scholarly journals The IAU, from New Worlds to Exoworlds: recollections of a mandate

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (S349) ◽  
pp. 90-111
Author(s):  
Thierry Montmerle

AbstractThis paper presents my own recollections of the difficult relations that existed between the IAU and a fraction of the public, especially in the USA, following the IAU decision to reclassify Pluto as a dwarf planet at the 2006 General Assembly in Prague, and which ultimately led the IAU to organize the NameExoWorlds international contest to give public names to selected exoplanets and their host stars. In spite of the success of the International Year of Astronomy in 2009, the Pluto controversy continued, and its consequences climaxed during my term (2012-2015), as NASA’s New Horizons probe approached Pluto for a flyby just before the 2015 General Assembly in Honolulu. It was during this period that the IAU launched the NameExoWorlds contest, which also came to a conclusion in Honolulu after over half a million votes were cast from all over the world. While the inside story of how the contest was organized has appeared elsewhere, here I focus on the historical and sociological context that made Pluto such a sensitive issue, especially in the USA, explaining why this contest generated another controversy between the IAU and the New Horizons team. However, after the world-wide success of NameExoWorlds, the IAU and the New Horizons team eventually reached an agreement on finalizing the characterization and names of a number of newly discovered Pluto and Charon surface features (an on-going process), while a new edition of NameExoWorlds is in preparation for the IAU centennial in 2019.

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. maapoc.0000008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Isles

There is a rising tide of criminal activity to manufacture and distribute falsified, counterfeit, or fake medicines. The exact size of this problem is unknown but estimates vary from US$75 billion to US$200 billion per year, and evidence clearly demonstrates it is on the increase. Depending on the world region, infiltration into the legitimate supply chain versus the illegitimate (e.g., the internet) varies greatly. However, what is certain is that the direction of travel by regulatory agents is to develop supply chains that allow access to medicines via the World Wide Web. Within this context, there has been a long-running debate about how to correctly describe the various forms of medicines that are fraudulently or otherwise manufactured and distributed. This article attempts to describe the evolution of the definitions and recommends that a consensus be formed to describe such medicines that reach the public: • Falsified medicine: This being the term used and defined in the Falsified Medicines Directive and which is primarily concerned with public health. • Counterfeit medicine: This is closely associated and legally defined within intellectual property legislation and concentrates on trademark protection. • Fake medicine: This is the term that best serves to communicate with the public to raise awareness about the phenomenon.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth E Timme ◽  
Maria Sanchez ◽  
Marc Allard

This protocol outlines the all the steps necessary to become a GenomeTrakr data contributor. GenomeTrakr is an international genomic reference database of mostly food and environmental isolates from foodborne pathogens. The data and analyses are housed at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), which is a database freely available to anyone in the world. The Pathogen Detection browser at NCBI computes daily cluster results adding the newly submitted data to the existing phylogenetic clusters of closely related genomes. Contributors to this database can see how their new isolates are related to the real-time foodborne pathogen surveillance program established in the USA and a few other countries, and at the same time adding valuable new data to the reference database. ------ Although originally published as a Chapter in Methods and Protocols, Foodborne Bacterial Pathogens, the protocol has since been adapted and split into four separate protocols all of which are contained in this collection.


Author(s):  
Przemysław Potocki

The article is based on an analysis of certain aspects of how the public opinion of selected nations in years 2001–2016 perceived the American foreign policy and the images of two Presidents of the United States (George W. Bush, Barack Obama). In order to achieve these research goals some polling indicators were constructed. They are linked with empirical assessments related to the foreign policy of the U.S. and the political activity of two Presidents of the United States of America which are constructed by nations in three segments of the world system. Results of the analysis confirmed the research hypotheses. The position of a given nation in the structure of the world system influenced the dynamics of perception and the directions of empirical assessments (positive/negative) of that nation’s public opinion about the USA.


Author(s):  
Patrick Flanagan

Since 1991, when the world wide web (WWW) was first made available to the public, it has revolutionized the way the global community engages each other economically, politically, and socially. Its impact has been historically unprecedented. While the availability of and access to the WWW appears to be ubiquitous, it is not. The expansion of this marvelous information communication technology (ICT) has not penetrated certain areas of the world resulting in a “digital divide.” This chapter discusses this digital divide. It first defines the term and then it moves to discuss the origins of the term. From there, the chapter moves to present concrete evidence of how the digital divide has negatively impacted the global community. Finally, it names and evaluates the efforts of different organizations and agencies to resolve the digital divide. It concludes with a prospectus on the future challenges of information communication technology vis-à-vis the digital divide.


Author(s):  
José Fernández-Cavia ◽  
Assumpció Huertas-Roig

City marketing tries to position cities in the mind of the public, although the process of creating and communicating city brands is still at an early stage of its development. One of the main tools for the communication of these brands is now the World Wide Web. This chapter describes the results of two combined studies (qualitative and quantitative) that analyzes a sample of official city Web sites. The results show that official Web sites of cities give much attention to ease of navigation, but interactivity is much less implemented, especially between users. Furthermore, some lack of attention to the communication aspects of city brands can also be found. Finally, the chapter submits a number of improvement proposals.


Author(s):  
Kenneth McK. Norrie

This chapter explores the world-wide movement at the turn of the 20th century towards specialist juvenile courts to deal with children who commit offences. Following the lead of the juvenile court movement in the USA and Australia, the Children Act 1908 set up juvenile courts in both Scotland and England, though in Scotland these courts quickly acquired jurisdiction over both young offenders and children in need of care and protection. Originally little more than a separate set of procedural rules to be followed in the sheriff court dealing with children, an effort was made in the Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Acts 1932 and 1937 to give better effect to the idea of a separate court presided over by specialist judges. Though never nation-wide, these new, enhanced, juvenile courts took on many of the characteristics that were later adopted by the children’s hearing system, including the processes to be followed, the involvement of the children, the requirement to look at the child’s wider environmental circumstances (including the child’s welfare), and the outcomes available to the court.


2018 ◽  
pp. 235-242
Author(s):  
Steven McKevitt

The Conclusion draws together the main findings of the study. Britain in 1997 was a far more emotional and expressive society. This is highlighted by two events: the public response to the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, and the success of New Labour in the general election. The extent to which persuasion industries were responsible for bringing these changes about is discussed. There is a discussion of some areas for further study: the subsequent impact of the World Wide Web and social media platforms; persuasion aimed at children/juvenile consumption, and the development of single British brand throughout the period—for example, Virgin.


BMJ ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 314 (7098) ◽  
pp. 1875-1875 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Impicciatore ◽  
C. Pandolfini ◽  
N. Casella ◽  
M. Bonati

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