Change Tactics Research Articles

Regulatory requirements for the approval of anti-cancer drugs as per CDSCO in India comparison with Singapore

This study examines the regulatory requirements for anticancer medications in Singapore and India are compared in this abstract. It draws attention to the frameworks set up by Singapore's Health Sciences Authority (HSA) and India's Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO). The procedures for clinical studies, approval schedules, and post-marketing surveillance are among the main distinctions. Singapore places a strong emphasis on strict safety and efficacy criteria, whereas India stresses a quicker clearance process to address pressing healthcare needs. The investigation highlights how various regulatory methods affect patient access, innovation, and medicine supply in both nations. Recent decades have seen extraordinary improvements in the discovery of anticancer medications, transforming both cancer treatment and patient outcomes. With an emphasis on the main areas of anticancer therapeutics—chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, and hormone therapy—this study offers a thorough summary of the state of the field. We examine each drug class's methods of action, effectiveness, and difficulties while showcasing more recent developments like immune checkpoint inhibitors and CAR-T cell therapy. We also go over side effects, drug resistance, and how tailored medicine might improve the effectiveness of treatment. A look is also given to new developments in drug research, such as the application of nanotechnology and AI-driven drug discovery. The review attempts to shed light on the changing tactics used to fight cancer and the potential paths for anticancer medication development.

Deceptively Simple yet Profoundly Impactful: Text Messaging Interventions to Support Health.

This paper examines the use of text message (SMS) interventions for health-related behavioral support. It first outlines the historical progress in SMS intervention research publications and the variety of funds from US government agencies. A narrative review follows, highlighting the effectiveness of SMS interventions in key health areas, such as physical activity, diet and weight loss, mental health, and substance use, based on published meta-analyses. It then outlines advantages of text messaging compared to other digital modalities, including the real-time capability to collect information and deliver microdoses of intervention support. Crucial design elements are proposed to optimize effectiveness and longitudinal engagement across communication strategies, psychological foundations, and behavior change tactics. We then discuss advanced functionalities, such as the potential for generative artificial intelligence to improve user interaction. Finally, major challenges to implementation are highlighted, including the absence of a dedicated commercial platform, privacy and security concerns with SMS technology, difficulties integrating SMS interventions with medical informatics systems, and concerns about user engagement. Proposed solutions aim to facilitate the broader application and effectiveness of SMS interventions. Our hope is that these insights can assist researchers and practitioners in using SMS interventions to improve health outcomes and reducing disparities.

The Evaluating Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Risk Management and Fraud Detection in the Commercial Bank in Bangladesh

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the banking sector represents a significant leap forward in the realms of risk management and fraud detection. This paper explores the transformative effects of AI in these areas, emphasizing both the improvements and the challenges brought about by its implementation. In risk management, AI's influence is diverse and profound. Advanced algorithms allow for the creation of more sophisticated credit risk assessment models by detecting subtle patterns in large datasets that might be overlooked by human analysts. This capability enhances the accuracy of credit risk evaluations. Additionally, real-time monitoring of transactions helps in the immediate mitigation of risks, which is particularly crucial when dealing with market and liquidity risks. AI also significantly aids in automating compliance with regulatory requirements, reducing the likelihood of human errors and enabling quicker adaptation to changes in regulations. Operational risks are also minimized through AI's ability to automate routine tasks and strengthen cybersecurity measures. AI systems are adept at identifying anomalies that may indicate fraud by scrutinizing transaction data and customer behavior. The predictive capabilities of AI enable banks to anticipate and prevent potential fraud schemes. Moreover, AI systems can adapt and evolve in response to changing tactics used by fraudsters, maintaining their effectiveness over time. AI enhances customer authentication processes through the use of advanced technologies such as biometric verification, providing an additional layer of security. However, the implementation of AI in banking raises significant concerns regarding data privacy and security due to the sensitive nature of banking information. Furthermore, AI models can inherently carry biases that lead to discriminatory outcomes, necessitating ongoing monitoring and adjustments to these models. The complexity and lack of transparency in AI systems also pose challenges, particularly when AI-driven decisions have significant impacts on customers. The evolving regulatory frameworks for AI in banking present another layer of complexity, as banks must continuously adapt to comply with new and changing regulations. This paper highlights the need for a balanced approach to leveraging AI's potential in banking, addressing both its transformative benefits and the ethical and regulatory challenges involved. By doing so, banks can harness AI to enhance their operations while ensuring fairness, transparency, and compliance with regulatory standards.

