scholarly journals Are women mayors more effective in reducing the crime rate? Sharp regression discontinuity evidence from Peru

Illustro ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 82-94
Author(s):  
Ronal Wilfredo Arela Bobadilla ◽  
Gustavo Alfredo Riesco Lind
Keyword(s):  
Crime Rate ◽  
Public Management ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Regression Discontinuity ◽  
Female Leadership ◽  
Second Year ◽  
Women Mayors ◽  
Government Data ◽  
Delinquency Rate

Did women mayors improve local security in their districts as compared to their male counterparts? Our analysis is focused on the impacts that women mayors had on the delinquency rate in Peru between 2015 and 2017. We apply sharp regression discontinuity (SRD) on official government data to estimate impacts. Despite the relatively small number of districts with female mayors, SRD passed all required assumptions and falsification tests. Our results indicate that female leadership in municipalities can reduce delinquency rate in 9 cases per 1,000 inhabitants in Peruvian districts, starting from the second year of the 4-year mandatory period. These findings complement those in recent literature that emphasize the role of women in public management.

The Non-Causal Character of Renormalization Group Explanations

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret Morrison
Keyword(s):  
Probability Theory ◽  
Renormalization Group ◽  
Dynamical Systems ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Mathematical Explanation ◽  
Causal Status ◽  
Physical Information ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Structural Aspects

After reviewing some of the recent literature on non-causal and mathematical explanation, this chapter develops an argument as to why renormalization group (RG) methods should be seen as providing non-causal, yet physical, information about certain kinds of systems/phenomena. The argument centres on the structural character of RG explanations and the relationship between RG and probability theory. These features are crucial for the claim that the non-causal status of RG explanations involves something different from simply ignoring or “averaging over” microphysical details—the kind of explanations common to statistical mechanics. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the role of RG in treating dynamical systems and how that role exemplifies the structural aspects of RG explanations which in turn exemplifies the non-causal features.

scholarly journals An International Review to Characterize the Role, Responsibilities, and Optimal Setting for Health Literacy Mediators

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 2333794X2110254
Author(s):  
Madeline Spencer ◽  
Nenagh Kemp ◽  
Vaughan Cruickshank ◽  
Claire Otten ◽  
Rosie Nash
Keyword(s):  
Health Literacy ◽  
Literacy Development ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Important Determinant ◽  
Literacy Education ◽  
International Review ◽  
Optimal Setting ◽  
Role Responsibilities ◽  
The Life Course

Health literacy is a critically important determinant of health and is influenced by access to supportive social networks and services. Global investment in education throughout the life course is required to support health literacy development. The aim of this review is to characterize the role, responsibilities, and the optimal setting for the emergent role of a Health Literacy Mediator (HLM). A scoping review of recent literature was conducted. The review revealed a lack of consensus on who should be teaching health literacy, and variability in confidence when teaching health literacy. Professionals reported facing barriers such as a lack of time, a lack of knowledge, and recognized that the health literacy needs of children worldwide are not being met. Further research into the role of HLM is required to determine who is best suited to this role and what their responsibilities will be to ensure consistent health literacy education.

scholarly journals Who’s Afraid of Adversariality? Conflict and Cooperation in Argumentation

Topoi ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catarina Dutilh Novaes
Keyword(s):  
Conflict Management ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Intrinsic Property ◽  
Prima Facie ◽  
Consensus Building ◽  
Conflict And Cooperation ◽  
Contextual Features

AbstractSince at least the 1980s, the role of adversariality in argumentation has been extensively discussed within different domains. Prima facie, there seem to be two extreme positions on this issue: argumentation should (ideally at least) never be adversarial, as we should always aim for cooperative argumentative engagement; argumentation should be and in fact is always adversarial, given that adversariality (when suitably conceptualized) is an intrinsic property of argumentation. I here defend the view that specific instances of argumentation are (and should be) adversarial or cooperative to different degrees. What determines whether an argumentative situation should be primarily adversarial or primarily cooperative are contextual features and background conditions external to the argumentative situation itself, in particular the extent to which the parties involved have prior conflicting or else convergent interests. To further develop this claim, I consider three teloi that are frequently associated with argumentation: the epistemic telos, the consensus-building telos, and the conflict management telos. I start with a brief discussion of the concepts of adversariality, cooperation, and conflict in general. I then sketch the main lines of the debates in the recent literature on adversariality in argumentation. Next, I discuss the three teloi of argumentation listed above in turn, emphasizing the roles of adversariality and cooperation for each of them.

