Doing feminist longitudinal research across the COVID‐19 crisis: Unheard impacts on researchers and garment workers in Cambodia

This paper is based on the ReFashion study which used mixed‐method longitudinal research to track and amplify the experiences and coping mechanisms of 200 women garment workers in Cambodia as they navigated the financial repercussions of the COVID‐19 pandemic. It develops the idea and practice of ‘feminist longitudinal research' (FLR) through re‐centring the too often marginalised knowledges and ways of knowing of Cambodian researchers and research participants. Hearing and learning from their experiences reveal the labours and care‐work involved in the ‘doing' of longitudinal research during a time of extraordinary crisis, and the potential for feminist consciousness raising and solidarity that can arise both within and beyond the confines of an academic study. The paper advocates for geographers and other social scientists to go beyond technically‐framed issues of participant ‘attrition' and ‘retention' in longitudinal studies to think more creatively and critically about the process of longitudinal research and what it means for those taking part in it. FLR not only evidences the temporally contingent gendered impacts of a phenomenon, but can be distinguished by its intentionality and/or potential to challenge the patriarchal status quo, both in the lives of researchers and participants. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Area is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Emission rates, size distributions, and generation mechanism of oral respiratory droplets

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has brought renewed attention to respiratory aerosol and droplet generation. While many studies have robustly quantified aerosol (<10 µm diameter) number and mass exhalation rates, fewer studies have explored larger droplet generation. This study quantifies respiratory droplets (>20 µm diameter) generated by a cohort of 76 adults and children using a water-sensitive paper droplet deposition approach. Unvoiced and voiced activities spanning different levels of loudness, different lengths of sustained phonation, and a specific manner of articulation in isolation were investigated. We find that oral articulation drives >20 µm droplet generation, with breathing generating virtually no droplets and speaking and singing generating on the order of 250 droplets min−1. Lip trilling, which requires extensive oral articulation, generated the most droplets, whereas shouting "Hey,” which requires minimal oral articulation, generated relatively few droplets. Droplet size distributions were all broadly consistent, and no significant differences between the children and adult cohorts were identified. By comparing the aerosol and droplet emissions for the same participants, the full size distribution of respiratory aerosol (0.5–1000 µm) is reported. Although <10 µm aerosol dominates the number concentration, >20 µm droplets dominate the mass concentration. Accurate quantification of aerosol concentrations in the 10–70 μm size range remains very challenging;more robust aerosol analysis approaches are needed to characterize this size range.

‘Worn out': debt discipline, hunger, and the gendered contingencies of the COVID-19 pandemic amongst Cambodian garment workers

Drawing on 203 quantitative surveys with women workers in Cambodia and a further set of semi-structured interviews with 60 original participants, this paper is one of the very first to present empirically grounded research from garment workers on the financial challenges of navigating the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. We show how in the making of clothes to be worn by Western consumers, poorly paid garment workers are reducing their eating to repay long-term debts and those newly taken on to cope with wage reductions resulting from factory closures, suspensions, and cuts in working hours. In its examination of this phenomenon, the paper improves understanding of the gendered contingencies of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ‘wearing out' of garment workers through their attempts to reproduce life under (pre-existing) conditions of privation. We argue that the debt-hunger nexus is not new but reflects problems within Cambodia's capitalist development, and capitalism itself, as the costs of social reproduction and risk are privatised and financialised in the body politic. The COVID-19 pandemic is consolidating relations with financialised life such that they will outlast its duration and have long-lasting implications for workers and their families globally.

Emission Rates, Size Distributions, and Generation Mechanism of Oral Respiratory Droplets

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has brought renewed attention to respiratory aerosol and droplet generation. While many studies have robustly quantified aerosol (<10 µm diameter) number and mass exhalation rates, fewer studies have explored larger droplet generation. This study quantifies respiratory droplets (>20 µm diameter) generated by a cohort of 76 adults and children using a water-sensitive paper droplet deposition approach. Unvoiced and voiced activities spanning different levels of loudness, different lengths of sustained phonation, and a specific manner of articulation in isolation were investigated. We find that oral articulation drives >20 µm droplet generation, with breathing generating virtually no droplets and speaking and singing generating on the order of 250 droplets min−1. Lip trilling, which requires extensive oral articulation, generated the most droplets, whereas shouting "Hey”, which requires minimal oral articulation, generated relatively few droplets. Droplet size distributions were all broadly consistent, and no significant differences between the children and adult cohorts were identified. By comparing the aerosol and droplet emissions for the same participants, the full size distribution of respiratory aerosol (0.5-1000 µm) is reported. Although <10 µm aerosol dominates the number concentration, >20 µm droplets dominate the mass concentration. Accurate quantification of aerosol concentrations in the 10-70 μm size range remains very challenging;more robust aerosol analysis approaches are needed to characterize this size range. [ FROM AUTHOR]

Comparing aerosol number and mass exhalation rates from children and adults during breathing, speaking and singing.

