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The objective of this research is to offer a trajectory of the factors that determine that Mexican heads of families decide to participate in the most visible informal microenterprise sector;before and during COVID-19. The data from the National Household Income and Expenditure Survey (ENIGH) and prepared by the National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Informatics (INEGI) of Mexico have been used and a Heckit model has been applied for its treatment and analysis. The findings show that income is the main cause of the informal economy of the heads of family, thus confirming the choice as a solution to economic difficulties. In addition, it is shown that there is a labor supply that excludes the demand with a higher educational level. In addition, informal enterprises are identified by higher remuneration for time spent, flexibility and reduction in working time, participation of more household members, and lower remuneration for women.
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This article delineates the importance of critical social work understanding and engagement in social policy analysis and practice. Using a Marxist lens, we initially explore the context of globalisation and its challenges, and locate the contradictions inherent in capitalism for social policy, especially in a Latin American context. Our analysis considers the current capitalist and COVID-19 crisis, before reviewing the withdrawal of social policy in the reproduction of the workforce. We use Brazil as an example because, along with other Latin American countries, it has never witnessed the consolidation of government-supported, universal and comprehensive social policies to meet the needs of the entire population. We conclude that we continue to face a clash between capital and labour, which sets most global workers, especially those of underdeveloped countries, in a precarious, if not life-threatening, situation, and we highlight the importance for social work to engage critically with social policy.
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Research in Administrative Sciences under COVID-19 examines the context surrounding organizations in the face of the COVID-19 Pandemic, detailing aspects related to Latin American and Mexican companies and their competitiveness in the face of the global health crisis. © 2022 Emerald Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
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Competitiveness has become essential to business survival. Accordingly, the purpose of this chapter is to study the competitiveness of micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Latin America under the systemic competitiveness model under COVID-19. Documentary research was conducted, based on reports from the Inter-American Development Bank, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the World Bank, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, among others. The main findings reveal an alarming deterioration at the macro, meso, and meta levels, which requires the design of public policies that consider the situation of MSMEs as essential for reducing poverty and unemployment affecting the region. Although MSMEs hold some advantages at the micro level, they need to receive direct support to enable them to stay afloat and make productive and technological investments. © 2022 Emerald Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
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The study of behavioral finance is showing that profitable investment strategies can be implemented, alternatives to traditional analysis techniques, based on metrics on investors' mood. In this paper, we describe an algorithmic trading system that opens long (short) positions if the cumulative incidence at 7 days is minor (greater) than the cumulative incidence at 14 days, which implies a metric of the fear of COVID-19. The backtests run, using 2020 data, on five of the main European indices (AEX, CAC, DAX, IBEX, and MIB) show that the strategy is profitable, with ROI between 21% and 68% and profit factors ranging from 1.11 to 1.32. This is new evidence that accurate indicators of investors' mood (in this case the expansion of the COVID-19 pandemic) let us develop profitable alternative investment strategies based on behavioral finance. 2022– All Rights Reserved.
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This article aims to demonstrate the connection between the crisis of Brazilian federalism and the phenomenon of the Covid-19 pandemic and its consequences in the national legal system. Initially, the process of transformation of Brazilian federalism and its respective institutional crisis is observed. As a result of the inaction of the Brazilian State in the fight against the pandemic, two demands are analyzed in this study, the Direct Action of Unconstitutionality No. 672, which gave rise to a major political dispute at the heart of the Covid-19 crisis and which, in turn, came to set up a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry, to investigate the acts carried out by the Executive Branch. © 2022, University of Passo Fundo. All rights reserved.
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Social work in Brazil advocates a radical and critical model of social work theorisation and practice. This article explores the Brazilian theoretical and practice model, identifying the profession as being in the vortex of Covid-19, increasing state economic austerity, attacks on previously hard-won progressive social policy and increasing inequality and precarity. This provides a challenging practice environment. The professional re-conceptualisation model proposes that social work needs to fully theorise social difficulties to ensure that the profession intervenes to address the causes of the problems, rather than manifestations underlying them. This is undertaken through aligning itself with working-class conflicts, promoting rights and refusing to accept the rolling back of support already won. The Brazilian framework, located within its social realities, offers an opportunity for social work globally to consider what lessons can be learnt, to recognise the uniqueness of its perspectives and provide solidarity through its recognition. This article seeks to explore the unique theoretical and practice perspective of social work in Brazil, within the context of social policy reform, political crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic. It concludes by calling for social work solidarity globally to recognise the Brazilian professional movement and consider its radical and critical approach for contemporary practice.
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The aim of this work was to better understand the experience of Physical Activity and Sports sciences students from the University of A Coruna (Spain), during the COVID-19 confinement in terms of exercising and physical activity at home. The sample is made up of 65 students (55 men and 10 women) with an average age of 20.8 years. The research is qualitative and a diary was used as an information gathering technique. An inductive content analysis was carried out, based on thematic analysis procedures. Four analysis categories were used, including sport practice at home and sports habits. The results show that there was initial discouragement, since sport is considered as a vital necessity and they were unable to practice it. However, the students looked for solutions and designed exercise routines they could use during the confinement. These exercise routines reflected their sports habits and training knowledge, which enabled them to better cope with confinement.
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This paper aims to analyse the financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the pharmaceutical companies listed in the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) index. The event study methodology is applied to a sample of 50 companies that comprise the pharmaceutical sector of the NYSE. The results present evidence in favour of the efficiency of this financial market, thus confirming that behind all great historical phenomena lies a financial effect;it was possible to demonstrate that the market returns of pharmaceutical companies showed a positive return in the WHO reports on COVID-19.
