound, seem to be well within the realm of possibility. Enhanced cooperation in international affairs will be necessary to accommodate development and operation of the SPS. To remove its potential as a military threat and to reduce its vulnerability, either the SPS itself must become an international enterprise, or it must be subject to unrestricted international inspection. How either of these objectives could, in fact, be achieved, or which is preferable, remains unclear. Forty-four concerns about the SPS were identified via a public outreach experiment involving 9000 individuals from three special interest organizations. The concerns focused on environmental impacts (particularly the effects of microwave radiation) and the centralizing tendency of the SPS on society. The interim results of the public outreach experiment influenced the scope and direction of the CDEP; the final results will be instrumental in defining further societal assessment efforts.