The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has motivated medical ethicists and several task forces to revisit or issue new guidelines on allocating scarce medical resources. Such guidelines are relevant for the allocation of scarce therapeutics and vaccines and for allocation of ICU beds, ventilators, and other life-sustaining treatments or potentially scarce interventions. Principles underlying these guidelines, like saving the most lives, mitigating disparities, reciprocity to those who assume additional risk (eg, essential workers and clinical trial participants), and equal access may (...) compete with one another. We propose the use of a “categorized priority system” (also known as a “reserve system”) as an improvement over existing allocation methods, particularly because it may be able to achieve disparity mitigation better than other methods. (shrink)

This cross-sectional study was carried out to investigate the frequency of consanguineous marriage in a group of army conscripts in Ankara and the factors affecting this. Of 4153 soldiers, 387 were married. The rate of marriage between first cousins was found to be 19·1%, and the overall rate of consanguineous marriage was 24·1%. Consanguineous marriage was found to be significantly prevalent among soldiers who were born in and still living in the Eastern region; among those who lived in villages; among (...) those whose parents as well as themselves had low educational levels; and among those whose marriages were arranged by their families. Neither the payment of bride-price nor the presence of consanguinity between parents was a significant factor for consanguineous marriage. In addition, the age of the soldier and the age at marriage were significantly lower among soldiers married to first cousins than among soldiers whose marriages were not consanguineous. (shrink)

When sharing a task with another person that requires turn taking, as in doubles games of table tennis, performance on the shared task is similar to performing the whole task alone. This has been taken to indicate that humans co-represent their partner’s task share, as if it were their own. Task co-representation allows prediction of the other’s responses when it is the other’s turn, and leads to response conflict in joint interference tasks. However, data from our lab cast doubt on (...) the view that task co-representation and resulting response conflict are the only or even primary source of effects observed in task sharing. Recent findings furthermore suggest another potential source of interference in joint task performance that has been neglected so far: Self-other discrimination and conflict related to agent identification (i.e., determining whether it is “my” or the other’s turn). Based on these findings we propose that participants might not always co-represent what their partner is supposed to do, but instead co-represent that another agent is responsible for part of the task, and when it is his turn. We call this account the actor co-representation account. (shrink)

Background:Rising levels of burnout and decreasing job satisfaction can inhibit healthcare professionals from providing high-quality care due to a corresponding decrease in their ethical sensitivity.Aim:This study aimed to determine the relationship between the level of ethical sensitivity in emergency service nurses and their levels of burnout and job satisfaction.Research design:This research employed a descriptive and cross-sectional design.Participants and research context:This study was conducted with a sample of 236 nurses, all of whom worked in emergency service between 24 July 2015 and (...) 28 April 2016. Data were collected using the Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire, Maslach Burnout Inventory, and Minnesota Job Satisfaction Scale.Ethical considerations:This study was approved by the Institutional Ethics Review Board of Ondokuz Mayıs University.Findings:There was a weak and negative correlation between Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire and Maslach Burnout Inventory scores. There was also a weak and negative correlation between the Maslach Burnout Inventory and Minnesota Job Satisfaction Scale scores.Discussion and conclusion:Decreased job satisfaction and increased burnout levels among emergency service nurses might result in them indulging in improper practices, frequently facing ethical problems, and a decrease in the overall quality of service in hospitals. In order for emergency service nurses to recognize ethical problems and make the most accurate decisions, a high level of ethical sensitivity is critical. In this respect, it is suggested that continuing education after graduation and training programs should be organized. (shrink)

Gods Carved in Stone: The Hittite Rock Sanctuary of Yazɩlɩkaya. By Jürgen Seeher. Istanbul: Ege Yayinlari, 2011. Pp. 205, illus. €35.

The Reign of Tudhaliya II and Šuppiluliuma I: The Contribution of the Hittite Documentation to a Reconstruction of the Amarna Age. By Boaz Stavi. Texte der Hethiter, vol. 31. Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, 2015. Pp. xviii + 236. €45.

In this article we present the first edition of five Hieroglyphic Luwian inscriptions of Ancoz and Samsat provenance from the Adıyaman Museum, provide clarification on the records of previously published inscriptions from Ancoz and Samsat, suggest a join with an existing Ancoz inscription, and offer a discussion on the nature of the rulers of Kummuh.

