We describe Castalia, a proposed mission to rendezvous with a Main Belt Comet (MBC), 133P/Elst-Pizarro. MBCs are a recently discovered population of apparently icy bodies within the main asteroid ...belt between Mars and Jupiter, which may represent the remnants of the population which supplied the early Earth with water. Castalia will perform the first exploration of this population by characterising 133P in detail, solving the puzzle of the MBC’s activity, and making the first in situ measurements of water in the asteroid belt. In many ways a successor to ESA’s highly successful Rosetta mission, Castalia will allow direct comparison between very different classes of comet, including measuring critical isotope ratios, plasma and dust properties. It will also feature the first radar system to visit a minor body, mapping the ice in the interior. Castalia was proposed, in slightly different versions, to the ESA M4 and M5 calls within the Cosmic Vision programme. We describe the science motivation for the mission, the measurements required to achieve the scientific goals, and the proposed instrument payload and spacecraft to achieve these.
We describe Castalia, a proposed mission to rendezvous with a Main Belt Comet (MBC), 133P/Elst-Pizarro. MBCs are a recently discovered population of apparently icy bodies within the main asteroid ...belt between Mars and Jupiter, which may represent the remnants of the population which supplied the early Earth with water. Castalia will perform the first exploration of this population by characterising 133P in detail, solving the puzzle of the MBC's activity, and making the first in situ measurements of water in the asteroid belt. In many ways a successor to ESA's highly successful Rosetta mission, Castalia will allow direct comparison between very different classes of comet, including measuring critical isotope ratios, plasma and dust properties. It will also feature the first radar system to visit a minor body, mapping the ice in the interior. Castalia was proposed, in slightly different versions, to the ESA M4 and M5 calls within the Cosmic Vision programme. We describe the science motivation for the mission, the measurements required to achieve the scientific goals, and the proposed instrument payload and spacecraft to achieve these.
AbstractObjectiveTo estimate changes in life expectancy in 2010-18 and during the covid-19 pandemic in 2020 across population groups in the United States and to compare outcomes with peer ...nations.DesignSimulations of provisional mortality data.SettingUS and 16 other high income countries in 2010-18 and 2020, by sex, including an analysis of US outcomes by race and ethnicity.PopulationData for the US and for 16 other high income countries from the National Center for Health Statistics and the Human Mortality Database, respectively.Main outcome measuresLife expectancy at birth, and at ages 25 and 65, by sex, and, in the US only, by race and ethnicity. Analysis excluded 2019 because life table data were not available for many peer countries. Life expectancy in 2020 was estimated by simulating life tables from estimated age specific mortality rates in 2020 and allowing for 10% random error. Estimates for 2020 are reported as medians with fifth and 95th centiles.ResultsBetween 2010 and 2018, the gap in life expectancy between the US and the peer country average increased from 1.88 years (78.66 v 80.54 years, respectively) to 3.05 years (78.74 v 81.78 years). Between 2018 and 2020, life expectancy in the US decreased by 1.87 years (to 76.87 years), 8.5 times the average decrease in peer countries (0.22 years), widening the gap to 4.69 years. Life expectancy in the US decreased disproportionately among racial and ethnic minority groups between 2018 and 2020, declining by 3.88, 3.25, and 1.36 years in Hispanic, non-Hispanic Black, and non-Hispanic White populations, respectively. In Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black populations, reductions in life expectancy were 18 and 15 times the average in peer countries, respectively. Progress since 2010 in reducing the gap in life expectancy in the US between Black and White people was erased in 2018-20; life expectancy in Black men reached its lowest level since 1998 (67.73 years), and the longstanding Hispanic life expectancy advantage almost disappeared.ConclusionsThe US had a much larger decrease in life expectancy between 2018 and 2020 than other high income nations, with pronounced losses among the Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black populations. A longstanding and widening US health disadvantage, high death rates in 2020, and continued inequitable effects on racial and ethnic minority groups are likely the products of longstanding policy choices and systemic racism.