Aerosol particles of respirable size are exhaled when individuals breathe, speak and sing and can transmit respiratory pathogens between infected and susceptible individuals. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought into focus the need to improve the quantification of the particle number and mass exhalation rates as one route to provide estimates of viral shedding and the potential risk of transmission of viruses. Most previous studies have reported the number and mass concentrations of aerosol particles in an exhaled plume. We provide a robust assessment of the absolute particle number and mass exhalation rates from measurements of minute ventilation using a non-invasive Vyntus Hans Rudolf mask kit with straps housing a rotating vane spirometer along with measurements of the exhaled particle number concentrations and size distributions. Specifically, we report comparisons of the number and mass exhalation rates for children (12-14 years old) and adults (19-72 years old) when breathing, speaking and singing, which indicate that child and adult cohorts generate similar amounts of aerosol when performing the same activity. Mass exhalation rates are typically 0.002-0.02 ng s-1 from breathing, 0.07-0.2 ng s-1 from speaking (at 70-80 dBA) and 0.1-0.7 ng s-1 from singing (at 70-80 dBA). The aerosol exhalation rate increases with increasing sound volume for both children and adults when both speaking and singing.

Collaborative conversations during the time of COVID-19: Building a "meta"-learning community.

PROBLEM: COVID-19 created new research, clinical, educational, and personal challenges, while simultaneously separating work teams who were under work-from-home restrictions. Addressing these challenges required new forms of collaborative groups. APPROACH: To support the department community and the rapid sharing of new research, educational, clinical, and personal efforts, a Core Team from the Department of Learning Health Sciences at the University of Michigan developed a meeting series called the COVID Conversations. This Experience Report shares the organizational structure of the COVID Conversations, proposes a comparison to traditional Learning Communities, and reports the results of a questionnaire that gathered details about department members' COVID-related activities. OUTCOMES: We identify and describe salient similarities and differences between the COVID Conversations and the characteristics of Learning Communities. We also developed and piloted a taxonomy for characterizing LHS research projects that may be further developed for use in Learning Community planning, in conjunction with other maturity grids and ontologies. We propose the term "Meta-Learning Community" to describe the structure and function of the COVID Conversations. NEXT STEPS: In academic medicine, remote work, telemedicine, and virtual learning may be here to stay. The COVID Conversations constitute a distinct and innovative form of collaborative work in which separate teams addressing distinct goals, yet sharing a common passion to tackle the issues brought by the pandemic, are able to share experiences and learn from one other. The challenges of COVID-19 have made evident the need for multiple forms of organizing teamwork, and our study contributes the notion of a "Meta"-Learning Community as a new form of collaborative work.

Aerosol and Droplet Generation from Performing with Woodwind and Brass Instruments

The performing arts have been significantly restricted due to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. We report measurements of aerosol and droplet concentrations generated when playing woodwind and brass instruments and comparisons with breathing, speaking, and singing. These measurements were conducted in a room with zero number concentration aerosol background in the 0.5-20 μm diameter size range, allowing clear attribution of detected particles to specific activities. A total of 13 instruments were examined across 9 participants. Respirable particle number concentrations and size distributions for playing instruments are consistent with those from the participant when breathing, based on measurements with multiple participants playing the flute and piccolo as well as measurements across the entire cohort. Due to substantial interparticipant variability, we do not provide a comparative assessment of the aerosol generated by playing different instruments, instead considering only the variation in aerosol yield across all instruments studied. Both particle number and mass concentrations from playing instruments are lower than those from speaking and singing at high volume, and no large droplets >20 μm diameter are detected. Combined, these observations suggest that playing instruments generates less aerosol than speaking or singing at high volumes. Moreover, there is no difference between the aerosol concentrations generated by professional and amateur performers while breathing, speaking, or singing, suggesting conclusions for professional singers may also apply to amateurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Aerosol Science & Technology is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)