Max Weber and the chemistry of the Protestant ethic

This article aims to reconstruct a possible interpretation of The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism through the concept of elective affinity, which, as I have read, records fundamental implications for social science thinking. I argue that, in contrast to mechanical descriptions, Weber’s model sought to capture social phenomena through interactions between elements with heterogeneous qualitative properties. This effort, in turn, bears a very strong resemblance to the operation of social science models examining the functioning of complex systems. In line with this, I proceed as follows: first, I briefly outline the backbone of the argument of The Protestant Ethic, and then, through the concept of elective affinity, show how it can be fitted into one of the defining lines of current social science approaches. In line with this, I attempt to discuss the argument of The Protestant Ethic in the context of agent-based models. I argue that Weber’s approach can be seen as essentially a prototype of agent-based modeling.

Impact of Different Popular Science Models and Other Factors on Satisfaction of Community Health Popular Science Activities in Shanghai Community Residents

Objective To explore and analyze the impact of different popular science models, include traditional and innovative models, and other factors on satisfaction of community health popular science activities in Shanghai community residents. Method Four communities were selected in Minhang District, Shanghai, and divided into four groups with simple random sampling method: foreign volunteer medical science talk show group (A), Chinese volunteer medical science talk show group (B), traditional lecture group (C), and control group (D). Using the rules of convenience sampling, 150 residents were randomly selected from each community to participate in 6-month popular science activities, and completed three questionnaires during the 6-month popular science intervention. Data including the sociodemographic data and the satisfaction on community health popular science activities was collected and analyzed. Results Compared with those in baseline, the satisfactions of community health popular science activities in three popular science models have all significantly improved with 3 and 6 months popular science intervention (A: χ2 = 47.1, p < 0.001; B: χ2 = 62.0, p < 0.001; C: χ2 = 31.7, p < 0.001) except for in control group (D: χ2 = 0.3, p = 0.9). The factors including gender, education, marital status, popular science model and popular science intervention time all have significant impact on satisfaction. Among these factors, married (Exp (B) = 2.715, 95% CI (1.163-6.336), p = 0.021)), popular science models (foreign volunteer medical science talk show model: Exp (B) = 8.796, 95% CI (5.907-13.100), p < 0.001; Chinese volunteer medical science talk show model: Exp (B) = 5.106, 95% CI (3.564-7.314), p < 0.001 and traditional lecture model: Exp (B) = 13.033, 95% CI (8.374-20.283), p < 0.001), popular science intervention time (3-month: Exp (B) = 3.988, 95% CI (2.827-5.626), p < 0.001; 6-month: Exp (B) = 4.132, 95% CI (2.924-5.840), p < 0.001) have positive impact on satisfaction. While female (Exp (B) = 0.598, 95% CI (0.440-0.813), p = 0.001), and junior college (Exp (B) = 0.295, 95% CI (0.168-0.519), p < 0.001) have negative impact. Conclusion Both the innovative and traditional popular science models have positive effect on the satisfaction on Chinese community health popular science activities in Shanghai community residents. In the future, special consideration should be given to the impact of different popular science models and other factors on the popular science effects including the satisfaction, and more tailor-design health popular science activities will be suitable for community residents.

Unveiling the recovery dynamics of Walleye after the invisible collapse

Walleye (Sander vitreus) populations in Alberta, Canada collapsed by the mid-1990s and were a case study in the paper Canada’s Recreational Fisheries: The Invisible Collapse? Here we fit age-structured population dynamics models to data from a landscape-scale monitoring program to assess Walleye population status and reconstruct recruitment dynamics following the invisible collapse. Assessments indicated that populations featured low F_msy values of approximately 0.2-0.3 under conservative assumptions for the stock-recruitment relationship but that many populations were lightly exploited during 2000-2018. Recruitment reconstructions showed that recovery from collapse in 33/55 lakes was driven in part by large positive recruitment anomalies that occurred during 1998-2002. Additionally, 15/55 lakes demonstrated cyclic recruitment dynamics. Both the recruitment anomalies and cyclic fluctuations could be due to environmental effect(s) and(or) cannibalism, and experimentation may be necessary to resolve this uncertainty. These findings contribute new information on the recovery dynamics of Walleye following the invisible collapse, and demonstrate the effectiveness of coupling traditional fisheries science models with broad-scale monitoring data to improve understanding of population dynamics and sustainability across landscapes.

