Hell for consumer addiction?: thematic analysis of COVID-19 narratives in a gambling support

PurposeThe COVID-19 pandemic resulted in public health measures which unintentionally made unfortunate individual-, community- and system-level impacts. People experiencing gambling harm have distinctive vulnerabilities that are exacerbated during this period of uncertainty, physical distancing, self-isolation and changes to treatment services. This paper aims to investigate narratives of gambling harm to understand unmet needs in a COVID-19 context. Design/methodology/approachA leading international gambling support forum was mined for all posts associated with COVID-19 during 2020 and thematically analyzed. FindingsA series of themes and subthemes that gamblers responded to the pandemic with a series of adaptive and maladaptive behaviors in line with the integrative theoretical framework of maladaptive consumption. Additionally, people experiencing gambling harm are disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the standard public health notices do not meet their unique needs. Originality/valueThis research builds upon knowledge of the antecedents and consequences of maladaptive consumption behavior. Further, the findings show that the lack of preventative measures, such as targeted and timely information to combat adverse outcomes, and reflexive support services has made this time more challenging.

Extracellular Disintegration of Viral Proteins as an Innovative Strategy for Developing Broad-Spectrum Antivirals Against Coronavirus

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has claimed millions of lives and caused innumerable economic losses worldwide. Unfortunately, state-of-the-art treatments still lag behind the continual emergence of new variants. Key to resolving this issue is developing antivirals to deactivate coronaviruses regardless of their structural evolution. Here, we report an innovative antiviral strategy involving extracellular disintegration of viral proteins with hyperanion-grafted enediyne (EDY) molecules. The core EDY generates reactive radical species and causes significant damage to the spike protein of coronavirus, while the hyperanion groups ensure negligible cytotoxicity of the molecules. The EDYs exhibit antiviral activity down to nanomolar concentrations, and the selectivity index of up to 20,000 against four kinds of human coronavirus, including the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, suggesting the high potential of this new strategy in combating the COVID-19 pandemic and a future "disease X."

Benefits and challenges of using virtual primary care during the COVID-19 pandemic: From key lessons to a framework for implementation

Background: With the onset of COVID-19, general practitioners (GPs) and patients worldwide swiftly transitioned from face-to-face to digital remote consultations. There is a need to evaluate how this global shift has impacted patient care, healthcare providers, patient and carer experience, and health systems. Research question: We explored GPs' perspectives on digital remote care's main benefits and challenges. Method(s): GPs across 20 countries completed an online questionnaire between June and September 2020. GPs' perceptions of main barriers and challenges were explored using free-text questions. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Result(s): In our survey 1605 respondents participated. The benefits identified included reducing COVID-19 transmission risks, guaranteeing access and continuity of care, improved efficiency, faster access to care, improved convenience and communication with patients, greater work flexibility for providers, and hastening the digital transformation of primary care and the accompanying legal frameworks. Main challenges included patient's preference for face-to-face consultations, digital exclusion, lack of physical examinations, clinical uncertainty, delays in diagnosis and treatment, overuse and misuse of digital remote care, and unsuitability for certain types of consultations. Other challenges include the lack of formal guidance, higher workloads, remuneration issues, organisational culture, technical difficulties, implementation and financial issues and regulatory weaknesses. Conclusion(s): At the frontline of care delivery, GPs can provide important insights on what worked well, why, and how. Lessons learned during the emergency phase can inform the stable adoption of virtual care solutions and co-design processes and platforms that are technologically robust, secure, and supported by a long-term strategic plan.

"Special Times Call for Special Measures”: China's Regulation of COVID-19 through Criminal Justice Innovation

This article reveals how COVID-19 has provoked the enactment of recent emergency regulations and the implications for criminal justice policy and practice in the People's Republic of China (PRC). In what the authors describe as a principle that "special times call for special measures”, China's legal approach to the challenges created by COVID-19 resembles the country's enduring crime control "strike hard” strategy. Under the banner of "dynamic zero-COVID”, this analysis also demonstrates the practice of cautious law enforcement as seen through the "strike hard” practices. This is encapsulated by the augmentation and specification of "risk-creation” offences as well as the emerging trend that favours charging risk perverse actions as more serious offences when assessing punishment. © China: An International Journal.

