The persuasion of vaccine allocation models during Covid-19. Rhetoric, ethics and science

The swift development of effective vaccines against the new coronavirus was an unprecedented scientific achievement. In this paper, we discuss what models have been proposed for distributing vaccines locally and globally through the application of Aristotelian rhetoric. This discussion, therefore, focuses on a specific question: how are the different models of vaccine administration and distribution justified on an ethical-argumentative level? This report also examines what has come to be known as “vaccine nationalism” through the lens of the early experience with the COVID- 19 vaccination process. To this end, this report proceeds as follows: Section I explains the rhetorical method applied to ethical principles, and Section II explains the chosen criteria for the analysis. Section III looks at the Fair Priority Model; Section IV examines the COVAX and GAVI model; Section V presents the weighted lottery model. Section VI proposes a summary table of the analysis of the proposed models and Section VII focuses on the ethical problem of vaccine nationalism and its implications in relation to the models, that were taken into consideration during the previous sections. Section VIII offers brief conclusions; solidarity conceived as an argument of reciprocity should be, according to this analysis, the guiding value to address ethical problems in the area of resource allocation.

Research Topics in Empirical Processes

<p>The first chapter consists of an overview of the theory of empirical processes, covering an introduction to empirical processes in R, uniform empirical processes and function parametric empirical processes in Section 1.1. Section 1.2 contains an overview of the theory related to the law of the iterated logarithm for Brownian motion and the modulus of continuity for Brownian motion. Section 1.3 contains the theory of the limiting processes for the empirical process, most importantly Brownian motion, Brownian bridge and the connections and relationships between them, with distributions of selected statistics of Brownian motion and Brownian bridge derived from reflection principles. Section 1.4 contains an overview of the theory required to prove central limit results for the empirical processes, covering the theory of the space C and Donsker’s theorem. The second chapter covers research topics, starting with Fourier analysis of mixture distributions and associated theory in Section 2.1. Section 2.2 covers findings in a research problem about non-linear autoregressive processes. Section 2.3 introduces a martingale approach to testing a regression model. Section 2.4 links the theory of ranks and sequential ranks to the theory of empirical processes.</p>

Research Topics in Empirical Processes

<p>The first chapter consists of an overview of the theory of empirical processes, covering an introduction to empirical processes in R, uniform empirical processes and function parametric empirical processes in Section 1.1. Section 1.2 contains an overview of the theory related to the law of the iterated logarithm for Brownian motion and the modulus of continuity for Brownian motion. Section 1.3 contains the theory of the limiting processes for the empirical process, most importantly Brownian motion, Brownian bridge and the connections and relationships between them, with distributions of selected statistics of Brownian motion and Brownian bridge derived from reflection principles. Section 1.4 contains an overview of the theory required to prove central limit results for the empirical processes, covering the theory of the space C and Donsker’s theorem. The second chapter covers research topics, starting with Fourier analysis of mixture distributions and associated theory in Section 2.1. Section 2.2 covers findings in a research problem about non-linear autoregressive processes. Section 2.3 introduces a martingale approach to testing a regression model. Section 2.4 links the theory of ranks and sequential ranks to the theory of empirical processes.</p>

Investigation of Structural Relationships of Factors Affecting Posttraumatic Growth in Women With Breast Cancer

