scholarly journals On the effectiveness of communication strategies as non-pharmaceutical interventions to tackle epidemics

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (10) ◽  
pp. e0257995
Author(s):  
Alejandro Bernardin ◽  
Alejandro J. Martínez ◽  
Tomas Perez-Acle
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Communication Strategies ◽  
Public Affairs ◽  
The Other ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Spreading Dynamics ◽  
The One ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Adequate Management ◽  
Pharmaceutical Interventions

When pharmaceutical interventions are unavailable to deal with an epidemic outbreak, adequate management of communication strategies can be key to reduce the contagion risks. On the one hand, accessibility to trustworthy and timely information, whilst on the other, the adoption of preventive behaviors may be both crucial. However, despite the abundance of communication strategies, their effectiveness has been scarcely evaluated or merely circumscribed to the scrutiny of public affairs. To study the influence of communication strategies on the spreading dynamics of an infectious disease, we implemented a susceptible-exposed-infected-removed-dead (SEIRD) epidemiological model, using an agent-based approach. Agents in our systems can obtain information modulating their behavior from two sources: (i) through the local interaction with other neighboring agents and, (ii) from a central entity delivering information with a certain periodicity. In doing so, we highlight how global information delivered from a central entity can reduce the impact of an infectious disease and how informing even a small fraction of the population has a remarkable impact, when compared to not informing the population at all. Moreover, having a scheme of delivering daily messages makes a stark difference on the reduction of cases, compared to the other evaluated strategies, denoting that daily delivery of information produces the largest decrease in the number of cases. Furthermore, when the information spreading relies only on local interactions between agents, and no central entity takes actions along the dynamics, then the epidemic spreading is virtually independent of the initial amount of informed agents. On top of that, we found that local communication plays an important role in an intermediate regime where information coming from a central entity is scarce. As a whole, our results highlight the importance of proper communication strategies, both accurate and daily, to tackle epidemic outbreaks.

Laughter on the Fringes

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Peterson
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Literary Canon ◽  
Autobiographical Writing ◽  
Treasure Trove ◽  
Old Comedy ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Aggressive Humor ◽  
The One ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact

This book examines the impact that Athenian Old Comedy had on Greek writers of the Imperial era. It is generally acknowledged that Imperial-era Greeks responded to Athenian Old Comedy in one of two ways: either as a treasure trove of Atticisms, or as a genre defined by and repudiated for its aggressive humor. Worthy of further consideration, however, is how both approaches, and particularly the latter one that relegated Old Comedy to the fringes of the literary canon, led authors to engage with the ironic and self-reflexive humor of Aristophanes, Eupolis, and Cratinus. Authors ranging from serious moralizers (Plutarch and Aelius Aristides) to comic writers in their own right (Lucian, Alciphron), to other figures not often associated with Old Comedy (Libanius) adopted aspects of the genre to negotiate power struggles, facilitate literary and sophistic rivalries, and provide a model for autobiographical writing. To varying degrees, these writers wove recognizable features of the genre (e.g., the parabasis, its agonistic language, the stage biographies of the individual poets) into their writings. The image of Old Comedy that emerges from this time is that of a genre in transition. It was, on the one hand, with the exception of Aristophanes’s extant plays, on the verge of being almost completely lost; on the other hand, its reputation and several of its most characteristic elements were being renegotiated and reinvented.

The ‘Zen’ in the western monochrome

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 55-78
Author(s):  
Simon Morley
Keyword(s):  
Zen Buddhism ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
The Other ◽  
Binary Opposition ◽  
Middle Way ◽  
The 1950S ◽  
The One ◽  
Contemporary Painting ◽  
The Impact

I look at the impact of Zen Buddhism on western painters during the 1950s and 1960s, focusing on the monochrome in particular, in order to create a historical context for the consideration of transcultural dialogue in relation to contemporary painting. I argue that a consideration of Zen can offer a ‘middle way’ between conceptions of the monochrome (and art in general) often hobbled by models of interpretation that function within a binary opposition between ‘literalist/sensory’ on the one hand, and ‘intellectual/non-sensory’ readings on the other.

scholarly journals Setting Boundaries to Solidarity: Explaining Danish and Swedish asylum policy divergences, 1989-2001

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kjell Winkens
Keyword(s):  
Political Culture ◽  
The Other ◽  
Cultural Integration ◽  
Integration Policy ◽  
Asylum Policy ◽  
Economic Changes ◽  
Political Perceptions ◽  
The One ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Welfare State

This thesis seeks to answer the question 'when, how, and why the Danish asylum system become more restrictive than the Swedish one between 1989 and 2001'. In the analysis of these reasons, a particular emphasis is placed on the different political perceptions of both countries’ welfare philosophies on the one hand, and their political culture on the other. The influence of anti-immigration parties on mainstream political culture is an important part of this analysis. Through a distinction between border and integration policy, it becomes clear that the Danish asylum policy becomes more restrictive in the second half of the 1990s, because of its focus on cultural integration as a duty to the welfare state. The thesis concludes with a discussion regarding the impact of (neoliberal) economic changes on solidarity within political culture.

scholarly journals The Figure of Distrust: Prince A.S. Menshikov in the Maritime Department during the Period of Reforms, 1826–1828

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 702-733
Author(s):  
Kseniya V. Donik
Keyword(s):  
Methodological Approach ◽  
The Other ◽  
General Situation ◽  
Functional Characteristics ◽  
Problem Context ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
The One ◽  
First Time ◽  
Official Records

The article considers the role of Prince A. Menshikov as a specific type of agent of supreme authority in the process of reforming the maritime administration. The problem context of reforms resulted from the involvement of the naval generals and officials in abuses, which was a consequence of nepotism and unrest in the navy. The involvement of sailors in the Decembrist revolt significantly affected the attitude of the tsar to the general situation in the naval environment. Distrustful of the existing naval administration, Nicholas I needed an intermediary who would implement his idea of the arrangement of the navy on the one hand, and provide him with an objective “impartial” account of maritime problems, on the other hand. As a result of that, Adjutant General Prince A. Menshikov, who had had nothing to do with the naval service earlier, joined the navy to become the monarch’s agent in charge of the naval issues in the bodies of autocratic authority. The objective of the article is to identify the functions of such an agent based on the example of the Maritime Department. The sources of the article include official records and personal documents, some of which are introduced into scientific circulation for the first time. The principal methodological approach to the problem under study is an attempt to bring the appointment of Menshikov beyond the scope of narrow departmental history which was based on the unmotivated decision of the emperor and to propose an interpretation of the events in the context of tsarist government via agents, which has already been described in historiography. The author makes a conclusion about the interconnection between the crisis in the naval department, the attitude of the supreme authority towards it, and the appearance of the monarch’s agent with a number of his own functional characteristics.

The Impact of Harmful Habits on Academic Performance and Sports Activities among Young People

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 267-273
Author(s):  
Victoria Yermilova ◽  
◽  
Natalia Stroiteleva ◽  
Zhanna Egorova ◽  
Ekaterina Vanina
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Academic Performance ◽  
Alcohol Consumption ◽  
Young People ◽  
The Other ◽  
Control Group ◽  
The Third ◽  
The One ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Sports Activities

Smoking and alcohol consumption is a growing trend among young people worldwide. The purpose of this study was to provide students with a comparative analysis of adherence to harmful habits (smoking and alcohol) on the one hand and the frequency of sports and academic performance on the other, taking into account gender differences. The research was conducted in 2019-2020 in 5 cities of Russia; the sample included 1500 people aged 18.4 ± 1.1 years, divided into three equal groups. The control (first) group had students who are not engaged in sports, and the second group comprised students practicing sports but not professionally. The third group was made up of student-athletes. All participants were surveyed to determine the frequency of adherence to harmful habits. In the control group, boys smoked 50% more often than girls (p ≤ 0.05), while in the third group, smoking among boys was registered 70 times less often (p ≤ 0.001). Alcohol consumption in controls was 0.5 times more likely among boys (p ≤ 0.05). Harmful habits affect young people's free time and reduce their academic performance and ability to practice sports.

University Social Responsibility

2021 ◽  
pp. 230-241
Author(s):  
Doina Stratu-Strelet ◽  
Anna Karina López-Hernández ◽  
Vicente Guerola-Navarro ◽  
Hermenegildo Gil-Gómez ◽  
Raul Oltra-Badenes
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Private Sector ◽  
The Other ◽  
Public Private Partnerships ◽  
Market Strategy ◽  
Private Partnership ◽  
The One ◽  
Dissemination Of Results ◽  
The Impact

This chapter highlights the role of technology-based universities in public-private partnerships (PPP) to strengthen and deploy the digital single market strategy. Moreover, it analyzes how these collaboration channels have link knowledge management as a tool for sustainable collaboration. Given the need to establish collaboration channels with the private sector, according to Lee, it is critical to establish the impact of sharing sophisticated knowledge and partnering at the same time. This chapter wants to highlights two relevant aspects of PPP: on the one hand, the importance of integrating the participation of a technology-based university with three objectives: (1) the coordination, (2) the funding management, and (3) the dissemination of results; and the other hand, the participation private sector that is represented by agile agents capable to execute high-value actions for society. With the recognition of these values, the investment and interest of the projects under way are justified by public-private partnership.

Collaborative Technologies and Innovation in SMEs

2010 ◽  
pp. 204-217
Author(s):  
Angel L. Meroño-Cerdan ◽  
Pedro Soto-Acosta ◽  
Carolina Lopez-Nicolas
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Research Model ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Collaborative Technologies ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Multi Stage ◽  
Stage Process ◽  
The One ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

This study seeks to assess the impact of collaborative technologies on innovation at the firm level. Collaborative technologies’ influence on innovation is considered here as a multi-stage process that starts at adoption and extends to use. Thus, the effect of collaborative technologies on innovation is examined not only directly, the simple presence of collaborative technologies, but also based on actual collaborative technologies’ use. Given the fact that firms can use this technology for different purposes, collaborative technologies’ use is measured according to three orientations: e-information, e-communication and e-workflow. To achieve these objectives, a research model is developed for assessing, on the one hand, the impact of the adoption and use of collaborative technologies on innovation and, on the other hand, the relationship between adoption and use of collaborative technologies. The research model is tested using a dataset of 310 Spanish SMEs. The results showed that collaborative technologies’ adoption is positively related to innovation. Also, as hypothesized, distinct collaborative technologies were found to be associated to different uses. In addition, the study found that while e-information had a positive and significant impact on innovation, e-communication and e-workflow did not.

Digital Media and Memory Balkanization

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francis L.F. Lee ◽  
Joseph M. Chan
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Hong Kong ◽  
Collective Memory ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
The Other ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
The One ◽  
The Impact

Chapter 8 discusses the impact of digital media on collective memory. The chapter examines both the positive and negative impact of digital and social media. On the one hand, the analysis notes how digital media provided the channels for memory mobilization and the archives for memory transmission. On the other hand, the analysis examines the problematics of memory balkanization. It explicates how political forces have shaped the development of digital and social media in Hong Kong and how competing representations of the Tiananmen Incident and commemoration activities are articulated and reinforced within distinctive memory silos.

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