ABSTRACT
On November 21st, 2019 (21N), Colombia experienced one of the most shocking social mobilizations in history. The effervescence of the mobilization was neutralized by the social isolation generated by COVID-19 and challenged on September 11th, 2020 (9S), after the murder of a citizen due to excessive use of force by law enforcement. However, civil society resisted the coercive measures of the pandemic and the state violence with viral memes as a synthetic, hyperbolic, and ironic expression of reality. In this regard, the objective of the article is to analyze how memes, from iconic, semantic, and humorous perspectives, catalyze the understanding of social protests and mobilize a global trend to reinforce criticism of political and economic power, from digital activism. The methodology of multimodal analysis is worked with a corpus of 201 memes. The results show how the meme transforms an instant message, into discursive practices that criticize the action or inertia of state and private institutions. In conclusion, it is proposed that although memes are not a guarantee of a transformation of reality, they do revitalize traditional social mobilizations that seek social empathy from the public sphere. © 2022 Universidad Nacional de Colombia. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
The current crisis (triggered by the COVID 19 pandemic) is an opportunity to make a profound and systemic change towards a more sustainable economy that works for both people and the planet. It is about decoupling economic growth from environmental degradation, increasing resource efficiency and promoting sustainable lifestyles. The Design for Sustainability (D4S) concept describes methodologies for making sustainable (social, economic and environmental) improvements to products by applying elements of life cycle thinking. It is intended to go beyond the environmental optimization of products and reduce environmental impacts while maintaining an acceptable quality of service. This paper explores the characteristics that the databases or surveys used to link the properties of a certain product or service with the sensations of the users must have. The necessary size will be analyzed in terms of properties and levels of the product, emotions produced and number of respondents;putting it in relation to the data analysis and processing techniques that will be used in later phases. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee AEIPRO, Spain.
ABSTRACT
On November 21st, 2019 (21N), Colombia experienced one of the most shocking social mobilizations in history. The effervescence of the mobilization was neutralized by the social isolation generated by COVID-19 and challenged on September 11th, 2020 (9S), after the murder of a citizen due to excessive use of force by law enforcement. However, civil society resisted the coercive measures of the pandemic and the state violence with viral memes as a synthetic, hyperbolic, and ironic expression of reality. In this regard, the objective of the article is to analyze how memes, from iconic, semantic, and humorous perspectives, catalyze the understanding of social protests and mobilize a global trend to reinforce criticism of political and economic power, from digital activism. The methodology of multimodal analysis is worked with a corpus of 201 memes. The results show how the meme transforms an instant message, into discursive practices that criticize the action or inertia of state and private institutions. In conclusion, it is proposed that although memes are not a guarantee of a transformation of reality, they do revitalize traditional social mobilizations that seek social empathy from the public sphere.
ABSTRACT
Background. Reports showing high rates of antibiotic use (AU) in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) despite low rates of secondary bacterial infection have emerged from various countries across the globe. We evaluated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on AU in healthcare facilities (HCFs) in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. Methods. We conducted an ecologic evaluation of AU in inpatient adult acute care wards (excluding maternity wards) in 6 HCFs in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile;2 HCFs per country. AU data for intravenously administered antibiotics commonly used to treat respiratory infections were collected from pharmacy dispensing records and aggregated to monthly defined daily dose (DDD)/1000 patient days. Graphs were created to depict AU and COVID-19 discharges over time throughout the 36-month study period (03/2018-02/2021). Relative changes in AU for all antibiotics combined and specific classes were calculated by comparing median AU for the 24-month prepandemic period (3/2018-2/2020) with the 12-month pandemic period (3/2020-2/ 2021). Only statistically significant differences (P< 0.05) determined by the Wilcoxon signed-rank test are reported. Results. Compared to the pre-pandemic period, the use of all included antibiotics combined increased in 4/6 HCFs (6.7-35.1%). In the 4 HCFs that experienced increases in AU, Figure 1 shows that use was high during months when COVID-19 patient surges occurred. In 3/4 of these HCFs, AU remained high despite significant decreases in COVID-19 discharges. Ceftriaxone use increased in 2/6 HCFs (27.1- 51.6%). Use of beta-lactam antibiotics with activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa increased in 3/6 HCFs (31.3-82.5%) and decreased in 1/6 HCFs (-18.9%). Vancomycin and linezolid use increased in 3/6 HCFs (36.9-77.1%). Conclusion. Increases in AU among hospitalized adults were observed in 4 of 6 South American HCFs included in this study. The high rates of broad-spectrum antibiotic use in the HCFs may impact further emergence of antibiotic resistance. Understanding how this increase in antibiotic use compares to rates of bacterial infections during this time period is critical. (Figure Presented).
