Introduction: From Sustainability to Surveillance

Author(s):  
Robert M. Chiles

At Stanford University, a long-standing tradition is for undergraduate students to identify themselves as “techies” or “fuzzies.” Techie students study math, engineering, physics, biology, and related fields in the natural sciences, and most of their coursework revolves around solving problem sets. Fuzzy students study art, history, communications, and other disciplines in the humanities and social sciences, and most of their coursework involves writing term papers. When asked to explain the difference between the two, one student offered a very simple, quotidian explanation: Techies study questions that have right or wrong answers, while fuzzies study questions where acceptable answers can be multiple and ambiguous. While the techie/fuzzy distinction is largely intended to be humorous, there is nonetheless something to it; it reflects multiple historical cleavages: fact versus opinion, natural versus social world, and science versus non-science. The existence of scientific and technological controversies illustrates the woeful inadequacy of these dualistic categories for two reasons. First, the acquisition of scientific knowledge is not a simple matter of factfinding, whereby scientists go out and discover The Truth, straight-forwardly reading off of nature. Scientific knowledge reflects the historical, political, economic, cultural, and institutional environments in which it is embedded (Latour and Woolgar 1979; Pinch and Bijker 1984). Favored methods of investigation, what levels of uncertainty are acceptable, and error type preferences (false positive versus false negative), among other factors that shape how science is done, reflect human history and values. In this context, science and technology are neither above nor immune from controversy. Second, social problems that are intrinsically related to certain technologies (for instance, the environmental consequences of fossil-based energy production) are arguably becoming increasingly acute. In the face of these kinds of challenges, it is no longer sufficient for scientific and technological controversies to be left solely in the hands of scientists and other experts. Scientific claims are becoming increasingly politicized by citizen groups, public officials, and others, many of whom are actively challenging traditional notions of what constitutes valid and acceptable knowledge. The “black box” of scientific expertise has been cracked open, and it is only likely to open wider.

Author(s):  
Ned Kock ◽  
Vanessa Garza

This study provides a combined test of the media naturalness and channel expansion theories with a study of communication media perceptions and use outcomes in the context of a college information systems course delivery. Data was collected from undergraduate students at the middle and end of a long semester. Approximately half of the students took the course face-to-face, and the other half online. As predicted, based on media naturalness theory, grades were significantly higher in the face-to-face condition than the online condition at the middle of the semester. Consistent with predictions based on channel expansion theory, the difference between grades obtained at the middle of the semester disappeared at the end of the semester. This study shows that online course delivery may lead to both negative and positive effects in the same semester, leading to a final outcome that is generally positive. It provides a more nuanced view of online course delivery effects, and clarifies previous empirical findings that appear paradoxical at first glance.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neal D. Goldstein ◽  
Igor Burstyn

Diagnosis of COVID-19 may be based on clinical observations, laboratory findings, and epidemiological linkage.1 Underscoring this diagnosis is accurate data from laboratory tests: this can make the difference between a false positive based on the clinical findings that are attributable to another cause, or a false negative based on lack of clinical findings that are attributable to SARS-CoV-2 viral infection, the causal agent for COVID-19. We conducted a simulation depicting how predictive values vary in the face of unknown data surrounding test sensitivity, specificity, and reported cases. in the USA. There are two main implications of our findings. First, the prevalence of COVID-19 in the tested population is likely inflated: clinical disease attributable to other sources of infection such as influenza, or other respiratory viruses, is a plausible explanation. Second, we should be less alarmed by not being able to trace chain of transmission for many who test positive early in this pandemic when population prevalence is low.


Author(s):  
Irina Mordous

The development of modern civilization attests to its decisive role in the progressive development of institutions. They identified the difference between Western civilization and the rest of the world. Confirmation of the institutional advantages of the West was its early industrialization. The genesis and formation of institutionalism in its ideological and conceptualmethodological orientation occurs as a process alternative to neoclassic in the context of world heterodoxia, which quickly spread in social science. Highlighting institutional education as a separate area of sociocultural activity is determined by the factor of differentiation of institutional theory as a whole. A feature of institutional education is its orientation toward the individual and his/her transformation into a personality. The content of institutional education is revealed through the analysis of the institution, which includes a set of established customs, traditions, ways of thinking, behavioral stereotypes of individuals and social groups. The dynamics of socio-political, economic transformations in Ukraine requires a review of the foundations of national education and determination of the prospects for its development in the 21st century in the context of institutionalism.


