World Ocean Review 2015 : living with the oceans 3. Marine resources - opportunities and risks

The third issue of the World Ocean Review, WOR 3, is devoted to marine resources – metals and energy – and their utilization. It gives the facts about the extraction of known oil and gas deposits below the ocean floor and examines the impacts upon flora and fauna. It explains how gas hydrates form on continental shelves and what potential they hold. The review further explores in detail the opportunities and risks presented and posed by extracting mineral resources from the seabed: manganese nodules, cobalt crusts and massive sulphides

World Ocean Review 2015 : Mit den Meeren leben 3. Rohstoffe aus dem Meer - Chancen und Risiken

Die dritte Ausgabe des „World Ocean Review“ widmet sich den metallischen und energetischen Ressourcen des Meeres und ihrer Nutzung. Er liefert Fakten über den Abbau der bekannten Öl- und Gasvorkommen unterhalb des Meeresbodens und beleuchtet die Auswirkungen auf Flora und Fauna. Er erklärt die Entstehung und Potenziale der Gashydratvorkommen an den Kontinentalrändern und liefert detaillierte Informationen über Chancen und Risiken der Nutzung mineralischer Rohstoffe: Manganknollen, Kobaltkrusten und Massivsulfide

Understanding political responsibility in corporate citizenship: towards a shared responsibility for the common good

In this article, we explore the debate on corporate citizenship and the role of business in global governance. In the debate on political corporate social responsibility it is assumed that under globalization business is taking up a greater political role. Apart from economic responsibilities firms assume political responsibilities taking up traditional governmental tasks such as regulation of business and provision of public goods. We contrast this with a subsidiarity-based approach to governance, in which firms are seen as intermediate actors who have political co-responsibilities in society endowed upon them by (inter)national governmental institutions. We argue that both approaches face conceptual and empirical problems, and do not make clear the content and scope of political corporate responsibility. Based on Iris Marion Young’s account of political responsibility we argue that corporate actors and governmental actors have a shared responsibility to tackle societal problems. Taking political corporate responsibility not only entails engaging in private action or engaging in public–private partnerships, but it also includes aiding governmental actors to remedy injustice or even create public institutions where they do not yet exist. By adding this perspective we contribute to the debate on responsibility in corporate citizenship and clarify the political role business can play in global governance.</p

“Help in a Heartbeat?”: A Systematic Evaluation of Mobile Health Applications (Apps) for Coronary Heart Disease

For patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) lifestyle changes and disease management are key aspects of treatment that could be facilitated by mobile health applications (MHA). However, the quality and functions of MHA for CHD are largely unknown, since reviews are missing. Therefore, this study assessed the general characteristics, quality, and functions of MHA for CHD. Hereby, the Google Play and Apple App stores were systematically searched using a web crawler. The general characteristics and quality of MHA were rated with the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS) by two independent raters. From 3078 identified MHA, 38 met the pre-defined criteria and were included in the assessment. Most MHA were affiliated with commercial companies (52.63%) and lacked an evidence-base. An overall average quality of MHA (M = 3.38, SD = 0.36) was found with deficiencies in information quality and engagement. The most common functions were provision of information and CHD risk score calculators. Further functions included reminders (e.g., for medication or exercises), feedback, and health management support. Most MHA (81.58%) had one or two functions and MHA with more features had mostly higher MARS ratings. In summary, this review demonstrated that a number of potentially helpful MHA for patients with CHD are commercially available. However, there is a lack of scientific evidence documenting their usability and clinical potential. Since it is difficult for patients and healthcare providers to find suitable and high-quality MHA, databases with professionally reviewed MHA are required