Trauma and Distress on a Cruise during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study with Italian and French Tourists

The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed our daily lives. One of the sectors most affected was tourism and travel – and, more specifically, cruises, given the prolonged time passengers spend with others within the small spaces of the cruise ship. While finding well-organised entertainment opportunities on cruises is possible, emergency conditions may cause panic. On such occasions, reactions can be highly stressful or even traumatic. This research explores the events and emotions experienced by passengers during a cruise ship quarantined for COVID-19. The empirical materials consist of interviews with 15 passengers. The analyses show four thematic areas: fear of contagion, feelings of discrimination, cooperation between passengers and relationship with the crew. The problems during a cruise ship quarantine presented by the passengers in this study reveal the need for psychological preparation for the crew and security personnel. Finally, we suggest that telemedicine and telepsychology are key elements to improve the efficiency of behavioral control on cruise ships and to mitigate the COVID-19 effects on tourists' well-being during a quarantine. © 2023 by the author.

Investigation of demographic implicit discrimination and disparate impact in chest radiography image-based AI for COVID-19 severity prediction

It is important to evaluate medical imaging artificial intelligence (AI) models for possible implicit discrimination (ability to distinguish between subgroups not related to the specific clinical task of the AI model) and disparate impact (difference in outcome rate between subgroups). We studied potential implicit discrimination and disparate impact of a published deep learning/AI model for the prediction of ICU admission for COVID-19 within 24 hours of imaging. The IRB-approved, HIPAA-compliant dataset contained 8,357 chest radiography exams from February 2020-January 2022 (12% ICU admission within 24 hours) and was separated by patient into training, validation, and test sets (64%, 16%, 20% split). The AI output was evaluated in two demographic categories: sex assigned at birth (subgroups male and female) and self-reported race (subgroups Black/African-American and White). We failed to show statistical evidence that the model could implicitly discriminate between members of subgroups categorized by race based on prediction scores (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, AUC: median [95% confidence interval, CI]: 0.53 [0.48, 0.57]) but there was some marginal evidence of implicit discrimination between members of subgroups categorized by sex (AUC: 0.54 [0.51, 0.57]). No statistical evidence for disparate impact (DI) was observed between the race subgroups (i.e. the 95% CI of the ratio of the favorable outcome rate between two subgroups included one) for the example operating point of the maximized Youden index but some evidence of disparate impact to the male subgroup based on sex was observed. These results help develop evaluation of implicit discrimination and disparate impact of AI models in the context of decision thresholds © COPYRIGHT SPIE. Downloading of the is permitted for personal use only.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the characteristic comparison of English achievement tests

Aim. The objectives of this research were to characterize and contrast the features of English language proficiency tests conducted before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methodology and research methods. Before coronavirus pandemic, there were 287 students;during pandemic, there were 288 pupils;there were also an English teacher and a forum for English teachers. Through documentation and interviews, the information was gathered from eighth-graders at SMP Negeri 2 Semarang in Central Java, Indonesia. Results. Some aspects of English accomplishment tests made before COVID-19 can be seen. First, the percentages of items in the Easy, Moderate, and Difficult categories are 55%, 37.5%, and 7.5%, respectively. The item discrimination percentages for the Poor, Fair, Good, and Very Good categories are 10%, 30%, 25%, and 35%, respectively. Third, the distractor's effectiveness as a percentage is 53.30% and 46.70%. (effective: ineffective). Finally, the test reliability value is 0.990. The English proficiency test created during COVID-19 exhibits some of the same traits. First, the percentages for Easy, Moderate, and Difficulty categories for item difficulty: 10%, 84%, and 6%. The item discrimination percentages for the Poor, Fair, Good, and Very Good categories are 2%, 4%, 14%, and 80%, respectively. Third, the distractor's percentage efficacy is 99.30%: 0.70% (effective: ineffective). Finally, the test reliability value is 0.960. The foundation of classical test theory (CTT) was the effectiveness of the distractor, item difficulty, and item discrimination. The exams administered during coronavirus pandemic were more normally distributed than the tests administered prior to pandemic based on item difficulty. The tests given during coronavirus pandemic fell more into the very good category than the tests given before pandemic, according to item discrimination. In comparison to tests conducted before to coronavirus pandemic, more tests during pandemic were classified as effective based on the distractor's effectiveness. Both tests were compared based on the data of the collected features. The English achievement exam created during the epidemic was determined to be superior to the test created prior to the outbreak based on CTT. However, the English performance exam created before the epidemic is superior than that created during the pandemic, according to Item Response Theory (IRT). IRT was based on item fit and dependability. Testing for dependability before COVID-19 is more accurate than during pandemic. Before COVID-19, item fit tests were more favorable than during pandemic. Conclusions. The English proficiency test that was created during the epidemic is superior to the test that was created prior to the pandemic based on CTT. But according to IRT, the English proficiency exam created before the pandemic is superior to that created during the pandemic. © 2023 LLC Ecological Help. All rights reserved.

