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This book presents an international review of the modern geo-economy and a scientific take on the geo-economy of the future. It identifies the challenges of climate change and their impact on the modern geo-economy. Prospects for the geo-economy of the future are outlined based on sustainable agriculture and alternative energy. Policy implications are put forward to develop a geo-economy of the future in response to the challenges of climate change. The book presents management implications for the development of the geo-economy of the future in response to the challenges of climate change at the regional and global scale. It presents the lessons-learned through the COVID-19 pandemic, and applies experiences of countries with different environmental conditions for agriculture and the development of the energy sector. Based on these results, advanced practical recommendations and ready-made frameworks at the national, regional, and enterprise level are provided. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.
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Low vaccination rates, inferior-quality vaccines, limited testing, and a lack of funding forced many institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa into online-learning-only environments for two years during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instructors scrambled to put classes online. Only in 2022 did some face-to-face classes resume. Unforeseeable and unprecedented circumstances forced university personnel to function with reduced budgets and without regard for the return to in-person classes. We taught, studied, and analyzed a cohort of third-year Sub-Saharan African students who spent their first two years of studies online. We describe the struggles they faced and what can be done to make up for their shortcomings and missed opportunities. We quantify the shortcomings through focus groups, an analysis of what parts of an accredited program would have fallen short, interviews, and through anecdotal evidence. Our findings can help those who suffered a similar fate. These observations can be applied to non-STEM disciplines. © 2023 IEEE.
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In terms of scale, shock, and disenfranchisement, the disruption to formal education arising from COVID-19 has been unprecedented. Anecdotally, responses from teachers and educators around the world range from heightened caution to being inspired by distance education as the "new normal.” Of all the challenges, face-to-face and formal teaching have been most heavily affected. Despite some education systems demonstrating resilience, a major challenge is sustaining quality and inclusiveness in formal education suddenly delivered at a distance. In probing these issues, this article profiles international perspectives on the role of open education in responding to the impact on formal school and higher education caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. We proceed by highlighting and analysing practices and case studies from 13 countries representing all global regions, identifying and discussing the challenges and opportunities that have presented themselves. Reports cover the period from the beginning of 2020 until 11 March 2021, the first anniversary of the COVID-19 outbreak as declared by the World Health Organization. In our comparative study, we identify seven key aspects of which three (missing infrastructure and sharing OER, open education and access to OER, and urgent need for professional development and training for teachers) are directly related to open education at a distance. After comparing examples of existing practice, we make recommendations and offer insights into how open education strategies can lead to interventions that are effective and innovative—to improve formal education at a distance in schools and universities in the future.
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The demand of local and organic products increased during the first years of the COVID-19 pandemic, and farmers' risk for transmission and infection also increased. A comprehensive picture on the effects of the pandemic on the organic farmer is not available. This was a cross-sectional survey study on the impact of COVID-19 on United States (US) certified organic producers, specifically on the challenges the pandemic imposed on the farm and the farming community. Data were collected in 2020–2021 through an electronic and paper survey. Participants included organic producers listed in the USDA Organic Integrity Database. Respondents represented producers from 40 states. The most frequently reported farm impacts were market availability (45.6%) and contact with the customer base (34.9%). The most frequently cited farming community impacts were economic hardship (44.2%), customer interaction and access (33.4%), and market availability (32.6%). Female respondents reported slightly more impacts than did male respondents (1.8 vs 1.3, p <.001). Hispanic reported more impacts on average than did non-Hispanic respondents (2.1 vs 1.4, p =.002). Differences by age and education were also found. Only a small percentage applied for and received emergency financial assistance. Results indicate that the pandemic had a multilevel impact on the workforce and on access to the market and costumers. They highlight the role of personal and contextual factors on how the producer experienced the pandemic. Also of relevance is that a high majority of participants did not pursue pandemic-specific assistance. The results of this study may inform research and policy, and interventions to protect and support organic producers in future emergencies. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.
