COVID-19 as an Energy Intervention: Lockdown Insights for HCI

As the operation of buildings accounts for around 30% of global CO2 emissions, reducing their energy consumption is considered crucial for climate change mitigation. Aware of this significance, the sustainable HCI (SHCI) community has conducted research on energy consumption for over 15 years. However, compared with domestic environments, commercial organisations are comprised of complex mixed-use buildings, and the socio-technical understanding of space and resulting energy use are relatively under-explored. In this late-breaking work, we present the initial findings of a longitudinal analysis that uses building energy data from a period covering the COVID-19 lockdown measures to help identify the energy associated with these buildings and their users. Viewing the pandemic as a unique, grand-scale 'energy intervention', the resulting consumption patterns are used to inform questions about leverage points for achieving change, stakeholder agency vs. infrastructure demand;and highlight the importance of putting energy data in context. © 2023 Owner/Author.

Effects of the Pandemic on Observing the Global Ocean

The years since 2000 have been a golden age in in situ ocean observing with the proliferation and organization of autonomous platforms such as surface drogued buoys and subsurface Argo profiling floats augmenting ship-based observations. Global time series of mean sea surface temperature and ocean heat content are routinely calculated based on data from these platforms, enhancing our understanding of the ocean's role in Earth's climate system. Individual measurements of meteorological, sea surface, and subsurface variables directly improve our understanding of the Earth system, weather forecasting, and climate projections. They also provide the data necessary for validating and calibrating satellite observations. Maintaining this ocean observing system has been a technological, logistical, and funding challenge. The global COVID-19 pandemic, which took hold in 2020, added strain to the maintenance of the observing system. A survey of the contributing components of the observing system illustrates the impacts of the pandemic from January 2020 through December 2021. The pandemic did not reduce the short-term geographic coverage (days to months) capabilities mainly due to the continuation of autonomous platform observations. In contrast, the pandemic caused critical loss to longer-term (years to decades) observations, greatly impairing the monitoring of such crucial variables as ocean carbon and the state of the deep ocean. So, while the observing system has held under the stress of the pandemic, work must be done to restore the interrupted replenishment of the autonomous components and plan for more resilient methods to support components of the system that rely on cruise-based measurements. © 2023 American Meteorological Society.

COVID-19 EXACERBATES EXISTING DIGESTIVE DISORDERS AND TRIGGERS NEW DIGESTIVE SYMPTOMS AND DIAGNOSES: RESULTS FROM AN INTERNATIONAL PATIENT SURVEY

Background/Aims: COVID-19 infection can affect nearly every organ system including the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. GI symptoms such as nausea, pain and diarrhea are common and may be due to infection and/or increased stress and isolation from the pandemic. It is well known that stress affects GI function and sensation, particularly in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The aim of the study was to elucidate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on GI symptoms. Methods: An international online survey (Alchemer) was available via the International Foundation of GI Disorders (IFFGD) website from August 11, 2021- November 17, 2021. There were 57 questions exploring demographics, GI symptom/disorder classification, care delivery, administration and perceptions of COVID-19 vaccination, and health experiences during the pandemic. No compensation was provided for survey completion and patients were able to selectively answer questions, with some questions not analyzed for this report. Results: Survey data was included from 210 patients with GI symptoms (mean age 47.7 yrs, 83% female, 80% Caucasian). Participants' primary GI conditions included 36% IBS, 26% gastroparesis, 6% constipation, and 9% acid reflux (figure 1). Seventy percent reported the pandemic impacted their GI health and nearly 3 out of 4 (73%) reported increased pandemic-related anxiety or depression. COVID-19 was diagnosed in 40 (19%) participants. Nearly 3 out of 4 (74%) experienced new or worsening GI symptoms after a COVID-19 diagnosis. Almost a third (30%) with COVID-19 were diagnosed with post-infection (PI) IBS and 38% were diagnosed with a new GI disorder other than PI-IBS. New GI diagnoses after COVID-19 included gastroparesis (53%), GERD (13%), and diarrhea (7%) (figure 2). Prior to diagnosis of PI-IBS, 58% did not have a GI diagnosis. Almost half (46%) of patients reported new acid reflux symptoms after COVID-19. Almost 3 out of 4 patients (72%) with COVID-19 noticed changes in digestion and/or bowel movements. More than two thirds (67%) noted COVID-related GI symptoms lasted >3 months. Nearly 3 out of 4 (72%) patients felt their GI symptoms were harder to manage after COVID-19. Conclusions: Our results highlight the significant burden of GI illness imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 exacerbated existing GI conditions, increased anxiety and depression, and led to a wide range of new GI issues, led by but not limited to PI-IBS. New diagnoses of upper GI disorders including gastroparesis and GERD were surprisingly common. Further prospective studies to validate these observations and understand their pathogenesis are warranted. (Figure Presented) Figure 1: Participants primary gastrointestinal condition or disorder prior to the COVID- 19 pandemic. (Figure Presented) Figure 2: New GI disorders diagnosed after being diagnosed with COVID-19

The role of dispositional mindfulness in employee readiness for change during the COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has forced organisations to change the way they work to maintain viability, even though change is not always successfully implemented. Multiple scholars have identified employees' readiness for change as an important factor of successful organisational change, but research focussed on psychological factors that facilitate change readiness is scarce. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether employee dispositional mindfulness contributes to readiness for change. Design/methodology/approach Employees (n = 301) from various industries in New Zealand participated in an online survey shortly after the local COVID-19 lockdown ended. The employees' levels of mindfulness, readiness for change, well-being and distress were assessed using well-validated psychometric scales. Multiple regression analyses tested the effect of mindfulness on readiness for change, with well-being and distress as moderating variables. Findings The results show that the effect of mindfulness on readiness for change is moderated by both well-being and distress. Mindfulness has a positive, significant effect on readiness for change when levels of well-being are high and levels of distress are low. Practical implications These findings have important implications for organisations who aim to promote readiness for change in their employees. Even though mindfulness has been shown to be beneficial, organisations also have to consider the mental states of their employees when managing change. Originality/value This study provides empirical evidence that dispositional mindfulness may facilitate the employees' readiness for change, but only when levels of well-being are high and distress are low.

Syndrome metabolique et COVID-19 : quel risque de pneumopathie severe ?.

Declaration de liens d'interets: Les auteurs declarent ne pas avoir de liens d'interets. Copyright © 2020