Open-mindedness as a Corrective Virtue

Philosophy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 96 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-97
Author(s):  
Hassan Alsharif ◽  
John Symons
Keyword(s):  
Recent Literature ◽  
Confirmation Bias ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Shed Light

AbstractThis paper argues that open-mindedness is a corrective virtue. It serves as a corrective to the epistemic vice of confirmation bias. Specifically, open-mindedness is the epistemically virtuous disposition to resist the negative effects of confirmation bias on our ability to reason well and to evaluate evidence and arguments. As part of the defense and presentation of our account, we explore four discussions of open-mindedness in the recent literature. All four approaches have strengths and shed light on aspects of the virtue of open-mindedness. Each mentions various symptoms of confirmation bias and some explore aspects of the corrective role of open-mindedness. However, ours is the first to explicitly identify open-mindedness as a corrective virtue to the specific epistemic vice of confirmation bias. We show how the corrective account also permits a response to the concern that open-mindedness might not actually count as a virtue.

scholarly journals Sperm Cryopreservation in American Flamingo (Phoenicopterus Ruber): Influence of Cryoprotectants and Seminal Plasma Removal

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 203
Author(s):  
María Gemma Millán de la Blanca ◽  
Eva Martínez-Nevado ◽  
Cristina Castaño ◽  
Juncal García ◽  
Berenice Bernal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Seminal Plasma ◽  
Genetic Material ◽  
First Year ◽  
Sperm Cryopreservation ◽  
Straight Line ◽  
The Family ◽  
Second Year ◽  
American Flamingo ◽  
Phoenicopterus Ruber

The American flamingo is a useful model for the development of successful semen cryopreservation procedures to be applied to threatened related species from the family Phoenicopteridae, and to permit genetic material banking. Current study sought to develop effective sperm cryopreservation protocols through examining the influences of two permeating cryoprotectants and the seminal plasma removal. During two consecutive years (April), semen samples were collected and frozen from American flamingos. In the first year, the effect of two permeating cryoprotectants, DMA (dimethylacetamide) (6%) or Me2SO (dimethylsulphoxide) (8%), on frozen–thawed sperm variables were compared in 21 males. No differences were seen between DMA and Me2SO for sperm motility, sperm viability, and DNA fragmentation after thawing. In the second year, the role of seminal plasma on sperm cryoresistance was investigated in 31 flamingos. Sperm samples were cryopreserved with and without seminal plasma, using Me2SO (8%) as a cryoprotectant. The results showed that samples with seminal plasma had higher values than samples without seminal plasma for the following sperm variables: Straight line velocity (22.40 µm/s vs. 16.64 µm/s), wobble (75.83% vs. 69.40%), (p < 0.05), linearity (62.73% vs. 52.01%) and straightness (82.38% vs. 73.79%) (p < 0.01); but acrosome integrity was lower (55.56% vs. 66.88%) (p < 0.05). The cryoresistance ratio (CR) was greater in samples frozen with seminal plasma than without seminal plasma for CR-progressive motility (138.72 vs. 54.59), CR-curvilinear velocity (105.98 vs. 89.32), CR-straight line velocity (152.77 vs. 112.58), CR-average path velocity (122.48 vs. 98.12), CR-wobble (111.75 vs. 102.04) (p < 0.05), CR-linearity (139.41 vs. 113.18), and CR-straightness (124.02 vs. 109.97) (p < 0.01). This research demonstrated that there were not differences between Me2SO and DMA to successful freezing sperm of flamingos; seminal plasma removal did not provide a benefit for sperm cryopreservation.

scholarly journals The microbial world in a changing environment

2021 ◽  
Vol 94 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafael Vicuña ◽  
Bernardo González
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Complete Evaluation ◽  
Microbial World ◽  
Sustainable Environment ◽  
Entire Planet ◽  
New Strategies

Abstract Background In this article we would like to touch on the key role played by the microbiota in the maintenance of a sustainable environment in the entire planet. For obvious reasons, this article does not intend to review thoroughly this extremely complex topic, but rather to focus on the main threats that this natural scenario is presently facing. Methods Recent literature survey. Results Despite the relevance of microorganisms have in our planet, the effects of climate change on microbial communities have been scarcely and not systematically addressed in literature. Although the role of microorganisms in emissions of greenhouse gases has received some attention, there are several microbial processes that are affected by climate change with consequences that are presently under assessment. Among them, host-pathogen interactions, the microbiome of built environment, or relations among plants and beneficial microbes. Conclusions Further research is required to advance in knowledge of the effect of climate change on microbial communities. One of the main targets should be a complete evaluation of the global microbial functional diversity and the design of new strategies to cope with limitations in methods to grow microorganisms in the laboratory. These efforts should contribute to raise a general public awareness on the major role played by the microbiota on the various Earth ecosystems.