Artificial Intelligence Assisted Social Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) for Sustainable Product Design

Nowadays, the social dimension of product sustainability is increasingly in demand, however, industrial designers struggle to pursue it much more than the environmental or economic one due to their unfamiliarity in correlating design choices with social impacts. In addition, this gap is not filled even by the supporting methods that have been conceived to only support specific areas of application. To fill this gap, this study proposed a method to support social failure mode and effect analysis (SFMEA), though the automatic failure determination, based on the use of a chatbot (i.e., an artificial intelligence (AI)-based chat). The method consists of 84 specific questions to ask the chatbot, resulting from the combination of known failures and social failures, elements from design theories, and syntactic structures. The starting hypothesis to be verified is that a GPT Chat (i.e., a common AI-based chat), properly queried, can provide all the main elements for the automatic compilation of a SFMEA (i.e., to determine the social failures). To do this, the proposed questions were tested in three case studies to extract all the failures and elements that express predefined SFMEA scenarios: a coffee cup provoking gender discrimination, a COVID mask denying a human right, and a thermometer undermining the cultural heritage of a community. The obtained results confirmed the starting hypothesis by showing the strengths and weaknesses of the obtained answers in relation to the following factors: the number and type of inputs (i.e., the failures) provided in the questions;the lexicon used in the question, favoring the use of technical terms derived from design theories and social sustainability taxonomies;the type of the problem. Through this test, the proposed method proved its ability to support the social sustainable design of different products and in different ways. However, a dutiful recommendation instead concerns the tool (i.e., the chatbot) due to its filters that limit some answers in which the designer tries to voluntarily hypothesize failures to explore their social consequences.

Economic Inequality during Covid-19 as a Pathway to Food Insecurity for People who are Disabled and Racialized as Non-White

Covid-19 heightened economic inequality across the U.S., especially for people who are disabled and non-white. These intersecting economic vulnerabilities open pathways to hunger. Using a survey from July 2020 (n = 2,043) in the Intermountain West, we find that economic inequality explained a substantial portion of food insecurity for people with disabilities. Racially stratified models show that people who were also non-white were more likely to be food insecure and receive differential protection from economic resources. Stronger social support will help mitigate food insecurity, yet such programs must grapple with the ways that ableism and racism intersect, especially during economic shock.Copyright © 2022 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Challenges faced in biomedical waste management by waste handlers amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in a tertiary care hospital: a qualitative study

Introduction : Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) saw an overhaul in the biomedical waste management (BMWM) practices. Waste handlers were at the brunt of these changes. If the challenges pertaining to BMWM at the ground level are better understood, more effective measures to overcome them can be formulated. Objectives: 1. To identify myths and concerns regarding BMWM in the context of COVID-19 pandemic. 2. To explore the challenges faced in BMWM amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. 3.To explore opportunities and future perspectives of BMWM. Method: In-depth interviews were conducted among 17 purposively selected Class IV health care workers during August to November 2021 in a tertiary care institute in Mumbai. Data was reported using thematic analysis. Results: Three major themes - challenges and concerns faced by BMW handlers, enablers/motivators, opportunities and future practices were generated from the transcripts. Various challenges faced by waste handlers were- difficulties in segregation and transport of BMW, exhaustion from PPE usage and fear of acquiring and spreading COVID-19 from work, stigma faced from public, and handling COVID-19 deaths. Support from family and colleagues, incentives and a positive change in public perception enabled them to work. Forming redressal committees, addressing job security concerns and timely provision of good quality equipment can improve hospital waste management measures in the future. Conclusion: It is of utmost importance to address challenges faced by waste handlers in BMWM. Onus should also be on periodic training in BMWM.

Separation and Discrimination: The Lived Experience of COVID-19 Survivors in Philippine Isolation Centers

Social isolation in times of pandemic can affect the well-being of individuals infected with a contagious disease. This study explores the lived experience of the 12 COVID-19 survivors placed in community-based isolation centers in Cebu City, Philippines and whose cases were mild and asymptomatic. In describing their lived experience, we employed Max van Manen's phenomenology of practice. Results show that the COVID-19 survivors have suffered more from the consequences of separation and discrimination than the disease's physiological effects. Educating the whole community about social responsibility and ethical behavior in dealing with COVID-19 survivors is essential to minimize social stigma and discrimination.