SARS-CoV-2 infection and venous thromboembolism after surgery: an international prospective cohort study

SARS-CoV-2 has been associated with an increased rate of venous thromboembolism in critically ill patients. Since surgical patients are already at higher risk of venous thromboembolism than general populations, this study aimed to determine if patients with peri-operative or prior SARS-CoV-2 were at further increased risk of venous thromboembolism. We conducted a planned sub-study and analysis from an international, multicentre, prospective cohort study of elective and emergency patients undergoing surgery during October 2020. Patients from all surgical specialties were included. The primary outcome measure was venous thromboembolism (pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis) within 30 days of surgery. SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis was defined as peri-operative (7 days before to 30 days after surgery);recent (1-6 weeks before surgery);previous (>=7 weeks before surgery);or none. Information on prophylaxis regimens or pre-operative anti-coagulation for baseline comorbidities was not available. Postoperative venous thromboembolism rate was 0.5% (666/123,591) in patients without SARS-CoV-2;2.2% (50/2317) in patients with peri-operative SARS-CoV-2;1.6% (15/953) in patients with recent SARS-CoV-2;and 1.0% (11/1148) in patients with previous SARS-CoV-2. After adjustment for confounding factors, patients with peri-operative (adjusted odds ratio 1.5 (95%CI 1.1-2.0)) and recent SARS-CoV-2 (1.9 (95%CI 1.2-3.3)) remained at higher risk of venous thromboembolism, with a borderline finding in previous SARS-CoV-2 (1.7 (95%CI 0.9-3.0)). Overall, venous thromboembolism was independently associated with 30-day mortality (5.4 (95%CI 4.3-6.7)). In patients with SARS-CoV-2, mortality without venous thromboembolism was 7.4% (319/4342) and with venous thromboembolism was 40.8% (31/76). Patients undergoing surgery with peri-operative or recent SARS-CoV-2 appear to be at increased risk of postoperative venous thromboembolism compared with patients with no history of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Optimal venous thromboembolism prophylaxis and treatment are unknown in this cohort of patients, and these data should be interpreted accordingly.Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Anaesthesia published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Association of Anaesthetists.

Automated Online Proctoring System Using Gaze View Tracking and Custom Object Detection

Due to COVID-19, there's been a burst in online examinations. The main integrity safeguard so far is human proctoring, which requires trained supervisors to constantly monitor all test-Takers' videos and audios through webcams. To overcome such costliness and ineffectiveness, we have designed an automated online proctoring system that is effective, nonintrusive, and adaptable to different testing scenarios. Our approach presents a novel combination of (a) a gaze view tracking module using a mathematical 3D gaze motion formula and (b) a configurable cheating classification using a custom-Trained object detection model. Our gaze view tracking leverages two cameras (a webcam and a follower-cam) working in tandem, and facial landmark detection to follow the test-Taker's gaze in a real-Time and non-intrusive manner. It then feeds to our AI-based cheating classifier, which leverages TensorFlow object detection algorithm with a custom-Trained object detection model to identify preconfigured cheating targets. Our end-To-end prototype and trials show effectiveness in tracking the test-Taker's gaze and autodetecting cheating targets. Our system can serve as a great complement to the current online proctor suite and will influence online learning even after pandemics by reducing human toil. © 2022 IEEE.

Sars-Cov- 2 Infection and Venous Thromboembolism after Surgery: An International Prospective Cohort Study