Examining the Relationship between Transformational Leadership and Organizational Change Effectiveness: A Case Study of Multinational Companies in Baluchistan

This study investigates the impact of transformational management on organizational alternate effectiveness within multinational groups working in Baluchistan, Pakistan. Recognizing the dynamic and hastily evolving commercial enterprise surroundings, this research emphasizes the important role of leadership in navigating via organizational alterations. The look is grounded inside the theoretical framework of transformational management and is posited to influence organizational change tactics seriously, fostering innovation, motivation, and collective imagination and prescience among employees. Through a quantitative study’s methodology, facts were accrued from mid-level managers at Mondelez International, Hub, and Cnergyico Pakistan Limited, Hub, using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) and Project Implementation Profile (PIP) survey contraptions. The findings reveal a wonderful correlation between transformational leadership and organizational trade effectiveness, highlighting the importance of transformational leadership behavior, including intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation, and individualized consideration, in enhancing the success of alternate projects. This takes a look at contributing to the existing body of knowledge by presenting empirical proof of the effectiveness of transformational management in managing organizational change inside the unique socio-economic and cultural context of Baluchistan. The implications of this study are massive for multinational agencies in search of powerful exchange management techniques in diverse and tough environments in force.

Where Have All the ‘Exiters’ Gone? Contextualising the Concept of Hard Euroscepticism

AbstractThe article analyses the impact of Brexit on hard Eurosceptic discourses in the Visegrád Group countries from 2015 to 2023. As the negative implications of Brexit for the UK economy became clear, many hard Eurosceptics softened their rhetoric, using the referendum as a proxy for a ‘hard’ exit. Whilst the classical soft–hard typology remains dominant amongst scholars in the study of Euroscepticism, the case of Brexit shows that long‐term principled opposition to the European Union (EU) can hide behind equivocal rhetoric. The article suggests studying the changing tactics of Eurosceptics by matching current EU and domestic contexts together with the long‐term points of departure of hard Eurosceptics.

Revisiting the Formation and Radicalisation of Boko Haram and Al-Qaeda in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) through Social Movement Theory

This paper uses social movement theory to examine the rise and development of Boko Haram and AQIM into radical groups. Boko Haram and AQIM were initially established as moderate and conservative Islamist groups in Nigeria and Algeria respectively. AQIM was originally a political party – the FIS but changed names to the GIA, the GSPC, and AQIM each with a different modus operandi. Boko Haram was a local organization that has been espousing an anti-system frame alongside violent tactics since 2009. Relying on secondary data, this paper found that the emergence and eventual transformation of Boko Haram and AQIM into radical movements signify the existence of social movement factors of political opportunity structures, mobilizing structures, and framing processes in Nigeria and Algeria. Results from content analysis of the data show that while the two movements emerged in two distinct socio-economic and political environments, they were rational actors who continued to utilize the available political structures opportunity, mobilizing structures and framing processes to mobilize and sustain collective actions. It is evident that government repression only made the two groups change tactics and strategies when what they regarded as free spaces diminished at times they gathered material and non-material resources. That coincided with the radical views of some of the groups’ members, the presence of mobilizing structures, and a frame resonance that ensured recruitment into the two movements.

If at first, you don’t succeed: Strategies used by environmental activist volunteer leaders to overcome failure

ABSTRACT Environmental activist leaders play a critical role in organizing grassroots activism. They often do so in a voluntary capacity while enduring long periods of failure in their quest to achieve environmental goals. Through 21 interviews we investigate how environmental activist volunteer leaders experience failure and the strategies they use to overcome it. Using a two-stage reflexive thematic analysis approach, four dimensions of failure were identified: movement, campaign, organization, and individual. Participants used three overarching strategies to manage these experiences of failure: Re-evaluating outcomes, emphasizing individual benefits, and changing tactics. Our findings suggest that environmental activist volunteer leaders regularly experienced failure across all four dimensions. The strategies they used to manage failure enabled them to maintain belief that success is achievable. We conclude with a discussion of how these findings can be used to develop tools and resources to enhance activist leaders’ capacity to prevail in the face of failure.

