73 research outputs found
The Oxygen Reduction Pathway for Spinel Metal Oxides in Alkaline Media: An Experimentally Supported Ab Initio Study
Precious-metal-free spinel oxide electrocatalysts are promising candidates
for catalyzing the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in alkaline fuel cells. In
this theory-driven study, we use joint density-functional theory in tandem with
supporting electrochemical measurements to identify a novel theoretical pathway
for the ORR on cubic Co3O4 nanoparticle electrocatalysts. This pathway aligns
more closely with experimental results than previous models. The new pathway
employs the cracked adsorbates *(OH)(O) and *(OH)(OH), which, through hydrogen
bonding, induce spectator surface *H. This results in an onset potential
closely matching experimental values, in stark contrast to the traditional ORR
pathway, which keeps adsorbates intact and overestimates the onset potential by
0.7 V. Finally, we introduce electrochemical strain spectroscopy (ESS), a
groundbreaking strain analysis technique. ESS combines ab initio calculations
with experimental measurements to validate proposed reaction pathways and
pinpoint rate-limiting steps
Radio Astronomy
Contains summary of research and reports on seven research projects.National Science Foundation (Grant AST82-14296)National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Grant NAGW-373)National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Contract NAS5-28410)U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research (Contract N00014-84-C-2082)M.I.T. Sloan Fund for Basic ResearchNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Grant 04-8-M01-1)National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Grant NAG5-10)Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (Contract MDA 903-84-K-0297
Radio Astronomy
Contains reports on five research projects.National Science Foundation (Grant AST82-14296)National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Grant NAG W-373)National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Grant NAG5-537)U.S. Navy - Office of Naval Research (Contract N00014-84-C-2082)SM Systems and Research, Inc.Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (Contract MDA903-82-K-0521
What Is the Support for Conspiracy Beliefs About COVID-19 Vaccines in Latin America? A Prospective Exploratory Study in 13 Countries
Conspiracy theories about COVID-19 began to emerge immediately after the first news about the disease and threaten to prolong the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic by limiting people’s willingness of receiving a life-saving vaccine. In this context, this study aimed to explore the variation of conspiracy beliefs regarding COVID-19 and the vaccine against it in 5779 people living in 13 Latin American countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela) according to sociodemographic variables such as gender, age, educational level and source of information about COVID-19. The study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic between September 15 and October 25, 2021. The Spanish-language COVID-19 Vaccine Conspiracy Beliefs Scale (ECCV-COVID) and a sociodemographic survey were used. The results indicate that, in most countries, women, people with a lower educational level and those who receive information about the vaccine and COVID-19 from family/friends are more supportive of conspiracy ideas regarding the COVID-19 vaccine. In the case of age, the results vary by country. The analysis of the responses to each of the questions of the ECCV-COVID reveals that, in general, the countries evaluated are mostly in some degree of disagreement or indecision regarding conspiratorial beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines. The findings could help open further study which could support prevention and treatment efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic
Design and Cross-Cultural Invariance of the COVID-19 Vaccine Conspiracy Beliefs Scale (COVID-VCBS) in 13 Latin American Countries
"Aims: Over the past 2 years, the vaccine conspiracy beliefs construct has been used in
a number of different studies. These publications have assessed the determinants and
outcomes of vaccine conspiracy beliefs using, in some cases, pooled data from different
countries, and compared the results across these contexts. However, studies often
do not consider measurement invariance as a necessary requirement for comparative
analyses. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop and evaluate the crosscultural MI of the COVID-19 Vaccine Conspiracy Beliefs Scale (COVID-VCBS) in 12 Latin
American countries.
Methods: Confirmatory factor analysis, item response theory analysis and alignment
method were applied to test measurement invariance in a large number of groups. Results: The COVID-VCBS showed robust psychometric properties and measurement
invariance for both factor loadings and crosstabs. Also, a higher level of acceptance of
conspiracy beliefs about vaccines is necessary to respond to higher response categories.
Similarly, greater acceptance of conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines was related
to a lower intention to be vaccinated.
Conclusion: The results allow for improved understanding of conspiracy beliefs about
COVID-19 vaccines in the countries assessed; furthermore, they provide researchers
and practitioners with an invariant measure that they can use in cross-cultural studies in
Latin America. However, further studies are needed to test invariance in other countries,
with the goal of developing a truly international measure of conspiracy beliefs about
COVID-19 vaccines.