2019 ◽  
pp. 74-98
Author(s):  
A.B. Lyubinin

Review of the monograph indicated in the subtitle V.T. Ryazanov. The reviewer is critical of the position of the author of the book, believing that it is possible and even necessary (to increase the effectiveness of General economic theory and bring it closer to practice) substantial (and not just formal-conventional) synthesis of the Marxist system of political economy with its non-Marxist systems. The article emphasizes the difference between the subject and the method of the classical, including Marxist, school of political economy with its characteristic objective perception of the subject from the neoclassical school with its reduction of objective reality to subjective assessments; this excludes their meaningful synthesis as part of a single «modern political economy». V.T. Ryazanov’s interpretation of commodity production in the economic system of «Capital» of K. Marx as a purely mental abstraction, in fact — a fiction, myth is also counter-argued. On the issue of identification of the discipline «national economy», the reviewer, unlike the author of the book, takes the position that it is a concrete economic science that does not have a political economic status.


Author(s):  
Mark I. Vail

This chapter analyzes the development of French, German, and Italian liberalism from the nineteenth century to the 1980s, giving particular attention to each tradition’s conceptions of the role of the state and its relationship to groups and individual citizens. Using a broad range of historical source material and the works of influential political philosophers, it outlines the analytical frameworks central to French “statist liberalism,” German “corporate liberalism,” and Italian “clientelist liberalism.” It shows how these evolving traditions shaped the structure of each country’s postwar political-economic model and the policy priorities developed during the postwar boom through the early 1970s and provides conceptual touchstones for the direction and character of these traditions’ evolution in the face of the neoliberal challenge since the 1990s. The chapter demonstrates that each tradition accepted elements of a more liberal economic order while rejecting neoliberalism’s messianic market-making agenda and its abstract and disembedded political-economic vision.


Author(s):  
David L Freytag ◽  
Michael G Alfertshofer ◽  
Konstantin Frank ◽  
Dmitry V Melnikov ◽  
Nicholas Moellhoff ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Our understanding of the functional anatomy of the face is constantly improving. To date, it is unclear whether the anatomic location of the line of ligaments has any functional importance during normal facial movements such as smiling. Objectives It is the objective of the present study to identify differences in facial movements between the medial and lateral midface by means of skin vector displacement analyses derived from 3D imaging and to further ascertain whether the line of ligaments has both a structural and functional significance in these movements. Methods The study sample consisted of 21 healthy volunteers (9 females & 12 males) of Caucasian ethnic background with a mean age of 30.6 (8.3) years and a mean BMI of 22.57 (2.5) kg/m 2. 3D images of the volunteers’ faces in repose and during smiling (Duchenne type) were taken. 3D imaging-based skin vector displacement analyses were conducted. Results The mean horizontal skin displacement was 0.08 (2.0) mm in the medial midface (lateral movement) and was -0.08 (1.96) mm in the lateral midface (medial movement) (p = 0.711). The mean vertical skin displacement (cranial movement of skin toward the forehead/temple) was 6.68 (2.4) mm in the medial midface whereas it was 5.20 (2.07) mm in the lateral midface (p = 0.003). Conclusions The results of this study provide objective evidence for an antagonistic skin movement between the medial and the lateral midface. The functional boundary identified by 3D imaging corresponds to the anatomic location of the line of ligaments.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 2519
Author(s):  
Pierpaolo Di Micco ◽  
Giuseppe Camporese ◽  
Vincenzo Russo ◽  
Giuseppe Cardillo ◽  
Egidio Imbalzano ◽  
...  

COVID-19 is an infection due to SARS-CoV-2; this virus has been identified as the cause of the present pandemic. Several typical characteristics are present in this infection, in particular pneumonia with possible lung failure, but atypical clinical presentations are being described daily by physicians around the world. Ground-glass opacities with pneumonia are the most common and dangerous presentations of the COVID-19 disease, and they are usually associated with positive nasopharyngeal swab (NPS) tests with detectable SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA. Compared to the general population, hospital workers have been at a greater risk of infection ever since the first patients were hospitalized. However, hospital workers have also been reported as having COVID-like symptoms despite repeated negative swab tests but having tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies with serological tests. We can postulate that a COVID-like syndrome is possible, in particular in hospital workers, that is characterized by symptoms similar to those of COVID-19, but with repeated negative nasopharyngeal swabs. These repeated negative NSPs make the difference in daily clinical management with people that experienced a single false negative nasopharyngeal swab; furthermore, a clear clinical differentiation of these situations is still lacking in the literature. For this reason, here, we report our main findings from a cohort of patients with a COVID-like syndrome compared to a similar group affected by typical COVID-19.


Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 353
Author(s):  
Ya-Wen Chiueh ◽  
Chih-Hung Tan ◽  
Hsiang-Yi Hsu

In the face of climate change, extreme climates are becoming more frequent. There were severe droughts in Taiwan in 2020, 2014–2015, and 2002. In these years, the paddy fields were kept fallow to save water and transfer agricultural water to non-agricultural use. On the other hand, with global warming, the existence of paddy fields may be one of the natural solutions to regional temperature mitigation. This study used remote sensing to quantify the difference in temperature between paddy fields and urban areas. The result of overall surface temperature deductive analysis revealed that the temperature in the whole Taoyuan research area was 1.2 °C higher in 2002 than in 2003 because of fallowing of the paddy field, while in the Hsinchu research area, it was 1.5 °C higher in 2002 than in 2003, due to the same reason described above. In terms of the difference in land use, for the Hsinchu research area, the surface temperature deductive result showed that the average paddy field temperature in 2002 was 22.3 °C (sample area average), which was 7.7 °C lower than that of the building and road point and 4.3 °C lower than that of the bare land point. The average paddy field temperature in 2003 was 19.2 °C (sample area average), which was 10.1 °C lower than that of the building and road point and 8.3 °C lower than that of the bare land point. Then this study evaluated the economic valuation of the paddy field cooling effect using the contingent valuation method. Through the paddy field cooling effect and in the face of worsening extreme global climate, the willingness to pay (WTP) of the respondents in Taiwan for a decrease of 1 °C with regard to the regional microclimate was evaluated. It was found that people in Taiwan are willing to pay an extra 8.89 USD/per kg rice/year for the paddy for a decrease in temperature by 1 °C in the regional microclimate due to the paddy field. Furthermore, this study applied the benefits transfer method to evaluate the value of a decrease of 1 °C in the regional microclimate in Taiwan. The value of a decrease of 1 °C in the regional microclimate in Taiwan is 9,693,144,279 USD/year. In this regard, the economic value of 1 °C must not be underestimated. In conclusion, more caution is needed while making decisions to change the land use of paddy fields to other land uses.


2001 ◽  
Vol 95 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Han-Jung Chen ◽  
Cheng-Loong Liang ◽  
Kang Lu

Object. Transthoracic endoscopic T2–3 sympathectomy is currently the treatment of choice for palmar hyperhidrosis. Compensatory sweating of the face, trunk, thigh, and sole of the foot was found in more than 50% of patients who underwent this procedure. The authors conducted this study to investigate the associated intraoperative changes in plantar skin temperature and postoperative plantar sweating. Methods. One hundred patients with palmar hyperhidrosis underwent bilateral transthoracic endoscopic T2–3 sympathectomy. There were 60 female and 40 male patients who ranged in age from 13 to 40 years (mean age 21.6 years). Characteristics studied included changes in palmar and plantar skin temperature measured intraoperatively, as well as pre- and postoperative changes in plantar sweating and sympathetic skin responses (SSRs). In 59 patients (59%) elevation of plantar temperature was demonstrated at the end of the surgical procedure. In this group, plantar sweating was found to be exacerbated in three patients (5%); plantar sweating was improved in 52 patients (88.1%); and no change was demonstrated in four patients (6.8%). In the other group of patients in whom no temperature change occurred, increased plantar sweating was demonstrated in three patients (7.3%); plantar sweating was improved in 20 patients (48.8%); and no change was shown in 18 patients (43.9%). The difference between temperature and sweating change was significant (p = 0.001). Compared with the presympathectomy rate, the rate of absent SSR also significantly increased after sympathectomy: from 20 to 76% after electrical stimulation and 36 to 64% after deep inspiration stimulation, respectively (p < 0.05). Conclusions. In contrast to compensatory sweating in other parts of the body after T2–3 sympathetomy, improvement in plantar sweating was shown in 72% and worsened symptoms in 6% of patients. The intraoperative plantar skin temperature change and perioperative SSR demonstrated a correlation between these changes.


Author(s):  
Alfred Moore

What might a deliberative politics of science look like? This chapter addresses this question by bringing together science studies and the theories and practices of deliberative democracy. This chapter begins by discussing the importance of considering the role of deliberation within scientific communities and institutions, particularly as it bears on the production of scientific judgments and decisions at the boundary between science and politics. The chapter then discusses the emergence of institutions for communicating scientific knowledge to policy-makers, public officials and citizens, which include not only expert tribunals but also the development of citizen panels, consensus conferences, and other forms of mini-publics. Finally, the chapter considers the role of “uninvited” ’ participation in science, emphasizing the role of social movements and critical civil society in both challenging and informing scientific knowledge production.


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