Aim: SARS-CoV- 2 has been associated with an increased rate of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in critically ill patients (1-4). Since surgical patients are already at higher risk of VTE than general populations, this study aimed to determine if patients with perioperative or previous SARS-CoV- 2 were at further risk of VTE. Method(s): International, multicentre, prospective cohort study of elective and emergency patients undergoing surgery during October 2020. Patient from all surgical specialties were included. The primary outcome measure was VTE (pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis) within 30 days of surgery. SARS-CoV- 2 diagnosis was defined as perioperative (7-days before to 30-days after surgery), recent (1-6 weeks before surgery), and previous (37 weeks before surgery). Result(s): The postoperative VTE rate was 0.5% (666/123,591) in patients without SARS-CoV- 2 diagnosis, 2.2% (50/2,317) in patients with perioperative SARS-CoV- 2, 1.6% (15/953) in patients with recent SARS-CoV- 2, and 1.0% (11/1,148) in patients with previous SARS-CoV- 2. After adjustment for confounding factors, patients with perioperative (adjusted odds ratio 1.48, 95% confidence interval 1.08-2.03) and recent SARS-CoV- 2 (OR 1.94, 1.15-3.29) remained at higher risk of VTE, with a borderline finding in previous SARS-CoV- 2 (OR 1.65, 0.90-3.02). Overall, VTE was independently associated with 30-day mortality (OR 5.39, 4.33-6.70). In SARS-CoV- 2 infected patients, mortality without VTE was 7.4% (319/4,342) and with VTE was 40.8% (31/76). Conclusion(s): Patients undergoing surgery with a perioperative or recent SARS-CoV- 2 diagnosis are at increased risk of VTE compared to non-infected surgical patients.

Financial performance of firms with supply chains during the COVID-19 pandemic: the roles of dynamic capability and supply chain resilience

PurposeThis study proposes an integrated model to explore the relationships between dynamic capability and supply chain resilience (SCRE) and the relationships' impacts on firms' financial performance with supply chains (FPwSC) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.Design/methodology/approachBased on resource-based theory and knowledge-based theory, the dynamic capability is classified into resource-based dynamic capability (RBDC) and knowledge-based dynamic capability (KBDC). The study collects 158 useable survey samples from manufacturers in Taiwan and analyzes the samples with the structural equation model.FindingsThe results show that knowledge is power;KBDC is crucial for FPwSC, SCRE and RBDC. In addition, SCRE mediates the relationship between KBDC and FPwSC. Finally, RBDC significantly suppresses FPwSC.Research limitations/implicationsFuture researchers could replicate this study in other industries and expand this to other countries to generalize the results.Practical implicationsA firm with KBDC can adopt and implement strategies that exploit its internal strengths to respond to environmental opportunities, overcome internal weaknesses and mitigate external threats. Furthermore, a firm should fully utilize SCRE with proactive and reactive strategies. Exercising a firm's KBDC could facilitate SC collective intelligence to handle the risk of SC disruption and vice versa.Originality/valueThe study is the first to combine KBDC, RBDC and SCRE into an integrated model for FPwSC. Moreover, this study reveals that resilience relies on knowledge, not resources, as evidenced by SCRE being affected significantly by KBDC but not RBDC.

Feasibility and Impact of a Monoclonal Antibody Infusion Program in Reaching Vulnerable Underserved Communities

Background. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against SARS-CoV-2 are potent therapeutics that prevent progression of disease in high-risk patients. Deploying mAb infusion programs and reaching communities in need remains challenging. We established a mAb infusion program centered in the emergency department (ED) fast-track. We seek to assess the feasibility and impact of our mAb infusion program in reaching vulnerable underserved communities. Methods. The ED fast-track was repurposed for mAb infusions. Indications and protocols were created by the infectious disease (ID) physician and antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP). Test to treat was deployed in the ED and a referral program connected patients from telehealth and providers in the community to the infusion program (Figure 1). Data on mAb use from November 2020 to February 2022 was reviewed. To assess the reach of the program in vulnerable communities, the COVID-19 Community Vulnerability Index (CCVI) map by zip code was used. The CCVI identifies communities at risk by using variables such as sociodemographic variables, occupational factors, cumulative COVID-19 burden, vaccine uptake and other factors. (Figure Presented) Results. mAbs were successfully deployed and sustained throughout the pandemic, increasing its use in each COVID-19 surge by >103% (Figure 2). A total of 267 patients were treated, with an average age of 52 years, of which 55% (147) were female. Ethnicity was 46% Hispanic and Race was 54% White, 28% Black, 1.4% Asian, 1.8% Multiracial and 14% Other. Zip codes by CCVI were 64% high, 18% medium, and 3% low CCVI index. 15% were outside of city limits without CCVI index (Figure 3). Conclusion. A mAb infusion program with test to treat and referrals from the community was successfully deployed in an ED fast track. The ED space and staff can be leveraged for mAbs during surges amid clinic staffing challenges. The program adopted novel mAbs as new COVID-19 variants emerged. Uptake increased with each wave, likely reflecting awareness of mAbs and the infusion program by patients and providers in the community. The majority of patients served (82%) were of high and medium CCVI. Thus, this mAb infusion program led by ID and ASP successfully reached predominantly underserved vulnerable populations.

