The history of science and medicine in the context of COVID-19

This spotlight issue encourages reflection on the current COVID-19 pandemic, not simply through comparisons with previous epidemics, but also by illustrating that epidemics deserve study within their broader cultural, political, scientific, and geographic contexts. Epidemics are not solely a function of pathogens; they are also a function of how society is structured, how political power is wielded in the name of public health, how quantitative data is collected, how diseases are categorised and modelled, and how histories of disease are narrated. Each of these activities has its own history. As historians of science and medicine have long pointed out, even the most basic methodologies that underpin scientific research—observation, trust in numbers, the use of models, even the experimental method itself—have a history. They should not be taken as a given, but understood as processes, or even strategies, that were negotiated, argued for and against, and developed within particular historical contexts and explanatory schemes. Knowing the history of something—whether of numbers, narratives, or disease—enables us to see a broader range of trajectories available to us. These varied histories also remind us that we are currently in the midst of a chaotic drama of uncertainty, within our own unstable and unfolding narrative

Form invariance symmetry generates a large set of FRW cosmologies

We show that Einstein's field equations for spatially flat Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) space times have a form invariance symmetry (FIS) realized by the form invariance transformations (FIT) which are indeed generated by an invertible function of the source energy density. These transformations act on the Hubble expansion rate, the energy density, and pressure of the cosmic fluid; likewise such transformations are endowed with a Lie group structure. Each representation of this group is associated with a particular fluid and consequently a determined cosmology, so that, the FIS defines a set of equivalent cosmological models. We focus our seek in the FIT generated by a linear function because it provides a natural framework to express the duality and also produces a large sets of cosmologies, starting from a seed one, in several contexts as for instance in the cases of a perfect fluid source and a scalar field driven by a potential depending linearly on the scalar field kinetic energy density.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in Modern Physics Letters A (2012

Investigating the potential role of visualisation in natural resource decision-making

Computer-aided visualisation can be applied to natural environments to understand the impact of proposed developments or management strategies, but little evaluation of the effectiveness of these tools has been undertaken. In seeking to manage natural environments, it is desirable to model and understand these complex interactions in order to compare the outcomes of applying different management strategies. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there are significant differences in knowledge outcomes depending on the form in which visualisation of environmental changes is presented, using a case study of Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere, a broad, shallow lagoon in the South Island of New Zealand. Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere is separated from the Pacific Ocean by the long narrow sandy Kaitorete Spit. Its unique position allows for it to be opened to the sea periodically to provide drainage and prevent flooding of surrounding farmlands. There is a lack of agreement among the diverse stakeholders regarding the appropriate levels at which the lake level should be maintained throughout the year. We describe an interactive visualisation tool (ElleVis) which shows the effects of different water levels on the flora and fauna, as well as plants and animals living in and around the Lake. The tool allows users to input different opening scenarios and visualise the resulting impact on water levels around the lake at various times. It incorporates historical rainfall data from New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research to deliver a graphical map display, including a summary table with a ‘traffic light’ status for lake values - birds, fish, farming and other stakeholder interests at different locations around the lake. The interactive nature of the ElleVis tool allows the stakeholders to compare Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere under different opening scenarios using one interactive tool. However, it is possible, for example, that providing information about changes in lake behaviour in a carefully and clearly presented non-interactive form may be as successful as providing it in an interactive form of ElleVis. In order to test for the effect of interactive versus non-interactive forms of visualization, we conducted an experiment with forty participants (randomly assigned to two test groups) who have various interests at Te Waihora. We provided them with either an interactive or a non-interactive form of visualisation. Results were recorded from a structured interview after the test. The findings revealed that interactive visualisation was key to advantageous learning about changes in environmental behaviour. We argue that the techniques presented have the potential to stimulate meaningful discussions in natural resource situations that involve contested resources or a multiplicity of interests, but at the same time, there is an urgent need for evaluation of such tools in participatory decision-making processes

Stability analysis of cosmological models through Liapunov's method

We investigate the general asymptotic behaviour of Friedman-Robertson-Walker (FRW) models with an inflaton field, scalar-tensor FRW cosmological models and diagonal Bianchi-IX models by means of Liapunov's method. This method provides information not only about the asymptotic stability of a given equilibrium point but also about its basin of attraction. This cannot be obtained by the usual methods found in the literature, such as linear stability analysis or first order perturbation techniques. Moreover, Liapunov's method is also applicable to non-autonomous systems. We use this advantadge to investigate the mechanism of reheating for the inflaton field in FRW models.Comment: Latex file, 8 pages, no figures, accepted for publication in Class. & Quant. Gra