Abstract
We
estimated changes in life expectancy between 2019 and 2021 in the United States (in the total population and separately for 5 racial/ethnic groups) and 20 high-income peer countries. For ...each country’s total population, we decomposed the 2019–2020 and 2020–2021 changes in life expectancy by age. For US populations, we also decomposed the life expectancy changes by age and number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) deaths. Decreases in US life expectancy in 2020 (1.86 years) and 2021 (0.55 years) exceeded mean changes in peer countries (a 0.39-year decrease and a 0.23-year increase, respectively) and disproportionately involved COVID-19 deaths in midlife. In 2020, Native American, Hispanic, Black, and Asian-American populations experienced larger decreases in life expectancy and greater losses in midlife than did the White population. In 2021, the White population experienced the largest decrease in US life expectancy, although life expectancy in the Native American and Black populations remained much lower. US losses during the pandemic were more severe than in peer countries and disproportionately involved young and middle-aged adults, especially adults of this age in racialized populations. The mortality consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic deepened a US disadvantage in longevity that has been growing for decades and exacerbated long-standing racial inequities in US mortality.
Abstract
Objectives
Since the 1980s, life expectancy at birth (e0) in the United States has fallen steadily behind that of other high-income countries, widening the U.S. e0 disadvantage. We estimate ...how that disadvantage was affected by high mortality rates in 2020, the first full year of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.
Methods
We contrast male and female e0 in the United States and 18 peer countries for years 1980, 1995, 2010, 2019, and 2020. Using Arriaga decomposition, we show how differences in age-specific death rates have contributed to U.S. e0 disadvantages.
Results
In 2020, U.S. male and female e0 changed by −2.33 (−2.50, −2.15) and −1.69 (−1.85, −1.53) years, respectively, whereas corresponding changes in peer countries averaged −0.67 (−0.82, −0.51) and −0.50 (−0.65, −0.35) years, respectively. This accelerated a longstanding and widening U.S. e0 disadvantage relative to its peers, which increased from 3.49 to 5.15 years in males and from 2.78 to 3.97 years in females between 2019 and 2020. Whereas deaths before age 65 accounted for 55% and 40% of declines in U.S. male and female life expectancy, respectively, they accounted for only 24% and 11% of the respective declines in peer countries.
Discussion
U.S. life expectancy declines in 2020 were larger than in peer countries and involved deaths across a broader age range, particularly among young and middle-aged adults. Both the longstanding U.S. e0 disadvantage and acute losses of life in 2020 signal the need for systemic policy changes in the United States.
Prior studies reported that US life expectancy decreased considerably in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, with estimates suggesting that the decreases were much larger among Hispanic and ...non-Hispanic Black populations than non-Hispanic White populations. Studies based on provisional data suggested that other high-income countries did not experience the large decrease in life expectancy observed in the US; this study sought to confirm these findings according to official death counts and to broaden the pool of comparison countries.
To calculate changes in US life expectancy between 2019 and 2020 by sex, race, and ethnicity and to compare those outcomes with changes in other high-income countries.
This cross-sectional study involved a simulation of life tables based on national death and population counts for the US and 21 other high-income countries in 2019 and 2020, by sex, including an analysis of US outcomes by race and ethnicity. Data were analyzed in January 2022.
Official death counts from the US and 21 peer countries.
Life expectancy at birth and credible range (CR) based on 10% uncertainty.
Between 2019 and 2020, US life expectancy decreased by a mean of 1.87 years (CR, 1.70-2.03 years), with much larger decreases occurring in the Hispanic (3.70 years; CR, 3.53-3.87 years) and non-Hispanic Black (3.22 years; CR, 3.03-3.40 years) populations than in the non-Hispanic White population (1.38 years; CR, 1.21-1.54 years). The mean decrease in life expectancy among peer countries was 0.58 years (CR, 0.42-0.73 year) across all 21 countries. No peer country experienced decreases as large as those seen in the US.
Official death counts confirm that US life expectancy decreased between 2019 and 2020 on a scale not seen in 21 peer countries, substantially widening the preexisting gap in life expectancy between the US and peer countries. The decrease in US life expectancy was experienced disproportionately by Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black populations, consistent with a larger history of racial and ethnic health inequities resulting from policies of exclusion and systemic racism. Policies to address the systemic causes of the US health disadvantage relative to peer countries and persistent racial and ethnic inequities are essential.
