REVIEW: No return to ‘normal’ when the pandemic has exposed global inequalities

COVID-19, Racism and Politicization: Media in the Midst of a Pandemic, edited by Kalinga Seneviratne and Sundeep R. Muppidi. Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 2021. 230 pages. ISBN: 9781527570894 WHILE the COVID-19 pandemic’s relentless cyclone continues across the globe wreaking havoc on economies and social systems, this book sheds light on the adversarial reporting culture of the media, and how it impacts on racism and politicisation driving the coverage. It explores the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the role of national and international media, and governments, in the initial coverage of the developing crisis. COVID-19, Racism and Politicization: Media in the Midst of a Pandemic, edited by Kalinga Seneviratne and Sundeep R. Muppidi

Towards media systems framework in Asia Chinese and Korean media on framing the initial COVID-19 pandemic

Due to the relative lack of media comparison studies within Asian contexts, theoretical frameworks based in Western societies have been applied to knowledge production in the global South. Using a ‘most different’ design, this study compares the dimensions of media systems reflected in two Chinese and two Korean newspapers in their initial coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic. Content analysis showed statistically significant differences in distribution of sources, topics and valence, usage of frame types, and actors including domestic government and foreign entities held responsible between the two groups of media. Based on political implications of crisis on Chinese and Korean news content, we mainly discuss political instrumentalization and parallelism in the media in an Asian context. Finally, we open up the dimensions of media system from an Asian perspective and address the need for future research.

Optimal Allocation of COVID-19 Vaccines in the Philippines

Vaccine allocation is a national concern especially for countries such as the Philippines that have limited resources in acquiring COVID-19 vaccines. As such, certain groups are suggested to be prioritized for vaccination to protect the most vulnerable before vaccinating others. Our model suggests an allocation of vaccines such that COVID-19 deaths are minimized while the prioritization framework is satisfied. Results of the model show that a vaccine coverage of at least 50 to 70% of the population can be enough for a community with limited supplies, and an increase in vaccine supply is beneficial if initial coverage is less than the specified target range. Also, among the vaccines considered in the study, the one with 89.9% effectiveness and has a 183 Philippine peso (Php) price per dose projected the least number of deaths. Compared to other model variations and common allocation approaches, the model has achieved both an optimal and equitable allocation. This will be helpful for policymakers in determining a vaccine distribution for a resource-constrained community.

COVID-19 and Inequality in Asia

The COVID-19 pandemic risks exacerbating inequality in Asia. High frequency labor surveys show that the pandemic is having particularly adverse effects on younger workers, women and people that are more vulnerable. Pandemics have been shown to increase inequalities. As a result, income inequality, which was already high and rising in Asia before the pandemic, is likely to rise further over the medium term, unless policies succeed in breaking this historical pattern. Many Asian governments have implemented significant fiscal policy measures to mitigate the pandemic’s effect on the most vulnerable, with the impact depending on the initial coverage of safety nets, fiscal space, and degree of informality and digitalization. The paper includes model-based analysis which shows that policies targeted to where needs are greatest are effective in mitigating adverse distributional consequences and underpinning overall economic activity and virus containment.

Confirmation of Initial Stable Adsorption Structures of Leucine and Tyrosine Adsorbed on a Cu(110) Surface

The structures and stability levels of leucine (Leu) and tyrosine (Tyr) adsorbed on a Cu(110) surface, at initial levels of coverage (less than 0.25 monolayer), were investigated using reflection–absorption infrared spectroscopy and high-resolution photoemission spectroscopy (HRPES), as well as by performing density functional theory calculations. At an initial coverage, the O–H dissociation bonded structure was indicated from the spectral results to be the most favorable structure for Leu adsorbed on the Cu(110) surface, whereas the O–H dissociated-N dative bonded structure was most favorable for adsorbed Tyr. These models were further supported by the results of experiments, in which the systems were exposed to other molecules and HRPES was used to monitor whether the amine or carboxylic groups of the adsorbed amino acids became reactive.

Evolution of argoma shrubland (Ulex gallii Planch.) after clearing and burning treatments in Sierra de Aralar and Belate (Navarra)

Shrub encroachment is considered one of the greatest threats in the conservation of pastures, especially in abandoned territories and territories with low stocking density. However, in the Navarra Pyrenees and Basque mountains, with a high stocking density maintained during the last decades, the expansion of argoma shrubland (Ulex gallii), shows that grazing is not enough for its control and requires evaluating measures of clearing. To evaluate the efficiency of the burning and the mechanical clearing (with two treatments: at ground level and 10 cm above ground) in the control of the shrub, these treatments were applied in different plots of encroached grasslands in two pastoral territories (Sierra de Aralar and Belate). After the burning and clearing, the evolution of the shrub was compared in the cleared plots closed to grazing and in their replicas open to it. The results showed differences between the different treatments in both territories that may be related to the initial coverage of the shrubland. In general, burning was less effective in controlling shrubland and allowed a greater resprout than mechanical clearing. No significant differences were found between the two types of mechanical clearing (at ground level and at 10 cm above ground). Finally, grazing caused a delay in the recovery of the shrub in all casesbut it was not able to eliminate the shrubs completely. From the field observations, the opinions of the farmers and the results of similar experiences, some measures for grassland management were collected and discussed to correct or complement the clearing treatments in order to increase their efficiency.

Global and National Trends of HIV/AIDS

HIV/AIDS is one of the worst pandemics, the world has ever known and the entire world has been combating with it. Objective of the study is to analyze the global and national trend of HIV/AIDS regarding the indices PLHIV, New infections and AIDS-related death and coverage of ART. This is a quantitative research completely based on the secondary data. The data is analyzed by simple statistical representations. Regression analysis is used to analyze the trends and to make some predictions. The number of PLHIV is increased by 19.9 percent from 1997 to 2015 and by 69.6 percent from 2000 to 2015 in Nepal. In this same duration, the new HIV infection is reduced by 63.8 percent and 82.6 percent, AIDS related death by 52.2 percent and 411.1 percent respectively in the global and Nepal. The initial coverage of ART in both regions was negligible and by the end of 2015 it reached to 46.4 percent and 30.6 percent in the global and Nepal respectively. Nepal along with the global achieves some positive results in the combating of this health problem. By analyzing the trends, it is not worth to say that we are not far from the achievement of SDGs.