scholarly journals Easing Restrictions During Vaccine Scarcity. How Mitigation Measures Help Tackling Associated Moral and Behavioral Challenges

2021 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Max Tretter ◽  
David B. Ehrlich ◽  
Ulrich von Ulmenstein
Keyword(s):  
Side Effects ◽  
The State ◽  
Equal Access ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Easy Access ◽  
Moral Problem ◽  
Policy Options ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Behavioral Challenges ◽  
Perverse Incentives

Background: When vaccines became first available during the Covid-19 pandemic, their demand significantly exceeded their supply. In consequence, the access to vaccines, initially, was distributed unequally. At the same time, governments started easing pandemic restrictions for vaccinated and recovered persons and restoring their freedoms since their risk of transmitting the virus is significantly reduced.Evidence: We show that restoring freedoms for vaccinated and recovered persons – while upholding restrictions for the rest of the population – is morally unfair during vaccine scarcity. Further, it may yield unintended side-effects, including perverse incentives, growing rifts in society, and the expansion of marginalization.Policy Options & Recommendations: We recommend accompanying easing for vaccinated and recovered individuals by mitigation measures for those who are neither vaccinated nor recovered. We propose, first, to temporarily lift the same restrictions for negative-tested individuals, as for vaccinated or recovered people. Second, the state must ensure broad and easy access to testing for everyone – free of charge.Conclusion: If done right, these mitigation measures create (at least temporarily) equal access to freedom for everybody – solving the moral problem of unfair access to freedoms and counteracting possible negative consequences.

scholarly journals Communicating evidence in icons and summary formats for policymakers: what works?

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-29
Author(s):  
Cameron Brick ◽  
Alexandra L.J. Freeman
Keyword(s):  
Decision Makers ◽  
Policy Options ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Graphical Displays ◽  
What Works ◽  
Financial Costs ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
Evidence Quality ◽  
Color Cues ◽  
Expected Outcomes

Abstract Policy decisions have vast consequences, but there is little empirical research on how best to communicate underlying evidence to decision-makers. Groups in diverse fields (e.g., education, medicine, crime) use brief, graphical displays to list policy options, expected outcomes and evidence quality in order to make such evidence easy to assess. However, the understanding of these representations is rarely studied. We surveyed experts and non-experts on what information they wanted and tested their objective comprehension of commonly used graphics. A total of 252 UK residents from Prolific and 452 UK What Works Centre users interpreted the meaning of graphics shown without labels. Comprehension was low (often below 50%). The best-performing graphics combined unambiguous metaphorical shapes with color cues and indications of quantity. The participants also reported what types of evidence they wanted and in what detail (e.g., subgroups, different outcomes). Users particularly wanted to see intervention effectiveness and quality, and policymakers also wanted to know the financial costs and negative consequences. Comprehension and preferences were remarkably consistent between the two samples. Groups communicating evidence about policy options can use these results to design summaries, toolkits and reports for expert and non-expert audiences.

scholarly journals Adolescent impulsiveness and use of alcohol and tobacco

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 371-382
Author(s):  
Mª del Carmen Pérez-Fuentes ◽  
José J. Gázquez ◽  
Mª del Mar Molero ◽  
Fernando Cardila ◽  
África Martos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factor ◽  
Drug Use ◽  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Intervention Program ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Demographic Characteristics ◽  
The State ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Frequency Of Use ◽  
The Relationship

Adolescence is characterized by premature experimentation with new experiences and sensations. These experiences sometimes include drugs, which even though legal and socially accepted, begin to have noticeable negative consequences to the adolescent’s development. In recent years, a decrease in use of tobacco by Spanish adolescents has been observed, but not in alcohol. One of the causes of initiation in drug use is impulsive personality or behavior. Thus the purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between impulsiveness and frequency of use of alcohol and tobacco in 822 students aged 13 to 18 years of age. The State Impulsivity Scale (SIS) and an ad hoc questionnaire on demographic characteristics and use of alcohol and tobacco were used for this. The results showed that students who stated they were users scored significantly higher on impulsivity. Thus detailed analysis of the profile of individuals with this risk factor could favor more adequate intervention program design.

