STAD: State-Transition-Aware Anomaly Detection Under Concept Drifts

The detection of temporal abnormal patterns over streaming data is challenging due to volatile data properties and lacking real-time labels. The abnormal patterns are usually hidden in the temporal context, which can not be detected by evaluating single points. Furthermore, the normal state evolves over time due to concept drift. A single model does not fit all data over time. Autoencoders are recently applied for unsupervised anomaly detection. However, they usually get expired and invalid after distributional drifts in the data stream. In this paper, we propose an autoencoder-based approach (STAD) for anomaly detection under concept drift. In particular, we use a state-transition-based model to map different data distributions in each period of the data stream into states, thereby addressing the model adaptation problem in an interpretable way. We empirically demonstrate the state transition process and evaluate the anomaly detection performance on the Covid-19 dataset of Germany. © 2022 Copyright for this paper by its authors. Use permitted under Creative Commons License Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). CEUR Workshop Proceedings (CEUR-WS.org)

The Effect of FOXP3+Regulatory T Cells on Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases

CD4+CD25+FOXP3+regulatory T cells (Tregs) contribute to the maintenance of immune homeostasis and tolerance in the body. The expression levels and functional stability of FOXP3 control the function and plasticity of Tregs. Tregs critically impact infectious diseases, especially by regulating the threshold of immune responses to pathogenic microorganisms. The functional regulatory mechanism and cell-specific surface markers of Tregs in different tissues and inflammatory microenvironments have been investigated in depth, which can provide novel ideas and strategies for immunotherapies targeting infectious diseases.Copyright © 2021. All rights reserved.

Empowerment in the Crisis: Narratives of COVID-19 Generation Researchers

The COVID-19 pandemic influenced higher degree by research (HDR) students' academic experiences profoundly as it forced HDR students to adjust their intensive and demanding research work and studies according to unforeseeable challenges. This was particularly challenging for international HDR students as they had rather limited resources in their host countries to cope with uncertainties, and the university emergency responses gave them limited attention and support. This resulted in many international HDR students feeling disempowered. However, recent research on international HDR students' experience in their host countries during the pandemic remains sparse. From an insiders' account, this autoethnography study aims to bridge this gap, investigating two Australia-based Chinese HDR students' struggles in their research studies and their academic identity self-formation. This study presents that the international HDR students managed to empower themselves by holding on to their support systems and exercising their agency in the middle of uncertainty. The findings presented in the study add to the understanding of the importance of providing a more inclusive and supportive environment for international HDR students' development. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022.

Experimental study on the effect of 4-way active chilled beam ventilation system on airborne infection risk

With the global outbreak of infectious respiratory diseases COVID-19, it is critical to evaluate the indoor airborne infection risk. The ventilation strategies and air distribution methods may affect indoor cross-infection significantly. This study aims to evaluate the effect of 4-way active chilled beam ventilation system on airborne infection risk. An experimental study has been conducted in a test chamber to investigate airborne transmission in an office room with two different heat load conditions and two chilled beam types. Tracer gas technique was used to simulate the exhaled droplet nuclei from the infected person and the photoacoustic gas analyser (Gasera One) was used to monitor the concentration of SF6. The revised Wells-Riley model was used to calculate the infection probability with both spatial and temporal resolutions. One of the occupants was an infector, and the influence of three factors were explored, including the infector's location, air distribution patterns, and heat load levels. To evaluate the dynamics of airborne exposure, real-time and average exposure indices were proposed. The experimental results illustrated that the airborne infection risk increased linearly within 30 min of the exposure time, and then keep a constant state. Under the same heat load conditions, 2 pcs of 1200 chilled beam system directed the particles in the occupied zone to the outlet effectively and reduced the infection rate of personnel in occupied zone. The location of the infector had a significant impact on the infection probability for the active chilled beam ventilation system. © 2022 17th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, INDOOR AIR 2022. All rights reserved.

Telehealth for Pediatric Gastroenterology Care Now: The Transition to Telehealth and the Impact of Webinar-Based Didactics.

