ABSTRACT
Public interest in where food comes from and how it is produced, processed, and distributed has increased over the last few decades, with even greater focus emerging during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mounting evidence and experience point to disturbing weaknesses in our food systems' abilities to support human livelihoods and wellbeing, and alarming long-term trends regarding both the environmental footprint of food systems and mounting vulnerabilities to shocks and stressors. How can we tackle the "wicked problems” embedded in a food system? More specifically, how can convergent research programs be designed and resulting knowledge implemented to increase inclusion, sustainability, and resilience within these complex systems, support widespread contributions to and acceptance of solutions to these challenges, and provide concrete benchmarks to measure progress and understand tradeoffs among strategies along multiple dimensions? This article introduces and defines food systems informatics (FSI) as a tool to enhance equity, sustainability, and resilience of food systems through collaborative, user-driven interaction, negotiation, experimentation, and innovation within food systems. Specific benefits we foresee in further development of FSI platforms include the creation of capacity-enabling verifiable claims of sustainability, food safety, and human health benefits relevant to particular locations and products;the creation of better incentives for the adoption of more sustainable land use practices and for the creation of more diverse agro-ecosystems;the wide-spread use of improved and verifiable metrics of sustainability, resilience, and health benefits;and improved human health through better diets.
ABSTRACT
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the unemployment problem in Indonesia, and it has become one of the public's concerns in the past two years. In August 2020, which was 9.8 million people and August 2021, which was 9.1 million people. Given these conditions, the government needs to make improvements regarding the current unemployment problem. The main objective of this research is to find out how public opinion is regarding the government's efforts to overcome the unemployment problem during the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia. Sentiment analysis was carried out on public opinion using Twitter as a data source. To measure the performance of the model, three algorithms are used, namely Naïive Bayes, Decision Tree, and Random Forest. The results of this study indicate that there are positive labels that have 1710 sentiments, and negative labels that have 1553 sentiments. The best algorithm obtained in this study is Random Forest, with an accuracy value of 79%. This study produces 15 features that affect the unemployment problem, the highest positive weight is 'ignore', and the influential feature with the highest negative weight is 'stamp'. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
IntroductionIn areas where public confidence is low and there is a lack of understanding around behaviors, such as COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, there is a need to explore novel sources of evidence. When leveraged using artificial intelligence (AI) techniques, social media data may offer rich insights into public concerns around vaccination. Currently, sources of ‘soft-intelligence' are underutilized by policy makers, health technology assessment (HTA) and other public health research agencies. In this work, we used an AI platform to rapidly detect and analyze key barriers to vaccine uptake from a sample of geo-located tweets.MethodsAn AI-based tool was deployed using a robust search strategy to capture tweets associated with COVID-19 vaccination, posted from users in London, United Kingdom. The tool's algorithm automatically clustered tweets based on key topics of discussion and sentiment. Tweets contained within the 12 most populated topics with negative sentiment were extracted. The extracted tweets were mapped to one of six pre-determined themes (safety, mistrust, under-representation, complacency, ineffectiveness, and access) informed using the World Health Organization's 3Cs vaccine hesitancy model. All collated tweets were anonymized.ResultsWe identified 91,473 tweets posted between 30 November 2020 and 15 August 2021. A sample of 913 tweets were extracted from the twelve negative topic clusters. Of these, 302 tweets were coded to a vaccine hesitancy theme. ‘Safety' (29%) and ‘mistrust' (23%) were the most commonly coded themes;the least commonly coded was ‘under-representation' (3%). Within the main themes, adverse reactions, inadequate assessment, and rushed development of the vaccines as key findings. Our analysis also revealed widespread sharing of misinformation.ConclusionsUsing an AI-based text analytics tool, we were able to rapidly assess public confidence in COVID-19 vaccination and identify key barriers to uptake from a corpus of geo-located tweets. Our findings support a growing body of evidence and confidence surrounding the use of AI tools to efficiently analyze early sources of soft-intelligence evidence in public health research.