scholarly journals Assessing Soil Loss by Water Erosion in a Typical Mediterranean Ecosystem of Northern Greece under Current and Future Rainfall Erosivity

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 2002
Author(s):  
Stefanos Stefanidis ◽  
Vasileios Alexandridis ◽  
Chrysoula Chatzichristaki ◽  
Panagiotis Stefanidis
Keyword(s):  
Open Source ◽  
Soil Loss ◽  
Renewable Resource ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Mediterranean Ecosystem ◽  
Rainfall Erosivity ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Northern Greece ◽  
Erosion Risk

Soil is a non-renewable resource essential for life existence. During the last decades it has been threatened by accelerating erosion with negative consequences for the environment and the economy. The aim of the current study was to assess soil loss changes in a typical Mediterranean ecosystem of Northern Greece, under climate change. To this end, freely available geospatial data was collected and processed using open-source software package. The widespread RUSLE empirical erosion model was applied to estimate soil loss. Current and future rainfall erosivity were derived from a national scale study considering average weather conditions and RCMs outputs for the medium Representative Concentration Pathway scenario (RCP4.5). Results showed that average rainfall erosivity (R-Factor) was 508.85 MJ mm ha h−1 y−1 while the K-factor ranged from 0.0008 to 0.05 t ha h ha−1 MJ−1 mm−1 and LS-factor reached 60.51. Respectively, C-factor ranged from 0.01 to 0.91 and P-factor ranged from 0.42 to 1. The estimated potential soil loss rates will remain stable for the near future period (2021–2050), while an increase of approximately 9% is expected by the end of the 21th century (2071–2100). The results suggest that appropriate erosion mitigation strategies should be applied to reduce erosion risk. Subsequently, appropriate mitigation measures per Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) categories are proposed. It is worth noting that the proposed methodology has a high degree of transferability as it is based on open-source data.

Electronic Access to Factual Materials Information: The State of the Art

MRS Bulletin ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 20 (8) ◽  
pp. 40-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.H. Westbrook ◽  
J.G. Kaufman ◽  
F. Cverna
Keyword(s):  
State Of The Art ◽  
The State ◽  
Easy Access ◽  
End User ◽  
Cd Rom ◽  
Component Design ◽  
Property Data ◽  
On Line ◽  
Electronic Access ◽  
Access To Data

Over the past 30 years we have seen a strong but uncoordinated effort to both increase the availability of numeric materials-property data in electronic media and to make the resultant mass of data more readily accessible and searchable for the end-user engineer. The end user is best able to formulate the question and to judge the utility of the answer for numeric property data inquiries, in contrast to textual or bibliographic data for which information specialists can expeditiously carry out searches.Despite the best efforts of several major programs, there remains a shortfall with respect to comprehensiveness and a gap between the goal of easy access to all the world's numeric databases and what can presently be achieved. The task has proven thornier and therefore much more costly than anyone envisioned, and computer access to data for materials scientists and engineers is still inadequate compared, for example, to the situation for molecular biologists or astronomers. However, progress has been made. More than 100 materials databases are listed and categorized by Wawrousek et al. that address several types of applications including: fundamental research, materials selection, component design, process control, materials identification and equivalency, expert systems, and education. Standardization is improving and access has been made more easy.In the discussion that follows, we will examine several characteristics of available information and delivery systems to assess their impact on the successes and limitations of the available products. The discussion will include the types and uses of the data, issues around data reliability and quality, the various formats in which data need to be accessed, and the various media available for delivery. Then we will focus on the state of the art by giving examples of the three major media through which broad electronic access to numeric properties has emerged: on-line systems, workstations, and disks, both floppy and CD-ROM. We will also cite some resources of where to look for numeric property data.

