EEUU, el Mediterráneo y las estrategias transatlánticas

La cooperación en el Mediterráneo puede convertirse en una prueba clave para determinar la calidad de la colaboración entre EEUU y la UE durante los próximos pocos años. En la región mediterránea se concentran multitud de temas que preocupan a Washington y, a ambos lados del Atlántico, existe un interés real por aprovechar el “efecto Obama” y dar un nuevo impulso a la cooperación transatlántica. Las condiciones favorecen que se preste una mayor atención a la región y a los temas mediterráneos como parte de la estrategia de EEUU hacia Europa y Oriente Medio, así como de la relación transatlántica. La convergencia de los intereses estadounidenses y europeos hacia el sur y el hecho de que tanto EEUU como Europa puedan actuar con más o menos el mismo efecto en la región podría convertir la cooperación en materia de seguridad y desarrollo en el Mediterráneo en una prueba fundamental a corto plazo de la calidad de las relaciones transatlánticas renovadas

Project Overview of the Beijing-Arizona Sky Survey

The Beijing-Arizona Sky Survey (BASS) is a wide-field two-band photometric survey of the Northern Galactic Cap using the 90Prime imager on the 2.3 m Bok telescope at Kitt Peak. It is a four-year collaboration between the National Astronomical Observatory of China and Steward Observatory, the University of Arizona, serving as one of the three imaging surveys to provide photometric input catalogs for target selection of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) project. BASS will take up to 240 dark/grey nights to cover an area of about 5400 deg$^2$ in the $g$ and $r$ bands. The 5$\sigma$ limiting AB magnitudes for point sources in the two bands, corrected for the Galactic extinction, are 24.0 and 23.4 mag, respectively. BASS, together with other DESI imaging surveys, will provide unique science opportunities that cover a wide range of topics in both Galactic and extragalactic astronomy.Comment: 10 pages, submitted to PAS

Overview of the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys

The DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys (http://legacysurvey.org/) are a combination of three public projects (the Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey, the Beijing–Arizona Sky Survey, and the Mayall z-band Legacy Survey) that will jointly image ≈14,000 deg2 of the extragalactic sky visible from the northern hemisphere in three optical bands (g, r, and z) using telescopes at the Kitt Peak National Observatory and the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. The combined survey footprint is split into two contiguous areas by the Galactic plane. The optical imaging is conducted using a unique strategy of dynamically adjusting the exposure times and pointing selection during observing that results in a survey of nearly uniform depth. In addition to calibrated images, the project is delivering a catalog, constructed by using a probabilistic inference-based approach to estimate source shapes and brightnesses. The catalog includes photometry from the grz optical bands and from four mid-infrared bands (at 3.4, 4.6, 12, and 22 μm) observed by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer satellite during its full operational lifetime. The project plans two public data releases each year. All the software used to generate the catalogs is also released with the data. This paper provides an overview of the Legacy Surveys project.U.S. Department of Energy; U.S. National Science Foundation; Ministry of Science and Education of Spain; Science and Technology Facilities Council of the United Kingdom; Higher Education Funding Council for England; National Center for Super computing Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Kavli Institute of Cosmological Physics at the University of Chicago; Center for Cosmology and Astro-Particle Physics at the Ohio State University; Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy at Texas AM University; Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos; Fundacao Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo; Fundacao Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro; Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico; Ministerio da Ciencia, Tecnologia e Inovacao; Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft; Argonne National Laboratory; University of California at Santa Cruz; University of Cambridge; Centro de Investigaciones Energeticas, Medioambientales y Tecnologicas-Madrid; University of Chicago; University College London; DES-Brazil Consortium; University of Edinburgh; Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Zurich; Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Institut de Ciencies de l'Espai (IEEC/CSIC); Institut de Fisica d'Altes Energies; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Ludwig-Maximilians Universitat Munchen; associated Excellence Cluster Universe; University of Michigan; National Optical Astronomy Observatory; University of Nottingham; Ohio State University; University of Pennsylvania; University of Portsmouth; SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory; Stanford University; University of Sussex; Texas AM University; National Astronomical Observatories of China; Chinese Academy of Sciences [XDB09000000, 114A11KYSB20160057]; Special Fund for Astronomy from the Ministry of Finance; Chinese National Natural Science Foundation [11433005]; Office of Science, Office of High Energy Physics of the U.S. Department of Energy [DE-AC02-05CH11231]; National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center; DOE Office of Science User Facility; U.S. National Science Foundation, Division of Astronomical Sciences [AST-0950945]; National Aeronautics and Space Administration through the Planetary Science Division of the NASA Science Mission Directorate [NNX08AR22G]; National Science Foundation [AST-1238877, AST-1616414, PHY-1066293]; National Aeronautics and Space Administration; Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy [DE-AC02-05CH11231]; European Research Council under the European Union/ERC [320964]; Radcliffe Institute for Advanced StudyThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

The First Data Release of the Beijing-Arizona Sky Survey

The Beijing-Arizona Sky Survey (BASS) is a new wide-field legacy imaging survey in the northern Galactic cap using the 2.3m Bok telescope. The survey will cover about 5400 deg$^2$ in the $g$ and $r$ bands, and the expected 5$\sigma$ depths (corrected for the Galactic extinction) in the two bands are 24.0 and 23.4 mag, respectively. BASS started observations in January 2015, and has completed about 41% of the whole area as of July 2016. The first data release contains both calibrated images and photometric catalogs obtained in 2015 and 2016. The depths of single-epoch images in the two bands are 23.4 and 22.9 mag, and the full depths of three epochs are about 24.1 and 23.5 mag, respectively.Comment: 16 pages, published by A

Emerging communities of child-healthcare practice in the management of long-term conditions such as chronic kidney disease: Qualitative study of parents' accounts