Bellagio II Report: Terrestrial Applications of Space Medicine Research

INTRODUCTION: For over 50 yr, investigators have studied the physiological adaptations of the human system during short- and long-duration spaceflight exposures. Much of the knowledge gained in developing health countermeasures for astronauts onboard the International Space Station demonstrate terrestrial applications. To date, a systematic process for translating these space applications to terrestrial human health has yet to be defined.METHODS: In the summer of 2017, a team of 38 international scientists launched the Bellagio ll Summit Initiative. The goals of the Summit were: 1) To identify space medicine findings and countermeasures with highest probability for future terrestrial applications; and 2) To develop a roadmap for translation of these countermeasures to future terrestrial application. The team reviewed public domain literature, NASA databases, and evidence books within the framework of the five-stage National Institutes of Health (NIH) translation science model, and the NASA two-stage translation model. Teams then analyzed and discussed interdisciplinary findings to determine the most significant evidence-based countermeasures sufficiently developed for terrestrial application.RESULTS: Teams identified published human spaceflight research and applied translational science models to define mature products for terrestrial clinical practice.CONCLUSIONS: The Bellagio ll Summit identified a snapshot of space medicine research and mature science with the highest probability of translation and developed a Roadmap of terrestrial application from space medicine-derived countermeasures. These evidence-based findings can provide guidance regarding the terrestrial applications of best practices, countermeasures, and clinical protocols currently used in spaceflight.Sides MB, Johnston SL III, Sirek A, Lee PH, Blue RS, Antonsen EL, Basner M, Douglas GL, Epstein A, Flynn-Evans EE, Gallagher MB, Hayes J, Lee SMC, Lockley SW, Monseur B, Nelson NG, Sargsyan A, Smith SM, Stenger MB, Stepanek J, Zwart SR; Bellagio II Team. Bellagio II report: terrestrial applications of space medicine research. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2021; 92(8):650669.

The Grids Python Tool for Querying Spatiotemporal Multidimensional Water Data

Scientific datasets from global-scale earth science models and remote sensing instruments are becoming available at greater spatial and temporal resolutions with shorter lag times. Water data are frequently stored as multidimensional arrays, also called gridded or raster data, and span two or three spatial dimensions, the time dimension, and other dimensions which vary by the specific dataset. Water engineers and scientists need these data as inputs for models and generate data in these formats as results. A myriad of file formats and organizational conventions exist for storing these array datasets. The variety does not make the data unusable but does add considerable difficulty in using them because the structure can vary. These storage formats are largely incompatible with common geographic information system (GIS) software. This introduces additional complexity in extracting values, analyzing results, and otherwise working with multidimensional data since they are often spatial data. We present a Python package which provides a central interface for efficient access to multidimensional water data regardless of the file format. This research builds on and unifies existing file formats and software rather than suggesting entirely new alternatives. We present a summary of the code design and validate the results using common water-related datasets and software.

What Can We Learn about Corruption from Historical Case Studies?

The chapter shows how a historical approach can offer a productive and useful dataset and tools to understand corruption and anticorruption. Since corruption has existed across time and space, and is multifaceted, involving politics, economics, law, administration, social, and cultural attitudes, it can best be studied in a multidisciplinary way that includes the study of the past as well as the present. A historical approach offers ways of thinking about change and continuity, and hence also about how and why reform processes occur and are successful. Historical case studies can test and challenge social science models but also offer different, more qualitative, evidence that can help us to reconstruct the mentalities of those who refused to accept that their behavior constituted “corruption,” as well as the motives of those bringing the prosecution or making allegations. Historical sources, often offering multiple perspectives of different participants, can also enable us to form a more holistic view of corruption scandals and of the important role of public discussion in shaping quality of government.

Advocating for the use of Restorative Justice Practices: Examining the Overlap Between Restorative Justice and Behavior Analysis

Broadly defined, Restorative Justice (RJ) is a set of procedures based in Indigenous peacemaking practices that reduces recidivism and guides the effective reparation of harm. RJ practices provide harm-affected parties an opportunity for engagement in the resolution process, which theoretically enhances community well-being. RJ practices overlap significantly with behavior-analytic principles. Implementing RJ practices from a context-focused, appetitive-based approach that focuses on classes of behaviors may address harmful behaviors within police organizations. RJ practices may also facilitate changes in contexts that support behaviors valued by the community. The current review discusses criminal and Restorative Justice, RJ processes and practices, the effectiveness of RJ in various contexts, how RJ overlaps with behavior-analytic principles and existing behavior science models more generally, research suggestions, and recommendations for behavior analysts implementing RJ within police organizations and communities to address officer misconduct.

Other Urban Christians: The Cities in Revelation 1–3

As impressive as is Meeks' First Urban Christians, it studies ancient cities “from above,” i.e., the perspective of elites and their retainers. He does not appreciate the meanness of cities in Asia Minor from the crowded and perilous perspective of the 85% of the population. This absence can be supplied by studies which consider “city” in cultural terms (a system, a central place, a necropolis, etc). These studies alert us to the scarcity of food, water, space, and sanitation. The use of social science models depicts a grim scene in terms of size, population density, and mortality. All of this makes us turn our gaze from the elite parts of a city to the squalid parts where those addressed in the seven letters in Revelation 1–3 dwelt. When those letters are considered in this context, certain materials concerning virtues and vices stand out. Without appreciating where the 85% of the population strove to survive, we cannot appreciate what is said to them.