Life-Prolonging Killings and their Relevance to Ethics

What makes killing morally wrong? And what makes killing morally worse than letting die? Standard answers to these two questions presuppose that killing someone involves shortening that person's life. Yet, as I argue in the first two sections of this article, this presupposition is false: Life-prolonging killings are conceivable. In the last two sections of the article, I explore the significance of the conceivability of such killings for various discussions of the two questions just mentioned. In particular, I show why the conceivability of life-prolonging killings renders Frances M. Kamm's attempt to provide an answer to the second question problematic.     

Impact d’une prise en charge par hypnose sur le vécu et l’observances des recommandations hydriques en hémodialyse : résultats d’un protocole à cas unique chez deux patients

IntroductionHemodialysis is associated with dietary and fluid restrictions, which can be a source of frustration, suffering and non-compliance in many patients. Hypnosis, a booming therapeutic tool in the health field, could improve patients’ feelings. The objective of this study is to assess the effect of hypnosis on fluid restrictions experience.MethodThe effectiveness of the hypnotic intervention was evaluated using a single-case protocol (ABA type) with two patients. A protocol in 3 phases of 3 weeks was used with three sessions of hypnosis. Several measurement tools have been used: the KDQoL-36 for quality of life, the Health-Specific Self-Efficacy Scales (adapted for dialysis patients) for self-efficacy, and numeric scales for therapeutic compliance and thirst.ResultsSome significant changes were observed with maintenance of the effects after hypnosis: improvement in the global quality of life for patient 1, improvement of self-efficacy (barrier) for patient 2. The visual analysis showed improvements but without significant effect as alleviation of thirst and discomfort, improvement of perceived compliance.ConclusionThese preliminary results concerning the effects of hypnosis on the experience of fluid restrictions are mixed reflecting variability between patients. However, these results are encouraging and show the need to continue this evaluation with more patients thanks to the advantages of the single-case protocol method.     

"The Plague Of Blood": HIV/AIDS and Ethics of the Global Health–Care Challenge

In this essay I explore the heuristic value of the concept of ethics of complexity, chaos, and contingency by applying its framework to the analysis of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Everyday human moral choices are outcomes of a moral impulse, and such an impulse is grounded in moral competence shaped by moral literacy. This literacy is constructed on the basis of a body of knowledge of culture, social context, environment, and the universe. It also includes the knowledge of religions and religious and secular ethical codes. I also distinguish between the social and cultural aspects of ethical systems. Both societies and cultures provide resources and constraints for the development of literacy and competence. An intentionally developed multifaith and multidisciplinary coalition may help us move away from various forms of social speciation and toward sociological mindfulness. This could help us remake the world into one that has more courage to care.     

Uncertainty,Indeterminacy, and Agent-Centred Constraints

Common-sense morality includes various agent-centred constraints, including ones against killing unnecessarily and breaking a promise. However, it's not always clear whether, had an agent ?-ed, she would have violated a constraint. And sometimes the reason for this is not that we lack knowledge of the relevant facts, but that there is no fact about whether her ?-ing would have constituted a constraint-violation. What, then, is a constraint-accepting theory (that is, a theory that includes such constraints) to say about whether it would have been permissible for her to have ?-ed? In this paper, I canvass various possible approaches to answering this question and I argue that teleology offers the most plausible approach—teleology being the view that every act has its deontic status in virtue of how its outcome (or prospect) ranks, relative to those of its alternatives. So although, until recently, it had been thought that only deontological theories can accommodate constraints, it turns out that teleological theories not only can accommodate constraints, but can do so more plausibly than deontological theories can.     

关于流行性感冒大流行的几个问题

流行性感冒(流感)大流行的发生是有其生物学和社会学基础的,从现在至未来很长的时间内,流感大流行的再现是不可避免的。但是人类在疫灾面前没有必要恐慌,主动、积极、科学的应对,可以把流感大流行对人类和人类生活的危害程度减至最低。     

全球流感大流行与共建和谐社会

科学家预测:新一轮流感大流行不可避免。通过总结历史教训,分析目前可能引起流感大流行的原因,展开预防流感大流行与共建和谐社会关系的讨论。     

甲型H1N1流感大流行2周年记

2009年4月,墨西哥暴发甲型H1N1流感疫情,并迅速蔓延至全球。2009年6月11日,世界卫生组织宣布进入流感大流行,直到2010年8月10日世卫组织宣布世界步入流感大流行后期。自流感暴发已经2年过去了,回顾整个过程我们从中可以学到许多经验和教训,并随时准备应对将来可能发生的新的流感疫情。     

Cognitive Training via a Mobile Application to Reduce Obsessive-Compulsive-Related Distress and Cognitions During the COVID-19 Outbreaks: A Randomized Controlled Trial Using a Subclinical Cohort

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a persistent psychiatric disorder causing significant impairment in functioning. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated OCD-related symptoms and interrupted access to treatment. Recent research suggests mHealth apps are promising tools for coping with OCD symptoms. This randomized controlled trial evaluated the effects of a CBT-based mobile application designed to reduce OCD symptoms and cognitions in community participants considered at high risk of developing OCD symptoms. Following initial screening (n = 924), fifty-five community participants scoring 2 standard deviations above the OCI-R mean were randomized into two groups. In the immediate-app use group (iApp; n = 25), participants started using the application at baseline (T0), 4 min a day, for 12 days (T0–T1). Participants in the delayed-app group (dApp; n = 20) started using the mobile application at T1 (crossover) and used the app for the following 12 consecutive days (T1–T2). Intention to treat analyses indicated that using the app for 12 consecutive days was associated with large effect-size reductions (Cohen’s d ranging from .87 to 2.73) in OCD symptoms and maladaptive cognitions in the iApp group (from T0 to T1) and dApp group (from T1 to T2). These reductions were maintained at follow-up. Our findings underscore the usefulness of brief, low-intensity, portable interventions in reducing OCD symptoms and cognitions during the pandemic.     

An item response model with internal restrictions on item difficulty

An IRT model based on the Rasch model is proposed for composite tasks, that is, tasks that are decomposed into subtasks of different kinds. There is one subtask for each component that is discerned in the composite tasks. A component is a generic kind of subtask of which the subtasks resulting from the decomposition are specific instantiations with respect to the particular composite tasks under study. The proposed model constrains the difficulties of the composite tasks to be linear combinations of the difficulties of the corresponding subtask items, which are estimated together with the weights used in the linear combinations, one weight for each kind of subtask. Although the model does not belong to the exponential family, its parameters can be estimated using conditional maximum likelihood estimation. The approach is demonstrated with an application to spelling tasks. We thank Eric Maris for his helpful comments.     

Applying propensity score matching to assess the impact of the pandemic on intimate relationships

The COVID-19 pandemic produced multiple stressors that risk relationship conflict and dissatisfaction. We extended prior studies that yielded inconsistent effects of the pandemic on relationships by using propensity score matching to (1) compare levels of relationship conflict and satisfaction during the pandemic (pandemic group; N = 7268) to similar people immediately before the pandemic (matched control group; N = 7268), and (2) compare pandemic groups facing different types of restrictions, beginning with lockdowns involving household isolation to returning to normal life. Results reveal that relationship conflict increased and relationship satisfaction decreased in response to the pandemic, but these effects were very small and primarily occurred in the initial stages of the pandemic when lockdown involved household isolation. The results add to evidence of resilience in personal and relationship well-being in 2020, but also indicate the importance of understanding the effects of varying pandemic-related conditions across the years of the pandemic.