Development of a Bayesian inference model for assessing ventilation condition based on CO2 meters in primary schools

Outdoor fresh air ventilation plays a significant role in reducing airborne transmission of diseases in indoor spaces. School classrooms are considerably challenged during the COVID-19 pandemic because of the increasing need for in-person education, untimely and incompleted vaccinations, high occupancy density, and uncertain ventilation conditions. Many schools started to use CO2 meters to indicate air quality, but how to interpret the data remains unclear. Many uncertainties are also involved, including manual readings, student numbers and schedules, uncertain CO2 generation rates, and variable indoor and ambient conditions. This study proposed a Bayesian inference approach with sensitivity analysis to understand CO2 readings in four primary schools by identifying uncertainties and calibrating key parameters. The outdoor ventilation rate, CO2 generation rate, and occupancy level were identified as the top sensitive parameters for indoor CO2 levels. The occupancy schedule becomes critical when the CO2 data are limited, whereas a 15-min measurement interval could capture dynamic CO2 profiles well even without the occupancy information. Hourly CO2 recording should be avoided because it failed to capture peak values and overestimated the ventilation rates. For the four primary school rooms, the calibrated ventilation rate with a 95% confidence level for fall condition is 1.96+/-0.31 ACH for Room #1 (165 m3 and 20 occupancies) with mechanical ventilation, and for the rest of the naturally ventilated rooms, it is 0.40+/-0.08 ACH for Room #2 (236 m3 and 21 occupancies), 0.30+/-0.04 or 0.79+/-0.06 ACH depending on occupancy schedules for Room #3 (236 m3 and 19 occupancies), 0.40+/-0.32,0.48+/-0.37,0.72+/-0.39 ACH for Room #4 (231 m3 and 8-9 occupancies) for three consecutive days.

Impact of COVID-19 on Antimicrobial Use and Resistance in an Urban Safety-Net Community Hospital

Background: The disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, has caused a pandemic leading to strained healthcare systems worldwide and an unprecedented public health crisis. Lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) and hypoxia caused by COVID-19 has led to an increase in hospitalizations. We sought to define the impact of COVID-19 on antimicrobial use and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in an urban safety-net community hospital. Methods: Retrospective review of antimicrobial use and AMR in a 151-bed urban community hospital. Antimicrobial use was calculated in days of therapy per 1,000 patient days (DOT/1,000 PD) for ceftriaxone, piperacillin-tazobactam and meropenem during 2019 and 2020. Ceftriaxone, piperacillin-tazobactam and meropenem were reviewed for calendar year 2019 and 2020. AMR was assessed by comparing the carbapenem resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) infection incidence rate per 1,000 patient days between 2019 and 2020. Results: The average quarterly DOT/1,000 PD increased from 359.5 in 2019 to 394.25 in 2020, with the highest increase in the second and fourth quarters of 2020, which temporarily correspond to the first and second waves of COVID-19. Ceftriaxone and meropenem use increased during the first and second waves of COVID-19. Piperacillin-tazobactam use increased during the first wave and declined thereafter (Figure 1). Rates of CRE increased from a quarterly average of 0.57 to 0.68 (Figure 2). Conclusions: Antimicrobial pressure increased during the first and second waves of COVID-19. Ceftriaxone was the most commonly used antimicrobial, reflecting internal guidelines and ASP interventions. CRE rates increased during COVID-19. This finding may be due to an overall increase in antimicrobial pressure in the community and in critically ill patients. Antibiotics are a precious resource, and antimicrobial stewardship remains important during the COVID-19 pandemic. Appropriate use of antimicrobials is critical to preventing AMR.Funding: NoDisclosures: NoneFigure 1.Figure 2.