STEM education institutional change projects: examining enacted approaches through the lens of the Four Categories of Change Strategies Model

BackgroundEnacting STEM education reform is a complex task and there are a variety of approaches that might be selected by change agents. When working on an institutional change project to impact multiple parts of the STEM education system, teams of change agents may select multiple strategies and tactics to enact at one time and over multiple years of a project. However, the literature lacks studies which document and analyze strategies and tactics used by change project teams in a way that can be useful for other change agents. The current study seeks to fill this gap by investigating National Science Foundation-funded change initiatives at three public research universities focused on encouraging the adoption of evidenced-based instructional practices by STEM faculty in order to understand the strategies used within and across projects.ResultsQualitative framework analysis using the lens of the Henderson et al. (Journal of Research in Science Teaching 48(8): 952–984, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.20439) Four Categories of Change Strategies Model showed that institutional projects enact a wide range of tactics that span the four strategies represented in the four categories of the model both across institutions and within each institution. The analysis documents a number of change tactics not previously described by the model and offers expanded definitions of the change processes that operate within each category in the context of institutional change projects.ConclusionThis descriptive work advances our understanding of the breadth and depth of actions taken by institutional change initiatives and provides insights into types of variations that might be observed based on different institutional contexts. The current analysis both affirms the value of the original model and identifies expanded ways to think about the four categories within the context of institutional change projects.

Reading In‐Between: How Women Engage with Messages of ‘Superstar’ Business Role Models

AbstractWith role models being seen as central for developing women as leaders, recent research has been critical of messages that contemporary elite businesswomen role models promote. But how do women actually relate to female business ‘superstar’ role models’ messages? We argue that the implicit assumption that role models’ effects may be understood through exploring exclusively the kind of messages they send is problematic. Through introducing active audience theory, specifically de Certeau's concepts of ‘tactics’ and ‘strategy’, to analyse interviews with women who read autobiographies of business celebrity role models, we identify three key tactics in which female role aspirants engage with role models’ messages: tactics of confirmation, namely a selective adoption of intended messages; tactics of challenge, namely a contestation of messages; and tactics of change, through which unscripted meanings of collective consciousness and support for other women emerge. In doing so, the paper offers a novel way of theorising the influence of distant role models – as emerging from a process of co‐creation in the ‘in‐between’ space. We argue that theorising the role of models’ influence as co‐creation allows us to systematically incorporate role aspirants’ perceptions into the role‐modelling process and to further understand the unscripted and unforeseen effects of role models.

Officious Aliens: Tatars' Involvement in the Central Asian Revolution, 1919–21

Officious AliensTatars' Involvement in the Central Asian Revolution, 1919–21 Norihiro Naganawa (bio) A gentle wind of the East has brought you, angels.Look upon the sky, stars created the celestial body.Upon your arrival, the Ferghana rubs its head on the ground.You saw, flowers blossomed for you at your every step.You felt, we finally became calm before your compassionate eyes.Thanks to you, we bring our valuable aspirations into being.Not until the heavenly homeland is cleansed of devils,Not until Satan falls silent will we lay down our gunsBefore your eyes newspapers and books, weapons in hands. In the press organ of the Communist Party of Turkestan, the Uzbek poet "Chıghatay" eulogized the First Volga-Tatar Infantry Brigade, which had arrived in the Ferghana Valley in mid-January 1920 to fight the Basmachi, anti-Soviet insurgents.1 This ode sheds light on an unusual node in the establishment of Soviet power in the region, raising questions. Why were Tatars there? Why were Tatar soldiers struggling by means of newspapers and books? How did Tatars themselves see their mission? Were they mere useful pawns of the Bolsheviks who shared the locals' faith? How should we evaluate their relationship with the local population and its native elite? The Tatar Brigade's operations in the Ferghana Valley undermine a canon of Civil War literature, which has developed discretely along the lines of [End Page 63] regions and national republics.2 True, Soviet historians of the Civil War in Central Asia did not fail to mention the Tatar Brigade's praiseworthy role in battles against the Basmachi and the political education of the local population in the Ferghana Valley. But their pivotal concern was to prioritize native titular peoples' alliance and collision with the Soviets, while downplaying any coherent trajectory of the Brigade's mediating operation in Central Asia.3 More recent fundamental works, too, have inherited this line of analysis and narrative. Marco Buttino attributes the Soviets' changing tactics in their struggle with the Basmachi in the Ferghana Valley and their attempt to create a separate Muslim Red Army to a contentious rivalry among native Muslim Communists led by Turar Rysqulov (1894–1938), their Russian "colonial" counterparts in Tashkent, and representatives from Moscow; Tatar units of the Red Army appear in minor, accidental episodes showing them to be dubious elements prone to violence.4 Adeeb Khalid and Hisao Komatsu are no exceptions, either. Of course, their contribution is different, as they manifestly demonstrate the agency of local intellectuals, the Jadids, in fulfilling their own vision of modernity, which had already taken shape under tsarist colonial rule, amid their struggle with another Bolshevik vision of modernity. Although Khalid does mention Tatar agents during the Civil War here and there, their role should be clarified to provide an intricate picture of the natives' early encounter with Bolshevism.5 [End Page 64] This article excavates a hitherto fragmented and underrated layer of the Central Asian revolution. Exploring the Tatar intermediaries' predicaments when they came into contact with the Muslim population in Turkestan and Bukhara, I assess strengths and vulnerabilities in the early Soviets' transmission of power to the fractured empire's borderlands. First, I analyze the Tatar Brigade's struggles and negotiations with the Basmachi to illuminate the profound dilemmas that belied the Brigade's self-presentation as a Bolshevik "civilizer," a view that its political workers strove to impose on both the soldiers and the local population. Second, I show the rise and fall of those individuals from the Tatar Brigade who were involved in the two watersheds of the revolution in Central Asia: the replacement of leadership inside the Communist Party of Turkestan in July and the conquest of the Bukharan Emirate in September 1920. The Tatar rendering of Bolshevik language—such as reinforcement of the class struggle, liberation of the oppressed East from capitalism and imperialism, and self-determination—enabled Tatar agents to recruit indigenous men to the Red Army and to engage in elite politics well enough to harness the Turkestan Party to Moscow's will. Yet once they looked identical to Russian colonialists in the turbulent aftermath of the Bukharan Revolution, the very logic...

