COMMONWEALTH Forum: The Politics of Science or the Science of Politics

Commonwealth ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
John Arway

The challenges of including factual information in public policy and political discussions are many. The difficulties of including scientific facts in these debates can often be frustrating for scientists, politicians and policymakers alike. At times it seems that discussions involve different languages or dialects such that it becomes a challenge to even understand one another’s position. Oftentimes difference of opinion leads to laws and regulations that are tilted to the left or the right. The collaborative balancing to insure public and natural resource interests are protected ends up being accomplished through extensive litigation in the courts. In this article, the author discusses the history of environmental balancing during the past three decades from the perspective of a field biologist who has used the strength of our policies, laws and regulations to fight for the protection of our Commonwealth’s aquatic resources. For the past 7 years, the author has taken over the reins of “the most powerful environmental agency in Pennsylvania” and charted a course using science to properly represent natural resource interests in public policy and political deliberations.

1996 ◽  
Vol 35 (4I) ◽  
pp. 399-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
John W. Mellor

The right to the flow of income from water is vigorously pursued, protected, and fought over in any arid part of the world. Pakistan is of course no exception. Reform of irrigation institutions necessarily changes the rights to water, whether it be those of farmers, government, or government functionaries. Those perceived rights may be explicit and broadly accepted, or simply takings that are not even considered legitimate. Nevertheless they will be fought over. Pakistan has a long history of proposals for irrigation reform, little or none being implemented, except as isolated pilot projects. Thus, to propose major changes in irrigation institutions must be clearly shown to have major benefits to justify the hard battles that must be fought and the goodwill of those who might win those battles for reform. Proponents of irrigation institution reform have always argued the necessity of the reforms and the large gains to be achieved. Perhaps, however, those arguments have not been convincing. This paper will briefly outline the failed attempts at irrigation reform to provide an element of reality to the discussion. It will then proceed to make the case of the urgency of reform in a somewhat different manner to the past. Finally, current major reform proposals will be presented. This paper approaches justification of irrigation reform by focusing on the agricultural growth rate. It does so because that is the critical variable influencing poverty rates and is a significant determinant of over-all economic growth rates. The paper decomposes growth rates and suggests a residual effect of deterioration of the irrigation system that is large and calls for policy and institutional reform. The data are notional, suggesting the usefulness of the approach and paves the way for more detailed empirical analysis and enquiry for the future.


CNS Spectrums ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 15 (S4) ◽  
pp. 3-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andres M. Kanner ◽  
Andrew J. Cole

A 27-year-old woman presented to the emergency room after having witnessed generalized tonic clonic seizure while asleep. Birth and development were normal. She had suffered a single febrile seizure at 13 months of age, but had no other seizure risk factors. She was otherwise well except for a history of depression for which she was taking sertraline. Depressive symptoms had been well controlled over the past 3 months, but she had been under increased stress working to finish a doctoral thesis. Neurological examination was normal. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed modest asymmetry of the hippocampi, slightly smaller on the right, but no abnormal signal and well-preserved laminar anatomy. An electroencephalogram was negative. She was discharged from the emergency room with no treatment. Three weeks later, the patient's boyfriend witnessed an episode of behavioral arrest with lip smacking and swallowing automatisms lasting 45 seconds, after which the patient was confused for 20–30 minutes. The next morning she and her boyfriend kept a previously scheduled appointment with a neurologist.


2020 ◽  
pp. 442-448
Author(s):  
Yuriy A. Labyntsev ◽  
Larisa L. Shchavinskaya

The article describes the history of Votnya, a small estate on the right bank of Dniepr river in Bykhovsky uyezd of Mahilyow Governorate, at the time it belonged to the well-known slavist Ya. F. Golovatsky and his family. After Ya. F. Golovatsky ceased to be a professor of Lviv University, he, a subject of the Austrian Empire, spent here at least two years in total surrounded by the local Belarusians, predominantly Or-thodox. Ya. F. Golovatskij would regularly come here year after year in the summer months. He invested “all his savings” into the development and improvement of his Belarusian estate and created a strong household with a beautiful park. For Ya. F. Golovatsky, Votnya gradually became a vibrant research laboratory to study both the past and the present of Belarusians. This was refl ected, for example, in his assessment of the famous “Dictionary of the Belarusian dialect” by I. I. Nosovich. For many years after the death of the owner of Votnya in 1888, his widow and daughters lived in the estate. It brought income that was also used to create a special scholarship foundation named after Yakov Golovatsky in the framework of the Shevchenko Scientifi c society in Lviv.