ABSTRACT
Introduction: The municipality of Leganes has been very vulnerable to the effects of the crisis derived from the COVID-19 pandemic (both due to the incidence of the infection and the socioeconomic situation). Multiple studies show that children and adolescents, especially those with a psychiatric background, have been one of the most affected groups during the confinement. Objective(s): Firstly, to describe the characteristics of clinical care at the Child/Youth Mental Health Centre of Leganes (Madrid) during the first lockdown (March-June 2020). Secondly, to present data on the clinical evolution of the patients along this period (n = 720). Method(s): Descriptive study and literature review. Result(s): Clinical care during the period of strict confinement was mainly by telephone, although the most serious cases were attended in person. In addition, referral to Intensive outpatient programs was interrupted. The results show 56% of patients remained stable. Anxious symptoms (35%) and behavioural disturbances (24%) were most frequently referred (Figure 1), It is noteworthy that the most critical cases (such as suicide attempts or domestic violence) were observed in adolescents and that at least 11% of patients increased their use of electronic devices. Conclusion(s): The first confinement stage was particularly stressful for families and especially for children and adolescents, although most patients remained psychopathologically stable. However, other studies have found a significant increase in child and adolescent mental health problems during the following months (de-escalation stage).
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Purpose : The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted surgical resident education. We sought to assess the impact of COVID-19 on ophthalmology resident training and wellness at the University of Washington through observing changes in volume of overnight on-call consults, resident clinics, and resident surgical cases, in addition to studying changes in sleep, activity, and resident wellness survey results. Methods : A retrospective cohort study of ophthalmology residents at the University of Washington comparing clinical volumes, sleep and activity data recorded by a wrist actigrapher, and wellness surveys during a pre-COVID period from February 1 , 2020 to March 15 to the period of initial COVID response (COVID period) from March 16 to May 1 , 2020. Results : The initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a 64% decrease in resident clinic volume, 64% decrease in resident-surgical cases, and 50% decrease in oncall consult volume, see figure 1. The fraction of consults involving an open globe injury increased more than four-fold. Resident depersonalization as measured by Maslach Burnout Inventory decreased during the pandemic (p=0.038), see figure 2. Most residents experienced decrease emotional exhaustion and increased anxiety during the pandemic. There was no statistically significant change in recorded sleep or activity among residents before and during the pandemic. Conclusions : The initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic at the University of Washington resulted in a large decrease in clinical, surgical, and on call volumes with mixed effect on ophthalmology resident well-being.
ABSTRACT
Objective: Older age and cardiovascular comorbidities are well-known risk factors for all-cause mortality in COVID-19 patients. Hypertension (HT) and age are the two principal determinants of arterial stiffness (AS). The objective of this study is to estimate AS in COVID-19 patients requiring hospital admission and analyze its association with all-cause mortality. Design and method: This cross-sectional, observational, retrospective multicenter study includes 122170 patients who required hospital admission in 150 Spanish centers, included in the nationwide SEMI-COVID-19 Network. We compared estimated AS as pulse pressure > 60 mmHg and compared clinical characteristics between survivors and nonsurvivors. Results: Mean age was 67.5±16.1 years, 42.5% were women. Most patients were white (90.0%). Globally, 2606 (21.4%) subjects died. Blood pressure (BP) < 120 mmHg and BP > 140 at admission predicted higher all-cause mortality (23.5% and 22.8%, respectively, p<0.001), compared to BP between 120-140 mmHg (18.6%). 4379 patients with AS (36.0%) were older and had higher systolic and lower diastolic BP. Multivariate analysis showed that even adjusting for gender (males, OR: 1.6, p=0.0001), age tertiles (second and third tertiles, OR: 2.0 and 4.7, p=0.0001), Charlson-Index (second and third tertiles, OR: 4.8 and 8.6, p=0.0001), heart failure, previous and in-hospital antihypertensive treatment, AS and BP < 120 mmHg significantly and independently predicted all-cause mortality (OR: 1.27, p=0.0001 and OR: 1.48, p=0.0001, respectively). Conclusions: Our data show that arterial stiffness, defined as pulse pressure above 60 mmHg at hospital admission, and BP at admission < 120 mmHg were important determinants with independent prognostic value for all-cause mortality in COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalization.