scholarly journals Blockchain application in the distribution chain of the COVID-19 vaccine: a designing understudy

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonardo Juan Ramirez Lopez ◽  
Nicolas Beltrán Álvarez

<p>The impact of COVID-19 has challenged science in its quest to control and mitigate it through a new vaccine. This is why the world's research centers and laboratories are in serious competition over time to offer humanity an effective vaccine that prevents the spread of this virus. From a technological point of view, the challenge is to manage the distribution of this next vaccine, from its generation anywhere in the world, to the site of application to the population. The research results approximate the solution to the design of a secure Blockchain-based supply chain surveillance design, to control the variables and critical points of the next distribution of vaccines worldwide. The expected impact of the application of this new design will be the confidence of the population in the quality of the vaccine, in the generating laboratory, and it supplies.</p>

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonardo Juan Ramirez Lopez ◽  
Nicolas Beltrán Álvarez

<p>The impact of COVID-19 has challenged science in its quest to control and mitigate it through a new vaccine. This is why the world's research centers and laboratories are in serious competition over time to offer humanity an effective vaccine that prevents the spread of this virus. From a technological point of view, the challenge is to manage the distribution of this next vaccine, from its generation anywhere in the world, to the site of application to the population. The research results approximate the solution to the design of a secure Blockchain-based supply chain surveillance design, to control the variables and critical points of the next distribution of vaccines worldwide. The expected impact of the application of this new design will be the confidence of the population in the quality of the vaccine, in the generating laboratory, and it supplies.</p>


2018 ◽  
Vol 247 ◽  
pp. 00036
Author(s):  
Marcin Łapicz ◽  
Radosław Makowski ◽  
Jarosław Jędrzejas

Internal fire carries a real threat to health and life, not only of the injured people inside but also rescuers. This is due to the impact of toxic gases, as well as the possibility of dynamic and at the same time dangerous fire phenomena. Despite the constant progress of knowledge about internal fires and the phenomena governing them, as well as the development of technologies and tactics to fighting them, it is still difficult to locate a fire. Researches carried out over the last years, aimed at improving the effectiveness and quality of firefighting activities in residential areas, have now created the most effective and safe technique known as positive pressure attack. It is based on carrying out extinguishing activities inside a fire-covered room under the cover of air generated by mechanical-positive pressure ventilation. Appropriate execution of this technique is possible only through systematic practical exercises supported by thorough theoretical knowledge in the field of fire development dynamics. Taking into account the latest achievements of specialized research centers in the world, this paper presents and characterizes the most important components of the positive pressure attack aimed at increasing the safety and effectiveness of firefighting operations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Åsa Kettis ◽  
Hanna Fagerlind ◽  
Jan-Erik Frödin ◽  
Bengt Glimelius ◽  
Lena Ring

Abstract Background Effective patient-physician communication can improve patient understanding, agreement on treatment and adherence. This may, in turn, impact on clinical outcomes and patient quality of life (QoL). One way to improve communication is by using patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs). Heretofore, studies of the impact of using PROMs in clinical practice have mostly evaluated the use of standardized PROMs. However, there is reason to believe that individualized instruments may be more appropriate for this purpose. The aim of this study is to compare the effectiveness of the standardized QoL-instrument, the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life C-30 (EORTC-QOL-C30) and the individualized QoL instrument, the Schedule for the Evaluation of Individual Quality of Life-Direct Weighting (SEIQoL-DW), in clinical practice. Methods In a prospective, open-label, controlled intervention study at two hospital out-patient clinics, 390 patients with gastrointestinal cancer were randomly assigned either to complete the EORTC-QOL-C30 or the SEIQoL-DW immediately before the consultation, with their responses being shared with their physician. This was repeated in 3–5 consultations over a period of 4–6 months. The primary outcome measure was patients’ health-related QoL, as measured by FACIT-G. Patients’ satisfaction with the consultation and survival were secondary outcomes. Results There was no significant difference between the groups with regard to study outcomes. Neither intervention instrument resulted in any significant changes in health-related QoL, or in any of the secondary outcomes, over time. This may reflect either a genuine lack of effect or sub-optimization of the intervention. Since there was no comparison to standard care an effect in terms of lack of deterioration over time cannot be excluded. Conclusions Future studies should focus on the implementation process, including the training of physicians to use the instruments and their motivation for doing so. The effects of situational use of standardized or individualized instruments should also be explored. The effectiveness of the different approaches may depend on contextual factors including physician and patient preferences.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Daniela Viramontes-Hörner ◽  
Zoe Pittman ◽  
Nicholas M Selby ◽  
Maarten W Taal