Posture Correction Interventions to Manage Neck Pain among Computer and Smartphone Users- A Narrative Review

Digital technology has affected practically every aspect of modern life. Sitting is something that humans do for a number of purposes, including work (particularly for those who work in the computer industry), and for enjoyment. Daily computer use causes frequent neck and back pain. Flexed head and neck postures might cause neck pain during work. Pauses and postural modifications help avoid pain and sickness. Recent wearables can sense spinal alignment and provide immediate feedback on improper posture. Posture monitoring can help treat or change a user’s posture. In this narrative review, Google Scholar, PubMed, Cross-Ref, Cochrane, and ResearchGate were searched for English-only papers using review-specific keywords and fifty-one items were found. The search was narrowed by using more particular terms, such as “wearable postural correction sensors,” “forward head posture,” “neck discomfort in smartphone or computer users,” and “neck workouts.” Only current papers from 2015 onwards were considered. After filtering for relevancy, twenty-five articles were included. Researcher should identify intervention functions, policy categories, and tactics for behaviour change. Researchers have also examined neck discomfort, forward head posture in young individuals while using smartphones and computers, and posture correction using a wearable postural correction sensor. And also appropriate arrangement and support to administering a home and workplace fitness programme that eliminates pain and impairment while enhancing Forward Head Posture (FHP) and endurance. This review aimed to thoroughly examine existing literature for evidence concerning prevalent problems among smartphone and computer users such as neck discomfort and forward head position, postural correction sensor, and impact of exercises on neck discomfort.

НАЦИОНАЛЬНАЯ СПЕЦИФИКА РЕАЛИЗАЦИИ СТРАТЕГИИ УТЕШЕНИЯ В НЕМЕЦКОЙ ЛИНГВОКУЛЬТУРЕ (НА МАТЕРИАЛЕ ПРОИЗВЕДЕНИЙ И. НОЛЛЬ)

The article is devoted to the study of comforting communicative strategy. The tactics and linguistic means realizing it differ from one lingua-culture to another. The relevance of the article is due to the need for further study of this strategy in German lingua-culture. The purpose of this work is to define the tactics and linguistic means that realize comforting strategy in German speech, as well as their national peculiarities. According to the analysis of empiric material, the following tactics can be distinguished: soothing tactics, distraction tactics, empathy tactics, optimism tactic, fatalism tactic, support tactics, generalization tactics, mobilization tactics, tactics of perspective change, of feelings explication, of reference to personal experience, of opponent’s criticism, of ways of coping suggestion. The author comes to the conclusion that the realization of comforting strategy in German speech reflects the following national peculiarities. The speakers appeal to the listener’s logic and give a detailed argumentation of their ideas. They criticize the lack of rationality in the other’s behavior. The idea of a norm is of great importance. The norm refers to the emotional stability, peace of mind and confidence. A comforting message aims to help the consoled get back to this norm. It is also connected with Ordnung, Sicherheit concepts A comforter can also appeal to the Pflicht concept. The study also shows that the speaker tries to alleviate the listener’s feeling of uncertainty and appeals to Zeit concept.

