Mark Harrison

Bio: Mark Harrison is an academic researcher from University of London. The author has contributed to research in topics: World War II & Population. The author has an hindex of 53, co-authored 454 publications receiving 10681 citations. Previous affiliations of Mark Harrison include Colorado State University & University of Birmingham.

A Global Perspective: Reframing the History of Health, Medicine, and Disease.

Abstract: The emergence of global history has been one of the more notable features of academic history over the past three decades. Although historians of disease were among the pioneers of one of its earlier incarnations—world history—the recent “global turn” has made relatively little impact on histories of health, disease, and medicine. Most continue to be framed by familiar entities such as the colony or nation-state or are confined to particular medical “traditions.” This article aims to show what can be gained from taking a broader perspective. Its purpose is not to replace other ways of seeing or to write a new “grand narrative” but to show how transnational and transimperial approaches are vital to understanding some of the key issues with which historians of health, disease, and medicine are concerned. Moving on from an analysis of earlier periods of integration, the article offers some reflections on our own era of globalization and on the emerging field of global health.

Overview of the Dust and Biomass-burning Experiment and African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis Special Observing Period-0

Abstract: The African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis (AMMA) is a major international campaign investigating far-reaching aspects of the African monsoon, climate and the hydrological cycle. A special observing period was established for the dry season (SOP0) with a focus on aerosol and radiation measurements. SOP0 took place during January and February 2006 and involved several ground-based measurement sites across west Africa. These were augmented by aircraft measurements made by the Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements (FAAM) aircraft during the Dust and Biomass-burning Experiment (DABEX), measurements from an ultralight aircraft, and dedicated modeling efforts. We provide an overview of these measurement and modeling studies together with an analysis of the meteorological conditions that determined the aerosol transport and link the results together to provide a balanced synthesis. The biomass burning aerosol was significantly more absorbing than that measured in other areas and, unlike industrial areas, the ratio of excess carbon monoxide to organic carbon was invariant, which may be owing to interaction between the organic carbon and mineral dust aerosol. The mineral dust aerosol in situ filter measurements close to Niamey reveals very little absorption, while other measurements and remote sensing inversions suggest significantly more absorption. The influence of both mineral dust and biomass burning aerosol on the radiation budget is significant throughout the period, implying that meteorological models should include their radiative effects for accurate weather forecasts and climate simulations. Generally, the operational meteorological models that simulate the production and transport of mineral dust show skill at lead times of 5 days or more. Climate models that need to accurately simulate the vertical profiles of both anthropogenic and natural aerosols to accurately represent the direct and indirect effects of aerosols appear to do a reasonable job, although the magnitude of the aerosol scattering is strongly dependent upon the emission data set.

Valuing the future: the social discount rate in cost benefit analysis

Abstract: In August 2007, the Office of Best Practice Regulation (then part of the Productivity Commission) published its Best Practice Regulation Handbook, containing guidelines including use of a social discount rate of 7 percent real, with sensitivity testing over the range of 3 to 11 per cent (OBPR 2007, pp 129-132). This Visiting Researcher Paper was initiated, as foreshadowed in the Handbook, to examine further the evidence on the parameters influencing the choice of discount rate. It was prepared by Dr Mark Harrison when a visiting researcher at the Commission. The paper reviews conflicting views on the issues influencing discount rate selection, and examines recent evidence of possible market benchmarks for discount rate derivation.

Resistance and adaptation to food antimicrobials, sanitizers, and other process controls

Abstract: ost antimicrobials used in food manufacture have been in usefor about 50 to 100 years. A few antimicrobials, e.g., sulfites andnitrites, have been in use for an even longer period of time.Similarly, sanitizing agents, used to reduce microorganisms on process-ing equipment, have been in use for nearly 100 years. Concern has beenrecently raised, however, about the potential for target pathogenicmicroorganisms to develop resistance to these compounds.

Planetary boundaries: Guiding human development on a changing planet

Abstract: The planetary boundaries framework defines a safe operating space for humanity based on the intrinsic biophysical processes that regulate the stability of the Earth system. Here, we revise and update the planetary boundary framework, with a focus on the underpinning biophysical science, based on targeted input from expert research communities and on more general scientific advances over the past 5 years. Several of the boundaries now have a two-tier approach, reflecting the importance of cross-scale interactions and the regional-level heterogeneity of the processes that underpin the boundaries. Two core boundaries—climate change and biosphere integrity—have been identified, each of which has the potential on its own to drive the Earth system into a new state should they be substantially and persistently transgressed.

Medscape

Abstract: Secret History: Return of the Black Death Channel 4, 7-8pm In 1348 the Black Death swept through London, killing people within days of the appearance of their first symptoms. Exactly how many died, and why, has long been a mystery. This Secret History documentary follows experts as they pick through the evidence and reveal why the plague killed on such a scale. And they ask, what might be coming next?

Thinking fast and slow.

Abstract: In 1974 an article appeared in Science magazine with the dry-sounding title “Judgment Under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases” by a pair of psychologists who were not well known outside their discipline of decision theory. In it Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman introduced the world to Prospect Theory, which mapped out how humans actually behave when faced with decisions about gains and losses, in contrast to how economists assumed that people behave. Prospect Theory turned Economics on its head by demonstrating through a series of ingenious experiments that people are much more concerned with losses than they are with gains, and that framing a choice from one perspective or the other will result in decisions that are exactly the opposite of each other, even if the outcomes are monetarily the same. Prospect Theory led cognitive psychology in a new direction that began to uncover other human biases in thinking that are probably not learned but are part of our brain’s wiring.

Economics of Information

Abstract: The author systematically examines one of the important issues of information — establishing the market price. He introduces the concept of «search» — where a buyer wanting to get a better price, is forced to question sellers. The article deals with various aspects of finding the necessary information.