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pece_annotation_1474154245

Andreas_Rebmann
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They have a lovely list on their website

Financially: Securing funding during unstable economic climate. Maintaining and improving their programs that rely on international funding. Having reserves to respond to new emergencies.

Human Resources: Finding experienced and committed staff, and qualified medical staff.

Operations: Security in areas of conflict. Balancing speaking out with accessing populations. Accessing appropriate medical treatments.

pece_annotation_1472695328

erin_tuttle
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The main argument is supported primarily with a detailed description of the events surrounding the Fukushima Daiichi plant disaster on March 11th, 2011 as an example of the need for a specilized group to respond to nuclear emergencies. Schmid also supports the effectiveness of such a group by tracing the recent shift in opinion away from an accident prevention mindset to the idea that nuclear disasters are a risk in the nuclear industry and therefore plans for the effective response to future nuclear disasters must be made in order to mitigate the damage caused. Several other works addressing similar problems in risk management, such as Risk Society by Ulrich Beck, as also cited to support the main argument.

pece_annotation_1478380476

erin_tuttle
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  • Chernobyl was an unexpected disaster, however several more nuclear disasters have occurred since then. I looked into the safeguards that were changed after Chernobyl and if those had any part in mitigating other nuclear meltdowns. After the explosions several countries and international groups developed nuclear policies that attempted to prevent critical system failures as occurred during the test that caused the reactor to overheat, but many countries refused to adopt additional safeguards that may prevent future disasters.
  • The article described the various zones put into place to keep people away from the most radioactive areas around Chernobyl, I looked into the zones used and the determining factors in determining the sizes of each zone. The initial response determined a zone of 30km around the site, however as scientific understanding of radiation improved the zone was extended to 2600km. This shows the importance of an informed response to prevent further damage after a disaster.

Finally, I researched the effects of low dose radiation poisoning to better understand the medical care needed by those affected. Even low exposure doses can cause lasting damage to organs, or cause cancer and blood related illnesses through the effect of radiation on bone marrow. Those exposed would need frequent medical exams and treatment for the entirety of their lives.

pece_annotation_1473202500

erin_tuttle
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The main argument is that susceptibility to certain diseases is not only determined by biology but also social conditions, leading to a disproportionate disease rate among the poor, and minority groups without access to medical services. The author shows that addressing these social conditions leads to a decrease in disease when combining treatment and prevention plans.

pece_annotation_1479003399

erin_tuttle
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  • Throughout the article it became apparent that the individuals being interviewed were rarely prescribed medication and in some cases did not take their medication. I researched the effectiveness of epilepsy medication and severity of not treating seizures in order to better understand that specific illness.
  • The article was written using data collected in 1988. Since medical knowledge has changed dramatically since then I decided to look into the current medical situation in Turkey. Although it is challenging to find unbiased opinions it appears that even with advances in medical science, cultural traditions remain an integral part in dealing with illness in many places and needs to be understood when dealing with patients who have those beliefs.
  • A majority of the patients interviewed attribute their seizures to a traumatic moment in their past, as I was unaware that epilepsy could be triggered in such a way I looked into the causes of epilepsy. In many cases the cause cannot be identified, however there is significant evidence for epileptic fits being caused by post-traumatic stress as well as neurological trauma and even cardiac issues.

pece_annotation_1473784462

erin_tuttle
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The authors, Andrew Lakoff and Stephen Collier both study anthropology. They have written several papers together focusing on the social and cultural types of knowledge concerning health and medicine. Lakoff works at the University of Southern California and Collier is the Director of Anthropology for the New School.