Comparison of engagement and emotional responses of older and younger adults interacting with 3D cultural heritage artefacts on personal devices

The availability of advanced software and less expensive hardware allows museums to preserve and share artefacts digitally. As a result, museums are frequently making their collections accessible online as interactive, 3D models. This could lead to the unique situation of viewing the digital artefact before the physical artefact. Experiencing artefacts digitally outside of the museum on personal devices may affect the user's ability to emotionally connect to the artefacts. This study examines how two target populations of young adults (18–21 years) and the elderly (65 years and older) responded to seeing cultural heritage artefacts in three different modalities: augmented reality on a tablet, 3D models on a laptop, and then physical artefacts. Specifically, the time spent, enjoyment, and emotional responses were analysed. Results revealed that regardless of age, the digital modalities were enjoyable and encouraged emotional responses. Seeing the physical artefacts after the digital ones did not lessen their enjoyment or emotions felt. These findings aim to provide an insight into the effectiveness of 3D artefacts viewed on personal devices and artefacts shown outside of the museum for encouraging emotional responses from older and younger people

How Can I Drink Safely?; Perception Versus the Reality of Alcohol Consumption

This article investigates differences between perception and actual consumption of alcohol in young adults within the UK, suggesting that inaccurate information in the public domain may hamper those seeking to drink safely plus the development of moderate drinking cultures. Results confirm that inaccurate information may be preventing the development of safe drinking behaviours among certain groups. In addition, they indicate that some groups choose to ignore safe consumption limits in particular circumstances. Results indicate that many government strategies aimed at reducing unsafe drinking behaviour are inaccurately targeted; changing male public consumption behaviour may trigger changes in female behaviour

O "futuro" é o "presente" sem "tempo"

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Scaling solutions from interacting fluids

We examine the dynamical implications of an interaction between some of the fluid components of the universe. We consider the combination of three matter components, one of which is a perfect fluid and the other two are interacting. The interaction term generalizes the cases found in scalar field cosmologies with an exponential potential. We find that attracting scaling solutions are obtained in several regions of parameter space, that oscillating behaviour is possible, and that new curvature scaling solutions exist. We also discuss the inflationary behaviour of the solutions and present some of the constraints on the strength of the coupling, namely those arising from nucleosynthesis.Comment: RevTeX, 21 pages, 8 figure

Factors influencing consumer wine choice: The case of wine tourism

This research was undertaken to examine the relationship between the wine tourism activities of consumers and their subsequent wine choices. Exploratory research was undertaken giving specific attention to wine tourism, first, as a factor of influence on decision-making, second, on levels of consumer involvement and third on long-term consumer loyalty. A convenience sample of 12 wine consumers in Dublin participated in the study. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were used to gather the qualitative data used. The findings clearly establish links made by consumers between their wine tourism experiences and their subsequent wine purchase preferences. The findings highlight the importance of facilitating the co-creation of memorable wine tourism experiences as a determinant of improved consumer involvement as well as the development of long-term consumer loyalty. Implications for industry practitioners suggest a continued focus on the provision of unique wine tourism experiences; while the findings support the theoretical links between consumers own past experiences and their use as a valuable information source when making purchase decisions

Climate for evidence-informed health systems: A print media analysis in 44 low- and middle-income countries that host knowledge-translation platforms

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>We conducted a print media analysis in 44 countries in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and the Eastern Mediterranean in order to understand one dimension of the climate for evidence-informed health systems and to provide a baseline for an evaluation of knowledge-translation platforms. Our focus was whether and how policymakers, stakeholders, and researchers talk in the media about three topics: policy priorities in the health sector, health research evidence, and policy dialogues regarding health issues.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We developed a search strategy consisting of three progressively more delimited phases. For each jurisdiction, we searched <it>Major World Publications </it>in LexisNexis Academic <it>News </it>for articles published in 2007, selected relevant articles using one set of general criteria and three sets of concept-specific criteria, and coded the selected articles to identify common themes. Second raters took part in the analysis of Lebanon and Malaysia to assess inter-rater reliability for article selection and coding.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We identified approximately 5.5 and 5 times more articles describing health research evidence compared to the number of articles describing policy priorities and policy dialogues, respectively. Few articles describing health research evidence discussed systematic reviews (2%) or health systems research (2%), and few of the policy dialogue articles discussed researcher involvement (9%). News coverage of these concepts was highly concentrated in several countries like China and Uganda, while few articles were found for many other jurisdictions. Kappa scores were acceptable and consistently greater than 0.60.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In many countries the print media, at least as captured in a global database, are largely silent about three topics central to evidence-informed health systems. These findings suggest the need for proactive-media engagement strategies.</p