Analysis of the state of the migration process of the ukrainian population in the context of domestic and international levels

2021 ◽  
Vol 72 (5) ◽  
pp. 110-118
Author(s):  
M. Shkurat ◽  
K. Pavlotska
Keyword(s):  
Social Protection ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Migration Policy ◽  
Cash Flows ◽  
The State ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Migration Process ◽  
State Of The Economy ◽  
Migration Flows ◽  
High Level

Analysis of the migration process of the Ukrainian population, which takes place within the state and at the international level during 2014–2019 is carried out in this paper. On the basis of scientific works of domestic scientists and institutes the problems which have not been investigated, and also aspects which have been solved partially are defined. The negative consequences of the Ukrainian migration process on the state of the country are identified. The classification of migration flows of the Ukrainian population according to the reasons of movement is carried out. The main regions and countries which, as of the beginning of 2021, are more attractive to compatriots and are characterized by significant influxes of Ukrainians are identified. The main centers of departure – regions and countries – which are characterized by high level of outflow of Ukrainians are determined, the main problems and reasons that motivate the outflow of Ukrainians are highlighted in this paper. The level of growth of the Ukrainian population in terms of migration flows is defined. The investigation of Ukrainian diasporas, territorial location and analysis of their share in comparison is carried out. The main factors that force the Ukrainian population to move, which affects the demographic situation in Ukraine, the level of employment, as well as the amount of cash flows to the country and the state of the economy as a whole are identified. The main regulations and identified solutions to the migration flows of the domestic population, which were approved and implemented in the period from 2001 to 2019 are compared in this paper. On the basis of current and newly introduced strategies, critical analysis of the ways of regulating the migration process of the Ukrainian population is carried out, the main aspects and problems of the implemented migration policy of Ukraine are determined. The results of the work are to identify the main ways to reduce the negative impact of the migration process on the country's economy and related processes, and strategies to benefit from the movement of citizens of Ukraine, namely: introduction of intellectual security, revision of wages by region, stimulating the process of attracting technology in all spheres of activity and formation of the social protection system.

Misusing historical analogies limits US policy options

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Middle East ◽  
The United States ◽  
Policy Options ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Content Type ◽  
White House ◽  
Decision To Leave ◽  
Us Military ◽  
The Future

Significance The Vietnam analogy implies that President Joe Biden’s decision to leave Afghanistan will have deeply negative consequences for the United States. However, Afghanistan is not Vietnam and the Biden withdrawal needs to be considered within the wider context of his administration’s review of US commitments abroad. Impacts The White House will be pressured to clarify the future of other US military commitments, particularly in Iraq. Biden will seek to reassure allies, particularly those in NATO, that his commitment to multilateralism will not diminish. Biden may seek an opportunity for a military show of force, possibly in the Middle East, to refute accusations of weakness.

Towards Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 138-158
Author(s):  
Umer Khayyam ◽  
Rida Bano ◽  
Shahzad Alvi
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Adaptation Measures ◽  
Natural Systems ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation ◽  
Level Of Motivation ◽  
The University

Abstract Global climate change is one of the main threats facing humanity and the impacts on natural systems as well as humans are expected to be severe. People can take action against these threats through two approaches: mitigation and adaptation. However, mitigations and adaptations are contingent on the level of motivation and awareness, as well as socio-economic and environmental conditions. This study examined personal perception and motivation to mitigate and adapt to climate change among the university students in the capital city of Pakistan. We divided the respondents into social sciences, applied sciences and natural sciences, using logistic regression analysis. The results indicated that students who perceive severity, benefits from preparation, and have more information about climate change were 1.57, 4.98 and 1.63 times more likely to take mitigation and 1.47, 1.14 and 1.17 times more likely to take adaptation measures, respectively. Students who perceived self-efficacy, obstacles to protect from the negative consequences of climate change and who belonged to affluent families were more likely to take mitigation measures and less likely to take adaptation strategies. However, mitigation and adaptation were unaffected by age, gender and study discipline.

