Privacy in times of COVID-19: a pilot study in the Republic of Ireland

Contact tracing apps used in tracing and mitigating the spread of COVID-19 have sparked discussions and controversies worldwide with major concerns around privacy. COVID Tracker app used in the Republic of Ireland was praised in general for the way it addressed privacy and was used as baseline for other contact tracing apps worldwide. The success of the app is dependent on the general public uptake, hence their voice and attitude is the one that really matters. This paper focuses on developing a survey and the methods aiming to examine the attitudes toward privacy during COVID-19 of the general public in the Republic of Ireland and their impact on the uptake of the COVID tracker app. Various privacy models are used and health belief model as well in this purpose. A pilot study with 286 participants show a change in attitude towards privacy during COVID-19 pandemic, with more people willing to share their data in the interest of saving lives. However, privacy attitudes are shown to have impacted the adoption of the app in Ireland

Karst of Western Cuba: Observations, Geomorphology, and Diagenesis

In Cuba, we observed many karst features in a variety of hydrogeologic settings. These hy-drogeologic settings occur in close proximity only because of the complex tectonic history of the is-land. We observed caves within rocks ranging from Pleistocene to Jurassic, and representing a range of diagenetic ages from eogenetic to teloge-netic. Our observations are from the western one-third of the island of Cuba; however, we believe they are representative of hydrogeologic settings found throughout the island

New tri- and tetra-substituted pyrroles via quinazolinium N1-ylides

New tri-and tetra-substituted N-arylpyrroles were synthesized by one-pot reaction of 3,7-disubstituted quinazolinonium bromides with substituted alkynes having at least one electron-withdrawing substituent in 1,2-epoxybutane acting both as solvent and hydrogen bromide scavenger. Structural characterization of the new compounds was based on IR and NMR spectroscopy as well as on single crystal X-ray analysis

Synthesis and X-ray structure of a new pyrrolo[1,2-b]-pyridazine derivative

The synthesis, characterization and X-ray crystal structure of 2-(4-chloro-phenyl)-7-methylpyrrolo[1,2-b]pyridazine are reported. The compound crystallizes in the space group P21/c (No.14) with a =3.8568(1), b = 11.0690(3), c = 26.4243(7) Å, β = 92.777(1)° and Z = 4. Accurate molecular parameters for the novel heterocyclic system were obtained from intensity data collected at 113K. The molecule assumes a planar conformation in the crystal and the packing is based on π-π stacking with interplanar spacing 3.400 Å, typical of aromatic molecules with potential for displaying useful optical properties

Exploratory characterization of volcanic ash sourced from Uganda as a pozzolanic material in portland cement concrete

The need for alternative cementing materials to ordinary Portland cement (OPC) has promoted characterization research on pozzolana as an important ingredient in cement production. In Uganda, natural pozzolana application in cement production is done by only two producers of Portland cement and at a small scale due to capacity constraints. The capacity constraints, together with other technological issues, continue to hinder realization of the cost reduction and improved quality benefits attributed to the use of pozzolana as a mineral admixture in Portland cement concrete. There is high abundance of natural pozzolana in Uganda in the form of volcanic ash/tuffs which, if adequately characterized, can facilitate production of different cementing materials and increase output from the various players in the cement production industry in Uganda. This paper reviews methods of pozzolana characterisation and presents preliminary research findings on application of natural pozzolana sourced from Uganda in development of Portland cement concrete. Samples collected from two different deposits in the western region of Uganda were prepared and subjected to chemical analysis and tests on compressive strength, flexural strength and flow-ability. The preliminary findings are indicative of good quality pozzolanic materials that can be applied as mineral admixture in production of Portland cement concrete

Sydnone C-4 heteroarylation with an indolizine ring via Chichibabin indolizine synthesis

The synthesis of sydnones heteroarylated at C-4 with an indolizine was achieved by Chichibabin (Tschitschibabin) indolizine synthesis starting from the corresponding sydnone-N-pyridinium bromides. The latter compounds were also transformed to sydnone-indolizines connected through a keto group at the C-4 position by refluxing them in 1,2-epoxybutane with an activated alkyne. The structures of the new compounds were assigned by FTIR, NMR spectroscopy and X-ray analysis

Temperature & pH triggered release characteristics of water/fluorescein from 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium ethylsulfate based ionogels.

A crosslinked Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) ionogel encapsulating an ionic liquid exhibits improved transmittance properties, enhanced water uptake/release, greater thermal actuation behaviour and distinct solvatomorphology over its hydrogel equivalent. It was also found that the rate of release of fluorescein pre-loaded into membranes was considerably enhanced for ionogels compared to equivalent hydrogels, and could be triggered through changes in pH and temperature

Editorial: Mechanisms underlying the interactions between stress and pain

Chronic pain results from a complex interplay between biological, psychological, and socioeconomic factors. To date, numerous risk factors have been associated with the increased susceptibility to chronic pain, from mental health state and lifestyle, to gender and the presence of medical comorbidities, such as insomnia and cardiovascular diseases. Despite the identification of these risk factors, managing chronic pain, let alone preventing it, remains a major clinical challenge. This is because the specific circuits and mediators underlying the diverse components of the multidimensional experience of pain are not specific to the processing of nociceptive information and are often engaged in response to other bodily threats, including stress exposure. This prompts the need for clinical and preclinical studies that examine the multifaceted aspects of chronic pain and how these may overlap with other long-term conditions

Fixing All Moduli in a Simple F-Theory Compactification

We discuss a simple example of an F-theory compactification on a Calabi-Yau fourfold where background fluxes, together with nonperturbative effects from Euclidean D3 instantons and gauge dynamics on D7 branes, allow us to fix all closed and open string moduli. We explicitly check that the known higher order corrections to the potential, which we neglect in our leading approximation, only shift the results by a small amount. In our exploration of the model, we encounter interesting new phenomena, including examples of transitions where D7 branes absorb O3 planes, while changing topology to preserve the net D3 charge.Comment: 68 pages, 19 figures; v2: references adde