Stakeholders' Involvement, Organizational Learning and Social Innovation: Factors for Strengthening the Resilience of Moroccan Cooperatives in the Post-COVID-19 Era

The Moroccan cooperative sector is increasingly important, not only in the social and economic fabric of Morocco, but also in the sustainable development of the Kingdom. With the advent of COVID, the cooperative sector offers more inclusive and sustainable economic alternatives than ever before. In this context, organizational resilience is essential to preserve the sustainability of cooperatives and anticipate potential crises. This study addresses the following issue: What are the organizational factors necessary to strengthen the organizational resilience of the Moroccan cooperative in the Fez-Meknes region in times of COVID-19 crisis? The purpose of this paper was to test the hypothesized relationships between a set of latent constructs (actor involvement and mobilization, organizational learning in times of a crisis and social innovation) and the organizational resilience of cooperatives in times of a COVID-19 crisis. The methodology adopted is structural equation modeling based on the PLS-SEM method under the "SmartPLS Version 3” used on data collected through a printed questionnaire administered to 160 cooperatives in the Fez-Meknes region. The results show the significant and positive influence between the exogenous constructs on the strengthening of organizational resilience of cooperatives as an endogenous construct. The novelty of the study lies in the identification of the organizational resources needed to strengthen the organizational resilience of cooperatives in the Moroccan context. The results show that organizational resilience depends on three selected organizational factors: stakeholder involvement and mobilization, organizational learning in the times of a crisis and social innovation.

Converging Crises and the Cost of Exclusion: Unveiling the Invisible Women of Sri Lanka's Economy

In Sri Lanka, womens labor force participation has never exceeded 35% in over three decades. As of 2022, the country was ranked 110 out of 146 countries in the World Economic Forums Gender Gap Index. The gaps in womens participation in the formal economy alongside womens limited political empowerment are two leading causes for the country to be lagging in such global gender equality indicators. At a large cost to the economy, the existence of archaic gender norms that promulgate womens unpaid care work often exclude women from the formal labor force. This paper dissects the socio-economic and socio-political factors that lead to the invisibility of women in Sri Lankas economy, while seeking to understand how such underlying causes have been aggravated within the precarity of the post-pandemic context. It is important, now more than ever, to recognize the invisibility of women in Sri Lankas formal economy, while bringing about a transformative vision with a multi-pronged approach to address existing gaps and challenges. With reference to key principles of feminist economics, including the theoretical foundations of Claudia Goldin, Nancy Folbre, and Diane Elson, among others, the paper will make a case for inclusivity and intersectionality in policy recommendations aimed at encouraging womens entry, active engagement, contribution, and retention in Sri Lankas economy. The paper reaches a conclusion that when women lead, participate, and benefit equally in all aspects of life, societies and economies will thrive, thereby contributing to sustainable development and inclusive economic growth.

Asian communities' well-being in Aotearoa during Covid-19: The mitigating role of sense of belonging in the relationship between racism and life satisfaction

INTRODUCTION: Anti-Asian racism was a feature of the social response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and its impact on the well-being of Asian communities warrants closer examination. The current study aimed to gauge whether the sense of belonging mitigated the adverse effects of racism on life satisfaction for self-identified Asian New Zealanders.METHODS: This analysis included 1341 responses to a cross-sectional online survey conducted in 2021. Descriptive analyses outline how components of a sense of belonging were distributed among participants and those who experienced racism during the Covid-19 pandemic. We used linear regression to examine the role of a sense of belonging as a potential pathway variable in the association between experiencing racism and life satisfaction.FINDINGS: In this survey, four out of 10 participants reported experiencing racism in the first 18 months of the pandemic. Participants' life satisfaction decreased slightly since January 2020 (p<0.001). Experiencing racism was associated with decreased life satisfaction. All the components of sense of belonging reduced the magnitude of this negative association between racism experience and life satisfaction, in particular, expressing one's own ethnic identity and belonging in Aotearoa.CONCLUSIONS: Given that anti-Asian racism is currently a feature of life and a significant stressor during the pandemic, this study provides empirical evidence of the protective role of a sense of belonging against anti-Asian racism. This study focused on Asian members in Aotearoa New Zealand, but its practical implications have the potential to support other minoritised ethnic communities who also experience racism during the pandemic and beyond.