Strategic communication as planned behavior for science and risk communication: A theory-based approach to studying communicator choice.

This essay argues that we should treat science and risk communicators' choices about tactics, objectives, and goals as behaviors to advance both research and practice. Doing so allows for a discussion about how to use theories about behavior change and trust-building to help foster more strategic communication choices. The essay also seeks to anticipate and respond to potential arguments against using behavior change theories to encourage more strategic communication choices. We argue that it is possible to use behavior change tactics ethically if those tactics are aimed at increasing the likelihood that all participants in communication-including decisions makers like risk scientists-meaningfully engage with true, relevant information. Under the right conditions, such engagement is what should allow for the development of new knowledge, as well as a range of evidence-based evaluative beliefs, feelings, and frames. Being strategic when making choices about communication should also help with identifying situations in which justice, equity, diversity, or inclusion issues require additional attention. The essay concludes by noting that the difficulty of efficient and effective science and risk communication may require increased emphasis on getting experts such as scientists to collaborate with expert communication advisors. It may also be necessary to increase the capacity of science- and risk-focused communication practitioners.

QUALITY CONTROL OF THE WORK OF A FAMILY PHYSICIAN IN UKRAINE AS A KEY TO SUCCESSFUL PRACTICE

Summary. In the context of the reform of the medical industry in Ukraine, the issue of ensuring effective quality control of the provision of medical care and its proper organization in healthcare institutions, and primarily primary care providers (PCP), has become topical. Today in Ukraine, the control of the work of general practitioners-family doctors (audit) is a continuous process, the purpose of which is to improve the quality of medical care. The audit is characterized by a systematic approach, which makes it possible to identify problems, assess the achieved level of quality, plan, and implement changes aimed at improving the quality of medical care.
 The audit of the work of doctors is divided into professional and administrative, as well as internal and external. The audit of the work of general practitioners - family doctors, as a rule, is a combination of all these types.
 Internal quality control is carried out by the general/medical director of the PCP provider and the medical boards of the institution, and is divided into audit of the structure, process and result. In addition, there are forms of internal audit of the work of family doctors: self-control and self-assessment of quality, mutual assessment between colleagues, and assessment of the head of the PCP provider.
 The external audit of the PCP supplier is represented by non-departmental, public and departmental control. The subjects of control are the authorized bodies outside the medical institution. External quality control of the provision of medical care is carried out by state authorities, clinical expert commissions of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, public organizations. The financial audit is carried out by the National Health Service of Ukraine and the Department of Audit and Analytics of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. Administrative audit is carried out by the Department of Audit and Analytics of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.
 Conclusions. In general, control over the activities of general practitioners - family doctors is an ongoing process and involves a systematic approach. Internal audits are conducted by members of the same profession, providing a unique opportunity to identify non-compliance with standards and change tactics before it leads to adverse consequences. External audit is carried out by state institutions. The balanced application of these two forms of audit allows to achieve a high quality of work of doctors. General practitioners - family doctors should strive for quality and regular internal audit as the main corrective factor in the implementation of quality care in family medicine.

Kinesiologic Tape on Post Operative Swelling, Pain, Trismus in Zygomatico-Maxillary Complex Fracture after Orif: A Changing Tactics.

There has been always a need of new methods to control post operative complications in OMFS. A randomized prospective study was done to assess the effect of K tape on postoperative swelling, pain, trismus in Zygomatico-maxillary Complex (ZMC) fracture after open reduction with internal fixation using two point fixation. 30 patients of either gender undergoing ORIF for ZMC fracture using two point fixation of age group between 18 and 50years were included in the study. Patients were divided into treatment either with or without Kinesiologic tape. Tape was applied directly after surgery and maintained for at least 5days postoperatively. Facial swelling was quantified using a five-line measurement at six specific points of time. Pain and degree of mouth opening was measured. Patient's subjective feeling was asked. The values were subjected to Fischer's exact test, Independent sample test, Mann whitney U test, Wilocoxon sign rank test. The results of this study show that application of Kinesiologic tape after zygomatico maxillary complex fracture surgery significantly reduced the incidence of swelling with an earlier resolution of swelling, and decreased the maximum turgidity for more than 60% during the first 2days after surgery. Although, Kinesiologic tape has no significant influence on pain control but reduction in trismus in the Kinesiologic tape group compared to the non-Kinesiologic tape group. Furthermore, patients with Kinesiologic tape felt significantly lower morbidity than those without Kinesiologic tape. This study suggests that Kinesiologic tape is a promising, simple, less traumatic, economical approach, which is free from adverse reaction and improves patients quality of life.

