Live Debate Research Articles

Attribution of environmental outcomes to climate change: Perceptions of coastal communities in the Caribbean

Attribution of environmental outcomes to climate change is a live debate in scholarly and policy circles. Non-scientific attribution by the lay public has value for enriching the discourse, engagements, and decisions on loss and damage, adaptation and mitigation, communication strategies, and the science-policy interface from local to international levels. There is a need for context-specific studies on perceived climate attribution by the lay public. Unlike the few previous studies that focused on attribution of extreme events to climate change by the lay public, the current paper assessed the key compositional and contextual factors that influence the attribution of environmental outcomes with slow onset to climate change. This study surveyed 441 households in eight small coastal communities in three Caribbean countries and applied a generalized linear regression model with a complementary log-log link to assess the relationship between compositional and contextual factors that influence perceived linkage between climate change and environmental outcome. At the bivariate level, the results showed that ethnicity, marital status, household head highest education, household income, and community of living were significant predictors of the likelihood of the perceived linkage between climate change and worsening environmental outcome. At the multivariate level, when all factors have been accounted for, we found that respondents with higher education were 160% more likely to indicate that climate change has adverse effects on environmental outcomes. Respondents with 10 or more years of experience in their present occupation were 73% more likely to suggest a linkage between climate change and worse environmental outcomes. Other strong predictors included income, ethnicity and community of residence. The perceived relationship between climate change and environmental outcomes differed systematically based on the compositional and contextual attributes of respondents. Several significant relationships at the bivariate level persisted at the multivariate level, indicating that the perceived linkages are robust and entrenched. It is concluded that there are heterogeneities in the perceived relationship between climate change and environmental outcomes based on the compositional and contextual factors of the households. Higher education and longer experience in the same occupation contribute significantly to climate attribution by the lay public.

A national evaluation of Project Cautioning And Relationship Abuse ('CARA') awareness raising workshops for first time offenders of domestic violence and abuse: protocol for a concurrent mixed-methods evaluation design.

Interventions related to the perpetration of Domestic Violence and Abuse (DVA) have gained traction over the past several years, in response to dissatisfaction by victims, an inadequate response from the criminal justice system, increased demand on police time and a lack of rehabilitative responses to the perpetration of domestic abuse. The CARA model is a conditional diversionary caution, offered by police for first time offenders of 'standard' or 'medium risk' domestic abuse, that engages perpetrators in awareness raising workshops and signposts them onto further services. Although quasi-experimental studies have indicated that CARA showed promise at reducing reoffending, the CARA model has yet to be evaluated nationally and there is no qualitative evidence related to understanding or learning about the lived experience of perpetrators and victims as they engage with the intervention. Using a concurrent pragmatic mixed methods design model we will undertake a national evaluation of CARA by triangulating quantitative data from up to nine police forces, and routine data from service providers, with qualitative data from workshop participants, victims and professional stakeholders to: (1) understand the long-term impact of CARA implementation on DVA reoffending and engagement with services and (2) explore perceptions and experiences of both delivery and receipt of CARA. We will use qualitative methodologies that draw on interpretivist and phenomenological perspectives, as well as quantitative methodologies using interrupted time series models, Poisson regression models, Geo mapping and a cost benefits analysis. Where currently the CARA model is being introduced as a national option for standard risk first-time offending, we will engage with policymakers and academics nationally in the live debate on its effectiveness and suitability during its roll-out. Ethical approval was approved by the University of Southampton on the 1 st June 2022 (Ref: ERGO ID: 71818.A1).

Right to mental integrity and neurotechnologies: implications of the extended mind thesis

The possibility of neurotechnological interference with our brain and mind raises questions about the moral rights that would protect against the (mis)use of these technologies. One such moral right that...

“My Way or No Way”: Political Polarization and Disagreement Among Immigrant Influencers and Their Followers

This article explores the online discussions between Carlos and Lizzy, two Latin American immigrant influencers in the United States with profiles on TikTok and Instagram. The dataset comprises a 90-minute live debate between them, that took place on September 25th, 2021, broadcast on Instagram and available on one of the profiles, as well as 1200 comments by 933 different viewers, received during the broadcast. The analysis relies on previous research on polarization, deliberation, and disagreement on social media platforms and it provides insights regarding the political and ideological diversity that exists among immigrant influencers and their followers. It focuses on the discursive strategies deployed by these content creators to discuss issues related to immigration reform and activism from two distinct political stances. It also provides a glimpse into topics of interest for the immigrant community as reflected by these content creators and commenting followers. The findings reflect the value of the ongoing relationship between content creators and their followers in the personal support and acceptance Carlos receives. In contrast, Lizzy is largely rejected and attacked, but a few of her arguments resonate with viewers. Comments about the debate itself are mostly negative due to the perceived low quality of the arguments, the mocking attitude of both debaters, and the need for a moderator to control the times. Comments that are critical of the debate often describe expectations of a more civil discussion and pathways to improve future debates.

