3,157 research outputs found
Democracy, capacity, and coercion in pandemic response – COVID-19 in comparative political perspective
No full textThe COVID-19 pandemic has challenged governments around the world. It also has challenged conventional wisdom and empirical understandings in the comparative politics and policy of health. Three major questions present themselves: First, some of the countries considered to be most prepared-having the greatest capacity for outbreak response-have failed to respond effectively to the pandemic. How should our understanding of capacity shift in light of COVID-19, and how can we incorporate political capacity into thinking about pandemic preparedness? Second, several of the mechanisms through which democracy has been shown to be beneficial for health have not traveled well to explain the performance of governments in this pandemic. Is there an authoritarian advantage in disease response? Third, after decades in which coercive public health measures have increasingly been considered counterproductive, COVID-19 has inspired widespread embrace of rigid lockdowns, isolation, and quarantine enforced by police. Will these measures prove effective in the long run and reshape public health thinking? This article explores some of these questions with emerging examples, even amid the pandemic, when it is too soon to draw conclusions
Citation expectations: are they realized? Study of the Matthew index for Russian papers published abroad
No full textWe consider the "Matthew effect" in the citation process which leads to reallocation (or misallocation) of the citations received by scientific papers within the same journals. The case when such reallocation correlates with a country where an author works is investigated. Russian papers in chemistry and physics published abroad were examined. We found that in both disciplines in about 60% of journals Russian papers are cited less than average ones. However, if we consider each discipline as a whole, citedness of a Russian paper in physics will be on the average level, while chemistry publications receive about 16% citations less than one may expect from the citedness of the journals where they appear. Moreover, Russian chemistry papers mostly become undercited in the leading journals of the field. Characteristics of a "Matthew index" indicator and its significance for scientometric studies are also discussed
Playing politics: the World Health Organization’s response to COVID-19
No full textThe challenges of the World Health Organization (WHO) begin, perhaps, with its name—framed as one organization, spanning the globe, and tasked with securing, as defined by article 1 of its constitution, “the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health” (WHO, 1946). Yet the gap between the expectations of WHO and how global political actors have shaped its structure and its capacities is vast—never more so than during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is necessary to look at WHO from at least two perspectives: (1) its role as a scientific, technical, and humanitarian organization and (2) as an international organization and venue for international political negotiation, diplomacy, and policy-making. These two different, at times conflicting, missions leave WHO in a precarious position and have opened it to criticism over the years (Siddiqi, 1995). Some argue that WHO’s importance stems primarily from its political and agenda-setting functions, whereas others argue the technical information-gathering, standard-setting, and cooperation-related activities are paramount and that the agency’s political nature detracts from these activities (Clift, 2014; Jamison et al., 1998; Retreat, 1996; Ruger & Yach, 2009). There have even been calls over the years to split these functions (Hoffman & Røttingen, 2014)
Artful living and the eradication of worry in Søren Kierkegaard's interpretation of Matthew 6:24-34
No full textDanish thinker Søren Kierkegaard published fourteen discourses, across four collections, on Matthew 6:24-34. The repeated readings of the biblical text, whose themes include the choice between God and mammon, worry, what it means to consider the birds and lilies, and how to seek first the kingdom of God, converge with Kierkegaard’s interest in anxiety, despair, worry, subjectivity, indirect communication, choice, the moment, and life before God. Accordingly, the discourses make connections with his larger works, elucidate frequently explored Kierkegaardian themes in recent scholarship, and contribute to his critique of nineteenth-century Copenhagen. Additionally, the collections present an interpretation of each verse and phrase of Matthew’s text and, held up against modern Matthew scholarship, they correlate with and contribute to Sermon on the Mount and New Testament studies. Kierkegaard’s reading of Matthew also holds implications for the practice of biblical interpretation as it promotes the importance of awareness of sin, interestedness, and appropriation as central to proper reading. His emphasis on Christ as the primary exemplar of Matthew’s text adds an additional Christological element to his hermeneutic. Furthermore, the discourses serve as spiritual treatises which provide the reader with theological terminology to help confront the problem of worry and suffering. In light of a human being’s distinctiveness as imago Dei, Kierkegaard elucidates ways an individual may respond artfully to the ongoing possibility of worry, a possibility which the discourses connect with Christian anthropology and external labels associated with possessions and status. The Matthew 6 discourses intimate Kierkegaard’s sympathy with classic Christian spirituality and, in combination with the cultural-ecclesiastical critique, the creative exegesis, and the in-depth analysis of the cause of and cure for worry, his work emerges as an excellent example of spiritual theology
Future Decreases in Thermospheric Neutral Density in Low Earth Orbit due to Carbon Dioxide Emissions
