scholarly journals Public participation in crisis policymaking. How 30,000 Dutch citizens advised their government on relaxing COVID-19 lockdown measures

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niek Mouter ◽  
Jose Ignacio Hernandez ◽  
Anatol Valerian Itten
Keyword(s):  
Public Participation ◽  
Healthcare System ◽  
Good Method ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Value Evaluation ◽  
Government Decision ◽  
Novel Method ◽  
Societal Impacts ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

AbstractFollowing the outbreak of COVID-19, governments took unprecedented measures to curb the spread of the virus. Public participation in decisions regarding (the relaxation of) these measures has been notably absent, despite being recommended in the literature. Here, as one of the exceptions, we report the results of 30,000 citizens advising the government on eight different possibilities for relaxing lockdown measures in the Netherlands. By making use of the novel method Participatory Value Evaluation (PVE), participants were asked to recommend which out of the eight options they prefer to be relaxed. Participants received information regarding the societal impacts of each relaxation option, such as the impact of the option on the healthcare system. The results of the PVE informed policymakers about people’s preferences regarding (the impacts of) the relaxation options. For instance, we established that participants assign an equal value to a reduction of 100 deaths among citizens younger than 70 years and a reduction of 168 deaths among citizens older than 70 years. We show how these preferences can be used to rank options in terms of desirability. Citizens advised to relax lockdown measures, but not to the point at which the healthcare system becomes heavily overloaded. We found wide support for prioritising the re-opening of contact professions. Conversely, participants disfavoured options to relax restrictions for specific groups of citizens as they found it important that decisions lead to “unity” and not to “division”. 80% of the participants state that PVE is a good method to let citizens participate in government decision-making on relaxing lockdown measures. Participants felt that they could express a nuanced opinion, communicate arguments, and appreciated the opportunity to evaluate relaxation options in comparison to each other while being informed about the consequences of each option. This increased their awareness of the dilemmas the government faces.

scholarly journals Interpretation of Historical Facts in Modern Italian Literature by the Example of Umberto Eco’s Novel “Baudolino”

2015 ◽  
pp. 251-256
Author(s):  
O. Yu. Mushtanova
Keyword(s):  
Italian Literature ◽  
Historical Period ◽  
Medieval History ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Ultimate Truth ◽  
The Past ◽  
Historical Figures ◽  
Italian City ◽  
Novel Method ◽  
The Government

The article is devoted to interpretation of historical facts in Umberto Eco's novel " Baudolino ". The subject of interpretation in the novel is medieval history, in particular, the reign of the emperor Frederick Barbarossa. Eco uses the typical for the historical novel method, which is the combination of facts from chronicles and fictional elements; the events are shown by the eyes of an invented character Baudolino. Emphasizing the connection between history and modernity, Eco proposes to revise the stereotypes associated with the mentioned historical period. The portraits of historical figures are borrowed from the chronicles, however in the novel they get more emotional in the perception of the protagonist, typical cliches are replaced by individuality. The opposition of italian communes to the government of Frederick also becomes a part of Baudolino's personal history. The interpretation of many events is based on legendary sources, including local tales of the italian city Alessandria, the legends of Grail and of Prester John. The legendary material fills in the gaps in medieval history. Many events (in particular, the participation of Barbarossa in the Third Crusade) correspond to the chronicles in the descriptive part, however they acquire a fictional motivation. The mystery of the emperor's death is solved in a detective key. The novel presents various doctrines elaborated in the imperial office of Frederick, their authorship is attributed to Baudolino. In the novel «Baudolino» Umberto Eco not only interprets creatively certain facts of the past, but he also practices the postmodern concept of history, according to which the past is unknowable as objective and ultimate truth and therefore it exists only in the form of a narrative. The past and the present have no fundamental difference, the history is always interpreted from the perspective of the present.

scholarly journals AIRank: Author Impact Ranking through Positions in Collaboration Networks

Complexity ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Zhang ◽  
Yan Hu ◽  
Zhaolong Ning ◽  
Amr Tolba ◽  
Elsayed Elashkar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Impact Evaluation ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Interesting Phenomenon ◽  
Scientific Impact ◽  
Academic Networks ◽  
Novel Method ◽  
Academic Information ◽  
The Impact ◽  
In Virtue Of ◽  
Scientific Collaborations

Citation is a universally acknowledged way for scientific impact evaluation. However, due to its easy manipulability, simply relying on citation cannot objectively reflect the actual impact of scholars. Instead of citation, we utilize the academic networks, in virtue of their available and abundant academic information, to evaluate the scientific impact of scholars in this paper. Through the collaboration among scholars in academic networks, we notice an interesting phenomenon that scholars in some special positions can access more kinds of information and connect researchers from different groups to promote the scientific collaborations. However, this important fact is generally ignored by the existing approaches. Motivated by the observations above, we propose the novel method AIRank to evaluate the scientific impact of scholars. Our method not only considers the impact of scholars through the mutual reinforcement process in heterogeneous academic networks, but also integrates the structural holes theory and information entropy theory to depict the benefit that scholars obtain via their positions in the network. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of AIRank in evaluating the impact of scholars more comprehensively and finding more top ranking scholars with interdisciplinary nature.