The International Criminal Court’s Authority Crisis and Kant’s Political Ethics

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-215
Author(s):  
Antonio Franceschet
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
The State ◽  
Moral Problem ◽  
Legal Authority ◽  
Political Ethics ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
Legal Actor

The International Criminal Court (icc) faces a profound authority crisis. This article explores the underlying conditions and ethical implications of this crisis in light of Immanuel Kant’s (1724–1804) political theory. The icc’s authority crisis is twofold: First, having been constructed as a purely legal actor, the Court’s inevitable role in politics has undermined perceptions of its legitimacy. Second, having been constructed as a supranational substitute for domestic legal authority, the icc has been subverted by other, political branches of the state, such as the executive. These problems have been particularly salient in Africa where states have vociferously challenged the Court’s investigations and prosecutions. Kantian political ethics show that the icc’s authority crisis is an intractable moral problem that must be addressed collectively and coercively by sovereign states acting upon a larger, cosmopolitan duty to enforce universal rights.

scholarly journals Corruption, illegitimacy and external influence: political factors of state instability

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (8) ◽  
pp. 49-58
Author(s):  
Eduard Gugnin
Keyword(s):  
Physical Violence ◽  
Analytical Description ◽  
The State ◽  
External Influence ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
Spatial Cohesion ◽  
Ruling Elites ◽  
External Actors

The article constructs a descriptive and analytical description of the connection between corruption, delegitimization and loss of state sovereignty over society as background factors for increasing external influence and the destruction of political and spatial cohesion. As a result of the study, a conclusion was formulated, according to which the complete or partial loss of legitimacy coincides with the spread of corruption, which entails the devaluation of value and regulatory systems of social behavior. It is emphasized that corrupt practices contribute to the destruction of morals, law, ideology, have a devastating effect on government structures, procedures for its institutionalization, prevent the nomination of elites and leaders to command positions in the state apparatus, negatively affect the power and centralizing capabilities of the state. legitimate physical violence. It is noted that the loss of legitimacy is preceded by the loss of dialogue between government and society, the habitualization of corruption and its transformation into an endemic component of social life.It was stated that corruption increases the level of public permeability for external actors who take advantage of the situation of blurring the boundaries of political space and encourage citizens to spontaneous protests, which should shake the procedural principles of law and order, to achieve open conflicts between government and self-organized communities. what are the conditions for dialogue. External actors can seek to actively discredit the ruling elites by simultaneously unscrewing instability and escalating waves of destructive criticism aimed at disavowing all kinds of legitimacy: ideological, ethnic, structural, personalistic (charismatic), and others.It is noted that the final destruction of the state is the loss of a monopoly on public violence within the procedures established by law. Actors of external influence can resort to various acts of violence in order to encourage the ruling elites to increase security with the use of special Praetorian groups (paramilitary formations).It is summarized that the emergence of paramilitary formations is an indicator of the fragility of the state and its inability to control its own power structures, as evidenced by the violation of paramilitary formations of the usual official hierarchies and privatization of legitimate violence by alternative centers of power. Finally, it is emphasized that the destructive accompaniment of the latter is the growth of shadow arms markets, criminalization of the behavior of ordinary citizens who cease to see the state as an authorized defender of sovereignty and security and cease to trust legitimate law enforcement agencies, and these processes precede their colonial expansion. frozen conflicts with accompanying negative consequences for the state.

scholarly journals Anti-corruption Strategy Developed in Companies Facing the Threat of Corruption

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 211-215
Author(s):  
L. Kubai ◽  
G. Khamidullina ◽  
T. Nakonechnaya
Keyword(s):  
National Security ◽  
Social Inequality ◽  
The State ◽  
Scientific Journals ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Analytical Review

Corruption has become one of the main threats to the national security of Russia, a leading factor in the stagnation of the economy, the preservation and development of pronounced social inequality, contrary to the efforts of the state. The article provides an analytical review of anti-corruption strategies developed in companies facing the threat of corruption based on periodicals (scientific journals) for 2015–2018. The article discusses the main types of anti-corruption strategies implemented by modern companies, identifies both positive and negative consequences of their implementation.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document