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Objectives: Several populations are at greater risk of severe COVID-19 due to inadequate responses to COVID-19 vaccines. Many of these individuals, and their caregivers, continue practicing varying degrees of social isolation to avoid SARS-CoV-2 infection. Following the end of lockdowns, the behaviors and impacts of continued isolation on the quality-of-life of high-risk populations remain poorly understood. This study describes the main avoidance and protective behaviors and ongoing impacts experienced by adults and caregivers of adults at high-risk of severe COVID-19. Method(s): Four virtual focus groups (April-July 2022) were conducted with individuals at high-risk of severe COVID-19, or caregivers, recruited via a convenience sample from patient panels. A discussion guide of open-ended questions was prepared based on COVID-19 guidance documents and a literature review. For qualitative analyses, an inductive approach was used for behaviors, deductive for impacts. A pre-defined codebook was updated throughout as needed. Salient concepts were defined as those mentioned by >=30% of participants or in every focus-group session. Result(s): Fourteen participants were interviewed (12 patients, 2 caregivers). Participants highlighted continued behaviors greatly impacting their quality-of-life. Avoidance behaviors (staying home, avoiding bystanders, avoiding shopping facilities and gatherings, using delivery services, family protection [43%-64%]) and protective behaviors (masking [79%], vaccination [57%]) were reported. Negative impacts included family relationship impacts (71%), collapse of social relationships (57%), difficulties accessing healthcare (43%), anxiety, fear, loneliness and depression (36%-50%), and impacts on employment/finances (36%). Positive impacts included the advent of telehealth (57%) and recognizing family importance (36%). Lack of trust in authority (57%) and hoarding of medications (36%) were negative general impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted. Concepts reported by patients and caregivers were similar. Conclusion(s): Individuals at high-risk of severe COVID-19 and their caregivers maintained avoidance and protective behaviors similar to those reported during lockdowns. This study highlights the continued burden experienced by high-risk populations.Copyright © 2023
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Security Studies: An Introduction, 4th edition, is the most comprehensive textbook available on the subject, providing students with in-depth coverage of traditional and critical approaches and an essential grounding in the debates, frameworks, and issues of the contemporary security agenda. This new edition has been completely revised and updated, to cover major developments such as COVID-19, the rise of populism, climate change, China and Russia's place in the world, and the Trump administration. It also includes new chapters on great power rivalry, emerging technologies, and economic threats. Divided into four parts, the text provides students with a detailed, accessible overview of the major theoretical approaches, key themes, and most significant issues within security studies. • Part 1 explores the main theoretical approaches from both traditional and critical standpoints • Part 2 explains the central concepts underpinning contemporary debates • Part 3 presents an overview of the institutional security architecture • Part 4 examines some of the key contemporary challenges to global security Collecting these related strands into a single textbook creates a valuable teaching tool and a comprehensive, accessible learning resource for undergraduates and MA students. © 2023 selection and editorial matter, Paul D. Williams and Matt McDonald.
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In this chapter, students will learn about how transnational organized crime emerged as a threat to national and international security. The chapter defines transnational organized crime then examines its rise, suggesting that its emergence is inextricably linked to globalization and the weakness of states in many parts of the world. The major transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) are subsequently examined, including their diversity, organizational structures, and portfolios of activities, as well as illicit markets. The chapter then examines US and international efforts to combat transnational organized crime, concluding that these measures have fallen far short of what is needed. Finally, it summarizes the impact of COVID-19, suggesting that after initially disrupting smuggling and trafficking the pandemic provided new opportunities for criminal organizations to exploit. Combined with other global trends, transnational organized crime will continue to expand. © 2023 selection and editorial matter, Paul D. Williams and Matt McDonald.
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Just as Queensland commemorated the centenary anniversary of the abolition of the state's Legislative Council, the Labor government under Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, a 'strong' leader during the contemporaneous COVID-19 pandemic, found itself embroiled in the most serious integrity quagmire of its seven-year history. Given Queensland's long history of 'strong' - even autocratic - political leadership and compromised government integrity, this article posits three arguments: that the abolition of the Legislative Council and a century of political excess in Queensland since 1922 are broadly related;that legislation in Queensland remains largely 'executive-made' and not 'parliament-made' law;and that the presence of a democratically elected Legislative Council after 1922 would have mitigated if not prevented much of Queensland's political excess over the past one hundred years. The article also offers a model for a reintroduced Legislative Council that, given electoral distaste for 'more politicians', is unlikely to be approved at referendum.
