How Large Fraction of A Population Must be Vaccinated before A Disease is Controlled?

The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has already caused more than 5 million casualties despite hard restrictions and relatively high vaccine coverage in many countries. The crucial question is therefore, how large vaccination rate and how severe restrictions are required to terminate the spread of the decease, assuming that the vaccine efficiency and the basic reproduction ratio (R0) are known? To answer this question, a mathematical equation was applied to visualize the required vaccination level as function of vaccine efficiency, restriction efficiency and basic reproduction ratio (R0). In addition to the modelling study, Covid-19 data from Europe was collected during 19/11-26/11 (2021) to assess the relation between vaccination rate and incidence. The analysis indicates that a vaccination rate of ~92% (2 doses) is required to stop Delta (B.1.617.2) without severe restrictions, under conditions like those in Europe late November 2021. A third vaccine dose, improved vaccines, higher vaccination rates and/or stronger restrictions will be required to force Omicron (B.1.1.529) to expire without infecting a large fraction of the population.

How Large Fraction of A Population Must be Vaccinated before A Disease is Controlled?

The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has already caused more than 5 million casualties despite hard restrictions and relatively high vaccine coverage in many countries. The crucial question is therefore, how large vaccination rate and how severe restrictions are required to terminate the spread of the decease, assuming that the vaccine efficiency and the basic reproduction ratio (R0) are known? To answer this question, a simple mathematical equation was developed to visualize the required vaccination level as function of vaccine efficiency, restriction efficiency and basic reproduction ratio (R0). In addition to the modelling study, Covid-19 data from Europe was collected during 19/11-26/11 (2021) to assess the relation between vaccination rate and incidence. The analysis indicates that a vaccination rate of ~92% (2 doses) is currently required to stop Delta (B.1.617.2) without severe restrictions, using the vaccines that are most common in Europe today. A third vaccine dose, improved vaccines, higher vaccination rates and/or stronger restrictions will be required to force Omicron (B.1.1.529) to expire without infecting a large fraction of the population.

Is There a Link Between Corporate Purpose and Performance?

After 50 years of debate on this crucial question, the evidence is increasingly strong in favor of “yes”: companies can achieve better results if they incorporate practices that foster people’s sense of purpose. This relationship seems to be valid for very different types of industries and various business strategies within the cost-differentiation spectrum. However, causality between purpose and performance is not as linear as some literature and consultants seem to indicate. In this chapter, we discuss this relationship under the perspective of unity (the degree of mutual trust and commitment to the company experienced by people who contribute to fulfilling its purpose). Based on this perspective, we provide a framework that distinguishes four types of cultures: bureaucratic, paternalistic, aggressive and competent.

Digital revolution and place of printed books

“Digital-first” seems to be a crucial idea of our time. From the practical, economic, and even ecological point of view printed books are not the best solution. But still, this practice exists. This survey aims to answer, why in the digital environment occurs the textual niche. Is it a kind of relic or something which is deeply connected with human reading comprehension and the quality of text experience? To solve this problem will be used case study and cognitive methods. The crucial question for the presented paper is whether printed (codex) books and their reading means a form of distributing texts which will be progressively declining under pressure in the digital revolution (Q1). To answer this question, it is necessary to describe the current situation of traditional printing and also raise the question of printed documents especially printed and codex books have any features which cannot be replaced by online publishing (Q2). In the second question, one should take into account the cultural and subjective context of reading or possessing printed books.

Regulation of the Smart Contract in (Romanian) Civil Law

The research aims to organize, examine, and analyze the provisions on smart contracts available in Romanian civil law. “Smart contracts” are not smart, and are not necessarily contracts, although they can be. As self-executing computer programs, smart contracts are operational on the blockchain and unlike traditional legal contracts, once the agreement has been concluded and the smart contract is set in motion, no party can intervene and it will be executed without interruption, modification, or breach. The crucial question in the final contract law topic is what happens when the smart contract's outcomes deviate from those required by law. To answer this issue, we must first understand that whether a smart contract becomes legally enforceable is determined by several circumstances, together with the unique use case, the type of smart contract employed, and the existing legislation. The paper addresses the subject of determining and regulating smart contracts under Romanian current laws. Particular emphasis is placed on two ambiguous definitions of smart contracts: as computer code and as a civil-law contract. The authors conclude that the concept of smart contracts requires more legal regulation, particularly in terms of managing their meaning and comprehension.