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The closure of Public/Private Higher Education Institutions and schools in Malaysia due to the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the structure of Learning and Teaching (PdP) from direct PdP methods in institutions and schools to fully online PdPR. All face -to -face PdP activities are not allowed except for some categories of students who need to return to campus in stages to implement PdP in full compliance with the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) set and prioritize security measures and social imprisonment (Mohs Salleh 2020). This study was conducted on form 4 students of tahfiz ulul albab (SBP) to see the extent of the impact of online learning on the learning process of tahfiz students. The total number of students in this school is 132 students (6 classes). A total of 51 respondents provided questionnaire information for this study. The analysis found that aspects that include respondents 'background such as gender, stream taken, economy or income of parents/guardians, number of siblings, mobile phone facilities, access to internet line and respondents' willingness to follow PDP online, basically affect to respondents throughout their online PDP Learning and Teaching process. Since the respondents in this school are in the science stream, online learning is not a problem because on average the majority of the respondents involved come from a well-to-do family background and value the academic aspects of their children. More than 80% of the respondents expressed their desire and hope to return to school face to face as usual due to the disruptive environmental conditions and limited learning facilities. Copyright © 2022 Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications. All rights reserved.
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BACKGROUND: The aim of this protocol is to describe the study protocol changes made and subsequently implemented to the Pediatric Guideline Adherence and Outcomes (PEGASUS) Argentina randomized controlled trial (RCT) for care of children with severe traumatic brain injuries (TBI) imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The PEGASUS study group met in spring 2020 to evaluate available literature review guidance and the study design change or pausing options due to the potential interruption of research. METHODS: As a parallel cluster RCT, pediatric patients with severe TBIs are admitted to 8 control (usual care) and 8 intervention (PEGASUS program) hospitals in Argentina, Chile, and Paraguay. PEGASUS is an intervention that aims to increase guideline adherence and best practice care for improving patient outcomes using multi-level implementation science-based approaches. Strengths and weaknesses of proposed options were assessed and resulted in a decision to revert from a stepped wedge to a parallel cluster RCT but to not delay planned implementation. DISCUSSION: The parallel cluster design was considered more robust and flexible to secular interruptions and acceptable and feasible to the local study sites in this situation. Due to the early stage of the study, the team had flexibility to redesign and implement a design more compatible with the conditions of the research landscape in 2020 while balancing analytical methods and power, logistical and implementation feasibility, and acceptability. As of fall 2022, the PEGASUS RCT has been active for nearly 2 years of implementation and data collection, scheduled to be completed in in fall 2023. The experience of navigating research during this period will influence decisions about future research design, strategies, and contingencies. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Pediatric Guideline Adherence and Outcomes-Argentina. Registered with ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT03896789 on April 1, 2019.
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Brain Injuries, Traumatic , COVID-19 , Child , Humans , Guideline Adherence , Argentina/epidemiology , Brain Injuries, Traumatic/diagnosis , Brain Injuries, Traumatic/therapy , Implementation Science , Randomized Controlled Trials as TopicABSTRACT
The tourism industry has changed at its core in response to the emergence of economic vitality, climate change, and notably the recent COVID-19 outbreak. This study’s objectives are (1) to examine the factors affecting tourists’ destination choices, including their information sources, their perceptions of their destinations, and their perceptions of the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact and (2) to determine which of these factors play the most critical mediating role (i.e., perception of COVID-19 pandemic impact or perception of destination) in the relationship between information source and destination choice. Data from an online survey data of 645 respondents from Vietnam and MTurk were analyzed using SPSS version 22, Smart PLS 2.0 and Hayes Process 3.5. Our empirical findings suggest that (1) information source positively influences destination choice, (2) perception of the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact acts as a key mediator in the relationship between information sources and destination choices, and (3) perception of destination ranked first as the most vital factor in tourists’ destination choices. Our studies also discovered that the relationship from Information sources-> Perception of destination-> Destination choice is the strongest effect on travelers among the three indirect relationship. Our research will be of the greatest benefits to tourism stakeholders or tourism businesses as a foundation for further exploration into consumers’ behavior and attitudes toward destinations and help them to promote efficient emergency-response plans. © 2022 The Author(s).