Introduction: It is necessary to identify the factors affecting the posttraumatic growth of cancer patients to minimize the consequences of its psychological trauma. Objective: This study aimed to determine the structural relationships of coping styles, the collapse of core beliefs, social support, spirituality/religious coping with posttraumatic growth variables, and the mediating role of positive reassessment and deliberate mental rumination within a causal pattern. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed using path analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) by convenience sampling method on 213 patients with breast cancer in Mashhad, Iran, in 2019. The pattern of variables relationships was tested in a conceptual model by SEM and used the partial least squares regression method to test the measurement pattern and research hypotheses. In the measurement model section, three convergent validity indices, i.e., Average Variance Extracted (AVE), Composite Reliability (CR), and the Cronbach α, and in the structural model section, two indicators of coefficient of determination (R2) and Stone-Geisser coefficient (Q²). Results: The Mean±SD age of the patients was 52±16 years. The standardized coefficients of the overall effect of core beliefs pathways, positive religious coping, search for meaning, presence of meaning, deliberate rumination over positive re-evaluation were 0.953, 0.386, -0.250, 0.248, and 0.238, respectively (P=0.001). The direct coefficient of the positive reassessment path to posttraumatic growth was 0.085 (P=0.01). Also, the coefficient of collapse path of core beliefs to intrusive rumination was 0.687, which was significant at the level of P=0.0001. Finally, the standardized coefficients of the overall effect of all paths for negative religious coping, the collapse of core beliefs, presence of meaning, problem-based coping style, search for meaning, deliberate rumination, social support, positive religious coping, emotion-based coping, intrusive rumination over posttraumatic growth were -0.481, 0.227, 0.182, 0.146, -0.136, 0.066, 0.060, 0.059, 0.056, and -0.043, respectively (P=0.0001). Conclusion: The results of the present study showed that in addition to confirming the direct paths of independent variables to the posttraumatic growth, positive reassessment had a mediating role between pathways of the presence and search of meaning, conscious rumination, religious coping, and the collapse of core beliefs in posttraumatic growth.

Validity and reliability of plant-based culinary nutrition model questionnaire for fitness among sports science students

Introduction: There is an emerging focus on plant-based foods that have the added advantage of being nutritious without side effects. Besides, its preparation with nutritional awareness and culinary skills could be an effective solution for improving personal fitness. This study aimed to determine validity and reliability of a questionnaire for the development of a plant-based culinary nutrition model for fitness among sports science students. Methods: This study employed exploratory sequential mixed method design and was carried out in two phases. Phase 1 employed a qualitative design utilising modified Delphi method to determine content validity index (CVI) of the questionnaire, while phase 2 was a quantitative design using Cronbach’s alpha statistical analysis to evaluate reliability of the instrument. The questionnaire consisted of the need for plant-based culinary nutrition model (Section A) and the model’s components (Section B). Thirteen expert panels from diverse expertise in sports nutrition and 30 sports science students took part. Results: Phase 1 resulted in development of a questionnaire where Section A and Section B scored CVI of 0.834 and 1.000, respectively. For phase 2, Cronbach’s alpha score for reliability of the questionnaire was 0.836 with a total of 15 items. The Cronbach’s alpha score for questionnaire items from Sections A and B were 0.709 and 0.832, respectively. Conclusion: The questionnaire developed in this study is validated and is considered reliable for use as a significant tool for plantbased culinary nutrition among sports science students.

A 3D computer model of the CaO-MgO-Al2O3 T-x-y diagram at temperatures above 1300 °C

The research analyses the controversies surrounding the technique for the formation of a CaO-Al2O3 binary system and the nature of melting of compounds in it, i.e. whether the 12:7 compound is technically possible and whether the 1:1 and 1:2 compounds are congruently or incongruently melting compounds. It also discusses whether in the CaO-MgO-Al2O3 ternary system the following compounds can be formed: a 3:1:1 compound alone or, in addition to it, two more compounds of 1:2:8 and 2:2:14. A 3D model of the T-x-y diagram was created for the most common version, with six binary and three ternary compounds. Its high-temperature portion (above 1300°C) consisted of 234 surfaces and 85 phase regions. Ternary compounds were formed as a result of three peritectic reactions. Besides them, six quasi-peritectic and three eutecticinvariant reactions occurred in the system with the participation of the melt. The principle of construction for a threedimensional model involved a gradual transition from a phase reaction scheme (which is transformed into a scheme of uni- and invariant states) presented in a tabulated and then in a graphical form (a template of ruled surfaces and isothermal planes corresponding to invariant reactions) to a T-x-y diagram prototype (graphic images of all liquidus, solidus, and solvus surfaces). The design was concluded with the transformation of the prototype into a 3D model of the real system after the input of the base points coordinates (concentrations and temperatures) and the adjustment of curvatures of lines andsurfaces. The finished model provides a wide range of possibilities for the visualisation of the phase diagram, including the construction of any arbitrarily assigned isothermal sections and isopleths. The 3D model was designed with the help of the author’s software PD Designer (Phase Diagram Designer). To assess the quality of the 3D model, two versions of an isothermal section at 1840 °C were compared: model section and a fragment of an experimental section near Al2O3.