Actional Mechanisms of Active Ingredients in Functional Food Adlay for Human Health.

Medicinal and food homologous adlay (Coix lachryma-jobi L. var. ma-yuen Stapf) plays an important role in natural products promoting human health. We demonstrated the systematic actional mechanism of functional ingredients in adlay to promote human health, based on the PubMed, CNKI, Google, and ISI Web of Science databases from 1988 to 2022. Adlay and its extracts are rich in 30 ingredients with more than 20 health effects based on human and animal or cell cultures: they are anti-cancer, anti-inflammation, anti-obesity, liver protective, anti-virus, gastroprotective, cardiovascular protective, anti-hypertension, heart disease preventive, melanogenesis inhibiting, anti-allergy, endocrine regulating, anti-diabetes, anti-cachexia, osteoporosis preventive, analgesic, neuroprotecting, suitable for the treatment of gout arthritis, life extending, anti-fungi, and detoxifying effects. Function components with anti-oxidants are rich in adlay. These results support the notion that adlay seeds may be one of the best functional foods and further reveal the action mechanism of six major functional ingredients (oils, polysaccharides, phenols, phytosterols, coixol, and resistant starch) for combating diseases. This review paper not only reveals the action mechanisms of adding adlay to the diet to overcome 17 human diseases, but also provides a scientific basis for the development of functional foods and drugs for the treatment of human diseases.

Analysis on Cooperation Relationship of Poverty Alleviation Organizations in Sichuan Province Based on Link Prediction

Poverty eradication is the common ideal of mankind. Currently, as COVID-19 continues to rage around the world, the cause of poverty reduction faces greater challenges. Poverty reduction requires the involvement of multiple parties, and the challenging nature of it determines the complexity of participation in poverty reduction cooperation. In this paper, the link prediction method is used to calculate the path similarity in the network and use the Katz index to predict the connection possibility between unknown links in the poverty alleviation network. Take Sichuan Province as a case to analyze and put forward cooperation suggestions. The results show that in the entire network, all anti-poverty organizations recommend cooperation with one of the government departments, local schools, state-owned enterprises and high quality schools. Among them, government departments and local schools are the most recommended organizations. After the overall victory in the fight against poverty, the governance of relative poverty still requires continuous attention. Through our research, we hope to contribute to a better construction of a new poverty reduction system under the new poverty model. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Impact of a Culturally Sensitive Multilingual Community Outreach Model on COVID-19 Vaccinations at an Urban Safety-net Community Hospital

Background. The United States (US) is one of the most affected countries by the COVID-19 pandemic. A disproportionate burden of COVID-19 deaths is seen in Black, Asian, and Latinx groups. COVID-19 vaccines are the primary mitigation strategy to reduce morbidity and mortality. However, vaccine hesitancy is high in these communities due to factors such as low health literacy, language barriers, and other health inequities. Our objective was to implement a culturally sensitive, multi-lingual, community outreach model to promote vaccine education and facilitate vaccine administration. Methods. Community healthcare workers or "promotoras" were deployed to high traffic areas such as supermarkets, laundromats, churches, and commercial hubs from February-May 2021. The promotoras provided culturally sensitive vaccine counseling to individuals in their preferred language and facilitated vaccine appointments at our hospital. Our data was compared with publicly available data from other facilities organized by ZIP codes defined by the Department of Public Health as low, medium, or high-vulnerability to COVID-19. Results. A total of 109 outreach workers were hired, of which 67% (73) were Latinx, 27% (29) Black and 6% (7) Asian. Overall, 8,806 individual encounters led to 6,149 scheduled appointments and 3,192 completed first doses (Figure 1). A total of 14,636 individuals were vaccinated. Average age was 45.5 (range 12-98). Preferred language was 54% Spanish, 38% English, and 8% Chinese. Ethnicity was mostly Hispanic (66%) with race mostly white (54%) (Figure 2). High and medium-risk ZIP codes represented 69.4% of vaccinations at our facility (Figure 3). Conclusion. We successfully implemented a culturally sensitive community outreach model which resulted in higher vaccination rates from at risk ZIP codes when compared to other hospitals. Promotoras encouraged vaccination in native languages, thereby increasing vaccine awareness and appointment faciliation. Barriers to vaccine access remain in these vulnerable communities. This model educated the community via its own members and may help reduce barriers, increase vaccine awareness and vaccination rates.