Abstract Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is severely impaired in persons receiving dialysis. Malnutrition has been associated with some measures of poor HRQoL in cross-sectional analyses in dialysis populations, but no studies have assessed the impact of malnutrition and dietary intake on change in multiple measures of HRQoL over time. We investigated the most important determinants of poor HRQoL and the predictors of change in HRQoL over time using several measures of HRQoL. We enrolled 119 haemodialysis and 31 peritoneal dialysis patients in this prospective study. Nutritional assessments (Subjective Global Assessment [SGA], anthropometry and 24-hour dietary recalls) and HRQoL questionnaires (Short Form-36 [SF-36] mental [MCS] and physical component scores [PCS] and European QoL-5 Dimensions [EQ5D] health state [HSS] and visual analogue scores [VAS]) were performed at baseline, 6 and 12 months. Mean age was 64(14) years. Malnutrition was present in 37% of the population. At baseline, malnutrition assessed by SGA was the only factor independently (and negatively) associated with all four measures of HRQoL. No single factor was independently associated with decrease in all measures of HRQoL over 1 year. However, prevalence/development of malnutrition over one year was an independent predictor of 1-year decrease in EQ5D HSS and 1-year decrease in fat intake independently predicted the 1-year decline in SF-36 MCS and PCS, and EQ5D VAS. These findings strengthen the importance of monitoring for malnutrition and providing nutritional advice to all persons on dialysis. Future studies are needed to evaluate the impact of nutritional interventions on HRQoL and other long-term outcomes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Stella Epifanio ◽  
Federica Andrei ◽  
Giacomo Mancini ◽  
Francesca Agostini ◽  
Marco Andrea Piombo ◽  
...  

The COVID-19 pandemic that has hit the world in the year 2020 has put a strain on our ability to cope with events and revolutionized our daily habits. On 9 March, Italy was forced to lockdown to prevent the spread of the infection, with measures including the mandatory closure of schools and nonessential activities, travel restrictions, and the obligation to spend entire weeks in the same physical space. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown measures on quality of life (QoL) in a large Italian sample, in order to investigate possible differences in QoL levels related to both demographic and pandemic-specific variables. A total of 2251 Italian adults (1665 women, mainly young and middle adults) were recruited via a snowball sampling strategy. Participants were requested to answer to an online survey, which included demographic and COVID-related information items, and the World Health Organization Quality of Life BREF questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF). The results showed statistically significant differences in QoL depending on a number of variables, including sex, area of residence in Italy, and being diagnosed with a medical/psychiatric condition. To our knowledge, this is the first study to assess QoL during COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, therefore the present findings can offer guidelines regarding which social groups are more vulnerable of a decline in QoL and would benefit of psychological interventions.


2021 ◽  
pp. 174569162095800
Author(s):  
Ludger van Dijk

By sharing their world, humans and other animals sustain each other. Their world gets determined over time as generations of animals act in it. Current approaches to psychological science, by contrast, start from the assumption that the world is already determined before an animal’s activity. These approaches seem more concerned with uncertainty about the world than with the practical indeterminacies of the world humans and nonhuman animals experience. As human activity is making life increasingly hard for other animals, this preoccupation becomes difficult to accept. This article introduces an ecological approach to psychology to develop a view that centralizes the indeterminacies of a shared world. Specifically, it develops an open-ended notion of “affordances,” the possibilities for action offered by the environment. Affordances are processes in which (a) the material world invites individual animals to participate, while (b) participation concurrently continues the material world in a particular way. From this point of view, species codetermine the world together. Several empirical and methodological implications of this view on affordances are explored. The article ends with an explanation of how an ecological perspective brings responsibility for the shared world to the heart of psychological science.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4-1) ◽  
pp. 180-203
Author(s):  
Elena Stukalenko ◽  

Digital technologies, ubiquitous in our daily life, have radically changed the way we work, communicate, and consume in a short period of time. They affect all components of quality of life: well-being, work, health, education, social connections, environmental quality, the ability to participate and govern civil society, and so on. Digital transformation creates both opportunities and serious risks to the well-being of people. Researchers and statistical agencies around the world are facing a major challenge to develop new tools to analyze the impact of digital transformation on the well-being of the population. The risks are very diverse in nature and it is very difficult to identify the key factor. All researchers conclude that secure digital technologies significantly improve the lives of those who have the skills to use them and pose a serious risk of inequality for society, as they introduce a digital divide between those who have the skills to use them and those who do not. In the article, the author examines the risks created by digital technologies for some components of the quality of life (digital component of the quality of life), which are six main components: the digital quality of the population, providing the population with digital benefits, the labor market in the digital economy, the impact of digitalization on the social sphere, state electronic services for the population and the security of information activities. The study was carried out on the basis of the available statistical base and the results of research by scientists from different countries of the world. The risks of the digital economy cannot be ignored when pursuing state social policy. Attention is paid to government regulation aimed at reducing the negative consequences of digitalization through the prism of national, federal projects and other events.