With the coronavirus disease 2019 public health emergency (PHE), telehealth (TH) became essential for continued delivery of care. Members of the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) formed the Telehealth for Pediatric Gastrointestinal Care Now (TPGCN) working group and rapidly organized a telemedicine webinar to provide education and guidance. We aim to describe the webinar development and prospectively assess the effectiveness of this webinar-based educational intervention. Methods: NASPGHAN members who registered for the TPGCN webinar received pre- and post-webinar surveys. Outcome measures included a modified Telehealth Acceptance Model (TAM) survey and a Student Evaluation of Educational Quality (SEEQ) standardized instrument. Results: Seven hundred seventy-six NASPGHAN members participated in the webinar, 147 (33%) completed the pre-webinar survey; of these, 25 of 147 (17%) completed a post-webinar survey. Before the PHE, 50.3% of the pre-webinar survey participants had no TH knowledge. Webinar participants trended to have increased acceptance of TH for follow-up visits (pre-webinar, 68% versus post-webinar, 81%; P = 0.15) and chronic disease care (pre-webinar, 57% vs post-webinar, 81%; P = 0.01). The overall acceptance of TH as shown by TAM pre-webinar was 1.74 ± 0.8, which improved to 1.62 ± 0.8 post-webinar (lower scores indicate greater acceptance; P < 0.001). SEEQ results indicate that webinar material was understandable (post-webinar, 95%). Participants found breakout sessions informative and enjoyable (post-webinar, 91%). Conclusion: The TPGCN TH webinar was an effective educational intervention that fostered increased TH usage for follow-up and chronic care visits, improved TAM scores, and was well received by participants as seen by high SEEQ scores. Sustained and expanded pediatric gastrointestinal TH usage beyond the coronavirus disease 2019 PHE is expected.

Network analysis of sleep quality and anxiety of first-line medical staff in epidemic prevention

Objective: To explore the network characteristics of sleep quality and anxiety in first-line medical staff fighting against COVID-19, further understand the relationship between sleep quality and anxiety, and provide basis for intervention. Methods: Using the convenient sampling method, this paper used the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Self Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) to conduct a questionnaire survey on the front-line medical staff who fought against the epidemic during the CO VID-19. Network analysis was used to construct sleep quality and anxiety network, and R language was used for statistical analysis and visualization. Results ：In the network of sleep quality and anxiety of first-line medical staff fighting against COVID-19 ?”sleep disorder"and usleep quality”, uunfortunate premonition"and uinability to sit still”, "syncope" and "hand and foot tingling"were highly related. "Fatigue”, "dizziness" and "panic” had the highest expected influence. "Sleep quality", "sleep disorder" and "fatigue"had the highest bridge expected influence. The average predictability value of all nodes was 0.778. Conclusion: This paper used network analysis to explore the sleep quality and anxiety of first-line medical staff fighting against COVID-19 and found that there was a unique correlation path between them. Intervention against core symptoms can ameliorate anxiety and sleep problems to the great extent, and provide guidance for improving the physical and mental health. © 2023, Editorial department of Chinese Medical Ethics. All rights reserved.

Effects of risk message on loneliness and travel intention: roles of conflictive family atmosphere and risk propensity in the context of COVID-19 pandemic

This study examines the effects of risk message frames on tourists' post-pandemic travel intention via the meditation of loneliness and went further to investigate the roles of conflictive family atmosphere and risk propensity in moderating these effects. A situational experiment was conducted in China resulting 622 valid responses. The study found that respondents in risk attenuating frame had higher travel intention than those in risk amplifying frame;social loneliness partially mediated the effect of risk message on travel intention. Conflictive family atmosphere moderated the effects of risk message on social loneliness and travel intention. And risk propensity alleviated the negative impact of risk message on travel intention. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Textual Research on Key Information of Ancient Classical Prescription Dayuanyin.

