Ethical Values Reassessed: Rethinking the Covid19 Pandemic First Triage Guidelines

2021 ◽  
Vol 66 (Special Issue) ◽  
pp. 89-89
Author(s):  
Sabine Hauser ◽  
◽  
Rouven Porz ◽  
Maria Aluaș ◽  
◽  
...  

"In March 2020, many countries in commissions and medical societies moved very quickly to draft fair and transparent triage guidelines; this in order to plan ahead for possible resource bottlenecks in the treatment of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units. There are a lot of consciously chosen (but also less reflected) ethical values in these guidelines. Our presentation compares the values of eight of such guidelines, but first shows how to read such values in the first place. Many health professionals are hardly aware of the explicit presentation of ethical-philosophical values. From a methodological point of view, this presentation is based on a hermeneutic-ethical approach. The guidelines are interpreted, an interpretation aid is developed, and the values of the guidelines are reconsidered in comparison. On a meta-level, we could identify different types of values, besides medical and ethical values, the guidelines were also filled with procedural, structural and legal-political values. On a content level, the unreflective handling of the value of autonomy, which often competes with the value of public health, is particularly evident. This competition is little reflected. Another point of divergence between the guidelines is the degree of precision or the difference between long-term and short-term medical prognosis. We believe that with our analysis we can contribute to making value discussions in health care more open and explicit. We would like to present these conclusions for discussion at this year’s EACME conference in Cluj. "

2012 ◽  
Vol 20 (01) ◽  
pp. 109-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
MICHELE L. JOYNER

The increase in antibiotic resistance continues to pose a major public health risk leading to a more intense focus on ways to limit and even reduce this threat. One such effort is the push for twenty new classes of antibiotics by the year 2020. Most of the current antibiotics used today are derivations of antibiotics first introduced forty to fifty years ago. In this paper, we develop mathematical models to simulate the difference between implementing a next generation antibiotic versus a new class antibiotic within a hospital setting. Using these models, we simulate the short term and long term effects of using the new antibiotic to combat existing levels of antimicrobial resistance. In addition to analyzing the difference in antibiotic classes, we also analyze the effects of the method of administration of the new antibiotic. Simulations suggest a need in the long term for the development of new classes of antibiotics administered in a very structured, targeted manner.


2014 ◽  
Vol 960-961 ◽  
pp. 1562-1566 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teng Yu Ge ◽  
Bu Han Zhang ◽  
Jun Li Wu ◽  
Bing Jie Jin ◽  
Shuang Zhao ◽  
...  

Microgrid can be applied in different locations, relative to traditional power technology. It can improve the reliability of users of electricity and power system operation. Distributed power in microgrid needs real-time and multi-objective optimization management. This paper discusses functions and structure of microgrid energy management system(MGEMS) when connected with the main grid. Problems in long-term and short-term energy management of microgrid are discussed. From the point of view of the software platform, the system structure of MGEMS software are proposed. On this basis, this paper discusses the way to construct modules of MGEMS and their functions.


Author(s):  
Jorge Gomes ◽  
Mário José Batista Romão

Healthcare organisations must improve their business practices and internal procedures in order to meet the increasing demands of health professionals and the public in general for better information. Hospitals have adopted a patient-centred care approach and have invested massively in information systems and technology (IS/IT), in the hope that these investments will improve medical care and that they will meet patient demands. From the point of view of public service, the focus of healthcare system is the patient, and therefore any intervention should be based on their needs and expectations. It has become more and more important that investments in information systems and technology (IS/IT) support not only short-term objectives, but also long-term benefits, in order to provide a sustainable service for organisations, professionals and users. The main objective of this research is to study how organisational maturity, enhanced by IS/IT investments and project management best practices, leads to successful projects in healthcare organisations.


