The Role of Proactive Adaptation in International Climate Change Mitigation Agreements

This paper investigates the role of proactive adaptation in international mitigation coalition formation. Adaptation is introduced into a three stage cartel game of coalition formation. We analytically derive the optimal level of mitigation and proactive adaptation for the singletons and coalition members. We introduce the AD-STACO model which is constructed based on the STACO model, which is an applied three-stage cartel formation model with 12 heterogenous regions. Simulating all possible coalitions (4084) and checking for internal and external stability, we investigate how different levels of proactive adaptation will affect the payoffs in Grand coalition and the incentives to freeride. We examine which stable coalitions are found with different levels of proactive adaptation and whether regions can gain from overadaptation in the best performing stable coalition. We find that though payoffs increase in the Grand coalition with lower adaptation, incentives to leave increase. Coalition members can increase their payoffs through overadaptation.N/A

Initial impacts of global risk mitigation measures taken during the combatting of the COVID-19 pandemic

This paper presents an analysis of risk mitigation measures taken by countries around the world facing the current COVID-19 outbreak. In light of the current pandemic the authors collated and clustered (using harmonised terminology) the risk mitigation measures taken around the globe in the combat to contain, and since March 11 2020, to limiting the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus known to cause the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This overview gathers lessons learnt, provides an update on the current knowledge for authorities, sectors and first responders on the effectiveness and may allow enhanced prevention, preparedness and response for future outbreaks. Various measures such as mobility restrictions, physical distancing, hygienic measures, socio economic restrictions, communication and international support mechanisms have been clustered and are reviewed in terms of the nature of the actions taken and their qualitative early-perceived impact. At the time of writing, it is still too premature to express the quantitative effectiveness of each risk mitigation cluster, but it seems that the best mitigation results are reported when applying a combination of voluntary and enforceable measures.JRC.E.7-Knowledge for Security and Migratio

Emerging Church and Seventh-day Adventist Spirituality

Postmodernism challenges the church. The complexity of late 20th and early 21st century American evangelicalism was the environment for fresh Emerging Church conversations. Interest in Americanized Church Growth was waning, and church attendance was continuing to decline in spite of charismatic renewal. There was increasing frustration with the evangelistic ineffectiveness of the mega-church seeker models in reaching postmoderns, together with the growing realization that there were alternatives to inherited Constantinian models of church. It is a complex conversation. Some, who are faithful to biblical authority, doctrine and the eternal gospel of Jesus Christ, have sought to keep the focus on being both a missional and missionary movement. This article does not simply list what is right or wrong with Emerging Church, nor confine discussion to certain practices. It examines how Adventists have assessed this movement, and, in reflecting the author’s academic, professional and personal journey of ministry, it represents an Adventist response

Experimental determination of the effective elastic constants of thin perforated plates

Thesis (MEng)--Stellenbosch University.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: see item for full textAFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: sien item vir volteks

The factor structure of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression scale in a South African peri-urban settlement

The factor structure of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression scale (EPDS) and similar instruments have received little attention in the literature. The researchers set out to investigate the construct validity and reliability of the EPDS amongst impoverished South African women. The EPDS was translated into isiXhosa (using Brislin's back translation method) and administered by trained interviewers to 147 women in Khayelitsha, South Africa. Responses were subjected to maximum likelihood confirmatory factor analysis. A single factor structure was found, consistent with the theory on which the EPDS was based. Internal consistency was satisfactory (a =0.89)

Clinical effectiveness of pharmacy-led versus conventionally delivered antiviral treatment for hepatitis C in patients receiving opioid substitution therapy:a study protocol for a pragmatic cluster randomised trial

INTRODUCTION: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection affects 0.7% of the general population, and up to 40% of people prescribed opioid substitution therapy (OST) in Scotland. In conventional care, less than 10% of OST users are tested for HCV and less than 25% of these initiate treatment. Community pharmacists see this group frequently to provide OST supervision. This study examines whether a pharmacist-led 'test & treat' pathway increases cure rates for HCV. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This protocol describes a cluster-randomised trial where 60 community pharmacies provide either conventional or pharmacy-led care. All pharmacies offer dried blood spot testing (DBST) for HCV. Participants have attended the pharmacy for OST for 3 months; are positive for HCV genotype 1 or 3; are not co-infected with HIV and/or hepatitis B; have no decompensated liver disease; are not pregnant. For conventional care, pharmacists refer HCV-positive participants to a local centre for assessment. In the pharmacy-led arm, pharmacists assess participants themselves in the pharmacy. Drug prescribing is by nurse prescribers (conventional arm) or pharmacist prescribers (pharmacy-led arm). Treatment in both arms is delivered as daily modified directly observed therapy in a pharmacy. Primary trial outcome is number of sustained virological responses at 12 weeks after treatment completion. Secondary trial outcomes are number of tests taken; treatment uptake; completion; adherence; re-infection. An economic evaluation will assess potential cost-effectiveness. Qualitative research interviews with clients and health professionals assess acceptability of a pharmacist-led pathway. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This protocol has been ethically approved by the East of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 2 (15/ES/0086) and complies with the Declaration of Helsinki and principles of Good Clinical Practice. Caldicott guardian approval was given on 16 December 2016 to allow NHS Tayside to pass information to the cluster community pharmacies about the HCV test status of patients that they are seeing to provide OST supervision. NHS R&D approvals have been obtained from each health board taking part in the study. Informed consent is obtained before study enrolment and only anonymised data are stored in a secured database, enabling an audit trail. Results will be submitted to international peer-reviewed journals and presented at international conferences. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT02706223; Pre-results

Pre-operative Planning and Intra-operative Guidance for Shoulder Replacement Surgery

Shoulder joint replacement, or arthroplasty, is indicated in cases where arthritis or trauma has resulted in severe joint damage that in turn causes increased pain and decreased function. However, shoulder arthroplasty is less successful than hip and knee replacement, mostly due to the complexity of the shoulder joint and the resultant complexity of the replacement operation. In this paper we present a complete visualization-oriented pre-operative planning and intra-operative guidance approach for shoulder joint replacement. Our system assists the surgeon by allowing a virtual arthroplasty procedure whilst giving feedback, primarily via patient- and procedure-specific joint range of motion (ROM) simulation and visualization. After a successful planning, our system automatically generates a 3D model of a patient-specific mechanical guidance device that is then produced by a rapid prototyping machine and can be used during the operation. In this way, a computer-based guidance system is not required in the operating room

Towards a new way of measuring service delivery in Gauteng : calculating a fortunate index

We live in a society where government organisations must provide some of the needs of communities. If the needs of a community are not met, they may feel unhappy and negative towards government organisations. Such feelings may motivate a society towards criminal tendencies. If government organisations can measure how fortunate a community is in terms of goods and services delivered to them they can manage and apply their financial resources to benefit the community. The purpose of this study is to develop a methodology for measuring how fortunate a community is in terms of what they perceive as important against what they receive from government. The perceptions of what respondents consider important were determined based on a list of predefined goods and services. The best methodology to calculate a fortunate index (FI) was identified and evaluated using various statistical methods. The FI for the Census 2001 data was then compared with that of the Census 2011 data to determine if government had improved on their service delivery. This research focuses on the methodology of developing a FI, and thus only a limited sample size was used to establish what people perceive as being fortunate. To our knowledge a similar methodology has not been developed for South Africa. The FI proposes a new innovative way to determine if government provides the needs of a community.http://www.sajg.org.za/index.php/sajgam2016Centre for Geoinformation ScienceGeography, Geoinformatics and Meteorolog