Dayuanyin,a representative prescription for the treatment of dampness pathogen lodging in pleurodiaphragmatic interspace syndrome,was first recorded in Treatise on Pestilence(<<>>)by Wu Youke in the Ming Dynasty for dealing with pestilence,and it still plays an important role in the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)differentiated into dampness stagnating in lung syndrome. The related original ancient records were retrieved from the Chinese Classics of Traditional Chinese Medicine(Version 5.0),Full-text Database of Ancient Chinese Medicine Books,and Ancient Books of Traditional Chinese Medicine Database (http://www. gydc. ac. cn:81/),with 'Dayuanyin' and 'Dayuansan' as the search terms,followed by statistical analysis and textual research. The composition,dosage,processing of original medicinal materials,efficacy, indications, processing and administration methods, modern basic research, and clinical applications of Dayuanyin were summarized,so as to provide literature reference for its modern development and clinical application. The findings demonstrated that the composition in most medical records was identical with that of the original prescription,except that some records concerning Angelicae Dahuricae Radix and Tsaoko Fructus differed. In terms of dosage,it did not change much,with the only difference observed in Tsaoko Fructus. The processing methods of medicinal materials in Dayuanyin were not specified in historical records,so the raw medicinal materials were recommended. The processing and administration methods in the original record were basically followed in the later generations,except that some medical records chose Zingiberis Rhizoma Recens as the guide and changed the decocting amount and administration time. In terms of efficacy and indications, Dayuanyin was originally developed for dispelling pathogenic Qi away from the pleurodiaphragmatic interspace, but later employed for the treatment of such diseases as 'pestilence','epidemic malaria',and 'seasonal epidemic'. It was mainly indicated to 'epidemic diseases' with latent pathogen in pleurodiaphragmatic interspace as the pathogenesis and fever as the manifestation. In modern clinical application,ancients physicians considered 'fever' and 'powder-like tongue coating' as the important signs for this prescription. Modern physicians have utilized Dayuanyin for treating fever,diseases in the digestive,respiratory,urinary,and endocrine systems,skin diseases,pediatric diseases,as well as epidemic diseases like influenza,severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS),and avian flu due to its good effects.Copyright © 2021, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences Institute of Chinese Materia Medica. All rights reserved.

COVID-19 and Social Media Use by Professional Sport Organisations

In Chapter 15, the authors analyse the use of social media by athletes and sport organisations during the pandemic. Ironically, while social media as a digital platform have typically been pilloried by multiple actors and social commentators, the format has provided a positive outlet for many athletes who faced the prospect of being in lockdown for weeks, if not months. This chapter considers how athletes and sport organisations engaged with their fans during the initial period of the COVID-19 pandemic. © 2023 selection and editorial matter, Stephen Frawley and Nico Schulenkorf;individual chapters, the contributors.

Network analysis of sleep quality and anxiety of first-line medical staff in epidemic prevention

Objective: To explore the network characteristics of sleep quality and anxiety in first-line medical staff fighting against COVID-19, further understand the relationship between sleep quality and anxiety, and provide basis for intervention. Methods: Using the convenient sampling method, this paper used the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Self Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) to conduct a questionnaire survey on the front-line medical staff who fought against the epidemic during the CO VID-19. Network analysis was used to construct sleep quality and anxiety network, and R language was used for statistical analysis and visualization. Results ：In the network of sleep quality and anxiety of first-line medical staff fighting against COVID-19 ?”sleep disorder"and usleep quality”, uunfortunate premonition"and uinability to sit still”, "syncope" and "hand and foot tingling"were highly related. "Fatigue”, "dizziness" and "panic” had the highest expected influence. "Sleep quality", "sleep disorder" and "fatigue"had the highest bridge expected influence. The average predictability value of all nodes was 0.778. Conclusion: This paper used network analysis to explore the sleep quality and anxiety of first-line medical staff fighting against COVID-19 and found that there was a unique correlation path between them. Intervention against core symptoms can ameliorate anxiety and sleep problems to the great extent, and provide guidance for improving the physical and mental health. © 2023, Editorial department of Chinese Medical Ethics. All rights reserved.

MedConQA: Medical Conversational Question Answering System based on Knowledge Graphs

The medical conversational system can relieve doctors' burden and improve healthcare effi-ciency, especially during the COVID-19 pan-demic. However, the existing medical dialogue systems have die problems of weak scalability, insufficient knowledge, and poor controlla-bility. Thus, we propose a medical conversa-tional question-answering (CQA) system based on the knowledge graph, namely MedConQA, which is designed as a pipeline framework to maintain high flexibility. Our system utilizes automated medical procedures, including medi-cal triage, consultation, image-text drug recom-mendation, and record. Each module has been open-sourced as a tool, which can be used alone or in combination, with robust scalability. Besides, to conduct knowledge-grounded dia-logues with users, we first construct a Chinese Medical Knowledge Graph (CMKG) and col-lect a large-scale Chinese Medical CQA (CM-CQA) dataset, and we design a series of meth-ods for reasoning more intellectually. Finally, we use several state-of-the-art (SOTA) tech-niques to keep the final generated response more controllable, which is further assured by hospital and professional evaluations. We have open-sourced related code, datasets, web pages, and tools, hoping to advance future research. © 2022 Association for Computational Linguistics.

Textual Research on Key Information of Ancient Classical Prescription Dayuanyin.

Dayuanyin,a representative prescription for the treatment of dampness pathogen lodging in pleurodiaphragmatic interspace syndrome,was first recorded in Treatise on Pestilence(<<>>)by Wu Youke in the Ming Dynasty for dealing with pestilence,and it still plays an important role in the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)differentiated into dampness stagnating in lung syndrome. The related original ancient records were retrieved from the Chinese Classics of Traditional Chinese Medicine(Version 5.0),Full-text Database of Ancient Chinese Medicine Books,and Ancient Books of Traditional Chinese Medicine Database (http://www. gydc. ac. cn:81/),with 'Dayuanyin' and 'Dayuansan' as the search terms,followed by statistical analysis and textual research. The composition,dosage,processing of original medicinal materials,efficacy, indications, processing and administration methods, modern basic research, and clinical applications of Dayuanyin were summarized,so as to provide literature reference for its modern development and clinical application. The findings demonstrated that the composition in most medical records was identical with that of the original prescription,except that some records concerning Angelicae Dahuricae Radix and Tsaoko Fructus differed. In terms of dosage,it did not change much,with the only difference observed in Tsaoko Fructus. The processing methods of medicinal materials in Dayuanyin were not specified in historical records,so the raw medicinal materials were recommended. The processing and administration methods in the original record were basically followed in the later generations,except that some medical records chose Zingiberis Rhizoma Recens as the guide and changed the decocting amount and administration time. In terms of efficacy and indications, Dayuanyin was originally developed for dispelling pathogenic Qi away from the pleurodiaphragmatic interspace, but later employed for the treatment of such diseases as 'pestilence','epidemic malaria',and 'seasonal epidemic'. It was mainly indicated to 'epidemic diseases' with latent pathogen in pleurodiaphragmatic interspace as the pathogenesis and fever as the manifestation. In modern clinical application,ancients physicians considered 'fever' and 'powder-like tongue coating' as the important signs for this prescription. Modern physicians have utilized Dayuanyin for treating fever,diseases in the digestive,respiratory,urinary,and endocrine systems,skin diseases,pediatric diseases,as well as epidemic diseases like influenza,severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS),and avian flu due to its good effects.Copyright © 2021, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences Institute of Chinese Materia Medica. All rights reserved.

Prewhitening and normalization help detect a strong cross-correlation between daily wastewater SARS-CoV-2 RNA abundance and COVID-19 cases in a community

Wastewater surveillance is a promising technology for real-time tracking and even early detection of COVID-19 infections in a community. Although correlation analysis between wastewater surveillance data and the daily clinical COVID-19 case numbers has been frequently conducted, the importance of stationarity of the time series data has not been well addressed. In this study, we demonstrated that strong yet spurious correlation could arise from non-stationary time series data in wastewater surveillance. Data prewhitening to remove trends by the first differences of values between two consecutive times helped to reveal distinct cross-correlation patterns between daily clinical case numbers and daily wastewater SARS-CoV-2 RNA abundance during a lockdown period in 2020 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Normalization of wastewater SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentration by the endogenous fecal viral markers in the same samples significantly improved the cross-correlation, and the best correlation was detected at a two-day lag of the daily clinical case numbers. The detection of a significant correlation between the daily wastewater SARS-CoV-2 RNA abundance and the clinical case numbers also suggests that disease burden fluctuation in the community should not be excluded as a contributor to the often observed weekly cyclic patterns of clinical cases. © 2023 The Royal Society of Chemistry.

North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition Position Statement for Telehealth.