Early detection of SARS-CoV-2 and other infections in solid organ transplant recipients and household members using wearable devices

Purpose: Wearable devices that measure physiological parameters have shown utility for detecting infections such as influenza and recently COVID-19 up to 10 days before clinical symptoms appear. Combining symptom data with wearable biosensor data has proven to increase discrimination between COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 infection compared to using symptom data alone (AUC 0.80 vs. 0.71, p<0.01). Here we study the utility of wearable devices in early detection of SARS-Cov2 and related infections in pediatric solid organ transplant recipients. Early remote detection of infections may guide treatment responses to improve clinical outcomes such as rates of hospitalization. Methods: This is an ongoing prospective cohort study of pediatric solid organ transplant recipients and their non-transplanted household members. We are currently remotely recruiting all participants from multicenter sites and heart, liver and lung transplant patients from a single transplant center. We continuously monitor heart rate (HR), body temperature, oxygen saturation, blood pressure, sleep and respiratory patterns, and electro-dermal activity. We use MyPHD, a HIPAA compliant information architecture that supports EHR integration, for remote patient recruitment, secure data collection, and analyses. We apply two real-time algorithms to the data to identify changes that are associated with COVID-19. The algorithms are based on Resting Heart-Rate-Difference (RHR-Diff) and identify periods of elevated HR based on outlier interval detection, calculating standardized residuals for each HR observation compared to a baseline of clinically validated “healthy days” for each patient. Results: Continuous real-time physiological monitoring of transplant patients may provide syndromic surveillance and inform healthcare management. The primary outcome is time to infection diagnoses, with a particular emphasis on SARS-CoV2 and common post-transplant infections (Influenza, EBV, CMV, and BK virus). The secondary outcomes are to optimize our algorithms for the pediatric transplant setting and to monitor for other complications including cardiometabolic complications and eGFR decline. Conclusions: The potential impact of this study include algorithm-guided early detection of infection signatures coupled with provider clinical-decision-support and return-of-results to manage transplant patient care.

Outcomes from elective colorectal cancer surgery during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

Aim: This study aimed to describe the change in surgical practice and the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on mortality after surgical resection of colorectal cancer during the initial phases of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Method: This was an international cohort study of patients undergoing elective colon or rectal cancer resection, without preoperative suspicion of SARS-CoV-2. Centres entered data from their first recorded case of COVID-19 until 19 April 2020. The primary outcome was 30-day mortality. Secondary outcomes included anastomotic leak, postoperative SARS-CoV-2, and a comparison with a pre-pandemic European Society of Coloproctology cohort data. Results: From 2073 patients in 40 countries, 1.3% (27/2073) had a defunctioning stoma and 3.0% (63/2073) had an end stoma instead of an anastomosis only. 30-day mortality was 1.8% (38/2073), the incidence of postoperative SARS-CoV-2 was 3.8% (78/2073), and the anastomotic leak rate was 4.9% (86/1738). Mortality was lowest in patients without a leak or SARS-CoV2 (14/1601, 0.9%), and highest in patients with both a leak and SARS-CoV-2 (5/13, 38.5%). Mortality was independently associated with an anastomotic leak (adjusted odds ratio 6.01, 95% confidence interval 2.58-14.06), postoperative SARS-CoV-2 (16.90, 7.86-36.38), male sex (2.46, 1.01-5.93), age >70 years (2.87, 1.32-6.20), and advanced cancer stage (3.43, 1.16-10.21). Compared to pre-pandemic data, there were fewer anastomotic leaks (4.9% versus 7.7%), an overall shorter length of stay (6 versus 7 days), but higher mortality (1.7% versus 1.1%). Conclusion: Surgeons need to further mitigate against both SARS-CoV-2 and anastomotic leak when offering surgery during current and future COVID-19 waves based on patient, operative, and organisational risks.