EXPRESS: Exploring the dynamics of slack in extreme contexts: A practice-based view

2021 ◽  
pp. 001872672110077
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Leuridan ◽  
Benoît Demil
Keyword(s):  
Public Management ◽  
Critical Care Unit ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
New Public ◽  
Management Context ◽  
Production Practices ◽  
Extreme Contexts ◽  
Organizational Literature

Organizations that operate in extreme contexts have to develop resilience to ensure the reliability of their operations. While the organizational literature underlines the crucial role of slack when facing unanticipated events, a structural approach to slack says little about the concrete ways in which organizational actors produce and use this slack. Adopting a practice-based perspective during a 14-month ethnographic study in a French critical care unit, we study the slack practices, which consist in gathering, arranging and rearranging resources from both inside and outside the medical unit. This permanent process is captured in a dynamic model connecting situations, their evolutions and slack practices. Our research highlights the importance of situational slack production practices to ensure resilience. We also argue that these micro-practices are constitutive of the context in which actors are evolving. Finally, we discuss why these slack practices, although essential for ensuring resilience, can be endangered by the New Public Management context.

Secondary Traumatization Among Social Work Students—The Contribution of Personal, Professional, and Environmental Factors

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anat Ben-Porat ◽  
Shahar Shemesh ◽  
Ronit Reuven Even Zahav ◽  
Shelly Gottlieb ◽  
Tehila Refaeli
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Positive Contribution ◽  
Unique Contribution ◽  
Raising Awareness ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Explained Variance ◽  
Second Year ◽  
Self Differentiation

Abstract This study examined the rate of secondary traumatic stress (STS) among social work students and the contribution of background variables, personal resources (mastery and self-differentiation) and environmental resources (supervision satisfaction and peer support) to STS. The sample consisted of 259 social work students at three social work schools in Israel. The findings indicated that the mean level of STS was mild. Of the students, 36 per cent suffered STS to a mild extent, 19 per cent to a moderate extent and 18 per cent reported a ‘high to extreme extent’. A significant contribution was made by the student’s year of study, students in their second year of social work school suffered more severely from STS than did students in their first or third years. A positive contribution was made by the student’s level of exposure and a unique contribution was made by mastery and supervision satisfaction to the explained variance of STS. The findings highlight the importance of raising awareness of STS and its implications for social work students, as well as the necessity of helping students cope with this phenomenon. In addition, the study emphasises the significant role of supervisors in the training agencies and the importance of increasing students’ sense of mastery.

The Colorado potato beetle in movement

2003 ◽  
Vol 135 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Boiteau ◽  
A. Alyokhin ◽  
D.N. Ferro
Keyword(s):  
Colorado Potato Beetle ◽  
Leptinotarsa Decemlineata ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Abiotic Factors ◽  
Orientation Process ◽  
Potato Beetle ◽  
Host Habitat ◽  
Subject Areas ◽  
Refuge Areas

AbstractThe recent introduction of the concept of refuge areas for the management of the Colorado potato beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say) (Coleoptera : Chrysomelidae), on resistant potato highlighted the existence of important gaps in our knowledge and understanding of this pest's movement within and between habitats. The objective of this review is to synthesize the information available for the benefit of crop managers and to identify subject areas in need of additional research. A traditional, somewhat encyclopedic, review of the old and recent literature on research methods, basics of flight and walking, as well as abiotic and biotic conditions for dispersal, revealed a considerable volume of information accumulated since the early 1900s. There is a consensus on the role of abiotic factors on flight and walking, but a better understanding of the biotic factors will be required before the variability of the dispersal response can be fully explained or predicted. Cybernetic models of orientation proposed in the literature were pulled together into a schematic representation of the orientation process in walking L. decemlineata. The model begins the integration of the different conditions and underlying suggested mechanisms responsible for the orientation of the walking beetle. There is remarkably little information on the orientation of potato beetles during flight. Finally, the seasonality of walking and flight dispersal is reviewed in relation to the host habitat and overwintering sites.

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