ABSTRACT
This study aims at describing differences in internal and external resources of students to handle mathematics learning from home. Based on data from N = 223 7th-grade secondary school students gathered via an online survey at the end of the first school year during the COVID-19 pandemic, we used latent profile analysis to identify student profiles defined by the internal factors perceived value and success of students' math learning from home and the external factors family support and teacher support—all specifically related to home learning. A number of general learning conditions, comprising internal (e.g., sustained attention) and external factors (e.g., socioeconomic status), are included as outcome variables. The best-fitting four-profile solution suggests one profile with comparably unfavorable internal and external resources. About 35% of the students are assigned to that profile. The other three profiles show combinations of, relative to the sample, more and less promising specific home learning and general learning conditions suggesting that these students have different resources available in the face of learning mathematics from home. © 2022, The Author(s).
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic created unprecedented questions for touch-based public displays regarding hygiene, risks, and general awareness. We study how people perceive and consider hygiene on shared touchscreens, and how touchscreens could be improved through hygiene-related functions. First, we report the results from an online survey (n = 286). Second, we present a hygiene concept for touchscreens that visualizes prior touches and provides information about the cleaning of the display and number of prior users. Third, we report the feedback for our hygiene concept from 77 participants. We find that there is demand for improved awareness of public displays' hygiene status, especially among those with stronger concerns about COVID-19. A particularly desired detail is when the display has been cleaned. For visualizing prior touches, fingerprints worked best. We present further considerations for designing for hygiene on public displays. © 2022 ACM.
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This paper aims to determine the potentials as well as the limitations of digital communication to compensate for the massive decrease in direct social interaction due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The availability of “DorfFunk” – a smartphone app for communication in local rural communities – was expanded in three German federal states during the spring of 2020 to counteract some of the negative consequences of measures taken to contain the spread of the virus (curfews, quarantines, social distancing). Here, we present the results of a survey on the experiences, needs, and perceived benefits/limitations of DorfFunk users in times of the pandemic. The results indicate that DorfFunk can contribute to coping with such a situation, especially in the local sphere. Local information and the connection to the community turned out to be of importance, while functionalities for the interaction with other individuals were regarded as secondary. The benefits of DorfFunk were valued more positively in regions where the service had been established already before the pandemic. © 2021, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Persons living with dementia (PLWD) and family care partners (CPs) want to improve their health, maintain independence, and enhance well-being. Multi-domain interventions towards this goal are needed, but few are available and fewer were co-created with PLWD, CPs, and program providers. The objective of the DELIGHT project is to use a participatory approach to co-design a feasible, effective multi-domain intervention (the DELIGHT program) that meets the health and well-being goals of PLWD and CPs. METHOD: Using a participatory approach, the DELIGHT project is guided by a core team of researchers, PLWD, CPs, and an Alzheimer Society representative. The co-design team included the core team and additional PLWD/CPs, exercise professionals, dietitians, health care professionals, and community service providers (n=29). Due to COVID-19, research team meetings have been virtual since May 2020. The co-design was planned for four in-person, half-day sessions but was transitioned to six online, 1.5-hour sessions, using small breakout rooms for discussion. The co-design meetings focused on identifying target population, key outcomes of the program and developing program components and structure. During co-design meetings, two or three guiding questions were set to focus discussion on a specific topic (e.g., exercise). The final co-design session focused on the overall structure of the DELIGHT program. The core team then reflected on co-design discussions and decisions and made final decisions on program structure. Program resources were iteratively designed with the core team, co-design team, and other external stakeholders (including an illustrator). RESULT: The DELIGHT program is designed to promote well-being among PLWD and CP. Engagement soon after diagnosis is a goal. The program will meet twice per week for one hour of exercise and thirty minutes of facilitated discussion/education with a healthy snack and social engagement. Education will focus on healthy eating, sleeping well, mental well-being, social connection, and physical activity. Program resources and manual are in development. CONCLUSION: The DELIGHT program was co-created by PLWD, CPs, researchers, and community stakeholders to meet the health and well-being goals of PLWD and CPs. The on-line and in-person program options will be piloted and evaluated in fall 2021. © 2021 the Alzheimer's Association.
ABSTRACT
This study aims at describing differences in internal and external resources of students to handle mathematics learning from home. Based on data from N= 223 7th-grade secondary school students gathered via an online survey at the end of the first school year during the COVID-19 pandemic, we used latent profile analysis to identify student profiles defined by the internal factors perceived value and success of students' math learning from home and the external factors family support and teacher support-all specifically related to home learning. A number of general learning conditions, comprising internal (e.g., sustained attention) and external factors (e.g., socioeconomic status), are included as outcome variables. The best-fitting four-profile solution suggests one profile with comparably unfavorable internal and external resources. About 35% of the students are assigned to that profile. The other three profiles show combinations of, relative to the sample, more and less promising specific home learning and general learning conditions suggesting that these students have different resources available in the face of learning mathematics from home.