Global representations of international students in a time of crisis: A qualitative analysis of Twitter data during COVID-19

International students have been historically valued by universities for their contributions to their host countries. Yet, representations of international students in the general public have become increasingly mixed, an issue likely exacerbated by COVID-19, which has shown increased hostility towards international students. Given the increased reports of discrimination during this period, there is ongoing need to understand how international students have been represented in this specific time of crisis. Our study analysed public representations of international students through Twitter data and qualitative analysis of 6,501 posts made during the immediate COVID-19 crisis (January-April 2020). Our findings confirm competing public representations of international students that changed over time: initially through stereotyping and depictions as assumed disease carriers, shifting to empathy and support after university campus closures. We also outline themes of racism and discrimination, which are of importance for the global higher education sector as we move into a post-COVID world.

The Role of ACEs and Discrimination on Mental Health: A Longitudinal Analysis Among College Students

Both adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and perceived discrimination have been found to impact mental health in adults, but less is understood about the ways they interact to affect anxiety and depression symptoms. In the spring and summer of 2020, there were large societal changes stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic and social and racial justice movements in the United States. The current study aimed to characterize the interactive associations of ACE history and perceived discrimination with mental health in a sample of college students assessed prior to the pandemic in the fall of 2019 and then again in the fall of 2020. Results showed that in 2019, greater discrimination and more ACEs were associated with greater anxiety/depression symptoms. In 2020, a negative interactive effect of ACE history and discrimination on mental health was found, such that for individuals with low ACEs, greater discrimination was associated with significantly greater anxiety/depression symptoms. We also found that increases in perceived discrimination from 2019 to 2020 were significantly positively associated with increases in anxiety/depression symptoms over that same time period. The findings highlight the significant impacts that both ACEs history and perceived discrimination have on mental health and suggest that experiences of discrimination should be thought of as a critical, dynamic factor impacting college students' mental health. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

The pandemic within systemic injustice: Intersectional cultural dimensions of women's aging, health, and case stories of COVID-19

This book chapter delves into the intersectional cultural dimensions of COVID-19 and explores how pandemics expose and amplify past and current health inequities and disparities for minoritized women. In this chapter, the authors question how gender reflects and intersects with health determinants of oppressed and privileged identities to produce disparate health outcomes, affecting discourse, ideologies, and women's activity as they age. Additionally, issues of racism, classism, ageism, and other "isms" are examined to understand the challenges faced by aging women as they strive to stay healthy. The chapter concludes with case story narratives of women diagnosed with COVID-19, showing the virus' effect on marginalized women aging within a stratified society. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023. All rights reserved.

The covid-19 pandemic: A double threat to Chinese americans' mental health

Objective: To explore the double psychosocial threats of the COVID-19 pandemic, targeted behavior toward Chinese Americans, and the correlates to their mental health. Methods: A quantitative, cross-sectional, and descriptive design was utilized by using a purposive convenience sample of 301 Chinese Americans over the age of 18 residing in the United States. Online data collection was conducted through the social media platform WeChat from April 8–21, 2021. Descriptive statistical analysis was used for the participants' demographic characteristics, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), Double Threat Situations, COVID-19 Racial Discrimination, and General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7). Stepwise logistic regression was conducted to verify predictors for anxiety levels by GAD-7. Results: In this sample (N = 301), 127 (42.19%) were male and 174 (57.81%) were female. The average age was 41.67 (SD = 5.89). Among MSPSS subscales, social support from family (MSPSS-Fam, 79.73%, n = 240) and social support from significant others (MSPSS-SO, 73.75%, n = 222) were high. 231 (76.74%) reported threats due to their Chinese ethnic background during the COVID-19 outbreak. Predictors for the high anxiety level by GAD-7 were COVID-19 racial discrimination from the local community (OR = 0.47, 95% CI = 0.39–0.71, p < 0.001), media/online (OR = 0.36, 95% CI = 0.26–0.53, p < 0.001), the perceived threat from the COVID-19 virus (OR = 0.33, 95% CI = 0.23–0.51, p < 0.001) and Perceived racism threat from Chinese background related to COVID-19 (OR = 0.31, 95% CI = 0.21–0.49, p < 0.001). Conclusions: COVID-19 double-threats (The virus and racial discrimination) situations are significantly related to the high level of anxiety among Chinese Americans. The sense of belonging and social perceptions of Chinese immigrants is closely related to public health problems in Western societies and needs to be addressed at all levels. Our findings call for the attention of healthcare workers to specific racism double-threatened situations and high mental health risks, as well as direct and indirect ethnic discrimination that Chinese Americans are experiencing during this pandemic, the long-term influences and effective coping ways related to this issue should be explored in further research. © 2023, Tech Science Press. All rights reserved.

Enumerating happiness index during COVID-19 lockdowns using artificial intelligence techniques

Happiness index is an all-inclusive methodology to assess well-being and happiness aspects of human resilience and sustainability. Pandemic like COVID-19 has brought deep level changes to human lifestyle and social behaviours. The world has been reshaped and life has more than likely changed permanently. This has led to calls for mental health, yet there is a dire need to introspect the mental state of health and behavioural changes. Happiness index is calculated based on factors such as GDP, freedom to make choice, health life expectancy and social support. These factors are analysed using datasets from social media with machine learning algorithms to map human response to the pandemic. This research focuses on use of artificial intelligence on the impact of lockdowns due to COVID-19 on the global happiness index.

Public Health Data of the People, by the People, for the People: A Public Health of Consequence, June 2023

The author discusses a study by Krieger and colleagues, published within the issue which presents information on the alarming decreases in response rates across six national U.S. surveys in 2020 compared with those in 2019. Topics include people who were more likely to complete surveys than those who did, importance of the application of an equity-focused lens to data collection, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on response rates.

Grandparent-grandchild relationships and ethnic identity in asian and asian american undergraduate students

This study examined how Asian and Asian American grandparent-grandchild relationships related to ethnic identity in the context of COVID-19-related racial discrimination. Asian and Asian American grandchildren (N = 102) answered questions about discrimination, ethnic identification, grandparent-grandchild relationships, and ethnic behaviors. There was no significant relationship between exposure to discrimination and strength of ethnic identity, but strength of ethnic identity was a significant predictor of frequency of synchronous contact with grandparents and ethnic behaviors. Findings suggest that stronger ethnic identities in Asian and Asian American undergraduate students could be related to better relationships with their grandparents. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Disability, workplace inclusion and organizational citizenship behavior: an exploratory study of the legal profession

PurposeMany workers with disabilities face cultures of exclusion in the workplace, which can affect their participation in decisions, workplace engagement, job attitudes and performance. The authors explore a key indicator of engagement—perceptions of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB)—as it relates to disability and other marginalized identities in the workplace.Design/methodology/approachUsing an online survey, legal professionals answered questions about their workplace experiences. Ordinary least squares (OLS) multivariate regression analysis with progressive adjustment was used to investigate the effect of demographic and organizational factors on perceptions of OCB.FindingsThe authors find that employees with disabilities have lower perceptions of OCB, both before and after controlling for other personal and job variables. The disability gap is cut nearly in half, however, when controlling for workplace culture measures of co-worker support and the presence of an effective diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policy. Disability does not appear to interact with gender, race/ethnicity and LGBTQ + status in affecting perceptions of OCB.Originality/valueThe results point to the workplace barriers faced by people with disabilities that affect their perceptions of engagement, and the potential for supportive cultures to change these perceptions.

The Three Dimensions of the Indian Wage Code (2019): Shifting Economic, Socio-political and Legal Values?

The value of work is intrinsically linked to its monetary equival ent expressed in wages. Changes in wage laws therefore impact a wide-ranging frontier of tensions inherent in the politics around remuneration, at the individual, the firm and the state level. In othe r words, wages do not form a single line of conflict, but in fact matters of payment unfold multiple struggles in the spheres of institutions, at the shop-floor and within the household. From thi s three-fold perspective, the paper analyses unravelling tensions in the economic, legal and sociopolitical constitution of wages in the Indian Wage Code of 2019. This evaluation shows the importance of strengthening need-based approaches to wages such as minimum wage pol i ci e s, not just to facilitate decent working standards, but also to guarantee adequate social safety nets, particularly in times of crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pandemic techno-politics in the global South

Brazil has been standing out as one of the worst places on Earth to be during a global health crisis, especially for those whose struggle for basic humanitarian rights is already routine. How do the political environment and historical inequalities in countries like Brazil affect the ways in which public policy and technologies are framed as responses for the pandemic crisis? In this paper we aim to present the sequence of actions and omissions in the fight against sars-cov2 in Brazil, concentrating on measures based on the use of digital technologies and the sociotechnical arrangements unfolding in materialities that give shape to such measures. We will also discuss possible repercussions of the widespread adoption of surveillance technologies as a quick fix to the effects of the pandemic. Our focus is to explain how the materiality of the virus and its political as well as territorial effects are combined with digital technologies as responses (or lack of them) in the fields of healthcare, education, communication and labour in the context of the global South. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Information Polity: The International Journal of Government & Democracy in the Information Age is the property of IOS Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)