Network analysis of the relationships between conspiracy beliefs towards COVID-19 vaccine and symptoms of fear of COVID-19 in a sample of latin american countries
The present study examined how conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines specifically relate to symptoms of fear of COVID-19 in a sample of four South American countries. A total of 1785 people from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru participated, responding to a sociodemographic survey, the Fear of COVID-19 scale (FCV-19 S) and the Vaccine Conspiracy Beliefs Scale-COVID-19 (VCBS-COVID-19). Network analysis identified the most important symptoms of fear and conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines (nodes) and the associations between them (edges). In addition, the robustness of the network of these indicators of centrality and the possible differences in the structure and connectivity of the networks between the four countries were evaluated. The results suggest that the nodes with the highest centrality were items 2 and 5 of the FCV-19 S and item 2 of the VCBS-COVID-19. Likewise, item 6 is the belief that most predicts conspiracy beliefs about vaccines against COVID-19; while item 6 was the symptom that most predicts fear of COVID-19. The findings strongly support cross-cultural similarities in the networks across the four countries rather than differences. Although it was expected that a higher presence of symptoms of fear of COVID-19 may lead people to compensate for their fear by believing in conspiratorial ideas about vaccines and, consequently, rejecting the COVID-19 vaccine, the results do not clearly show this relationship. This could lead other researchers to generate evidence to explain the differences between Latin American countries and countries in other contexts in terms of vaccination rates. This evidence could be useful to develop policies favoring vaccination against COVID-19 that are more contextualized to the Latin American region, characterized by social instability and economic recession during the pandemic
Network analysis of the relationships between conspiracy beliefs towards COVID-19 vaccine and symptoms of fear of COVID-19 in a sample of latin american countries
"The present study examined how conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines specifcally relate to symptoms of fear of
COVID-19 in a sample of four South American countries. A total of 1785 people from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and
Peru participated, responding to a sociodemographic survey, the Fear of COVID-19 scale (FCV-19 S) and the Vaccine
Conspiracy Beliefs Scale-COVID-19 (VCBS-COVID-19). Network analysis identifed the most important symptoms of
fear and conspiracy beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines (nodes) and the associations between them (edges). In addition, the
robustness of the network of these indicators of centrality and the possible diferences in the structure and connectivity
of the networks between the four countries were evaluated. The results suggest that the nodes with the highest centrality
were items 2 and 5 of the FCV-19 S and item 2 of the VCBS-COVID-19. Likewise, item 6 is the belief that most predicts
conspiracy beliefs about vaccines against COVID-19; while item 6 was the symptom that most predicts fear of COVID-19.
The fndings strongly support cross-cultural similarities in the networks across the four countries rather than diferences.
Although it was expected that a higher presence of symptoms of fear of COVID-19 may lead people to compensate for
their fear by believing in conspiratorial ideas about vaccines and, consequently, rejecting the COVID-19 vaccine, the
results do not clearly show this relationship. This could lead other researchers to generate evidence to explain the diferences between Latin American countries and countries in other contexts in terms of vaccination rates. This evidence could
be useful to develop policies favoring vaccination against COVID-19 that are more contextualized to the Latin American
region, characterized by social instability and economic recession during the pandemic.
Hydrography applied to the mapping of submarine volcanoes
Technical advances in hydrographic studies of the seafloor and the progressive use of
these techniques in oceanographic expeditions with scientific objectives, is generating greater
collaborations between the hydrographic and oceanographic institutions. Coordination between the
different institutions and the use of IHO criteria in the acquisition of bathymetric data in
oceanographic expeditions, allow regional hydrographic offices to have an additional source of data
for the improvement of the navigation charts. Meanwhile the Oceanographic Institutions will benefit
by having validated bathymetric data of high precision. This product is of great interest in studies of
submarine geological hazards where is necessary to have a very detailed knowledge of the seabed to
determine possible morphological changes associated with the risk processes and the possible active
structures. In addition, monitoring of active volcanoes need to have a good knowledge of changes in
the physico-chemical properties of the water column, the possible changes in low intensity emissions
(hot water, gas) can be detected with these studies in the overlying water masses.Versión del edito
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