Der prix de morale der Akademie von Dijon für das Jahr 1750

The article reconsiders Rousseau’s famous Discours sur les sciences et les arts within the medial and institutional context of the prize question (prix de morale) proposed by the Academy of Dijon for the year 1750. To do so, it pays special attention to the contributions submitted by Rousseau’s (thirteen) competitors, which so far have hardly been analysed by historians of literature and philosophy. The paper also expands on the institutional and social structure of the Academy of Dijon as well as the particular profile of its morality prizes organized since 1743. In addition, the article situates the contest of 1750 in the broader context of the concours académique and outlines the evolution of the genre with its specific rhetorical traditions since the end of the seventeenth century. Thus, the crucial question, how the Academy of Dijon came to select Rousseau’s text, can be approached from a different angle. Finally, this perspective also sheds new light upon certain aspects of a major work in the history of philosophy - the Discours sur les sciences et les arts.

Decolonization Struggles at the United Nations: The Question of Algeria, 1955-1961

Although national self-determination emerged as an international legal norm with the formation of the United Nations (UN) in 1945, its implementation continued to be resisted by European colonial powers for decades after. This raises the following question: how was European colonial rule challenged at the UN? This article contends that existing accounts of decolonization have not fully theorized the processes through which colonialism was contested at the UN. It fills this gap by demonstrating the critical role of argumentation, narrativization and discursive struggles through deploying the crucial “Question of Algeria” that was debated between 1955 and 1961. It demonstrates that the Algerian question yielded two opposing discourses—an anticolonial internationalist discourse and a metrocentric civilizational discourse—with both drawing on distinct ideas about human rights and development. The analysis explains the eventual triumph of the former as states increasingly rallied behind the Algerian cause.

Issue of the boundaries between good and evil in theological-moral discourse

Hardly any problem in contemporary theological-moral discourse causes such turbulence as the searching, reflection, and demarcation of the boundaries between good and evil in human acting. A fundamental problem is a criterion or a reference point according to which a person could reliably determine what is good and evil. Divergent theological views in the theological-moral dimension seem to have caused the clear boundaries between good and evil to disappear. Therefore, the crucial question is whether there is still a universal criterion for theological evaluation of a human act, as the situation in theological-moral discourse resembles an areopagus of opinions that have no common point in distinguishing between good and evil. This reflection examines the possibility if the Thomistic ethical analysis of a human act, together with the principle of double effect, may be a reference point for the demarcation of these boundaries.

نموذج استراتيجي للخصخصة الناجحة

The importance of this research arises from its attempt to correct the weaknesses encountered by most developing countries namely The Republic of Sudan due to the absence of strategies that set leading guidelines for successful privatization processes. This research provides a full answer to a crucial question] How can successful privatization be achievedin developing countries? [The objective of this research extends to help privatization decision makers to avoid problems arising from application, as well as enhancing privatization programs by offering strong support to achieve their targets. Themethodology adopted by this research is a combination of many research methodologies such as descriptive, analytical, comparative, inductive and deductive approaches. The research findings are many, namely privatization is a complicated phenomenon, andat the same time, represents a junction where interests of conflicting parties meet corruption & cronyism that may accompany the execution of privatization has aggravated more economic & social problems. The recommendations proposed by this research include, more attention should be paid to promote awareness (among the top executive authorities, senior government staff & privatization process executors) to the risks associated with improper designing & incorrect implementation of privatization. Support and follow-up from the top government authorities to privatization programs will help minimize the problems that might hinder application. Governments to provide their countries with thenecessary prerequisites for successful privatization should adopt proper actions

Conclusion

The conclusion to this book follows themes in the sutra’s epilogue that address the question of why it might be important to take the teachings of Vimalakirti seriously and what means of reading the sutra would allow us to do that. It inquires into the dichotomy between the Buddhist teachings and Vimalakirti’s “thunderous silence,” and raises the sutra’s existential question of what Buddhist practices are most suitable for the goal of awakening. The conclusion ends by examining what the sutra has to say on the crucial question of the most productive relation readers might take to the practice of meditative reading.