The Impact of Digital Divide on Education in USA Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

The goal of this study is to analyze the digital divide among students in various communities and households. This long-term issue has become considerably more pronounced since the lockdown in March of 2020 that was caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic. Due to the shutdown, schools have been forced to go online in order to continue educating their students;however, it has not been as easy as it sounds. Students experiencing a lack of technology and internet connection have had difficulties participating in school and growing education-wise. Furthermore, the long-term goal of this project is to hopefully provide present and future researchers with an adequate understanding of the digital divide among students so that they may more easily find solutions to this dilemma that is impacting many households throughout the country. In order to receive a more comprehensive understanding of digital divide among communities, we also analyze the factors impacting digital divide, the issues caused by digital divide on online learning, and how a lack of technology has negatively impacted students’ learning and teachers’ educating. This study raises awareness and proposes possible solutions to the digital divide among students. The dilemma of digital divide, if left alone and overlooked, may lead to greater problems in the future. © 2021, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

An integrated model of supply chain resilience and its impact on supply chain performance under disruption

Purpose: This study aims to explore the relationships among the five components of supply chain (SC) resilience (SCRES): visibility, velocity, flexibility, robustness and collaboration and their impacts on the SC performance under disruption (SCPUD). Design/methodology/approach: Five SCRES components are identified from the literature review and data are collected using an web survey from 113 manufacturing companies in Taiwan. The data are analyzed by structured equation modeling with the partial least square solution. Two-stage least-squares (2SLS) regression was used to test the potential endogeneity of SC collaboration (SCC). Findings: The results reveal that SCC is an exogenous driver of SCRES;it directly affects visibility, velocity, flexibility, robustness and SCPUD. Furthermore, SC flexibility is the only component of SC agility that directly affects SCPUD;it is influenced directly by SC velocity and indirectly by SC visibility through SC velocity. SC visibility is a vital agility component that positively influences SC velocity and SC robustness. Research limitations/implications: The data in this study are cross-sectional and the sample size of 113 is relatively small. The relationship between SC robustness and SCPUD needs a longer observation period to reveal. The logistic issue in the shortage of carriers caused by the pandemic has been overlooked. Practical implications: A firm should enhance its collaboration and flexibility in the SC as they both are the critical antecedents of SC performance (SCP) during the disruption period. Originality/value: This study integrates visibility, velocity, flexibility, robustness and collaboration into a complete framework of SCRES. The dependent variable, SCPUD, measures SC performance (SCP) under the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is the first study to investigate the associations of the six constructs in a research model. © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Patterns of mental health problems before and after easing COVID-19 restrictions: Evidence from a 105248-subject survey in general population in China.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has alarming implications for individual and population level mental health. Although the future of COVID-19 is unknown at present, more countries or regions start to ease restrictions. The findings from this study have provided the empirical evidence of prevalence and patterns of mental disorders in Chinese general population before and after easing most COVID-19 restrictions, and information of the factors associated with these patterns. METHODS: A cross-sectional population-based online survey was carried out from February to March 2020 in the general population across all provinces in China. The 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) was incorporated in the survey. Latent class analyses were performed to investigate the patterns of mental disorders and multinomial logistic regressions were used to examine how individual and regional risk factors can predict mental disorder patterns. RESULTS: Four distinctive patterns of mental health were revealed in the general population. After the ease of most COVID-19 restrictions, the prevalence of high risk of mental disorders decreased from 25.8% to 20.9% and prevalence of being high risk of unhappiness and loss of confidence decreased from 10.1% to 8.1%. However, the prevalence of stressed, social dysfunction and unhappy were consistently high before and after easing restrictions. Several regional factors, such as case mortality rate and healthcare resources, were associated with mental health status. Of note, healthcare workers were less likely to have mental disorders, compared to other professionals and students. CONCLUSIONS: The dynamic management of mental health and psychosocial well-being is as important as that of physical health both before and after the ease of COVID-19 restrictions. Our findings may help in mental health interventions in other countries and regions while easing COVID-19 restrictions.