We Are Everywhere: Protest, Power, and Pride in the History of Queer Liberation

We Are Everywhere: Protest, Power, and Pride in the History of Queer Liberation

Soft Skills and Psychosocial Counselling in COVID-19 Times: the Changing Tactics.

IntroductionAs the COVID-19 pandemic is increasingly griping the world, it starts effecting the psychosocial health of the patients, health care workers, frontline workers and their dependents. The entire landscape of existing patient psychological counselling and management needs to be changed to avoid fear and misinformation about COVID-19.Material and methodsIn this article, we have tried to summarize the rules, regulations and protocols in accordance with government guidelines along with practical implementation of counselling in management of psychological health condition of patients and frontline workers.ConclusionIf used wisely and as per recommendations, psychosocial counselling is a very useful tool in the present COVID-19 pandemic, to avoid spread of misinformation, fear and grief about the disease which creates mental health issue and anxiety among close contacts as well as health care workers.

International Neurosurgery Activity after 2020- Silver Linings from the Covid-19 Pandemic & Lessons from the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies (EANS)

“Every cloud has a silver lining,” and indeed, every crisis provides opportunities for learning lessons and changing tactics. Nobody couldhave foreseen what happened because of the Covid-19 disease, from the unfolding outbreak stages to the epidemic, and now a globalpandemic; second and possibly third waves into 2021, and 2 million deaths and 98 million confirmed infections globally as of 25thJanuary 2021. The European Association of Neurosurgical Societies (EANS) canceled all major on-site activities in 2020; This included allthree cycles of our flagship event, the residential Training Courses for Residents in Neurosurgery, as well as various hands-on courses(table 1). However, amidst the chaos, suffering, and lockdown, and the uncertainties of traveling, hotel availabilities, and quarantines,the opportunity arose to convert some events to an online version. Several organizations and societies acted along the same lines, andthere has been an explosion of webinars and videoconferencing on a variety of platforms (1).

Treatment of hypertension during the COVID-19 pandemic: questions about the blockade of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system

Arterial hypertension was one of the most common comorbidities associated with a high risk of death in hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Patients with hypertension are routinely and according to standards treated with angiotensinconverting enzyme inhibitors (ACE inhibitors) or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) II. ACE inhibitors or ARB II are included in fixed combinations of antihypertensive drugs recommended for patients with uncomplicated hypertension, as well as when combined with various comorbidities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there were suggestions about the potential for a negative effect of drugs of these classes on the course and outcomes of a new coronavirus infection. There was a need for a quick response from the most reputable medical organizations to the question of the use of ACE inhibitors and ARB II during the COVID-19 pandemic. The expert position was soon published despite the lack of evidence from randomized clinical trials. Was there any reason for concern about the treatment of ACE inhibitors and ARB II for COVID-19? What are the relationships between the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) and COVID-19? Is there any new data from clinical trials that can confirm or deny the previously presented position of professional societies regarding the use of RAAS blockers in COVID-19? What is the role of the difference in the mechanism of action of an ACE inhibitor and ARB II in COVID-19? Is it possible that RAAS blockers will be helpful in treating COVID-19? Will the tactics of hypertension pharmacotherapy change in the near future? In this review article, modern concepts on this problem are discussed and answers to the listed questions reflecting the achieved level of knowledge are formulated.

The Path of Terror Attacks

This paper derives a dynamic path of ongoing terror attacks as a function of terrorists’ capacity and a target government’s counterterror capacity. The analysis provides several novel insights and characterizations. First, the effect of counterterror policy is limited. Second, proactive counterterror policy affects the depreciation (fatigue) of terrorists’ capacity, and defensive counterterror policy limits the worst-case scenario. Third, fluctuations in the time path of attacks are a function of terrorists’ time preferences and adjustment costs of changing tactics, which are policy invariant. Indeed, in our model, the oscillations of terror attacks occur irrespective of the government’s counterterror stance. Fourth, collective action inefficiencies associated with the underprovision of proactive counterterror policies and overprovision of defensive ones are further exacerbated by our finding that proactive counterterror policy is the more effective of the two. Hence, the more effective policy is underprovided.