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The present work aims to determine the financial impact on the stock returns of 60 pharmaceutical companies listed in the Standard & Poor's 500 index in the period 2003-2020, in response to the press releases of the World Health Organization, regarding pandemics of the severe acute respiratory syndrome, influenza H1N1, and COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemics. To test the hypothesis that these press releases affect the stock prices, the events study methodology was used, and quantitative research with a correlational scope was applied. The main findings confirm that the World Health Organization reports regarding pandemics have measurable impacts on the stock market performance of the pharmaceutical companies members of the S&P 500 index. © 2021 Universidad ICESI. Published by Universidad Icesi, Colombia.
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Introduction: Vitamin D (VD) plays a role in immune response. Its benefits on respiratory diseases induced by viruses have been previously described and recent data shows that low levels of VD could worsen COVID-19 outcomes Objectives: To establish association between VD blood levels among COVID-19 patients with their clinical outcomes and biochemical inflammatory markers. Methods: Prospective, multicentric, cohort study. COVID-19 patients were recruited consecutively and grouped as ambulatory or hospitalized, being followed until discharge, transfer to other centers, intensive care unit (ICU) admission or death. The variables evaluated were: age, gender, oxygen mask requirement (O2r), mechanical ventilation (MV), pre-existing comorbidities, inflammatory markers, severity of COVID-19 by News Score. VD levels were classified as: suficient: >30 ng/ml (VDS), insuficient: 20-30 ng/ml (VDI), deficient: <20 ng/ml (VDD). Parametric test, linear multivariate, logistic and cox regressions adjusted by confounders (comorbidities, age) plus survival analysis and long rank were performed. Results: 287 patients were recruited;243 (85%) were hospitalized, showing significant differences in VD levels against ambulatory patients (18±10ng/ml - 24,3±13ng/ml respectively p<0,01). Group classification according to VD and characteristics are expressed in Table1. COVID-19 severe forms and VD levels were negatively associated (p:0,009). VDI and VDD had higher risks for moderate (OR:3,2 95CI:1,1-9 p:0,03) and severe (OR:3 95%CI:1,09-8 p:0,03) disease. VD has also shown correlation with baseline markers as ferritin and LDH (p:0,019 -0,03 respectively). O2r risk was increased between VDI (OR:3,4 95%CI:1,2-9 p:0,016) and VDD (OR:2,74 95%CI:1,1- 6,8 p:0,03) noticing a higher risk in presence of comorbidities, multiplying the odds in 3,39 or 3,6 in presence of 1 or more comorbidities respectively. Lower calcium levels correlated with ICU admission (p:0,02), and noticeably presented itself as a risk factor for mortality ( OR: 7,9 95%CI:1,7-36,3 p:0,008). Image: Conclusion: This study shows that among COVID-19 hospitalized patients, vitamin level was significantly lower, besides its association with O2r, severity and baseline inflammatory markers. Calcium also plays a role in the evolution of this disease and further studies are needed to emphasize the importance of adequate levels of VD and supplementation as an effort to improve COVID-19 outcomes.
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The objective of this work is to know how the students are living the current situation of distance teaching "imposed" by Covid-19. The participants are 593 Spanish students, mostly women (76.4%), with an average age of 22.76 years (Sd = 6.541), who live in large cities (86.1%) and study at the University (61.7%). The data collection was carried out with an ad hoc questionnaire that is answered on a Likert-type scale of five categories. Reliability is high (Cronbach's alpha = 0.890). The results indicate that majority of the students have a mobile phone, laptop or tablet, with internet access;but 14.8% recognize that they do not have the necessary resources to face the current situation. 40.6% have moved to live the confinement in another place (family home, second residence, etc.) and 24.3% are in a town of less than 100,000 habitants, data that is associated with the fact that they have fewer resources now. Older students consider that they possess insufficient technological skills, difficulties in implementing the indications of educational school effectively and difficulty in catching up with the constant changes in ICT, significant data if compared to the younger ones.
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OBJECTIVE: To describe the implementation of a Tele-ICU program during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to describe and analyze the results of the first four months of operation of the program. METHODS: This was a descriptive observational study of the implementation of a Tele-ICU program, followed by a retrospective analysis of clinical data of patients with COVID-19 admitted to ICUs between April and July of 2020. RESULTS: The Tele-ICU program was implemented over a four-week period and proved to be feasible during the pandemic. Participants were trained remotely, and the program had an evidence-based design, the objective being to standardize care for patients with COVID-19. More than 100,000 views were recorded on the free online platforms and the mobile application. During the study period, the cases of 326 patients with COVID-19 were evaluated through the program. The median age was 60 years (IQR, 49-68 years). There was a predominance of males (56%). There was also a high prevalence of hypertension (49.1%) and diabetes mellitus (38.4%). At ICU admission, 83.7% of patients were on invasive mechanical ventilation, with a median PaO2/FiO2 ratio < 150. It was possible to use lung-protective ventilation in 75% of the patients. Overall, in-hospital mortality was 68%, and ICU mortality was 65%. CONCLUSIONS: Our Tele-ICU program provided multidisciplinary training to health care professionals and clinical follow-up for hundreds of critically ill patients. This public health care network initiative was unprecedented and proved to be feasible during the COVID-19 pandemic, encouraging the creation of similar projects that combine evidence-based practices, training, and Tele-ICU.