Telehealth (TH) broadly encompasses remote activities of clinical care (telemedicine), provider and patient education, and general health services. The use of synchronous video for TH first occurred in 1964 and then catapulted to the forefront in 2020 during the coronavirus disease 2019 public health emergency. Due to the sudden need for increased TH utilization by nearly all health care providers at that time, TH became essential to clinical practice. However, its sustainable future is unclear in part given that best practices for TH in pediatric gastroenterology (GI), hepatology, and nutrition remain undefined and non-standardized. Key areas for review include historical perspective, general and subspeciality usage, health care disparities, quality of care and the provider-patient interaction, logistics and operations, licensure and liability, reimbursement and insurance coverage, research and quality improvement (QI) priorities, and future use of TH in pediatric GI with a call for advocacy. This position paper from the Telehealth Special Interest Group of North American Society of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition provides recommendations for pediatric GI-focused TH best practices, reviews areas for research and QI growth, and presents advocacy opportunities.

Prussian Blue@Zeolitic imidazolate framework composite toward solar-triggered biodecontamination

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) featuring composition and bandstructure diversity, are an emerging class of photoresponsive disinfectants. In this study, we demonstrated the superiority of core–shell arranged photoactive MOFs (prussian blue (PB) and zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-8)) for pathogen inactivation in terms of biocidal efficiency and broad-spectrum sensitivity. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production was significantly promoted after the integration of PB due to the photosensitization effect and initiation of in situ Fenton reaction. Favorably, another inactivation channel was also opened owing to the unique photothermal effect of PB. Attributed to the facilitated ROS intracellular penetration by heat, the composite outperforms not only individual component but anatase TiO2 in pathogen elimination. Specifically, the Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) inactivation efficiency of the composite (6.6 log) is 2, 1.8 and 5.1 times higher than that of PB (3.3 log), ZIF-8 (3.7 log) and TiO2 (1.3 log) over 45 min of simulated sunlight illumination. Significantly, the infectivity of Bacillus anthracis and murine coronavirus in droplets on composite-coated filter surface could be greatly reduced (approximately 3 log reduction in colony number/coronavirus titer) within few minutes of solar exposure, indicative of the great potential of MOF composites toward life-threatening microbial infection prevention. © 2022 Elsevier B.V.

Climate policy uncertainty and stock market volatility: Evidence from different sectors

This paper mainly investigates whether the climate policy uncertainty index (CPU) can predict the volatility of Chinese stock market volatility considering different sectors. Out-of-sample results show that climate policy uncertainty index can have a greater effect on the utility sector. We also investigate the effects of CPU based on longer horizons, different volatility levels and the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper tries to provide new evidence based on sector stock indices. © 2022

COVID-19, social distancing, and economic growth

Social distancing restrictions have become a primary measure in curbing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the fact that the survival probability of infected individuals and labour supply will decline during the pandemic, this study extends the overlapping generations (OLG) model to include the effects of COVID-19 on individuals' health and investigates the optimal social distancing policy from an economic perspective. Our results show that the pandemic can cause economic contraction, and a strict social distancing policy generally benefits economic growth. Nevertheless, absolute zero socializing may not be an optimal strategy. © 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

The effect of mortality salience on consumers' preference for experiential purchases and its mechanism