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) utilises various AEFI reporting tools to monitor vaccine safety in the country. In 2020, SAHPRA in collaboration with the National Department of Health's (NDoH) Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI), joined the African Union Smart Safety Surveillance programme, as one of four pilot countries, to introduce an electronic adverse event following immunisation (AEFI) reporting system (Med Safety App) for healthcare professionals and consumers [1]. On 17/05/2021, the NDoH introduced its national COVID-19 vaccination programme. SAHPRA launched a microsite during 2021, to provide feedback to the public on AEFI with the COVID-19 vaccines. Objective: To provide an overview of COVID-19 vaccine safety surveillance and describe causality assessment outcomes for serious AEFI reported during the first year of COVID-19 vaccine administration. Methods: All severe and/or serious AEFI are investigated by provincial EPI surveillance teams, followed by causality assessment conducted by the National Immunisation Safety Expert Committee (NISEC), using the World Health Organization (WHO) methodology [2]. Causality assessment outcomes are classified based on the final diagnoses determined during the assessment by NISEC according to WHO categories, seriousness, Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities (MedDRA) system organ class and patient demographics. Data were collected retrospectively from the SAHPRA COVID-19 AEFI microsite and the EPI national AEFI database. Results: By 01/04/2022, 33,063,221 COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered, with 5 815 spontaneous AEFI reports (0.0173%) submitted. Of these, 2,571 (0.008%) were reported as serious. Spontaneous reporting of AEFI increased significantly compared to pre-COVID-19 vaccine introduction. The most frequently reported AEFIs were side effects already listed in the product information. No safety concerns were raised based on causality assessment outcomes for 273 serious cases analysed by 01/04/2022. Over two thirds of these cases were classified as coincidental (70.7%) as cardiac-, respiratory- or vascular disorders (MedDRA system organ class), with 12.1% classified as vaccine product related (see table below). The presentation will include all causality assessments conducted up to 31/08/2022, and more detailed information about causality assessed cases will be available in the public domain at the time of the conference and will be included in the presentation. Conclusion: Vaccine safety surveillance and monitoring trends of reported AEFI are vital measures to ensure that the benefits of immunisation are maintained in the interest of public health and efficient vaccination programmes. Transparent communication with the public is important to maintain public confidence in vaccines and prevent all AEFI being misinterpreted as caused by the vaccine.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Covid-19 pandemic has impacted all areas of human society worldwide, including drug regulatory authorities. Enormous public interest and seriousness of the disease resulted in boom of new medicines for treatment and prevention of Covid-19. Patients and healthcare professionals (HCP) concerns on safety of these new medicines resulted in the highest increase in the reporting rate of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in the history of the Czech Republic (CZ). Objective: To present how the PV processes were affected by Covid- 19 pandemic. To present the impact of increased reporting rate and related workload on the national PV system in Czech regulatory authority (SUKL) and the influence on awareness of ADRs reporting in the Czech public. Methods: In 2020, the total number of ADRs (n = 2904) reported to SUKL was the lowest in the past 5 years (2016-2020). The probable cause may be the Covid-19 pandemic, including the lack of time for HCP to report ADRs. Results: On the contrary, in 2021 (1) with the entry of the treatment and prevention of Covid-19 into the clinical practice, there was a massive increase in reported ADRs in CZ. Of the total number of reported cases (n = 13 759), 81.10 % (n = 11 159) were vaccinerelated (all types of vaccines). Of these vaccine-related ADRs 95.27 % (n = 10 631) were reported for Covid-19 vaccines only. Considerable interest in vaccine safety in CZ is evident, resulting in high number of suspected ADRs reported following vaccine administration. Conclusion: Due to the significant increase in the ADRs reported, the national PV system had to be adapted. A system of triage of case reports was set including pre-assessment of seriousness by PV assessors. More staffhad to be hired and trained to assist with the case processing, including receipt of the report, HCP confirmation of patient reports, follow-up and hospital records requests. To satisfy an extensive media attention and to increase transparency of vaccine safety, SUKL published an overview of reported ADRs on weekly basis (2) and communicated the most serious concerns online, together with EMA recommendations. Czech PV assessors were deeply involved in all European procedures related to Covid-19 treatment (e.g., remdesivir) and prevention (vaccines). The Czech public became more aware of the possibility of reporting ADRs, the number of reports will be presented. Based on reporters suggestions the online reporting form for ADRs was re-designed. This experience has been challenging and brought new approaches and improvements to the national PV system.