Background: Parents of children and young people with long-term conditions who need to deliver clinical care to their child at home with remote support from hospital-based professionals, often search the internet for care-giving information. However, there is little evidence that the information available online was developed and evaluated with parents or that it acknowledges the communities of practice that exist as parents and healthcare professionals share responsibility for condition management. Methods. The data reported here are part of a wider study that developed and tested a condition-specific, online parent information and support application with children and young people with chronic-kidney disease, parents and professionals. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 fathers and 24 mothers who had recently tested the novel application. Data were analysed using Framework Analysis and the Communities of Practice concept. Results: Evolving communities of child-healthcare practice were identified comprising three components and several sub components: (1) Experiencing (parents making sense of clinical tasks) through Normalising care, Normalising illness, Acceptance & action, Gaining strength from the affected child and Building relationships to formalise a routine; (2) Doing (Parents executing tasks according to their individual skills) illustrated by Developing coping strategies, Importance of parents' efficacy of care and Fear of the child's health failing; and (3) Belonging/Becoming (Parents defining task and group members' worth and creating a personal identity within the community) consisting of Information sharing, Negotiation with health professionals and Achieving expertise in care. Parents also recalled factors affecting the development of their respective communities of healthcare practice; these included Service transition, Poor parent social life, Psycho-social affects, Family chronic illness, Difficulty in learning new procedures, Shielding and avoidance, and Language and cultural barriers. Health care professionals will benefit from using the communities of child-healthcare practice model when they support parents of children with chronic kidney disease. Conclusions: Understanding some of the factors that may influence the development of communities of child-healthcare practice will help professionals to tailor information and support for parents learning to manage their child's healthcare. Our results are potentially transferrable to professionals managing the care of children and young people with other long-term conditions. © 2014 Carolan et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

Unresolved Issues: Assignments for the North and South

Los Estados del sur del Mediterráneo pertenecen a un “arco de cambio”, y no a un “arco de crisis”, como han pretendido algunos analistas. Desde este prisma, Lesser dibuja cuatro hipótesis sobre el contenido del diálogo y de los problemas de seguridad en esta región. La primera estudia la dimensión de la seguridad interna y las razones de la existencia de Estados “disfuncionales” en el Sur. La segunda resta importancia al fundamentalismo islámico como causa de conflicto; éste estaría más relacionado con preocupaciones tradicionales alentadas desde el extremismo nacionalista, no islamista. En la tercera hipótesis Lesser señala que los Estados del Sur se hallan inmersos en el proceso de incluir “nuevas geometrías”en sus relaciones de seguridad, ya sea con sus vecinos regionales o con la UE y la OTAN. La cuarta hipótesis coloca la interdependencia entre Europa, Oriente Medio y Eurasia ante los siguientes retos a la seguridad: la proliferación armamentista, el abastecimiento de energía procedente de la cuenca del mar Caspio y su acceso a los mercados occidentales, y los aspectos políticos de la interacción entre Occidente y el mundo musulmán. Estos retos se entrecruzan en el Mediterráneo y lo convierten en la dimensión meridional de la seguridad europea

The CSCE as a Model to Transform Western Relations with the Greater Middle East. ZEI Discussion Paper C 137, 2004

[Table of Contents]. Kühnhardt, Ludger. "System-opening and Cooperative Transformation of the Greater Middle East. A New Transatlantic Project and a Joint Euro-Atlantic-Arab Task"; Laschet, Armin. "Euro-Mediterranean Partnership: Beyond the Iraq crisis"; Lothar Rühl, Lothar. "Can the CSCE be a Role-Model to Frame the Political Processes of the Greater Middle East with Europe and the United States?"; Alnawwab, Nabil. "Conflict of Mythologies: The Debate on Reform of the Greater Middle East"; Masala, Carlo. "Is the Model of the Baskets Applicable to the Greater Middle East?"; Fröhlich, Stefan. "How much Regional Differentiation is Necessary to Establish a Successful CSCE-analogous Process?"; Baðci, Hüseyin. "The Greater Middle East Project and Turkey’s Attitude towards it"; Voskanian, Ashot. "South Caucasus within the Perspective of Contemporary Integration Processes"; Magen, Amichai. "Building Democratic Peace in the Eastern Mediterranean: An Inevitably Ambitious Agenda"; Posch, Walter. "What Preconditions for a CSCE-like Approach for the Region?"; Hitti, Nassif. "The Fantasies of a Middle Eastern OSCE"; Lesser, Ian O. "Institutional Issues Surrounding a CSCE-like Approach to the Middle East"

Euro-Mediterranean Co-operation: Enlarging and Widening the Perspective. ZEI Discussion Paper: 2004, C 131

[Table of Contents]. Introduction, by Andreas Jacobs; The Future of Euro-Mediterranean Relations: the Vision of Malta, by H.E. President Guido de Marco; The Euro-Med Partnership Needs a Strong Push, by Stephen Calleya/Eberhard Rhein; European Enlargement and its Impact on the Barcelona Process, by Bechir Chourou; European Enlargement and the Barcelona Process, by Krzysztof Bobinski; Mapping the Impact of Enlargement on the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, by Zlatko Šabiè/Sabina Kajnè; Under Full Sail in a Millennium of Migration? Enlargement in the East and “Push and Pull Factors” in the South, by Babak Khalatbari/Marc Lauterfeld; Impact of the Iraq War on Mediterranean Security and Dialogue, by Ian O. Lesser; L’impact de la guerre contre l’Irak sur le processus Méditerranéen, by Abdallah Saaf; From the Mediterranean to a Greater Middle East: Challenges for European Policy Formulation, by Jean-François Daguzan; System-Opening and Cooperative Transformation of the Greater Middle East: Elements of a New Common Transatlantic Project, by Ludger Kühnhardt