No full textIncreasing carbon dioxide causes cooling in the upper atmosphere and a secular decrease in atmospheric density over time. With the use of the Whole Atmospheric Community Climate Model with thermosphere and ionosphere extension (WACCM‐X), neutral thermospheric densities up to 500 km have been modelled under increasing carbon dioxide concentrations. Only carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide concentrations are changed between simulations, and solar activity is held low at F10.7 = 70 throughout. Neutral density decreases through to the year 2100 have been modelled using four carbon dioxide emission scenarios produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The years 1975 and 2005 have also been simulated, which indicated a historic trend of ‐5.8% change in neutral density per decade. Decreases in the neutral density relative to the year 2000 have been given for increasing ground‐level carbon dioxide concentrations. WACCM‐X shows there has already been a 17% decrease in neutral densities at 400 km relative to the density in the year 2000. This becomes a 30% reduction at the 50:50 probability threshold of limiting warming to 1.5°C, as set out in the Paris Agreement. A simple orbital propagator has been used to show the impact the decrease in density has on the orbital lifetime of objects travelling through the thermosphere. If the 1.5°C target is met, objects in LEO will have orbital lifetimes around 30% longer than comparable objects from the year 2000
Understanding and comparing HIV-related law & policy environments: cross-national data and accountability for the global AIDS response
No full textLaw and policy differences help explain why, as HIV-related science has advanced swiftly, some countries have realised remarkable progress on AIDS while others see expanding epidemics. We describe the structure and findings of a new dataset and research platform, the HIV Policy Lab, which fills an important knowledge gap by measuring the HIV-related policy environment across 33 indicators and 194 countries over time, with online access and visualisation. Cross-national indicators can be critical tools in international governance—building social power to monitor state behaviour with the potential to change policy and improve domestic accountability. This new and evolving effort collects data about policy through review of legal documents, official government reports and systematic review of secondary sources. Alignment between national policy environments and global norms is demonstrated through comparison with international public health guidance and agreements. We demonstrate substantial variation in the content of law and policies between countries, regions and policy areas. Given progress in basic and implementation science, it would be tempting to believe most countries have adopted policies aligned with global norms, with a few outliers. Data show this is not the case. Globally, alignment is higher on clinical and treatment policies than on prevention, testing and structural policies. Policy-makers, researchers, civil society, finance agencies and others can use these data to better understand the policy environment within and across countries and support reform. Longitudinal analysis enables evaluation of the impact of laws and policies on HIV outcomes and research about the political drivers of policy choice
Matthew’s Emmanuel Messiah: a paradigm of presence for god's people
No full textThe motif of divine presence is a clear phenomenon within the Gospel of Matthew. The modern critical means for assessing the ancient biblical text have multiplied to the point, some claim, of disparity. This study employs both narrative and redaction criticism in an attempt to respond authentically to the structural, historical and theological dimensions of Matthew's Gospel. This study begins with the presumption of the wholeness and integrity of Matthew's narrative, and assumes the gospel story to have an inherently dramatic structure which invites readers to inhabit imaginatively its narrative world and respond to its call. But since we are concerned with the role of both reader and author, this study also assumes a text with an historical author and context. The introduction focuses on the meta-critical dilemma facing New Testament students - what is the text and how do we read it? - and seeks some balance in terms of Krieger's analogy of the text as both window and mirror. Proposed is a narrative reading of Matthew's presence motif alongside a redaction critical assessment of it. In Chapter 2 the elements of narrative theory are introduced and relevant terms defined: the structure of narrative, the function of the narrator, points of view. Chapter 3 becomes an exercise in narrative reading, with Matthew's presence motif providing the focus, and the implied reader’s interaction with the story being predominant in interpretation. Characters, rhetorical devices, and points of view are discussed, to understand the motif's development throughout the story's progress. The thrust of Chapter 4 is thereafter to examine divine presence as a dominant motif within Matthew's most important literary context: the Jewish scriptures. Here the primary paradigms of divine presence provided by the Patriarchs, the Sinai experience, and the Davidic-Zion traditions are assessed. Chapter 5 follows with a more detailed examination of the OT "I am with you/God is with us" formula and its µeo' vµwv/ηuwv language, so strongly connected to Matthew's presence motif. Chapters 6-8 build on these investigations with a closer analysis of the three critical "presence passages" of Mt 1:23. 18:20 and 28:20. The passages and their contexts are probed from a redaction critical perspective, guided by the narrative investigation of Chapter 3, and the background from Chapters 4 and 5.The three major "presence passages" examined in Chapters 6-8 are also complimented by a number of secondary issues: worship, wisdom, the Spirit and the poor in Matthew, and their relation to Jesus' divine presence. These are discussed in Chapter 9. Chapter 10 summarizes and looks briefly at some implications. Matthew' presence motif proves to be an important element of the Gospel’s rhetorical design, redactional strategy and Christology. The presence of Jesus, the Emmanuel Messiah, exhibited in his risen authority, becomes the focus of his people's hopes and experiences in the post-Easter world. What the presence of Yahweh was to his people. Jesus now provides in a new paradigm for his people - his followers, the little ones, the poor and the marginalized, from all nations
Heeding the great commission: The significance of Matthew's gospel for Baptismal theology and practice in a post-Christian age.