Novel Assessment Method for Support Conditions of Concrete Pavement under Traffic Loads using Distributed Optical Sensing Technology

2020 ◽  
Vol 2674 (4) ◽  
pp. 42-56
Author(s):  
Mengyuan Zeng ◽  
Difei Wu ◽  
Hongduo Zhao ◽  
Hui Chen ◽  
Zeying Bian
Keyword(s):  
Frequency Spectrum ◽  
Assessment Method ◽  
Concrete Pavement ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Moving Loads ◽  
Traffic Loads ◽  
Sensing Technology ◽  
Novel Method ◽  
Support Conditions ◽  
The Impact

Loss of support is a common concrete pavement distress that may affect pavement performance directly. Previous studies have proved that vibration-based methods have the potential for detecting loss of support in a more efficient way but this is limited by loading conditions. This paper presents a further study concerning the effects of moving loads and proposes a novel method for assessing support conditions of concrete pavement under traffic loads using distributed optical vibration sensing technology. First, finite element analysis and laboratory tests were conducted to investigate the impact of loss of support on pavement vibration induced by moving loads with reference to the frequency spectrum. The impact of loading conditions, including loading position and speed, was also studied using the same methods. The results indicate that both loss of support and loading characteristics have a considerable effect on the distribution of the frequency spectrum. It is proved that weighted frequency can be utilized for assessment of support conditions under a specific loading condition. It is suggested the loading position needs to be close to the measurement point (distance < 0.3 m) to obtain stable and reliable data for assessment of support conditions. In addition, the loading speed should be adequately fast and steady (4 to 5 m/s) to ensure the significance of the effect of loss of support. A field test was conducted in an airport, and the novel assessment method was validated by comparing it with a conventional deflection-based method. The novel method proved to be reliable for implementation in practice.

scholarly journals Endangering the Endangered: Impact of fake Covid-19 Social Media Communications in Zimbabwe

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isaac Mhute ◽  
Hugh Mangeya ◽  
Ernest Jakaza
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Human Species ◽  
The People ◽  
Media Communications ◽  
The Government ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Great Danger

The human species is in great danger of extinction due to the novel coronavirus that was first detected in China around December 2019. By March 2021, the world had witnessed over 116million cases, of which 36,223 are Zimbabwean. The disease that the coronavirus stimulates is quite fatal and has seen 2.57million lives succumbing to it, of which 1483 are Zimbabwean, by the same date. No cure has been discovered for it yet, though scientific researchers have already discovered several vaccines with varying efficacies. Employing a socio-pragmatic approach, the chapter explores the impact of fake covid-19 social media communications on efforts to minimize infections and fatalities in Zimbabwe, an already endangered country. It accomplishes this by qualitatively analyzing purposively sampled fake communications in circulation on social media as well as some of the utterances and behaviors people make in response to them. The chapter demonstrates the negative impact of the communications on international mitigating efforts and emphasizes the need for the government, media practitioners and social workers to always be watchful for such misleading communications and in every case to quickly counter their impact by availing correct information to the people.

scholarly journals The implementation of policies and the impact of handling Covid-19 originating from the World Health Organization's Point of View

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-30
Author(s):  
Pham Hoang
Keyword(s):  
Policy Implementation ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
World Health ◽  
Government Decision ◽  
The World ◽  
Response Measures ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Economic And Social Impacts

The purpose of this article is to describe the capacity and role of WHO in dealing with the spread of COVID-19 and to discuss in-depth articles at the stages of policy implementation that specifically discuss the WHO protocol that is applied in dealing with the spread of Covid-19. The implementation of the policy to handle the spread of COVID-19 considers various aspects not only health but also the economic and social impacts resulting from government decision making. In addition, response measures are implemented through the Acceleration of COVID-19 Handling task which is part of the formation of structures, structure is one of the aspects that are considered in Edward III's implementation theory besides communication, resources and disposition because the presence of a structure helps implement policies has a significant effect. on policy implementation. The support of all elements of the government, the private sector in compliance with government and WHO instructions, especially regarding social distancing and physical distancing, will have a big impact in preventing the spread of COVID-19.

scholarly journals New era of uncertainties: COVID-19 and its impact on Brazil

2020 ◽  
pp. 50-81
Author(s):  
Mark Vladimirovich Shugurov
Keyword(s):  
Economic Consequences ◽  
Public Healthcare ◽  
The Novel ◽  
New Era ◽  
Socioeconomic System ◽  
Government Aid ◽  
Relevant Topic ◽  
Employment Education ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

This article is aimed at the analysis of social and economic consequences on the novel COVID-19 in Brazil. Brazil has faced multiple problems in fighting pandemic that negatively affected millions of people around the world. The goal of this research lies in determination of the problems that were illuminated by the pandemic in Brazilian society. Analysis is conducted on the consequence of pandemic for Brazil, namely with regards to minorities that rely on the government aid, and the system of public healthcare overall. The article also indicates the mistakes made by the current authorities during pandemic, when due to lack of organization, multiple institutions could not render basic help to reduce the consequences of the chaotic situation faced by the country. As the largest country in South America, Brazil struggled the most in the region; therefore, studying the impact of COVID-19 upon the socioeconomic system of the country is a relevant topic. The article explores the official database and media materials to acquire information on the responsive measures of the government in such sectors as employment, education and healthcare. The scientific novelty consists in the comprehensive analysis of information that demonstrate the impact of pandemic upon the lives of millions of people in Brazil.