BackgroundStudies conducted in the health sector have determined a positive relationship between job satisfaction and work engagement. However, this paper reveals that this relationship turns into a negative or non-significant relationship during the COVID-19 pandemic. We explore the reasons for inconsistency in research findings in this critical period through a meta-analysis.MethodsThis study was conducted according to the PRISMA guidelines and PICO framework. Online databases including Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, ProQuest, Google Scholar, and additional records from other databases were searched (...) without any time limitation, and all studies published in English that reported the correlation between work engagement and job satisfaction were included in the analysis. In total, 36 individual correlation coefficients were synthesized. R statistical language was used to analyze the data.ResultA total of 36 studies with a sample size of 16,087 were synthesized. The overall effect size was found as r = 0.57. While the moderating effect of national culture was not statistically significant, presence of COVID-19 as the significant moderator explained 37.08% of effect size heterogeneity. Such that the presence of COVID-19 has transformed the positive relationship between work engagement and job satisfaction into a negative but statistically non-significant relationship.ConclusionThis study empirically challenges the existing assumptions about the positive link between work engagement and job satisfaction. The results of the research can be a guide for managers and policymakers. Specifically, based on these results, different mechanisms can be put in place to support work engagement and, in turn, job satisfaction in the COVID-19 process. (shrink)

Afterlives of Ancient Rock-cut Monuments in the Near East: Carvings in and out of Time. Edited by Jonathan Ben-Dov and Felipe Rojas Culture & History of the Ancient Near East, vol. 123. Leiden: Brill, 2021. Pp. xxiii + 441. $190.

Islamic scholars have specially focused on iʽjāz al-Qur’an, which expresses the universality of the Qur'an, its inaccessible superiority and the divine character and they tried to understand iʽjāz al-Qur’an within the environment they grew up and with the knowledge they have. Some of the scholars who are try understanding are the commentators belonging to the Ibāziyya sect, which was formed in the early period of Islamic history and continues to exist today. In this article, it is aimed to examine the (...) approaches of Ibāzī commentators to iʽjāz al-Qur’an. In addition, the purpose of the study is to determine iʽjāz, miracle and tahaddī in Ibâzî tafseers and in some Sunnī sources and to prepare the ground for the comparison of the views of both thought systems on these issues. As a result of the research, it has been understood that Ibāzī commentators have the same opinion that the Qur'an has challenged with its text and content, nothing like it will ever be created and that it is a valid miracle until the Day of Judgment. Moreover, it has been seen that the Ibāzī commentators and Sunni scholars have similar perspectives on iʽjāz al-Qur’an. The exception to this is the relationship established by Ettafeyyish, one of the Ibāzī commentators, between tahaddī and the creation of the Qur'an. The reason for the difference in their views can be explained by the influence of sec-tarian thought and similarity between the views of Ibazi and Sunni scholars, can be explained by their approach to the iʽjāz al-Qur’an with a transcendentalist (tanzihī) understanding and the by fact that their tafseer sources are the same. (shrink)

Reserve systems are a tool to allocate scarce resources when stakeholders do not have a single objective. This paper introduces some basic concepts about reserve systems for pandemic medical resource allocation. At the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, we proposed that reserve systems can help practitioners arrive at compromises between competing stakeholders. More than a dozen states and local jurisdictions adopted reserve systems in initial phases of vaccine distribution. We highlight several design issues arising in some of these implementations. We (...) also offer suggestions about ways practitioners can take advantage of the flexibility offered by reserve systems. (shrink)

As hospitals in the US and elsewhere fill again with patients with covid-19, discussions about how to fairly allocate scarce medical resources have come to the fore once again. One frequently voiced concern is that non-covid-19 patients with urgent health needs are facing indefinitely postponed surgeries, long-distance hospital transfers, or even are unable to access medical treatment. In our view, a reserve or categorised priority system could help. It could be used to fairly distribute scarce medical capacity—such as staffing, physical (...) space, and medical treatments—between covid-19 and non-covid-19 patients, just as it has been used or proposed to allocate covid-19 therapeutics and vaccines. (shrink)