Parameterization of the apparent chemical inductance of metal halide perovskite solar cells exhibiting constant-phase-element behavior

A better characterization of the rich variety of anomalous ionic-electronic mechanisms in organic-inorganic metal halide perovskite solar cells is essential to obtain a stable and physically robust interpretation of the dynamic responses obtained. Therefore, new approaches towards light intensity-induced effects understanding are intensively searched for. Among all the mechanisms whose elucidation is locked and still under live debate, the apparent inductance phenomena stand out, which are visible not only in photovoltaic devices and optoelectronic elements, but also, for instance, in electrochemical and biological systems. Usually, the negative loops in impedance spectra are modeled through ideal elements (negative capacitance or inductance) although the results show systematic deviations (constant-phase-element behavior). In most scenarios, the influence of chemical inductance dispersion is somehow neglected, that is, ideal conditions are mimicked, omitting the practical device operation. Here we reformulate the theory that captures the slow (non-electromagnetic) inductive effects in the current-voltage curves of perovskite solar cells, deciphering the microscale behavior, consisting essentially of defects associated with deep trap states, from macroscale observations and experimental measurements. The audience is potentially huge, since many authors of multidisciplinary backgrounds are genuinely interested in adequately interpreting this behavior of general character.

Debating Conservation: Developing Critical Thinking Skills in Introductory Biology Classes

Role-playing activities in the classroom promote students&rsquo; critical thinking, research, and communication skills. We present an activity where students debate a current controversy in conservation. In our case study, students debate the topic of wolf reintroduction in California. Each student is assigned a stakeholder role (<em>e.g.,</em> rancher, environmental scientist, hunter, or politician) and a position (either pro or con). First, the whole class participates in a vote on the debate topic so as to register pre-debate sentiment. Then, in the first part of the activity (75 minutes or as homework), students prepare arguments with others representing their stakeholder group by reading the primary and secondary literature and answering guided questions. In the second part of the activity (75 minutes), students participate in a live debate divided into three sections: introductory arguments, questions from the jury, and concluding arguments. The whole class then votes again to decide the winner of the debate, leading to a discussion about which factors do and do not lead to changes in understanding and opinion. The interdisciplinary nature of this activity reinforces student knowledge on ecological networks, keystone species, and natural history, as well as introduces the importance of non-scientific stakeholders in conservation. While this case study focuses on the reintroduction of wolves in California, the activity can be adapted to the reintroduction of controversial species in other regions, or used as a framework for any debatable topic in conservation biology. <em>Primary Image:</em>&nbsp;The reintroduction of the gray wolf <em>Canis lupus</em> is a controversial topic in conservation biology and environmental policy.

How to Experiment: Lessons from Economics

This symposium proposes that experiments have the potential to be used more effectively in strategy and entrepreneurship research if they leverage methodological innovations from other disciplines that have a longer tradition of using experiments. The symposium combines the perspectives of leadings experts on experiments in Economics captured on video with a live debate and commentary with management scholars with deep expertise on experiments. The management scholars participating in the live debate will ‘translate’ best practices from economics, discuss to what extent and how they can be applied to research in strategy and entrepreneurship by putting them in the context of their own work. This symposium outlines the specific opportunities to advance the theory, techniques, and variety of topics that methodologically advanced experiments can address and provides actionable insights for researchers at all stages of their career.

Engaging students in multimodal literacy practices in a university ESP context: towards understanding identity and ideology in government debates

Abstract This paper focuses on issues of multimodal literacy practices in ESP higher education settings. In particular, the research explores how students become engaged in various literacy activities aimed at enhancing their critical-thinking skills and interpretation of images. For this purpose, two datasets consisting of video clips were extracted from a larger multimodal corpus and developed for teaching applications: one involved a UK live parliament debate and the other a US House of Representatives debate. The main objective is to identify the key verbal strategies reflecting persuasive, argumentative rhetoric and the non-verbal features accompanying these verbal utterances such as prosodic stress, body/head movements, gaze, gesture. Thus, the focus of the analysis is on how different semiotic modes of communication construct meaning, especially in terms of how they reinforce the construction of identity and ideological stance. The results were systematically categorized and applied on a practical level to a teaching unit on ‘identity and ideology’.

Caregiver Involvement in MS: Duty or Disruption?

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a complex condition with numerous physical, cognitive and emotional symptoms. These may necessitate significant, permanent lifestyle changes for people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) and their caregivers and families, meaning it is important in contemporary neurological practice to consider including families and/or caregivers in the management of MS. However, existing evidence suggests that family involvement is not always beneficial; for example, it can exert either a strong positive or negative influence on the ability of PwMS to achieve optimal outcomes from their treatment and disease management. This paper, based on a live debate between neurologists and PwMS, examines the current perceptions on constructive involvement of families and caregivers in consultations for and management of MS, and reveals several areas where additional studies are warranted. Shared decision-making in MS has historically been a collaboration solely between healthcare professionals (HCPs) and PwMS, but PwMS are now more frequently being accompanied to appointments by a support person. This paper encourages HCPs to understand the dynamics between PwMS and their support person, and to individualize consultations and information accordingly. Family and caregiver involvement in the provision of care for PwMS needs to be for the benefit of, and at the discretion of, the PwMS. Support for families of PwMS, although important, may be more effectively and appropriately delivered through other channels outside of the clinical setting. Educating HCPs on the current patient experience to enable them to provide improved personalized care will ensure a mutualistic, patient-centred relationship with PwMS, which will help to optimize outcomes. Communication tools may also facilitate these interactions.

The Dialogical Self Analogy for the Godhead: Recasting the “God is a Person” Debate

May God may be understood and referred to as a “person”? This is a live debate in contemporary theological and philosophical circles. However, despite the attention this debate has received, the vital question of how to account for God’s trinitarian nature has been mostly overlooked. Due to trinitarian concerns about the unqualified use of “person” as an analogy for the Godhead, I intervene in this debate with a two-fold proposal. The first is that proponents of using a person as an analogy for the Godhead will be better served by using a psychologically informed analogy of a “self” instead. In particular, the Dialogical Self model of a person holds much promise. In what follows, I argue that the “Dialogical Self Analogy” for the Godhead is more likely to uphold God’s trinitarian nature, avoid trinitarian confusion and related problems than “person” analogies do. The primary benefit of speaking of God as a Dialogical Self is that it offers a psychologically modelled analogy for God, whilst avoiding the language of person, yet strongly taking into account God’s trinitarian nature. This has the important benefit of preserving the concept and language of “person” for the trinitarian persons (the prosopa/hypostases), and hence avoiding the linguistic, conceptual and ecumenical confusion that arises when referring to the Godhead as a person. The strength of using the model and language of a Dialogical Self as an analogy for the Godhead (instead of person) is demonstrated by showing its compatibility with Erickson’s criteria for describing the Trinity.

Social watching the 2020 presidential and vice-presidential debates: the effect of ideological homogeneity and partisan identity strength

This study presents a novel test of the effects of social watching a live campaign debate. We recruited just over 500 participants to view one of the two 2020 presidential campaign debates or the vice-presidential debate in real time via Zoom watch rooms. We experimentally manipulated the social dynamics of these Zoom watches to include either ideologically homogenous real-time chat, heterogenous chat, or no chat. We found asymmetry in the extent to which these chat manipulations exacerbated biased information processing. Participants in the homogenous chat Zoom sessions were more likely to provide negative debate performance evaluations of the out-group candidate but were no more likely to provide positive evaluations of the in-group candidate. Stronger partisans exhibited more bias in performance evaluation regardless of chat condition but, contrary to our expectations, did not engage in more chat compared to weak partisans.

Can we think psychoanalytically about transgenderism? An expanded live Zoom debate with David Bell and Avgi Saketopoulou, moderated by Rachel Blass

In Issue 5 of last year’s IJP we published a controversial discussion titled: “Can we think psychoanalytically about transgenderism?” The participants were Avgi Saketopoulou, a New York psychoanaly...

Toward audience-aware argument generation

The maturity of the computational argumentation field, demonstrated with the first live debate between a machine and a human,1 triggers a demanding question: how can we build argumentation technologies that bring people together? We believe that an important part of the answer is to include the audience’s beliefs into the process.

Connective Effervescence and Streaming Chat During Political Debates

Recent advancements in online streaming technologies have re-centered the audience as an important part of live broadcasts, including live political events. In fall 2020, each of the U.S. presidential and vice presidential debates were streamed on a number of online platforms that provided an integrated streaming chat where the public could comment in real-time alongside the live debate video. Viewers could simultaneously tune into what the candidates were saying and see what a sample of their peers thought about the candidates. This study examines large samples of comments made in social chat feeds during the livestreamed debates on the ABC News, NBC News, and Fox News Facebook pages to quantify key features associated with the quality of political discussion on these platforms. The results reveal that consistent with the quasi-anonymous, constrained nature of dynamic chat, the comments made are generally short, include a substantial degree of toxicity and insults, and differ significantly in their content across platforms. These findings underscore the importance of further study of online streaming chat as a new source of potential influence on political attitudes and behavior.

IBD 2020: Right therapy, right patient, right time - Choosing wisely: Conclusions.

IBD 2020: Right therapy, right patient, right time - Choosing wisely: Conclusions.

Orthodox Christianity and War

The subject of this article is the Orthodox Christianity’s approach to war. Christians of other denomination have developed an elaborate theory of war, so-called “Just War Theory” (JWT), which has also been accepted by non-Christians and even secular thinkers regarding the nature and justification of war. A vast literature has been produced in a dire attempt to render perfect the world by insisting on the claim that war is the act of punishment for breaking the law. The result is an epistemological ease from which everything seems evident in advance including who is right and who at fault, who is and who is not favored by God. By removing from war an essential feature – that it is a form of conflict – JWT takes away the concept of reciprocity and introduces an in advance declared inequality which enables removal of uncertainty about the war’s outcome. In Orthodox Christianity, the situation is different. With still live debate whether to persevere or abandon original Christian pacifism, for Orthodox Christianity, war is always a combination of cataclysm and temptation and far less Manichean than anything present in JWT. The aim of war is peace; but, however necessary, justice is an insufficient condition for justification. The difference between “justness” and “justification” is preserved through the uncertainty whom God, at war’s end, loves more, because both victors and vanquished remain and continue to be in His grace. Losing a war, as such, does not turn the vanquished into criminals, nor does victory give the vanquisher the right of revenge for defending oneself. The latter approach to war has significant potentialities: preserving the distinction of ius ad bellum and ius in bello, preserving reciprocity, mutual respect and trust, impossibility of incrimination of war per se, the possibility of honorable defeat, etc.

569 LAPAROSCOPIC REPAIR OF A VOLUMINOUS SYMPTOMATIC HIATAL HERNIA USING AN ABSORBABLE SYNTHETIC MESH

Abstract In symptomatic voluminous paraesophageal hiatal hernias not only a laparoscopic surgical approach, but also the use of mesh can be considered too. The use of surgical protesis in hiatal henia repair was a debated surgical topic in the last years A laparoscopic repair of a symptomatic type III hiatal hernia by plastic of the hiatus, fundoplicatio and use of an absorbable glycolic acid/trimethylene carbonate synthetic mesh is showed. Methods The patient was a 59 years old male suffering from recurrent aspiration pneumonias. Surgery was performed by a standardized tecnique in a high volume laparoscopic surgical centre. The hernia sac was removed and the plastic of the esophageal hiatus was performed. After the mesh placement a Nissen fundoplicatio was performed. No drain was placed. Results In the postoperative period a contrat-soluble swallow was performed and it resulted in a good transit witout any sign of recurrence. The patient was discharged with an appropiate oral intake. One year after surgery the patient is asymptomatic and in good conditions. Conclusion A voluminous symptomatic hiatal hernia can be successfully treated in a high-volume and long-term experienced laparoscopic surgical. The use of an absorbable, handily positionable and synthetic mesh can help to gain a lower rate of recurrence without any risk for the patients. The technical skill and all the surgical steps never are renounceable because of the presence of the mesh. Further studies with a longer-term follow-up and a international live debate are necessary. Video https://www.dropbox.com/s/384ujzm3rnoqe0a/Hiatal%20Hernia%20Dr.%20Cocozza%20ISDE%202020.mp4?dl=0

Meaning and framing: the semantic implications of psychological framing effects

ABSTRACT I use the psychological phenomenon of ‘attribute framing’ as a case study for exploring philosophical conceptions of semantics and the semantics-pragmatics divide. Attribute frames are pairs of sentences that use contradictory expressions to predicate the same property of an individual or object. Despite their equivalence, pairs of attribute frames have been observed to induce systematic variability in hearers’ responses. One explanation of such framing effects appeals to the distinct ‘reference point information’ conveyed by alternative frames. Although this information is taken to be pragmatic, a live debate in the philosophy of language concerns the extent to which pragmatic information can really be held apart from semantics. Therefore, in this article I examine whether – and how – reference point information might be thought to intrude on the semantics of an attribute frame. I describe two ways in which the information might be considered broadly semantic, due to its being directly communicated or conventional. However, I argue that the framing data in fact support a narrower conception of semantics, and a semantics-pragmatics distinction that separates standing sentence meaning from enriched communicated meaning.

Kolodny counters Wakeman, but both agree on many points

It wasn't a live debate as had been planned, with most presenters, including Sarah Wakeman, M.D., and Andrew Kolodny, M.D., presenting remotely like almost all of the speakers, with their slides and microphones, at the American College of Medical Toxicology (ACMT) opioids symposium March 12 in New York City.

“Am I audible? Are my slides visible?” – Do we need to flatten the webinar curve?

“Am I audible? Are my slides visible?” – Do we need to flatten the webinar curve?