Sixty years after Orne’s American Psychologist article: A conceptual analysis of “Demand Characteristics”

The present article proposes a critical discussion of “demand characteristics”. This notion, despite its longstanding and widespread use in behavioral research, suffers from significant conceptual ambiguities. After briefly discussing the historical roots of “demand characteristics” and stressing that this notion remains highly influential in psychological research (Section 1), we proceed to its conceptual analysis (Section 2). Here, we discuss the complex nature of “demand characteristics” regarding effects, mechanisms, and measures. Then, we propose a Multifaceted Demand Characteristics Model (Section 3), and we apply it to two research domains of high contemporary interest: Evaluative Conditioning (Section 4.1) and Rubber Hand Illusion (Section 4.2). In the General Discussion, we summarize the central insights of the current analysis and discuss when and how theorization around “demand characteristics” may prevent and help advance behavioral research and interventions.

AN APPROACH TO PROCESSING ELECTROTOMOGRAPHY DATA FOR ESTIMATING THE VOLUMES OF SUBSTANCES IN TAILINGS

Methodical recommendations for processing the data of electrotomography are given. Taking into account a priori information, in particular the results of the study of pits, can be carried out by carrying out a limited inversion of the ET data, while it is possible to limit either the resistance of some layers of the model or the position of the boundaries of some layers [1]. In the software used for processing electrical tomography data Res2dinv [2], it is possible to set the boundary of the assumed layer or to limit the resistance of the model section (to introduce local inhomogeneities with a given resistance). But it is difficult to fix the resistance of a particular layer with the available software tools. The proposed approach makes it possible to take into account the parameters of the model built from the pitting data using a preliminary one-dimensional inversion of the electrical tomography data in the Ip2win [1] program, followed by the export of the obtained assumed layer boundaries to the Res2dinv software for carrying out a limited two-dimensional inversion.

Demystifying COVID-19 Digital Contact Tracing: A Survey on Frameworks and Mobile Apps

The coronavirus pandemic is a new reality, and it severely affects the modus vivendi of the international community. In this context, governments are rushing to devise or embrace novel surveillance mechanisms and monitoring systems to fight the outbreak. The development of digital tracing apps, which among others are aimed at automatising and globalising the prompt alerting of individuals at risk in a privacy-preserving manner, is a prominent example of this ongoing effort. Very promptly, a number of digital contact tracing architectures have been sprouted, followed by relevant app implementations adopted by governments worldwide. Bluetooth, specifically its Low Energy (BLE) power-conserving variant, has emerged as the most promising short-range wireless network technology to implement the contact tracing service. This work offers the first to our knowledge full-fledged review of the most concrete contact tracing architectures proposed so far in a global scale. This endeavour does not only embrace the diverse types of architectures and systems, namely, centralised, decentralised, or hybrid, but also equally addresses the client side, i.e., the apps that have been already deployed in Europe by each country. There is also a full-spectrum adversary model section, which does not only amalgamate the previous work in the topic but also brings new insights and angles to contemplate upon.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Temple Mount/Haram esh-Sharif (Jerusalem)

Chapter 5 explores two contested sacred sites—the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Haram esh-Sharif/Temple Mount—and two models of governance of contested sacred sites—status quo and closure. Section A describes the status quo at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem to facilitate, in section B, a critical discussion of the structure, justifications, advantages, and disadvantages of the status quo model. Section C describes the Temple Mount/Haram esh-Sharif case study with an emphasis on the period of 1967 to the present. Section D defines, explores, and criticizes closure as a model of governance for contested sacred sites.