Sustainability of EU Labour Markets During the Coronavirus Crisis

The world's labour markets were significantly affected by the coronavirus spread and lockdowns and deaths caused by it. Policy-makers tried to mitigate the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on the labour market by imposing different measures and aid packages. Having in mind all activities for combating the COVID-19 pandemic's effect on the labour market in 2020 and 2021, the question arose how resilient are labour markets to the effects of the COVID- 19 pandemic compared to the year before the pandemic? Therefore, this study attempts to answer this question by creating a composite index of ten labour market indicators using the MOORA ranking method. The research sample is made up of 27 European Union (EU) countries. In the first step, countries' composite indexes were compared on a year-to-year basis (2019-2020, 2019-2021 and 2020-2021) and no significant discrepancies were observed. In the second step, differences in geographical clusters of countries were captured while comparing their composite indexes for 2020 and 2021. The study results indicate that aid packages restricted the COVID-19 pandemic's effects on the EU labour markets and strengthened their sustainability. The downturn in EU labour market indicators was retained thus making divergence between geographical clusters inherited from the previous periods. The research results indicate the importance of joint EU policies in crisis periods for encouraging the sustainability of the EU labour markets and the need to make a balance among EU labour markets under normal conditions.

EXPERIENCES USING A SMARTHEALTH SYSTEM: TWO CASES OF DEMENTIA FAMILY CAREGIVERS

Family caregivers for persons with dementia often times experience stress and burden while caregiving. The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened this situation with increased physical and social isolation, further resulting in health risks in this population. Technology-based interventions have become more commonplace in today's world to address ongoing caregiver needs although gaps in technological literacy and usage still exist among many users. This case study aims to report on the implementation of an ongoing Smarthealth technology intervention for two older adult family caregivers of persons with dementia and to explore their experiences with this system. Data were collected through acoustic monitoring, survey administration, and semi-structured interviews. Intervention effects on changes in emotional states will be discussed. Study findings showed the intervention improved self-awareness of emotional care and reactions to care recipients. Findings in this study highlight the importance and challenges of real-time technology-based intervention implementation in older adult caregiving populations.

Out-of-the-Box Deployment to Support Research on In-Home Care of Alzheimer's Patients

COVID-19 has caused many disruptions in conducting smart health research. Both in-lab sessions and in-home deployments had to be delayed or canceled because in-person meetings were no longer allowed. Our research project on "in-home monitoring with personalized recommendations to reduce the stress of caregivers of Alzheimer's patients" was affected. To enable continued research without any person-to-person contact, we created an out-of-the-box deployment solution. The solution is multifaceted and deals with everything from technical adjustments, deployment documentation, EMA additions, additional monitoring software, use of videos, Zoom and TeamViewer, budget changes, new logistics, and changes to IRBs. This article briefly describes the purpose and design of the original system and then articulates the necessitated changes. We also provide lessons learned and an initial evaluation of the effectiveness of the solutions after the changes. The evaluation surveys the opinions of seven people that assembled, initialized, and deployed our system in home environments. We believe that the various solutions we developed can be applied to other similar projects, and will be helpful to new projects even when personal contact returns.

Clinical features and laboratory findings of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C)

Introduction: Children mostly have mild or asymptomatic forms of SARS-CoV-2 infection, but during pandemic a higher incidence of Kawasaki disease, Kawasaki-like syndrome and the emergence of a new clinical entity, multisystem inflammatory post-covid syndrome (MIS-C) has also been observed. Objectives: The aim of this study is to determine clinical features and laboratory findings in patients with MIS-C. Methods: Retrospective analysis of clinical features and laboratory findings of MIS-C patients treated at our tertiary referal center (Clinic of Pediatric, University Clinical Centre Nis, Serbia). Results: From 18th of March 2020 till 30st of April 2021 there were 10 patients diagnosed as MIS-C according to CDC criteria. Eight patients were male and two were female. Patients age was 2 to 13 years (average 7.9 years, median 7 years). All patients had SARS -CoV-2 N-protein IgG antibodies but without history of disease symptoms and had positive contact four weeks prior to the onset of MIS-C symptoms. First symptom of MIS-C was fever (over 38C) which lasted in average for 4.4 days (3-7 days). Muco-cutaneous and gastrointestinal manifestations were most common. All patients had bulbar conjuctivitis, rash was present in 8 patients (80%), hand/foot oedema in 6 cases (60%), anterior cervical lymphadenopathy and cheliitis in 4 cases (40%) and periobital oedema in one case (details presented in Table 1. Clinical features of MIS-C patients). Nine patients (90%) presented with gastrointestinal symptoms while nervous system was affected in 5 patients. Three patients developed heart insuffitiency and one patient developed early signs of right coronary arthery aneurism. All patients had elevated inflammatory markers. Complete blood count showed elevated levels of white blood cells in 9 patients. Hypoalbuminemia and hypoproteinemia, low levels of serum potassium and sodium were present during ten days after the onset of symptoms. Troponines were elevated in 4 cases, proBNP in 5 cases. Abdominal ultrasound was performed and 6 patients presented with hepatoplenomegaly, 3 with enlarged spleen, one with enlagred liver and 4 had ascites. All patients were treated with combination of two antibiotics till cultures were proven negative, corticosteroid therapy and antiaggregation therapy. Three patients received a IVIG in a single dose (2gr/kg). All patients had good response to corticosteroid therapy (2mg/kg). Corticosteroid therapy was continued for four weeks (tapering). Conclusion: MIS-C can be a life-threatening condition in children. Early diagnosis and timely adequate treatment are of paramount importance. In children less than 5 years of age, the distinction between Kawasaki (Kawasaki shock) syndrome and MIS-C might be difficult, influencing the decision to use IVIG or steroids alone.

CoPED: A smartwatch based voice cognitive assistant for the pandemic and beyond: Demo abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought significant changes in daily activities, such as, washing hands and wearing masks regularly. During a pandemic, it is crucial to follow the recommendations from physicians and experts for mental and physical well-being. Also, it is important to know the latest information on the pandemic situation. Although smartwatches are very popular for monitoring and assisting daily life activities, existing systems are not directed towards coping up with the "new normal"life during pandemic. Towards achieving this goal, we present CoPED, a comprehensive voice cognitive assistant on a smartwatch that reminds and assists people for different daily activities during the pandemic and beyond. © 2020 ACM.