2021 ◽  
Vol 201 (3) ◽  
pp. 534-545
Author(s):  
Janusz Zuziak

Lviv occupies a special place in the history of Poland. With its heroic history, it has earned the exceptionally honorable name of a city that has always been faithful to the homeland. SEMPER FIDELIS – always faithful. Marshal Józef Piłsudski sealed that title while decorating the city with the Order of Virtuti Militari in 1920. The past of Lviv, the always smoldering and uncompromising Polish revolutionist spirit, the climate, and the atmosphere that prevailed in it created the right conditions for making it the center of thought and independence movement in the early 20th century. In the early twentieth century, Polish independence organizations of various political orientations were established, from the ranks of which came legions of prominent Polish politicians and military and social activists.


2007 ◽  
Vol 125 (6) ◽  
pp. 354-355
Author(s):  
Thaís Bandeira Cerqueira ◽  
Natalia Bacellar Costa Lima ◽  
Romeu Magno Baptista Neto ◽  
José Cohim Moreira Filho ◽  
Luiz Eduardo Café

CONTEXT: Fraley’s syndrome is characterized by vascular compression on the superior infundibulum with secondary dilatation of the upper pole calyx, mostly located on the right side. CASE REPORT: We present the case of a 22-year-old woman with vascular compression of the upper-pole infundibulocalyceal system (Fraley’s syndrome). The patient had a history of frequent hospitalizations for emergency care due to lumbar pain over the past twelve months. The diagnosis was obtained following renal arteriography. Since the surgical treatment by means of upper-pole nephrectomy, the patient has not had any further symptoms.


10.12737/6572 ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 20-33
Author(s):  
Наталья Гаршина ◽  
Natalya Garshina

Having a look at the tourist space as a cultural specialist, the author drew attention to the fact that the closest to the modern man is a city environment he contacts and sometimes encounters in everyday life and on holidays. And every time whether he wants it or not, it opens in a dif erent way. One way of getting to know the world has long been a walking tour. It’s not just a walk hand in hand with a pleasant man or hasty movement to the right place, but namely the tour, in which a knowledgeable person with a soulful voice will speak about the past and present of the city and its surroundings, as if it is about your life and the people close to you. Turning to the beginning of the twentieth century, the experience of scientists-excursion specialists we today can learn a lot to improve the process of building up a tour, and most importantly the transmission of knowledge about the world in which we live. Well-known names of the excursion theory founders to professionals are I. Grevs, N. Antsiferov, N. Geynike and others. They are given in the context of ref ection on the historical development of walking tours, which haven’t lost their value and attract both creators and consumers of tour services.


2003 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 122-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Nyamu ◽  
Mullasari S Ajit ◽  
Peter K Joseph ◽  
Lakshmi Venkitachalam ◽  
Nancy A Sugirtham

Coronary artery ectasia, a variant of coronary atherosclerosis, is a relatively rare entity. Review of literature did not reveal an exclusive study on isolated ectasia. We decided to analyse the clinical presentation and angiographic prevalence of this subset. A retrospective study of patients who underwent coronary angiogram in our institute over the past six years was carried out and the epidemiological, clinical and angiographic characteristics of patients with isolated ectasia were analysed. Distribution of ectasia was with a modification of the Markis classification. Among 6938 angiograms analysed, 134 (2%) had isolated ectasia. Of the 118 symptomatic patients, 34 (25%) had a history of or presented with infarction, with correlation between the territory of infarction and the ectatic vessel in 32 patients. Of 62 patients with lipid abnormality, Hypertriglyceridemia in 42 (65%) was the most common. The left anterior descending artery was the most common vessel involved. Diffuse ectasia most commonly involved the right coronary artery. One patient had spontaneous coronary dissection. There is a relatively high prevalence of isolated coronary ectasia with predominant involvement of the right coronary vessel when diffuse and the left anterior descending artery when discrete. This entity is not innocuous and warrants a detailed study on the available management options.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-51
Author(s):  
Ahmad Fudoli Zaenal Arifin

Criticism is something that must be built in the scientific world. Because, in science there is no such thing as a definite truth. Criticism here to bring it in the right direction. Especially about the story of the past contained in the Qur'an. A story that is explained in it contains truth, lessons and teachings evidently undeniable for all creatures of Allah, for the happiness of the world and the hereafter. This study uses qualitative research in the form of library research, the author uses the approach of the theory of the Qur'an and Interpretation and the theory of Diltheiy thinking and interpretive writing ideas in Indonesia. Meanwhile, the collection of data by means of documentation, namely the book Indonesia Negeri Saba'by Fahmi Basya and also taken from various related sources. Furthermore, the analysis is done by reading and examining Fahmi Basya's understanding writing, which is written in his book. In summary, Fahmi Basya confirmed 14 comparative accounts of Indonesia and Yemen based on the Qur'an and 53 scientific facts which he discovered that Indonesia was the State of Saba'. Fahmi Basya's understanding is very contrary to the commentators at least caused by two problems. Finally, Fahmi Basya wants to prove that the State of Saba 'in the Qur'an in Indonesia. Based on the study of Fahmi Basya's understanding it was found that Fahmi Basya was not an expert in the field of the Qur'an and Tafsir. So, when he understands the Qur'an and reveals the results of his research in the community it needs to be reviewed. Seeing with the scientific viewpoints of the Qur'an, Fahmi Basya's interpretation seems to match his discoveries with the Qur'anic Verses. And forcing all that can be matched look for verses of the Qur'an.


Author(s):  
D.E. Martynov ◽  
◽  
G.P. Myagkov ◽  

The paper reviews the collective monograph published by the Center for Intellectual History of the Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IWH RAS). The reviewers consider the theoretical and factual information presented in the monograph in the context of the analysis of both general and specific characteristics of historical memory. The study of historical memory is possible through the analysis of specific political and intellectual practices of the era of early and mature modernity. The use of J. Rusen’s methodology was justified. According to this methodology, historical memory can be regarded as an “unconscious ideology,” which will inevitably be mythological, because it links the memories of an individual with an integral image of the past. From the aforesaid, it may be seen that the compound term “past – for – present”, which expresses the direction of historical memory, can be introduced. The term is reflected in the title of the monograph under review. The substantive features of strategies for the development of historical memory based on ideologemes were considered by the authors using the example of Russia, Great Britain, Poland (the ideology of Sarmatism), and Bolivia (the ideology of Indianism).


Author(s):  
Claudia Leal

The history of Colombian national parks started in 1948 with the establishment of a reserve for scientific research, which stood alone until the 1960s, when various state agencies created a few parks with quite different goals in mind, including preserving imposing landscapes and conserving water. This rather casual development changed after the growing international concern for the environment led to the creation of an environmental agency in 1968 and the enactment of an environmental code in 1974, which served as institutional platform for the planned expansion of a system of national parks based largely on ecological criteria. Chronically underfunded and understaffed, the Office of National Parks has confronted its weakness by establishing parks which confer legal protection on areas whose natural attributes were deemed valuable. Such a strategy has led to confrontations with local populations living in and around parks, whose rights to resource use have been hampered. The office’s incapacity to properly enforce rules and its attempts to work with rural communities, especially indigenous groups, have to some extent mitigated such tensions. It has further sought to enlist the support of the middle classes and been forced to deal with illegal armed groups on the left and the right, as well as the national army, vying for territorial control. Although parks have not fulfilled their ideal, they have fostered the notion that the nation has a natural patrimony and have contributed decisively to its conservation.


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