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Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper documents how ordinary digital technologies, such as WhatsApp, were (re)appropriated for communication and pandemic coordination at a time when face-to-face meetings were impossible. However, there was also an emergent ‘dark' side to its use. In the context of India's democratic backsliding, middle-class Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) deployed everyday technologies to (re)configure exclusionary digital socio-spatial boundaries through practices of ‘grassroots authoritarianism'. The paper documents how the national government co-opted RWAs in the implementation of COVID-19 rules and examines their role as an extension of the state within a longer history of middle-class power in India's cities. We evidence how the ‘WhatsApp panopticon' was mobilized as a tool of everyday community care and surveillance to shape morality regimes and influence the compliance of residents with national and locally enforced rules. We argue that digital socio-spatial practices of securitization, fear and compliance represent forms of ‘grassroots authoritarianism' that echo and ensconce state-led ideological change in India. Building on ‘everyday authoritarianism' we show how digital technologies and middle-class organizations are mediating India's authoritarian shift from below. © 2023 Regional Studies Association.
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BACKGROUND: The need for coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination in different age groups and populations is a subject of great uncertainty and an ongoing global debate. Critical knowledge gaps regarding COVID-19 vaccination include the duration of protection offered by different priming and booster vaccination regimens in different populations, including homologous or heterologous schedules; how vaccination impacts key elements of the immune system; how this is modified by prior or subsequent exposure to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and future variants; and how immune responses correlate with protection against infection and disease, including antibodies and effector and T cell central memory. METHODS: The Platform Trial In COVID-19 priming and BOOsting (PICOBOO) is a multi-site, multi-arm, Bayesian, adaptive, randomised controlled platform trial. PICOBOO will expeditiously generate and translate high-quality evidence of the immunogenicity, reactogenicity and cross-protection of different COVID-19 priming and booster vaccination strategies against SARS-CoV-2 and its variants/subvariants, specific to the Australian context. While the platform is designed to be vaccine agnostic, participants will be randomised to one of three vaccines at trial commencement, including Pfizer's Comirnaty, Moderna's Spikevax or Novavax's Nuvaxovid COVID-19 vaccine. The protocol structure specifying PICOBOO is modular and hierarchical. Here, we describe the Core Protocol, which outlines the trial processes applicable to all study participants included in the platform trial. DISCUSSION: PICOBOO is the first adaptive platform trial evaluating different COVID-19 priming and booster vaccination strategies in Australia, and one of the few established internationally, that is designed to generate high-quality evidence to inform immunisation practice and policy. The modular, hierarchical protocol structure is intended to standardise outcomes, endpoints, data collection and other study processes for nested substudies included in the trial platform and to minimise duplication. It is anticipated that this flexible trial structure will enable investigators to respond with agility to new research questions as they arise, such as the utility of new vaccines (such as bivalent, or SARS-CoV-2 variant-specific vaccines) as they become available for use. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12622000238774. Registered on 10 February 2022.
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COVID-19 , Vaccines , Humans , SARS-CoV-2 , COVID-19/prevention & control , COVID-19 Vaccines , Bayes Theorem , Australia , Vaccination , Randomized Controlled Trials as TopicABSTRACT
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of socio-cognitive mindfulness on resilience, stress and thriving among middle managers in higher education at two separate periods during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Study 1, the authors examined how socio-cognitive mindfulness predicted perceived stress and whether the relationship between mindfulness and perceived stress was mediated by resilience. In Study 2, the authors replicated the first study and further hypothesized that the link between mindfulness and thriving was also mediated by resilience. Design/methodology/approach: The authors conducted cross-sectional correlational studies to test the hypotheses using data from 163 middle managers in higher education early in the pandemic in Study 1 and 204 middle managers a year later in Study 2. Findings: Study 1 findings showed socio-cognitive mindfulness predicted perceived stress, and that resilience fully mediated this relationship. In Study 2, socio-cognitive mindfulness did not predict perceived stress, but it did predict thriving, and that relationship was fully mediated by resilience. Originality/value: This research is the first to address how socio-cognitive mindfulness directly impacts perceived stress and thriving and its impact through building resilience. To date, few studies have focused on stress in higher education middle managers or addressed the importance of building socio-cognitive mindfulness and resilience to thrive amid ongoing challenges. Implications of the pandemic's influence on the results are also addressed. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.
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Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of socio-cognitive mindfulness on resilience, stress and thriving among middle managers in higher education at two separate periods during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Study 1, the authors examined how socio-cognitive mindfulness predicted perceived stress and whether the relationship between mindfulness and perceived stress was mediated by resilience. In Study 2, the authors replicated the first study and further hypothesized that the link between mindfulness and thriving was also mediated by resilience. Design/methodology/approach: The authors conducted cross-sectional correlational studies to test the hypotheses using data from 163 middle managers in higher education early in the pandemic in Study 1 and 204 middle managers a year later in Study 2. Findings: Study 1 findings showed socio-cognitive mindfulness predicted perceived stress, and that resilience fully mediated this relationship. In Study 2, socio-cognitive mindfulness did not predict perceived stress, but it did predict thriving, and that relationship was fully mediated by resilience. Originality/value: This research is the first to address how socio-cognitive mindfulness directly impacts perceived stress and thriving and its impact through building resilience. To date, few studies have focused on stress in higher education middle managers or addressed the importance of building socio-cognitive mindfulness and resilience to thrive amid ongoing challenges. Implications of the pandemic's influence on the results are also addressed. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.