30. Parliament and Petitions

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Caygill ◽  
Anne-Marie Griffiths
Keyword(s):  
Public Participation ◽  
House Of Commons ◽  
The Public ◽  
System P ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter examines how the UK Parliament has used the e-petitions system to address some of the common criticisms about the relationship between the institution of government and the public. In May 2014, the House of Commons agreed to establish a ‘collaborative’ e-petitions system which would enable the public to petition the House of Commons and to call for action from the government. A Petitions Committee was created on 20 July 2015, and the new e-petitions site was launched the following day. The chapter first provides an overview of the changing nature of participation with Parliament, especially voting in elections, before discussing contemporary developments in petitioning Parliament. In particular, it considers public (paper) petitions and compares it to the e-petitions system. It also analyses the impact of e-petitions on Parliament and public participation and concludes with an assessment of challenges facing the e-petitions system.

Three-Phase Magnitude Detection Based on Decoupling Positive and Negative Sequences of Double D-Q Transformation

2013 ◽  
Vol 765-767 ◽  
pp. 2101-2104
Author(s):  
Xiao Ying Zhang ◽  
Zheng Jiang ◽  
Zhong Jian Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Time Lapse ◽  
Fundamental Wave ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Negative Sequence ◽  
Synchronous Reference Frame ◽  
Three Phase ◽  
Harmonic Pollution ◽  
Sequence Components ◽  
Novel Method ◽  
The Impact

This paper introduces T/4 time-lapse elimination detection, a novel method of detecting three-phase magnitude based on double d-q synchronous reference frame, functioning in decoupling positive and negative sequences of fundamental wave. When the voltage (or current) fundamental positive and negative sequence components are separated, their magnitudes can be detected respectively, so it is effective to restrain the impact on detection precision from negative sequence component. To verify the performance of this novel method, simulation experiments like transient response under normal grid condition and dynamic response under three-phase unbalance with harmonic pollution condition is finished. The results indicate that the novel method obtains a high precision of measure and a better dynamic property and has advantages on preventing harmonic propagation compared with T/16 time-lapse elimination detection method. Thus it can be wildly applied in three-phase power electronic devices.

Experimental Investigation on the Impact of Distorted Signal on Synthetic Jet

2016 ◽  
Vol 831 ◽  
pp. 104-111
Author(s):  
Paweł Gil
Keyword(s):  
Input Signal ◽  
Average Velocity ◽  
Fluid Velocity ◽  
Synthetic Jet ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Synthetic Jet Actuator ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Novel Method ◽  
Conventional Cooling ◽  
The Impact

Effective techniques for cooling electronic devices must deal with increasing heat loads associated with higher heat flux density. Many conventional cooling techniques like fan are reaching the limits of their effectiveness and shape. The novel method of heat transfer enhancement is synthetic jet. In this paper experimental results are presented. Synthetic jet actuator consist of STX 6.5 inch speaker installed in metacrylate chamber with circular orifice. The actuator was powered with signal from amplifier. The signal consist of basic sinusoidal function and THD noise added with some amplitude. The root mean square of signal voltage was constant 4V. The properties of synthetic jet were measured using constant temperature thermo-anemometer. Instantaneous velocity of air was measured in the orifice center and compared with input signal. Additional RMS and average velocity of air were measured. Measurement revealed that input signal of synthetic jet generator can contain some noise without effect on RMS and average velocity of air in the orifice. The THD less than 1% does not cause negative effect on synthetic jet fluid velocity.

The Optimization of Sintering Process for Alumina Extraction from Fly Ash

2014 ◽  
Vol 878 ◽  
pp. 264-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao Huan Wang ◽  
Bao Dong Wang ◽  
Yong Feng Xiao ◽  
Xiao Ting Liu ◽  
Li Jun Zhao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Response Surface Methodology ◽  
Fly Ash ◽  
Six Sigma ◽  
Sintering Temperature ◽  
High Alumina ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Sintering Process ◽  
Novel Method ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Six Sigma Approach

The objective of paper is to optimize the variables of the sintering process with the six sigma philosophy. The impact of sintering temperature, Ca ratio, Na ratio and reaction time on the alumina reaching rate were primarily studied. In the research, a novel method was adopted to efficiently recover alumina and silica from high-alumina fly ash, and the response surface methodology of six sigma approach was also implemented to analysis the results obtained by the experiments. There is great significance to optimize sintering process for the industrialization of the novel method. Amount of energy consumption will be reduced in the production.

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