ABSTRACT
Even as more people are getting vaccinated and measured steps with caution are taken to return towards normalcy, Long Covid still persists. Long Covid is a post-Covid condition in which patients still have symptoms for weeks or months after they have recovered from Covid-19. The Covid-19 epidemic and its accompanying societal mitigation methods, such as lockdowns, have resulted in a spike in people's usage of social media platforms like Twitter for conveying their views, opinions, and anxieties. As a result, in this paper, I have performed sentimental analysis on three sets of data that were collected relating to Long Covid, Long Covid in Kids and lastly Treating Long Covid. This was done to explore societal-scale reactions for the illness Long Covid. A total of 98386 tweets were extracted for the period of 11th December 2021 to 20th December 2021 using python's Tweepy package. After performing all the pre-processing on the tweets, a total of 15827 tweets were analyzed. AFFIN lexicon model was employed for performing sentimental analysis on the user's tweets. Visualizations in the form of bar charts, histograms, strip plots, box plots, pie charts, and word clouds have been created for gaining deeper insight into the sentiments of the tweets posted. The results showed that 44% of tweets are negative, 34 % of tweets are positive and 23 % of tweets are neutral for Long Covid. 39% of tweets are negative, 33 % of tweets are positive and 28% of tweets are neutral for the data set of Long Covid in Kids. These results show that negative sentiments outweigh positive sentiments relating to Long Covid. However, 41 % of tweets are positive, 32% of tweets are neutral and 27% of tweets are negative for the data set of treating Long Covid. This result portrays that people have more positive sentiments regarding treating Long Covid. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
A pandemic like novel coronavirus 2’ (SARS-CoV-2) not only poses serious public health repercussions but also affects the socio-economic and environmental conditions of the affected countries. The increased consumption of material resources in conjunction with ‘containment and preventive measures’ is generating an unprecedented amount of potentially infectious solid waste, especially that of plastic origin, which if mismanaged, is bound to affect the ecosystem and public health, as the virus can survive on fomites for longer duration. COVID-19 related pandemic waste, such as Personal protective equipment (PPEs), sanitizer and water bottles, disinfection wipes, and Single use Plastics (SUPs) products has already found its way to the aquatic and terrestrial environment. Even before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the management of plastic waste, an environmental stressor with trans-boundary migration capabilities, was a major environmental issue for every stake-holder.In this paper, we propose a separate domain in the waste management framework for the effective management of pandemic related solid waste. Factors and sources contributing to increased plastic waste generation are discussed in detail. A concise picture of global plastic demand through sectors and polymer types is presented and speculations are made on how COVID-19 is going to affect the plastic demand. Current solid waste handling and management practices in developed and developing countries are critically examined from the perspective of this pandemic. We identified various challenges that waste management sectors are facing currently and offered possible solutions.Concerns of transmission through fomites is bringing a change in public behavior and consumption pattern which affects 3R practices, while fear of secondary transmission from occupational infections is interfering with 3R practices at end-of-life plastic waste management. The legislative and restrictive frameworks on plastic use being currently put-on hold at the governmental level to ensure public safety are being used by the plastic industry to lobby for increased plastic consumption. The inability of the governments to win public confidence is further escalating unsustainable practices and slowing the shift towards sustainable economy. It is imperative to enforce sustainable practices without putting public safety at risk and to ensure that an unsustainable societal attitude wouldn’t be reinstated in the post-pandemic world. Lastly, eight research and policy points suggested here may guide future studies and governmental frameworks in the domain of COVID-19 pandemic related solid waste handling and management.
ABSTRACT
Climate change appears to be the ecological issue which benefits from the most attention in the literature, compared to equally alarming situations such as plastic pollution. In fact, waste management issues took a new step with the recent discovery of microplastics in human blood for the first time, as it used to be a hypothesis. Instead of separating those questions, some researchers tend to consider that a link exists between the effects of global warming and plastic degradation in the ocean. Research focusing on the construal-level theory and the psychological distance explain the lack of public interest in the environmental crisis. However, recent studies highlight the empirical support of the psychological distance instead of the CLT, especially regarding climate change, but a few studies explore the psychological distance related to plastic pollution. With that in mind, any means to reduce the perceived psychological distance regarding environmental issues such as plastic pollution might increase their sensitivity and motivation to act. Moreover, the change of habit could be induced by a new event that would disrupt someone’s daily life according to the habit discontinuity hypothesis, and the use of immersive media such as video games might be the solution. Given numerous possibilities of creation with the scenarios, gameplay, public of interest and gaming contexts, video games also influence motivation, engagement and learning ability. We can also find specific components and mechanisms from game design in media that do not focus on entertainment first but on pedagogical purpose: serious games. Thus, this study investigates how immersive media might reduce specific psychological distance dimensions and trigger emotions using an educational video game on plastic pollution, which might play a major role in changing ones’ daily habits. The research uses a qualitative method centered on semi-structured individual interviews and the experimentation of a video game named Plasticity. Results support all the propositions and show that different types of immersion might reduce each dimension of the psychological distance, which is a first, reinforcing environmental awareness and new intentions of pro-environmental behavior. Other areas of discussion are furthered explored.