Inevitably, consumers will be exposed to death-related information in their daily lives. For example, they are informed about deaths and injuries caused by accidents, terrorism and disasters on social media. They may also encounter the experiences of deceased friends and relatives or the news of unfortunate strangers. Especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers are more frequently exposed to death cues. Researches have shown that consumers' decision-makings and purchasing behaviors shift when dealing with death threats. Compared to material consumption, experiential consumption delivers greater and persistent well-being and it is emerging as an extremely important consumption pattern. It is unclear, however, whether these mortality cues will exert positive or negative effects on consumers' preference for experiential purchases. Based on the meaning maintenance model, 4 studies were conducted to examine how mortality salience influences consumers' preference for experiential purchases. In Study 1a and Study 1b, we experimentally manipulated mortality salience and examined its effect on consumers' preference for experiential purchases. Study 1a (N = 140) was a single factor (mortality salience) between-subjects design, participants were randomly assigned to different groups to imagine about incurable infectious disease or dental surgery. Participants in Study 1b (N = 252) were instructed to write about death or dental pain. Study 2 (N =219) was designed to test the mediating role of meaning in life. Participants were required to read a news report concerning traffic accident or dental surgery, and then finish the Meaning in Life Questionnaire. Study 3 (N = 166) was a 2 (mortality salience vs. control condition) × 2 (social support: high level vs. low level) between-subjects design. Participants were provided a news report pertaining to the global fatalities under the COVID-19 pandemic in mortality salience condition, and pertaining to global tourism during the pandemic period in the control condition. Social support was manipulated by writing in detail a difficult situation "in which your family or friends accompanied you", or "in which you had to face all by yourself". Additionally, we used a single-paper meta-analysis (SPM) to document a robust effect across all studies. The main results of this study are as follows: (1) Exposed to mortality salience will lead to stronger preference for experiential purchases. (2) The effects seem to be driven by meaning in life, whereby exposure to mortality salience undermines consumers' meaning in life, and consumers will gravitate towards experiential consumption to enhance their impaired meaning. (3) Social support moderates the effect of mortality salience on meaning in life. Only when consumers received low level of social support, will mortality salience reduce their meaning in life. (4) Social support moderates the mediating effect of meaning in life on mortality salience and preference for experiential purchases. Specifically, meaning in life mediates the effect of mortality salience on preference for experiential purchases only when consumers received low social support. To enhance the overall validity, we performed a single-paper meta-analysis (SPM) on the four studies. The SPM showed that consumers had greater preference of experiential purchase when exposed to mortality salience (Estimate β = 0.30, SE = 0.07, z = 4.178, p < 0.001), which strengthened the robustness of our general conclusion. This research yields practical implications by demonstrating that mortality salience exerts positive effect on consumers' preference for experiential purchases, which enables us to identify the changes in consumption patterns and mindset under the pandemic, providing references for marketing and promotion strategies. © Science Press.

Impact assessment of China?s inter-provincial trade on trade-related sustainable development goals

Assessing progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is among the most pressing areas for sustainability research. Both international and inter-provincial trade has substantial impacts on sustainability. However, little is known about the impacts of inter-provincial trade on progress towards achieving the SDG targets and the relationships among SDG indicators through time and space. Here we, taking Chinese inter-provincial trade as a study case, used a spatiotemporal approach and the multi-regional input-output (MRIO) model to examine changes in six SDG indicators and their relationships within China in the year 2002, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2015, and 2017. The results showed that (1) Chinese inter-provincial trade improved the trade-related SDG target scores of 16 provinces out of the evaluated 30 provinces but reduced the trade-related SDG target scores of the remaining 14 provinces. (2) Chinese inter-provincial trade and distant trade were more beneficial for achieving the trade-related SDG targets in developed provinces (e.g., Beijing), which thus improved China's overall SDG target scores. In contrast, Chinese inter-provincial trade suppressed the trade-related SDG target scores of developing provinces (e.g., Guangxi). (3) Individual SDG indicators, SDG target bundles, and interactions among SDG indicators changed across both time and space. (4) The no-trade scenario in Hubei province during the COVID-19 pandemic will have a clearly inhibiting effect on China's overall SDG target scores. Besides, trade with adjacent provinces would improve Hubei's SDG target scores, while these trades have more negative effects (approximately 50-83% of provinces suffered from greater reductions in SDG target scores) on Hubei's adjacent provinces. Our study suggests the spatiotemporal dynamic characteristics of SDG indicators and their interactions deserve more attention, which can help identify the drivers behind these changing relationships.

Reflections From Implementing a Virtual Social Innovation Lab

Qualitative research methods had to quickly adapt to using online platforms due to the COVID-19 pandemic to limit in-person interactions. Online platforms have been used extensively for interviews and focus groups, but workshops with larger groups requiring more complex interactions have not been widely implemented. This paper presents a case study of a fully virtual social innovation lab on bioplastics packaging, which was adapted from a series of in-person workshops. A positive outcome of the online setting was diversifying the types of participants who could participate. Highly interactive activities such as icebreakers, networking, bricolage, and prototyping were particularly challenging to shift from in-person to online using traditional web conferencing platforms like Zoom. Creative use of online tools, such as Gather.Town and Kahoot!, helped unlock more innovative thinking by employing novel techniques such as gamification. However, challenges such as adapting facilitation for an online environment and exclusion of groups that do not have consistent access to internet and/or computers still need to be addressed. The reflections and lessons learned from this paper can help researchers adapt qualitative methods to virtual environments. © The Author(s) 2023.