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AJOL : Background: Information on the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on adolescents and young people, who are in a critical phase of transition to adulthood is sparse. We evaluated the effects of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) among adolescents and young people living in Southeast Nigeria.Objective: To evaluate the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on young people in NigeriaMethods: A cross-sectional (online and onsite) study of 328 Nigerian youths was conducted, and data on sociodemographic profile and effects of the pandemic collected through pre-tested self-administered questionnaires, were analysed using STATA 16.0, with the significance level for tests of association set at p<0.05.Results: The mean age of participants was 16.8±3.3 years. Two hundred and eleven participants (64.3%) experienced a fear of death significantly associated with a low monthly income (p<0.001), 62/328(18.9%) respondents had experienced intra-familial sexual abuse, significantly associated with age group (p=0.003). Positive effects reported by 190/328(57.9%) participants included learning new things (88/190 =46.3%), spending time with loved ones (39/190 =20.5%), spending time on studies (29/190 =15.3%, p=0.015), significantly associated with age group;and time for rest and self-discovery (34/190 =17.9%, p=0.038) significantly influenced by age group.Conclusions: A significant number of participants had a fear of death and intra-familial sexual abuse which was strongly associated with monetary poverty, and age;while some participants positively engaged in self-discovery, rest and studies. Thus, the mental health and social welfare of youths should be focused on, and positive skills enhanced during this pandemic and afterward
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The objective of the present study is to examine entrepreneurial fear of failure during COVID-19 in a highly collectivist culture. The present study uses a mixed-methods approach in which a quantitative phase was used to investigate the effect of the pandemic and pandemic preparedness on entrepreneurial fear of failure and how the latter affected entrepreneurial well-being. The data were taken online surveying 72 creative industries and small business owners in Minangkabau, which is a totally Muslim ethnic group in Indonesia. The qualitative phase that used phone interviews of 34 interviewees focuses on how they perceived and experienced fear of failure during the pandemic. This paper contributes to the literature with empirical results that confirm the fear of failure can capture the essence of entrepreneurial behavior during crises/pandemics in the context of opportunity-driven entrepreneurship and collectivist culture. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
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Background: The COVID 19 pandemic which made its presence felt by March 2020 made the educators and administrators, both of whom had very little experience with alternate teaching and learning methods, look for alternate methods of delivering the teaching learning. Because of the mandates from apex bodies, faculty members were forced to delve into an unknown territory of Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT). This study aimed to explore the factors that contributed to faculty satisfaction for ERT, the challenges faced, and suggestions for improving online teaching. Method: A modified survey tool to suit ERT was developed which demonstrated favourable preliminary factor analysis (Bartlett's Test of Sphericity (p < .001) and the Kaiser- Mayer- Olkin measure of sampling adequacy, KMO = 0.811). Results: The EFA identified four factors, such as faculty-student interaction, faculty and IT-related, faculty training and faculty preparedness with heavy loading on faculty training, as important factors for improving faculty satisfaction for online teaching. Most of the faculty members were satisfied with the ERT. A trend of shared opinion was observed in capacity building and empowering the faculty community with full IT and course development support from the institution in the form of faculty development programmes and infrastructure development in order to equip them with emergency academic transitions. Conclusion: The modified Survey tool was valid in identifying the faculty perceptions regarding the ERT. Faculty felt that they managed to quickly move to online teaching due to the pandemic but felt that they needed better IT support and faculty development programmes to effectively adapt to online teaching. Students, too, need to be trained for online learning, as per faculty members.
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In recent years, bibliometrics has been widely used as a methodology for the analysis of scientific production, proving to be an excellent instrument for supporting scientific policy decisions. In this paper, we present a bibliometric analysis of the 12 editions of the Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON). Several indicators were used, namely number of submitted articles, the rate of accepted submissions, number of article citations, and the number of references per article, among other indicators. We also intend to add the comparison of the results obtained in the ten first editions held in-site and the last two editions, which have the particularity of having been carried out fully online, evaluating, by this way, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis to EDUCON. The results show an increase in the number of papers submitted and published over the years, evidencing a growing notoriety of the conference. The same growth tendency is visible regarding the number of authors involved in the conference. Regarding the impact of the online editions, data from the next edition is still required to establish better comparisons and conclusions. © 2022 IEEE.
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The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in temporary holds placed on new trial startups, patient recruitment and follow up visits for trials which contributed to major disruptions in cancer center trial unit operations. To assess the impact, the Canadian Cancer Clinical Trials Network (3CTN) members participated in regional meetings and a survey to understand the impact of the pandemic to academic cancer clinical trials (ACCT) activity, cancer trial unit operations and supports needed for post-pandemic recovery. Trial performance and recruitment data collected from 1 April 2020-31 March 2021 was compared to the same period in previous years. From 1 April-30 June 2020, patient recruitment decreased by 67.5% and trial site activations decreased by 81% compared to the same period in 2019. Recovery to reopening and recruitment of ACCTs began after three months, which was faster than initially projected. However, ongoing COVID-19 impacts on trial unit staffing and operations continue to contribute to delayed trial activations, lower patient recruitment and may further strain centers' capacity for participation in academic-sponsored trials.