No full textThis thesis represents a worked example in the application of Scripture to a contemporary theological situation. The Scripture applied is Matthew's Gospel and the theological situation is the ongoing practice of Christian baptism by paedo-baptising churches in the context of a post-Christian cultural milieu. Matthew's Gospel is a particularly relevant text with respect to baptism as the church traditionally has cited the baptismal command of Matthew 28.19 as a warrant for its baptising activity. The interpretation of Matthew m this thesis has emerged from a reflection on practice and is also directed back towards practice. The notion of 'performance’, therefore, is regarded as an especially helpful metaphor for interpretation: the believing community 'performs' its Scripture as a company of players would perform a play or a musical score. The formulation of this metaphor in the work of Kevin J. Vanhoozer is particularly utilised m the thesis. Vanhoozer suggests that Scripture testifies to the dramatic saving activity of God (the theo-drama) in which the church is called to participate. Therefore it is important to understand the plot of the drama as it is communicated m Scripture so that the church can work to continue the action faithfully. As such this thesis functions as a case study in 'performance' hermeneutics and will be of interest both in the academy and in the church. In terms of exegesis, therefore, this thesis is concerned with the place of baptism տ Matthew's presentation of the theo-drama. I argue that baptism in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (28.19), in the context of the Matthean narrative, is a symbol of narrative inclusion for a new disciple. Christian baptism makes connection with key moments in the Gospel such that it declares the gospel of the kingdom whilst enabling a rich expression of repentance and acceptance of a call to discipleship. The theo-dramatic significance of baptism is then considered alongside the challenges of paedo-baptismal ministry in post-Christian contexts. This creative interaction leads to strategies for baptismal performance being imagined that are not only faithful to the Great Commission but which are also culturally meaningful
Scripts and data for the paper, "Improving Satellite Remote Sensing Estimates of the Global Terrestrial Hydrologic Cycle via Neural Network Modeling"
No full textSoftware and data for optimizing remote sensing water cycle datasets
This repository contains the training database and Matlab scripts for the neural
network (NN) modeling described in the paper, Improving Satellite Remote
Sensing Estimates of the Global Terrestrial Hydrologic Cycle via Neural Network
Modeling.
These files were created with Matlab R2022b, and require the following
toolboxes:
Deep Learning Toolbox v14.5
Statistics and Machine Learning Toolbox, v12.4
The training database includes the NN inputs and targets. The data files (.mat)
are in Matlab binary format, but should be readable by other software.
Inputs are a set of earth observation datasets, spatially averaged over
1,698 river basins. There are 10 variables, listed in Table 1 in the paper.
Targets are the optimal interpolation (OI) solutions for each
of the 4 major water cycle fluxes:
P, precipitation
E, evapotranspiration
R, runoff
ΔS, change in total water storage
The compressed folder `data` contains all of the data that are required to run
these scripts. Unzip this folder to the same directory with the scripts before
starting.
Inside `data`, the folder `grids05` contains the EO data over land on a
0.5° grid, for making predictions at the pixel scale. Another folder `partitions`
has up to 20 different experimental partitions, which divide the project river
basins into 80/20 sets for training and validation.
To perform the main calculations described in the paper, run these scripts,
in order:
- `_m1_calc_OI.m`
- `_m2_train_nn5.m`
- `_m3_pixel_predictions5.m`
The other `.m` files are custom Matlab functions that are called
by the scripts to perform various data analysis and plotting tasks.
The scripts expect the folders `plots` and `output` for writing plots and
output data files.
For any questions, please contact the author, Matthew Heberger,
[email protected]
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