Author(s):  
Michael Gideon Josian ◽  
Maria Veronica Gandha

The future of dwelling has a very board context and will continue to be discussed, it is possible that the discussions about “dwelling” is come from the environment of farming and fishing. Things that are not much cared for but still have a role in the survival of the world. Therefore this matter will be discussed using the role of architecture as space, to be able to create an ideal system by paying attention to the quality of farming and fishing for the future, and leaving a trace or memory to be able to carry messages for the future. Talking about the future of an interaction that occurs between the general public and farmers and fishermen, especially considering that farmers and fishermen themselves can be compared to two different poles, a liminal space is needed, which may already exist indirectly in the environment. By letting go of individual egos and emphasizing ego to the point of view of farmers and fishermen. To present a common space, or a place that contains a special character of a city that contains a message for the future. Keywords:  dualism; hope; liminal; trace;  Abstrak Masa depan cara berhuni memiliki konteks yang sangat luas dan akan terus diperbincangkan. Tidak menutup kemungkinan datang dari pembahasan mengenai cara berhuni dengan bertani dan melaut. Hal yang tidak banyak dipedulikan tetapi tetap memiliki peran dalam kelangsungan dunia. Oleh karena itu, masa depan berhuni ini akan dibahas dengan menggunakan peran arsitektur sebagai ruang, untuk dapat menciptakan sistem yang ideal dengan memperhatikan kualitas bertani dan melaut bagi masa depan, dan meninggalkan sebuah jejak atau kenangan untuk dapat membawa pesan bagi masa depan. Berbicara mengenai masa depan dari sebuah interaksi yang terjadi antara masyarakat umum dengan para petani dan nelayan, apalagi mengingat para petani dan nelayan itu sendiri dapat diibaratkan berada pada kedua kutub yang berbeda, maka dibutuhkanlah sebuah ruang liminal, yang mungkin sudah hadir secara tidak langsung pada lingkungan masyarakat. Dengan cara melepaskan ego individual dan menekankan ego kepada sudut pandang para petani dan nelayan. Untuk menghadirkan sebuah ruang bersama, atau sebuah tempat yang mengandung sebuah karakter tersendiri dari sebuah kota yang berisi pesan bagi masa depan.


2018 ◽  
Vol 52 ◽  
pp. 00037
Author(s):  
Resha Ayu Putri Belinawati ◽  
Tri Edhi Budhi Soesilo ◽  
Herdis Herdiansyah ◽  
Intan Nurul Aini

As one of the 10 most polluted rivers in the world, Citarum river pollution has become the world’s spotlight. The pollution that occurred along the Citarum River in West Java has been the concern of the local government. Pollution not only comes from a plant and household, but also from industries. In this study the authors use descriptive quantitative method, where researchers will describe and compare the existing variables to see the possibilities that arise. Variable used is the number of industries that exist and how the impact against BOD. Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) is a measuring instrument that is widely used to see the quality of oxygen levels in the water. In this paper shows that there is a possibility if BOD increases if the number of industries increases.


2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-79
Author(s):  
Aslan H Abashidze ◽  
Vladislav S Malichenko

The article highlights the main steps in the formation of compulsory licensing mechanism before the establishment of the World Trade Organization, and analyzes the main provisions of this mechanism implementation under the TRIPS Agreement and the Doha Declaration. Based on the analysis of examples from different regions of the world, the article determines the main advantages of using compulsory licensing with regard to expand of access to medicines, possible impact on quality of the medicinal products being produced and the investment attractiveness of the countries applying this mechanism are assessed. The purpose of this article is to analyze the main approaches to the implementation of compulsory licensing in order to determine the most effective strategy for using this mechanism in the Russian Federation in order to expand the availability of drug therapy for the treatment of life-threatening diseases. Based on the impact of compulsory licensing implementation, the author concludes that it does not correspond to the objectives of the Russian pharmaceutical industry development identified as a priority by Russian Government. Despite a possibility of using compulsory licensing under regulation of many countries, this mechanism is implemented rarely. A possibility of issuing a compulsory licensing is a strong argument in price negotiations with producers. According to the authors position, implementation of compulsory licensing has to be preceded by cost containment mechanism, primarily based on negotiations with producers.


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