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COVID-19 , Neoplasms , Canada , Clinical Trials as Topic , Humans , Neoplasms/therapy , PandemicsABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) and voluntary behavioral changes during the COVID-19 pandemic have influenced the circulation of non-SARS-CoV-2 respiratory infections. We aimed to examine interactions among common non-SARS-CoV-2 respiratory virus and further estimate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on these viruses. METHODS: We analyzed incidence data for seven groups of respiratory viruses in New York City (NYC) during October 2015 to May 2021 (i.e., before and during the COVID-19 pandemic). We first used elastic net regression to identify potential virus interactions and further examined the robustness of the found interactions by comparing the performance of Seasonal Auto Regressive Integrated Moving Average (SARIMA) models with and without the interactions. We then used the models to compute counterfactual estimates of cumulative incidence and estimate the reduction during the COVID-19 pandemic period from March 2020 to May 2021, for each virus. RESULTS: We identified potential interactions for three endemic human coronaviruses (CoV-NL63, CoV-HKU, and CoV-OC43), parainfluenza (PIV)-1, rhinovirus, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). We found significant reductions (by ~70-90%) in cumulative incidence of CoV-OC43, CoV-229E, human metapneumovirus, PIV-2, PIV-4, RSV, and influenza virus during the COVID-19 pandemic. In contrast, the circulation of adenovirus and rhinovirus was less affected. CONCLUSIONS: Circulation of several respiratory viruses has been low during the COVID-19 pandemic, which may lead to increased population susceptibility. It is thus important to enhance monitoring of these viruses and promptly enact measures to mitigate their health impacts (e.g., influenza vaccination campaign and hospital infection prevention) as societies resume normal activities.
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COVID-19 , Respiratory Syncytial Virus, Human , Respiratory Tract Infections , Viruses , COVID-19/epidemiology , Humans , New York City/epidemiology , Pandemics , Respiratory Tract Infections/epidemiology , RhinovirusABSTRACT
This study analyzed the impact magnitudes and patterns of several intervention events, including eight earthquakes and Covid-19 pandemic, on the number of unloading and loading goods in the three main ports and airports in West Nusa Tenggara Province during 2015-2020. The multi-input intervention models are performed for twelve series data obtained from BPS-Statistics of West Nusa Tenggara Province. The results from the estimated response values show that generally the number of unloading and loading in the three main ports and airports have experienced mixed impact, i.e., negative, and positive impacts. As the main concern in this study, the negative impacts were more experienced by the number of unloading and loading goods in airports than in ports indicating that the supply chain in airports was more vulnerable to intervention. Lombok International Airport and Sultan M Kaharuddin Airport received the most negative impact during the period. Most intervention events have delayed impact patterns that are more experienced by the three airports than the three ports. Started in March 2020, Covid-19 produced the widest and biggest negative impacts. These impacts are even bigger than the impacts produced by the severe earthquakes that occurred in August 2018. © 2022 Growing Science Ltd. All rights reserved. © 2022 by the authors;licensee Growing Science, Canada.
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BACKGROUND: We assessed levels of depression, anxiety, stress, anhedonia, somatization, psychological distress, sleep, and life quality in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) after one year of containment measures started in Italy to stem the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: We consecutively enrolled 51 patients with MTLE, administering an online survey that compared the year before and after the COVID-19 propagation. We analyzed clinical data (e.g., seizure frequency, life quality) and neuropsychological assessment through Somatic Symptom Scale-8 (SSS-8), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-2), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-Y), Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale (SHAPS), Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R). The BDI-2 and STAI-Y scores were compared to those acquired in the same patients before the COVID-19 outbreak. RESULTS: Comparing our population with MTLE before and after COVID-19 outbreak, we found a significant worsening in life quality (pâ¯=â¯0.03), SSS-8 (pâ¯=â¯0.001), BDI-2 (pâ¯=â¯0.032), and STAI-Y scores (pâ¯<â¯0.001). After one year of pandemic, 88.2% of patients obtained pathological scores at PSQI, 19.6% at SHAPS, 29.4% at IES-R. Reduction of life quality correlated with anxiety, depression, stress, and somatization. Higher levels of anhedonia correlated with stress, depression, and anxiety. Somatization correlated with depression, anxiety, and sleep quality. Distress levels correlated with anxiety, somatization, and depression. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated a significant worsening of depression, anxiety, life quality, and somatization in patients with MTLE after one year of COVID-19 beginning. Concomitantly, results suggest that the pandemic had a negative impact on sleep quality, psychological distress, and anhedonia, but not on epilepsy itself.