ABSTRACT
Due to public concerns over touch-based disease transmission, tangible and embedded interfaces are perhaps the most unsuited technology during a pandemic. Even so, this case study documents the development and evaluation of such a system from early 2020 when people were told to avoid actions that might spread the virus (e.g., touch). Adding to the challenge, the Lookout was installed outside in a city centre for widespread public use. Despite these challenges, a COVID-safe touchable device was embedded and extensively used. This Case Study reports the co-creation of the device noting COVID restriction adaptations over a nine-month deployment. Our contributions are twofold: the study acts as a case-point of the impact of the unique COVID design context, with lessons for future pandemic scenarios;and, given we had over 10,000 users at a time when people were cautious about using shared devices or services, we surface some design characteristics that can promote the use of public technology. © 2022 Owner/Author.
ABSTRACT
In the early days of astronautics, when only governments engaged in spaceflight, launch facilities could be sited by of ficial decision, with varying degrees of attention being paid to public opinion. Furthermore, in countries with large stretches of ocean or plains for discarded lower stages in which to land, or for debris to fall, a freer approach can be taken with range safety than in Britain. However, with the necessity for placing spaceports in out-of -the-way locations, and the small size of the British Isles, many who live near proposed spaceports are concerned at the effects upon their locality. Unless objections are dealt with in a fashion satisfying public concern, spaceports will not be built or utilised to their full capability, hindering the ability of the British launch industry to play the role that it should in the post-COVID-19 recovery. Each of the seven proposed spaceports in Britain will be examined, with objections, and possible methods of refuting or mitigating same. Finally, ways in which a unified approach to problems common to spaceports in Great Britain may be taken by the Spaceports Alliance will be proposed as a basis for future discussion. © 2021 British Interplanetary Society. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
During pandemic COVID-19, politicians responsible for developing strategies to combat the virus play a significant role and make key decisions in this regard. An important role is also played by national experts who advise and provide scientific knowledge to governments to ensure the highest possible level of security for the whole society. The analysis of Polish and American politicians and experts gives a comparison in terms of actions, opinions and positions taken. In both countries, important national expert institutions participated in the fight against the pandemic, and government advisory teams for the COVID-19 pandemic were established. There were numerous problems with both health systems and a lack of consistency between the recommendations of experts and politicians, which resulted in a loss of public confidence. This difficult situation in which all countries in the world find themselves may be a good lesson for future threats.
ABSTRACT
The coronavirus pandemic caused a state of panic worldwide. Mixed messages were given about its risk and how to contain it, when trust in authorities and reliable scientific information are essential to reduce unnecessary scares and inappropriate risk perceptions. We know little about public concerns and opinions in health authorities in the Arab world. Thus, an attempt was made to generate such information through a web-based survey. A total of 1074 subjects from Lebanon, Jordan, and Tunisia were recruited to explore their perception of food and non-food risks of infection and the influence of the source of information, trust, and attitudes towards the local authorities' communication of risk. Seventy percent of the respondents were concerned that COVID-19 may be transmitted through food. The perception of risk from touching contaminated surfaces and food packaging and being exposed to infected people during food shopping was even higher. For only less than half of the respondents, the information from local authorities was considered trustworthy and the associated risk communication and response to false rumors were timely, effective, and clear. But the satisfaction level among the Jordanians was remarkably stronger than for the Lebanese and Tunisian respondents. The demographic factors, trust in information, and attitudes towards authorities' performance in risk communication did not influence risk perceptions. Respondents' knowledge was limited based on their chief sources of information, such as social media, local news media broadcasts, and announcements by the World Health Organization. Our conclusion is that unnecessary fear increases among the public when risks that impact heath are unknown. More research in the Arab region is needed to understand the determinants of risk perceptions considering psychological factors on the risk to health. Unfortunately, it is difficult to restrict or contain misleading information from various forms of social media. We recommend that for reducing fear and building confidence with the public for appropriate action during the pandemic, local authorities should enhance the quality and level of details of the information that they share during such crises.