ABSTRACT
Due to the COVID-19 lockdowns and the related mandated work for home, we have seen a massive increase of the use of collaboration tools in various work settings in the last 18 months. Whereas this might have been a new terrain for some, IT-supported work and the related research domain Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) have been around for decades. In this article we briefly review what CSCW has to offer for the currently increasing demand in setting up remote collaboration - and share our own observations about what happened when collaboration tools have been introduced in the pandemic. As a summary, we present some learnings from the experience - both for the current state of CSCW research and for future work. © 2021 Bullinger-Hoffmann, published by De Gruyter.
ABSTRACT
Growth-dependent welfare states contribute to climate emergency. The ecological economics, degrowth, and sustainable welfare literatures demonstrate that to re-embed Western production and consumption patterns in environmental limits, an encompassing social-ecological transformation would need to be initiated very soon. This article focuses on the potential roles of the welfare state and social policy in this transformation, applying the concepts of 'sustainable welfare' and 'safe-operating space'. Based on two Swedish studies, it also provides an empirical analysis of the popularity of selected eco-social policies designed to steer the economy and society towards this space: maximum and basic incomes, taxes on wealth and meat, as well as working time reductions. In analogy to the historical role of the state in reconstituting the welfare-work nexus in the post-WWII era and its present engagement in the context of the Covid-19 crisis, it is argued that a more interventionist state is required to grapple with climate emergency. © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press.
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The worldwide shortage of medical-grade ventilators is a well-known issue, that has become one of the central topics during the COVID-19 pandemic. Given that these machines are expensive and have long lead times, one approach is to vacate them for patients in critical conditions while patients with mild to moderate symptoms are treated with stripped-down ventilators. We propose a mass-producible solution that can create such ventilators with minimum effort. The central part is a module that can be attached to CPAP machines and repurpose them as low-pressure ventilators. Here, we describe the concept and first measurements which underline the potential of our solution. Our approach may serve as a starting point for open-access ventilator technologies.
ABSTRACT
(1) Background: Dialysis patients and recipients of a kidney allograft are at high risk for infection with SARS-CoV-2. It has been shown that the development of potent neutralizing humoral immunity against SARS CoV-2 leads to an increased probability of survival. However, the question of whether immunocompromised patients develop antibodies has not yet been sufficiently investigated;(2) Methods: SARS-CoV-2 antibodies were examined in hemodialysis patients on the waiting list for kidney transplantation as well as patients after kidney transplantation. Patients were interviewed about symptoms and comorbidities, BMI, and smoking history;(3) Results: SARS-CoV-2 antibodies were found in 16 out of 259 patients (6%). The trend of infections here reflects the general course of infection in Germany with a peak in November/December of 2020. Remarkably, patients on the waiting list experienced only mild disease. In contrast, transplanted patients had to be hospitalized but recovered rapidly from COVID-19. Most interesting is that all immunosuppressed patients developed antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 after infection;(4) Conclusions: Even with extensive hygiene concepts, an above-average number of patients were infected with SARS-CoV-2 during the second wave of infections in Germany. Because SARS-CoV-2 infection triggered the formation of antibodies even in these immunocompromised patients, we expect vaccination to be effective in this group of patients. Thus, dialysis patients and patients after kidney transplantation should be given high priority in vaccination programs.
ABSTRACT
The sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to certain circumstances that affected the normal lives of the people. The only alternative left to stop the spread was to impose nationwide lockdown. Like other spheres of life, this pandemic has also brought changes to the teaching learning process. A radical transformation was seen from offline mode of teaching to online mode;both the teachers and the students have been facing problems adapting to the new change. Besides psychological trauma, researchers had to face other problems due to the sudden lockdown of the country. They could not access the library service which plays a very crucial role in any successful research work. Researchers from Assam have also been facing difficulties in their research work. However, it seems that various e-resources appeared to be of great help for the researchers. This paper is an endeavour to understand the role of e-resources in research work in Assam during the crisis.
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We use the most recent wave of the German Qualifications and Career Survey to reveal a substantial wage premium in a Mincer regression for workers performing their job from home. The premium accounts for more than 10% and persists within narrowly defined jobs as well as after controlling for workplace characteristics. In a next step, we provide evidence on substantial regional variation in the share of jobs that can be done from home in Germany. Our analysis reveals a strong, positive relation between the share of jobs with working from home opportunities and the mean worker income in a district. Assuming that jobs with the opportunity of remote work are more crisis proof, our results suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic might affect poorer regions to a greater extent. Hence, examining regional disparities is central for policy-makers in choosing economic policies to mitigate the consequences of this crisis. © 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston 2020.
ABSTRACT
The whole world is fighting against the pandemic situation created by the outbreak of COVID-19. Health workers, all over the world, are rendering service by putting their lives at stake. Health workers of Assam are also working relentlessly. This study attempts to analyse the role of the Accredited Social Health Activist or the ASHA workers of Assam in the fight against this pandemic situation. They have been serving the community to save it from this pandemic. They have faced a number of challenges while delivering their service. An attempt has been made in the current study to understand those challenges and to understand their side of the story.