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This article introduces and critically reflects upon the development of CiviAct – a multi-agency project that partners six anti-racist activist organisations and two universities in the North of England. CiviAct seeks to support and realise the benefits of youth and community-led civic action. It does this by: (i) financially resourcing the work of six anti-racist activist organisations;(ii) connecting those organisations with each other to create new opportunities for co-learning;and (iii) exploring new models of community-led university partnership. Based on insights derived from a 12-month development period (conducted throughout the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic) we examine points of tension, manifested at the intersections between community partners, universities and project funders. Extending Strier’s discussion of university-community partnerships (UCP) as ‘fields of paradox’, we outline the complexities of collaborative working within a UCP that seeks to adhere to the priorities of anti-racism and an ethic of love. In doing so this article surfaces the burden of boundary work undertaken by both academic partners seeking to prioritise knowledge and anti-racist practices beyond the academy, and community activists, who are expected to conform with institutional standards that may have little relevance to their practice. The article contributes a series of reflections that may be of use to other activist researchers engaged in UCP. © The Author(s) 2022.
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Climate change poses significant challenges, and the global community is not on track to meet sustainable development goals or the Paris Agreement to mitigate climate change. The COVID-19 pandemic and necessary government measures to curb the spread of the virus has put climate action on hold and shut down economies. The need for improved ventilation as an important mitigating factor against the risk of COVID-19 transmission has additional implications for costs and emissions for businesses. Leisure centres, as large users of water and energy, account for significant emissions and operational costs. However, there is scope for significant reductions in water and water-related energy demands and associated emissions and costs without impacting service quality and delivery. These reductions can be a promising response to the current challenges of climate change and post-COVID-19 economic recovery, particularly given current UK energy crises and inflation trends. We have been working with leisure centres to support them in improving energy efficiency through water-use efficiency as part of the cross-border, interdisciplinary Interreg Dwr Uisce research project on improving the energy performance and long-term sustainability of the water sectors in Ireland and Wales. In this paper, we discuss the potential of energy efficiency gains based on the framework on water management hierarchy which prioritises management actions in order of preference of implementation, where the next hierarchy should only be considered once all potential savings from the hierarchy above have been exhausted. We also discuss how these interventions are not one-size-fits-all – although leisure centres typically have the same water-use types, they differ significantly in age, size, location, building types and materials, functionality, and efficiency;and why therefore, interventions must be considered on a site-specific and case-by-case basis. © 2022 WITPress. All rights reserved.
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Family child care (FCC) programs are a vital, yet vulnerable resource. Data from an online, statewide survey of 161 FCC owners in a rural state highlight the effects of COVID-19 on providers. Capacity decreased, with over 1000 slots or half of the state’s FCC capacity lost. One-third of providers who closed were unsure or did not think they would reopen. Almost 40% reported the pandemic made them reconsider working in family child care. Increased caregiving challenges due to child stress and behavioral problems were also reported. They also experienced a loss of control over many aspects of their work including financial challenges in accessing supplies, compensation rates, and whether they could scale back their operations. Local or family child care–specific supports were more likely to be accessed, highlighting the value of communities of practice. Strengths, challenges, and ways providers remained resilient in the face of COVID-19 are discussed as well as ways to strengthen states’ family child care system after the pandemic are considered. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
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Background The COVID-19 Ambulance Response Assessment (CARA) study was a prospective, longitudinal survey of UK ambulance staff during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. CARA aimed to evaluate perceptions of preparedness and wellbeing, and to collect staff suggestions to benefit working practices and conditions. Method Three online questionnaires were presented, coinciding with the acceleration, peak and deceleration phases of the first COVID-19 wave in 2020. Inductive thematic analysis was employed to represent 14,237 free text responses from 3,717 participants to 18 free-text questions overall. This report focuses on experiences of IPC practices. Results Many participants lacked confidence in using PPE because of low familiarity, an inadequate evidence-base and changing policy. Some experienced insufficient supply, items of poor quality and suboptimal fit-testing procedure. PPE use was further influenced by discomfort, urgency, and perceptions of risk. Various suggestions were made to improve IPC practices, including decontamination personnel, staff 'bubbles' and limiting exposure through public education and remote triage improvements. Conclusion Repeated poor experiences of implementing IPC practices1 2 demand that lessons are learnt from this pandemic. PPE developed with specific regard for ambulance staff 's unique working environment and for them to receive regular familiarization training in its use would likely benefit performance and confidence. Overall, ambulance staff emphasised the need for IPC policies to be pragmatic, evidence-based and communicated with clarity.
