P eople with asthma and COPD are considered to be at risk for complications of influenza. This disease has been responsible for a major increase in morbidity and mortality during epidemic periods, especially in such patients. As early as 1848, the founder of modern concepts of medical surveillance, William Farr, estimated that 41% of the population of London died due to bronchitis or pneumonia....

I nterest in the Arctic has grown significantly in recent years. The Arctic environment is unique and highly sensitive to disturbances. Temperatures have already risen twice as quickly in the Arctic as elsewhere on Earth. Glaciers and sea ice are melting more extensively than in the past. This is already putting a great strain on communities and ecosystems. As ice withdraws, technological advan...

Our charge is to consider the causes of lack of insurance coverage for vulnerable populations. This is a daunting task for many reasons-not least because there are as many kinds of vulnerability as there are bad things that happen to human bodies or to human life. Although the term " vulnerable population " conjures images of a discrete and insular minority, every person's vulnerability to illn...

E arth’s average surface temperature is rising unusually fast. This global warming process is deemed by international scientific assessment to be predominantly due to human economic activities (1). Recent research indicates that, globally, the rate of emission of greenhouse gases is increasing (2), as is the rise in sea level and the loss of summer Arctic sea ice (3). Currently, the warming tre...

In this paper we draw attention to the challenges of managing software projects for vulnerable populations, i.e., people potentially exposed to harm or not capable of protecting their own interests. The focus on human aspects, and particularly, the inclusion of humancentered approaches, has been a popular topic in the software engineering community. We argue, however, that current literature pr...

[ 411 ] Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal Vol. 14, No. 4, 411–425 © 2004 by the National Reference Center for Bioethics Literature Produced at the National Reference Center for Bioethics Literature, Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown University, Box 571212, Washington, DC 20057-1212. The Center operates on a contract with the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health. A...

This study provided a national profile of health insurance of certain vulnerable populations including children, racial/ethnic minorities, low-income families, non-metropolitan statistical area (MSA) residents, and those with poor health status. The study shows an increase in the proportion of uninsured nonelderly population. While public insurance helped reduce the employment- and health-relat...