Author(s):  
María Victoria Carrillo-Durán ◽  
Juan Luis Tato-Jiménez

This chapter aims to clarify the role of social networking sites (SNSs) such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn in building the reputation of enterprises. SNSs have a vast potential in the digital environment to build reputation and thus a long-term competitive advantage for companies. The chapter opts for a literature review with which to discuss the difficulties and possibilities companies have in building reputation through SNSs. The SNSs used in companies are marketing-centered. Engagement is promoted only with customers, and is short-term and centered on results instead of being long-term and centered on competitive advantage and promoting engagement with different stakeholders. This issue is not dependent on the size of the company. Instead, it is dependent on understanding the concept of reputation from a strategic point of view, with companies adapting their management to their own particularities and to the different possibilities offered by SNSs.


goods and cash are shown sometimes together, sometimes sepa­ rately. This inventory may be compared to the assets of modem bal­ ance sheets. It was accompanied by a cash statement. There were no liabilities since long-term debts had been forbidden by the stat­ utes since 1702. The Company relied only on the funds contrib­ uted by its partners or on profits. After 1785, short-term debts were separated from each corresponding item of receipts. It was not until 1820 when the use of double entry bookkeeping showed liabilities as they are shown at the present time. Those liabilities included short-term debts and estimated liabilities so that the net worth (called “capital net") could be calculated. Inventory was never compared to the receipts and payments statement as a means of verifying the inventory. For example, depreciation was calculated at the end of the 18th century in order to have an accurate inventory, but it was never featured clearly in the calcula­ tion of profit. The 18th item of the statutes of Plastrier’s Company3 men­ tions that profit is the difference between receipts and payments, and that "they were quarterly calculated after the constitution of a 15000£ (livres toumois) reserve." This was the only means the Company had of knowing how much could be paid to the owners. Such a simplified system was entirely in line with the desire to keep this information confidential. According to Sellon, an important Genevese shareholder of the Company, the simplified accounting system allowed any director, ignorant of accounting, to hold the Ledger sans confidens, that is without the help of a qualified accountant, so that secrets of the business could be preserved. The term "capital" was not used. The statutes only say fonds or effets, which correspond to the inventory value of all the assets of the Company at a fixed date. The owners' contributions to capital were made either in-kind (Venetian glass from Pocquelin in 1667) or in cash after 1702. They were considered an advance to the company, rewarded at a 10% rate. However, these advances were never refunded so that they can be considered as capital. The number of partners was fewer than ten before 1695. After that date, through inherit­ ances and the selling of ownership interests, the number of part­

2014 ◽  
pp. 252-252

Author(s):  
Zekai Şen

In general, the techniques to predict drought include statistical regression, time series, stochastic (or probabilistic), and, lately, pattern recognition techniques. All of these techniques require that a quantitative variable be identified to define drought, with which to begin the process of prediction. In the case of agricultural drought, such a variable can be the yield (production per unit area) of the major crop in a region (Kumar, 1998; Boken, 2000). The crop yield in a year can be compared with its long-term average, and drought intensity can be classified as nil, mild, moderate, severe, or disastrous, based on the difference between the current yield and the average yield. Regression techniques estimate crop yields using yield-affecting variables. A comprehensive list of possible variables that affect yield is provided in chapter 1. Usually, the weather variables routinely available for a historical period that significantly affect the yield are included in a regression analysis. Regression techniques using weather data during a growing season produce short-term estimates (e.g., Sakamoto, 1978; Idso et al., 1979; Slabbers and Dunin, 1981; Diaz et al., 1983; Cordery and Graham, 1989; Walker, 1989; Toure et al., 1995; Kumar, 1998). Various researchers in different parts of the world (see other chapters) have developed drought indices that can also be included along with the weather variables to estimate crop yield. For example, Boken and Shaykewich (2002) modifed the Western Canada Wheat Yield Model (Walker, 1989) drought index using daily temperature and precipitation data and advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) satellite data. The modified model improved the predictive power of the wheat yield model significantly. Some satellite data-based variables that can be used to predict crop yield are described in chapters 5, 6, 9, 13, 19, and 28. The short-term estimates are available just before or around harvest time. But many times long-term estimates are required to predict drought for next year, so that long-term planning for dealing with the effects of drought can be initiated in time.


2020 ◽  
pp. 336-362
Author(s):  
Peter Ferdinand

This chapter focuses on democracies, democratization, and authoritarian regimes. It first considers the two main approaches to analysing the global rise of democracy over the last thirty years: first, long-term trends of modernization, and more specifically economic development, that create preconditions for democracy and opportunities for democratic entrepreneurs; and second, the sequences of more short-term events and actions of key actors at moments of national crisis that have precipitated a democratic transition — also known as ‘transitology’. The chapter proceeds by discussing the different types of democracy and the strategies used to measure democracy. It also reviews the more recent literature on authoritarian systems and why they persist. Finally, it examines the challenges that confront democracy in the face of authoritarian revival.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 3858 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magda Sibley ◽  
Antonio Peña-García