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BackgroundThe COVID-19 Ambulance Response Assessment (CARA) study was a prospective, longitudinal survey of UK ambulance staff providing both direct and remote patient care during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. CARA aimed to evaluate perceptions of preparedness and wellbeing, and to collect staff suggestions to benefit working practices and conditions.MethodThree online questionnaires were presented, coinciding with the acceleration, peak and deceleration phases of the first COVID-19 wave. Inductive thematic analysis was employed to represent 14,237 free text responses from 3,717 participants to 18 free-text questions overall.ResultsA thematic framework was constructed from across the variety of questions that demonstrated participants’ objectives to minimise infection risks, maintain service delivery and support their own wellbeing. Additionally, the following requirements of national and organisational leadership were identified as enablers to achieving those objectives.Evidence-based policies, that are consistently applied, clearly communicated and accompanied by adequate training improve confidence and allay anxiety. Demonstrating learning, planning, and astute use of resources will further benefit trust in leadership and to support staff wellbeing there must also be meaningful dialogue and demonstrable empathy with further appropriate preventative and therapeutic interventions enabled.ConclusionInclusive, compassionate leadership will support both ambulance staff wellbeing and service delivery whilst working within pandemic conditions. New working practices should be introduced with transparency and staff experiences of implementing changes should be heeded by leadership to enable further policy development.Conflict of interestNone.FundingCollege of Paramedics.
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This article explores the totemic 2020 Queensland state election, at which a two-term government plagued by a deteriorating economy and widely criticised travel restrictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic was returned with an increased majority. The article posits three arguments: that COVID-19 created a new 'lens' through which electors evaluated public policy and that allowed voters to frame public health and safety over the more usual measures of economic performance;that Queensland voters drew on their traditional political culture - especially their predilection for strong leadership and state chauvinism - to evaluate the Palaszczuk Labor government's pandemic management favourably compared with contemporaneous events in Victoria;and that Queensland voters expressed similar confidence in a Labor economic recovery plan that contrasted favourably with the LNP's economic platform. In sum, this article argues that Queenslanders in 2020 cast a 'gratitude vote' for a government they saw as being in control of both public health and economic recovery. ©
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Purpose : Routine use of face masks for both patients and physicians during intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) injections has increased with the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study evaluates the impact of physician, ancillary staff, and patient face mask use on rates and outcomes of post-injection endophthalmitis. Methods : In this retrospective comparative cohort study, all eye receiving intravitreal antiVEGF factor injections from 10/1/2019 to 7/31/2020 were included from twelve centers. Cases were divided into a no face mask group if no face masks were worn by the physician or patient during intravitreal injections or a universal face mask group if face masks were worn by the physician, ancillary staff, and patient during intravitreal injections. The main outcome measures were rate of endophthalmitis, visual acuity, and microbial spectrum. Results : Of 505,968 intravitreal injections administered, 85 of 294,514 (0.0289%;1 in 3,464 injections) cases of endophthalmitis occurred in the no face mask group, and 45 of 211,454 (0.0213%;1 in 4,699 injections) cases occurred in the universal face mask group (odds ratio, 0.74;95%CI, 0.51-1.18;p=0.097;Table 1). In the no face mask group, there were 27 cases (0.0092%;1 in 10,908 injections) of culture-positive endophthalmitis compared to 9 cases (0.004%;1 in 23,494 injections) in the universal face mask group (OR, 0.46;95%CI, 0.22-0.99;p=0.041). Three cases of oral flora-associated endophthalmitis occurred in the no face mask group (0.001%;1 in 98,171 injections) compared to one (0.0005%;1 in 211,454) in the universal face mask group (p=0.645). At endophthalmitis presentation, mean logMAR visual acuity was 2.04 for no face mask group compared to 1.65 for the universal face mask group (p=0.022), although no difference was observed three months after treatment (p=0.764;Table 2). Conclusions : Universal face mask use during intravitreal anti-VEGF injections did not show a statistically significant reduction in presumed endophthalmitis, but there was a reduced rate of culture-positive endophthalmitis. Future studies are warranted to assess the role of face mask use to reduce endophthalmitis risk, particularly that due to oral flora.
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There have recently been safety concerns regarding an increased risk of vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT) following administration of SARS-CoV-2 adenoviral vector vaccines. The Southern African Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis reviewed the emerging literature on this idiosyncratic complication. A draft document was produced and revised by consensus agreement by a panel of professionals from various specialties. The recommendations were adjudicated by independent international experts to avoid local bias. We present concise, practical guidelines for the clinical management of VITT.