Flash floods are caused by intense rainfall events and represent an insufficiently understood phenomenon in Germany. As a result of higher precipitation intensities, flash floods might occur more ...frequently in future. In combination with changing land use patterns and urbanisation, damage mitigation, insurance and risk management in flash-flood-prone regions are becoming increasingly important. However, a better understanding of damage caused by flash floods requires ex post collection of relevant but yet sparsely available information for research. At the end of May 2016, very high and concentrated rainfall intensities led to severe flash floods in several southern German municipalities. The small town of Braunsbach stood as a prime example of the devastating potential of such events. Eight to ten days after the flash flood event, damage assessment and data collection were conducted in Braunsbach by investigating all affected buildings and their surroundings. To record and store the data on site, the open-source software bundle KoBoCollect was used as an efficient and easy way to gather information. Since the damage driving factors of flash floods are expected to differ from those of riverine flooding, a post-hoc data analysis was performed, aiming to identify the influence of flood processes and building attributes on damage grades, which reflect the extent of structural damage. Data analyses include the application of random forest, a random general linear model and multinomial logistic regression as well as the construction of a local impact map to reveal influences on the damage grades. Further, a Spearman's Rho correlation matrix was calculated. The results reveal that the damage driving factors of flash floods differ from those of riverine floods to a certain extent. The exposition of a building in flow direction shows an especially strong correlation with the damage grade and has a high predictive power within the constructed damage models. Additionally, the results suggest that building materials as well as various building aspects, such as the existence of a shop window and the surroundings, might have an effect on the resulting damage. To verify and confirm the outcomes as well as to support future mitigation strategies, risk management and planning, more comprehensive and systematic data collection is necessary.
Reimagining Children’s Rights in the US Barnert, Elizabeth; Wright, Joseph; Choi, Charlene ...
JAMA pediatrics,
12/2022, Letnik:
176, Številka:
12
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
IMPORTANCE: The US faces a pivotal moment of opportunity and risk regarding issues affecting children (aged 0-17 years). Although the US remains the only United Nations member state to not have ...ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), a child rights framework is essential for child health professionals seeking to advance many issues affecting children in the US. The Reimagining Children’s Rights project (2020-2021) conducted an in-depth environmental scan of relevant literature and policy analysis using the Three Horizons design process to assess strategies that could advance the rights and well-being of children in the US. The project was overseen by a steering committee and informed by an advisory committee composed of youth leaders and experts in children’s rights, advocacy, health, law, and a range of child-specific issues (eg, youth justice, early childhood development), who provided expert input on strategic considerations for advancing children’s rights. OBSERVATIONS: Seven findings about advancing children’s rights in the US are notable, all reflecting current gaps and opportunities for using a whole-child rights framework in the US, even without formal adoption of the CRC. Actionable strategies, tactics, and tools to leverage sustainable change in the multitude of issue areas can advance the current state of children’s rights. High-potential strategies for catalyzing advancement of children’s rights include youth activism, innovations in governance and accountability, legislative action, impact litigation, place-based initiatives, education and public awareness, alignment with other children’s movements, and research. The child rights framework is unifying and adaptive to future unforeseen challenges. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Children’s rights provide a powerful, synergistic framework for child health professionals—in partnership with youth and other leaders—to increase equity and protect the rights and well-being of all children in the US.
Islam and Popular Culture van Nieuwkerk, Karin; LeVine, Mark; Stokes, Martin
MECW: The Middle East in the Contemporary World,
04/2016
eBook, Book
Popular culture serves as a fresh and revealing window on contemporary developments in the Muslim world because it is a site where many important and controversial issues are explored and debated. ...Aesthetic expression has become intertwined with politics and religion due to the uprisings of the “Arab Spring," while, at the same time, Islamist authorities are showing increasingly accommodating and populist attitudes toward popular culture. Not simply a “westernizing" or “secularizing" force, as some have asserted, popular culture now plays a growing role in defining what it means to be Muslim. With well-structured chapters that explain key concepts clearly, Islam and Popular Culture addresses new trends and developments that merge popular arts and Islam. Its eighteen case studies by eminent scholars cover a wide range of topics, such as lifestyle, dress, revolutionary street theater, graffiti, popular music, poetry, television drama, visual culture, and dance throughout the Muslim world from Indonesia, Africa, and the Middle East to Europe. The first comprehensive overview of this important subject, Islam and Popular Culture offers essential new ways of understanding the diverse religious discourses and pious ethics expressed in popular art productions, the cultural politics of states and movements, and the global flows of popular culture in the Muslim world.
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