This paper presents the first comparative study of its type of the performance of light pipes with different types of apertures: a flat glass versus a bohemian crystal dome. Measurements were taken at 20-minute intervals over a period of one year in the bathrooms of two newly built identical houses of the same orientation located in Manchester, UK. The comparative analysis of the data collected for both light pipes types reveals that the crystal domed aperture consistently outperforms the flat glass one. Furthermore, the difference in the recorded horizontal illuminance is most marked during the winter months and at the end of the one-year experiment, indicating that the crystal dome has better performance for low incident winter light and higher resistance for the long term effect of weathering and pollution. This study provides strong evidence based on long term real measurements. Such evidence informs architects’ decisions when weighing up the aesthetic considerations of a flat glass aperture versus the higher illumination levels afforded by a crystal dome aperture with higher resistance to weathering and pollution.


2019 ◽  
Vol 219 (3) ◽  
pp. 2148-2164
Author(s):  
A M Lombardi

SUMMARY The operational earthquake forecasting (OEF) is a procedure aimed at informing communities on how seismic hazard changes with time. This can help them live with seismicity and mitigate risk of destructive earthquakes. A successful short-term prediction scheme is not yet produced, but the search for it should not be abandoned. This requires more research on seismogenetic processes and, specifically, inclusion of any information about earthquakes in models, to improve forecast of future events, at any spatio-temporal-magnitude scale. The short- and long-term forecast perspectives of earthquake occurrence followed, up to now, separate paths, involving different data and peculiar models. But actually they are not so different and have common features, being parts of the same physical process. Research on earthquake predictability can help to search for a common path in different forecast perspectives. This study aims to improve the modelling of long-term features of seismicity inside the epidemic type aftershock sequence (ETAS) model, largely used for short-term forecast and OEF procedures. Specifically, a more comprehensive estimation of background seismicity rate inside the ETAS model is attempted, by merging different types of data (seismological instrumental, historical, geological), such that information on faults and on long-term seismicity integrates instrumental data, on which the ETAS models are generally set up. The main finding is that long-term historical seismicity and geological fault data improve the pseudo-prospective forecasts of independent seismicity. The study is divided in three parts. The first consists in models formulation and parameter estimation on recent seismicity of Italy. Specifically, two versions of ETAS model are compared: a ‘standard’, previously published, formulation, only based on instrumental seismicity, and a new version, integrating different types of data for background seismicity estimation. Secondly, a pseudo-prospective test is performed on independent seismicity, both to test the reliability of formulated models and to compare them, in order to identify the best version. Finally, a prospective forecast is made, to point out differences and similarities in predicting future seismicity between two models. This study must be considered in the context of its limitations; anyway, it proves, beyond argument, the usefulness of a more sophisticated estimation of background rate, inside short-term modelling of earthquakes.


2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (S1) ◽  
pp. 1-1
Author(s):  
J. Newcomer ◽  
R. Ratner ◽  
M. Åström ◽  
H. Eriksson

Background:Data pertaining to changes in weight during long-term treatment with quetiapine (QTP) have been published previously (1).Methods:Pooled data are presented from 26 short-term clinical studies (up to 12 weeks) of QTP or quetiapine extended-release (QTP XR)-as monotherapy or adjunct therapy-conducted by AstraZeneca up to November 2007. Studies were conducted in adult patients (18-65 years) across a number of psychiatric diagnoses. Variables were analyzed irrespective of fasting status with similar analyses planned in the fasting subset. LSM changes from baseline for the difference between QTP and placebo are presented.Results:Approximately 10000 patients were included in the analyses, 70% of whom were treated with QTP or QTP XR. Across the entire short-term dataset, the difference in LSM change in weight for QTP vs. placebo was 1.07 kg. Corresponding differences in glucose regulation parameters were 1.39 mg/dL for glucose and 0.04% units for HbA1C. the overall difference in total cholesterol was 5.48 mg/dL, with differences in HDL and LDL cholesterol of -0.62 mg/dL and 1.69 mg/dL. the difference in LSM change in triglycerides was 22.62 mg/dL.Discussion:Within the context of balancing potential risks against the acknowledged benefits of atypical antipsychotics, the degree and significance of variations in metabolic parameters is an area of continued interest. This analysis helps clinicians to better understand changes in important metabolic parameters across trials with QTP and QTP XR, and the size and uniqueness of the dataset permits further analyses within this important area.Supported by funding from AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document