Abraham Joshua Heschel and Theology after the Holocaust

This essay explores Abraham Joshua Heschel\u27s post-Holocaust theology as a hopeful, worship-oriented option that can continue to be a source of comfort and inspiration to men and women struggling through tragedies today. The memory of the Holocaust can easily inspire a crisis of faith. In fact, post-Holocaust theology is frequently defined by this crisis. The theology of Abraham Joshua Heschel, an Eastern European Jew who barely escaped the death camps, however, continued to assert the active existence of God. By exploring religion in terms of polarities Sinai (the starting place of his people) and Auschwitz (a deplorable end for many of his people) Heschel found not a God who abandoned people, but rather a God who demanded action in defense of human integrity. This was a God who existed in Divine Pathos and Divine Exile he sought out his people and he suffered with them in their exile. Eanet argues that this theological perspective is particularly relevant in today\u27s world that is overwhelmed with crisis because Heschel does not claim that we need to search beneath the disasters to find God in a place untouched by them. Instead, Heschel argues that we must turn towards God amidst these crises, and find the strength to demand integrity and respect for all people

Historical atmospheric pollution trends in Southeast Asia inferred from lake sediment records

Fossil fuel combustion leads to increased levels of air pollution, which negatively affects human health as well as the environment. Documented data for Southeast Asia (SEA) show a strong increase in fossil fuel consumption since 1980, but information on coal and oil combustion before 1980 is not widely available. Spheroidal carbonaceous particles (SCPs) and heavy metals, such as mercury (Hg), are emitted as by-products of fossil fuel combustion and may accumulate in sediments following atmospheric fallout. Here we use sediment SCP and Hg records from several freshwater lentic ecosystems in SEA (Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore) to reconstruct long-term, region-wide variations in levels of these two key atmospheric pollution indicators. The age-depth models of Philippine sediment cores do not reach back far enough to date first SCP presence, but single SCP occurrences are first observed between 1925 and 1950 for a Malaysian site. Increasing SCP flux is observed at our sites from 1960 onward, although individual sites show minor differences in trends. SCP fluxes show a general decline after 2000 at each of our study sites. While the records show broadly similar temporal trends across SEA, absolute SCP fluxes differ between sites, with a record from Malaysia showing SCP fluxes that are two orders of magnitude lower than records from the Philippines. Similar trends in records from China and Japan represent the emergence of atmospheric pollution as a broadly-based inter-region environmental problem during the 20th century. Hg fluxes were relatively stable from the second half of the 20th century onward. As catchment soils are also contaminated with atmospheric Hg, future soil erosion can be expected to lead to enhanced Hg flux into surface waters

The role of primary care providers in testing for sexually transmitted infections in the MassHealth Medicaid program.

The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and predictors of testing for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) under an accountable care model of health care delivery. Data sources were claims and encounter records from the Massachusetts Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program (MassHealth) for enrollees aged 13 to 64 years in 2019. This cross-sectional study examines the one-year prevalence of STI testing and evaluates social determinants of health and other patient characteristics as predictors of such testing in both primary care and other settings. We identified visits with STI testing using procedure codes and primary care settings from provider code types. Among 740,417 members, 55% were female, 11% were homeless or unstably housed, and 15% had some level of disability. While the prevalence of testing in any setting was 20% (N = 151,428), only 57,215 members had testing performed in a primary care setting, resulting in an 8% prevalence of testing by primary care clinicians (PCCs). Members enrolled in a managed care organization (MCO) were significantly less likely to be tested by a primary care provider than those enrolled in accountable care organization (ACO) plans that have specific incentives for primary care practices to coordinate care. Enrollees in a Primary Care ACO had the highest rates of STI testing, both overall and by primary care providers. Massachusetts' ACO delivery systems may be able to help practices increase STI screening with explicit incentives for STI testing in primary care settings

A Case Study of Risk Assessment of Ozone Impact on Forest Tree Species in Japan

ABSTRACT:Ozone (O3) is a main component of photochemical oxidants and a phytotoxic air pollutant. Although the current levels of tropospheric O3 in East Asia could adversely affect productivity of forest tree species, risk assessments of O3 impact were limited. In this paper, we summarize the methodology of risk assessment of O3 on forest tree species based on our two previous studies, risk assessments of O3 impact on the growth of Fagus crenata by Watanabe et al. (2012) and on the annual carbon absorption of three representative conifers, Cryptomeria japonica, Pinus densiflora and Larix kaempferi by Watanabe et al. (2010). O3 sensitivity of each tree species obtained from an experimental study, O3 exposure and atmospheric N deposition based on field monitoring and vegetation survey were integrated by geographic information system method. Based on the results, we conclude that the area with high risk of O3 impact does not necessarily correspond to the area with high O3 exposure. The varieties of tree habitat, tree sensitivity to O3 and annual carbon absorption among the tree species, and N deposition-induced change in the O3 sensitivity of F. crenata are raised as the factors of discordance between areas with high risk and those with high O3 exposure. In the last part of this paper, we discuss the present uncertainty and perspectives of risk assessment for the future studies on the impact of O3 on forest tree species in East Asia