Italian Experiences in Coworking Spaces During the Pandemic

The chapter presents and discusses the results of two surveys addressed to coworking spaces managers in Italy, during the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2020 and 2021, respectively. The strategies coworking spaces have adopted to cope with the pandemic are described, and the determinants of the coworking resilience level (e.g., size, ownership, sector specialisation, hybridization) are presented. It is explored how the coworking spaces managers have kept the community alive and the perception of the interviewees about the future in the two years. The results of the survey in 2021 show that the average level of profitability and confidence in coworking performance returned to the pre-pandemic level. The pandemic has underlined a potential key role of CSs in enhancing work-life balance and promoting the socio-economic development of peripheral and rural areas. Besides, during the pandemic, Southern Italy has attracted remote workers (e.g., "southworkers”), and promoted the so-called ‘community garrisons', willing to host them and ‘retain' young people. © 2023, The Author(s).

Use of Statistical Analysis to Evaluate How Covid-19 Has Changed the Management of the Neurosurgery Department of the AORN "A. Cardarelli” in Naples

The pandemic related to the Covid-19 virus that began in 2019 in China and then extended to the rest of the world has led to changes in the management of almost all clinical specializations. The main adaptations are due not only to changes in managerial management to better address organizational difficulties but there have also been variations from a treatment and care management point of view with respect to different clinical sectors including that relating to the Neurosurgery sector. In our analysis, the activity of the Department of Neurosurgery in AORN "A. Cardarelli” in Naples (Italy) was analysed. In particular, our analysis aims to investigate variables pre and post pandemic, comparing information gathered in 2019 and 2020. In the specific case, the hospitalizations of 2177 patients were considered in order to understand the influences that the Department has suffered due to the difficulties linked to the pandemic. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

University and Industry Collaboration in the Era of Smart Specialisation: Empirical Research on Sustainable Knowledge Transfer

The coronavirus disease-19 pandemic has forced universities worldwide to develop stronger crisis responses in order to support the surrounding communities more effectively. These solutions are based on collaborations between higher education institutions and industries that facilitate knowledge co-creation. Historically, universities have been knowledge-intensive institutions capable of producing additional findings through research. Currently, these organisations' most important contributions to national economies are related to universities' development of fresh knowledge and technical expertise. In parallel, all industries' business environments have become extremely dynamic, which requires companies to focus on new solutions, rapid development and cost efficiency. To cope with these pressures, industries have been forced to search for new partners, so university-industry collaboration (UIC) has become a key resource for managers seeking to promote innovation and technological development. This study explored the relationship between research and innovation based on smart specialisation strategies and UIC, including the roles of university-industry (U-I) joint research and academics' motivations for interacting with industries. Based on data collected from 841 Portuguese and Spanish researchers, the results reveal that smart specialisation policies' effects on UIC are driven by U-I joint research development and university faculty members' motivations for co-operating with industry professionals. The findings indicate that U-I research activities and universities' incentives to collaborate with industries fully convert smart specialisation strategies' effects into higher levels of U-I knowledge transfer. © 2022, Academic Conferences and Publishing International Limited. All rights reserved.

Division of Labour and Parental Mental Health and Relationship Well-Being during COVID-19 Pandemic-Mandated Homeschooling.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the way parents partition tasks between one another, it is not clear how these division of labour arrangements affect well-being. Pre-pandemic research offers two hypotheses: economic theory argues optimal outcomes result from partners specialising in different tasks, whereas psychological theory argues for a more equitable division of labour. The question of which approach optimizes well-being is more pressing in recent times, with COVID-19 school closures leaving many couples with the burden of homeschooling. It is unknown whether specialisation or equity confer more benefits for mandated homeschoolers, relative to non-homeschoolers or voluntary homeschoolers. Couples (n = 962) with children in grades 1-5 completed measures of workload division and parental well-being. A linear mixed modelling in the total sample revealed that specialisation, but not equity, promoted increased parental emotional and relationship well-being. These relations were moderated by schooling status: voluntary homeschoolers' well-being benefitted from specialisation, whereas mandated homeschoolers' well-being did not benefit from either strategy; non-homeschoolers well-being benefitted from both strategies. Across the mixed-gender couples, mothers' and fathers' well-being both benefitted from specialisation; equity was only beneficial for mothers' well-being. Overall, couples might be advised to adopt highly equitable and specialised arrangements to promote both parents' well-being.

Technology Skills in Medical Education during Corona Pandemic: Special Case Study

This study aims to determine the effect of distributing scientific information via e-learning and distance education. The study sample consisted of (100) male and female students in this specialization from the perspective of students of medical sciences at Al-Nisour University College. The questionnaire was used as the primary method for collecting data related to the research variables. The results of the study yielded a variety of conclusions. It was found from this study that students respond to the availability of equal opportunities for them to obtain electronic scientific knowledge. It was also found that the other section of the students had problems with the type of content of the lectures. This study recommends the use of modern technology in e-learning after identifying the obstacles it faces. © 2022 IEEE.

COVID-19 Impacts on Architecture Educators in India- A review of gender perceptions

The majority of the academic institutions across the globe transitioned education delivery to alternate methods, irrespective of specializations, in response to the pandemic. However, very little is explored regarding how architecture educators perceive the Online Learning Environment (OLE) transition impacts based on gender differences. The need for such a study emerges as the literature indicates that women are more impacted than males during natural disasters, which might include a pandemic. The unit of analysis for the study was architecture educators in India. India was purposely selected as it is one of the top three countries globally from the perspective of enrolled university students. The study explored the impacts of the OLE transition among architecture educators as per gender in India. An online survey method was used to allow adequate data collection during a pandemic. The developed online instrument was hosted on Qualtrics. The developed online instrument was pilot tested by education experts in India. The instrument was emailed to the deans of more than 450 architecture colleges in India for dissemination among the educators affiliated with the institutions. In addition, the research team used interpersonal channels such as Whatsapp for instrument distribution. Two follow-up emails were sent to increase the response rate. The survey instrument was disseminated in March and April 2021, one year after the pandemic had impacted globally, also the timeframe when the pandemic started to severely impact India. The study used 165 complete responses from architecture educators. Approximately 59% of the respondents identified themselves as females. Further, most of the respondents had a Master's degree as a terminal degree. The study identified perception differences of COVID-19 impact on architecture educators. The study found that female educators had less experience with OLE and were less aware of the resources available at the University and institute levels before the impact of COVID-19. At the same time, a higher number of male educators indicated a negative productivity impact than their female counterparts. Finally, agreement among genders could be observed in the areas of administration monitoring online teaching, factors impacting the productivity of the architecture educators, and concerns about working from home. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2022.

Intellectual Capital and Sustainable S3 in the Regions of Central Macedonia and Western Macedonia, Greece

European regions are facing many important challenges, as the need to recover from the pandemic coincides with the need to carry out the green and digital transitions foreseen in the European Green Deal, making the task harder, especially for less-developed regions. The paper considers making use of regional intellectual capital in the context of smart specialisation strategies (S3) as the most effective way to address these challenges and achieve smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. This is viewed through a closer look at two specific cases of Greek regions that are behind the EU mean in terms of development and innovation: Central Macedonia and Western Macedonia. Development trends, available intellectual capital and current smart specialisation strategies in these regions are examined. These result in concrete, evidence-based suggestions on how they can make maximum use of intellectual capital for the next generation of smart specialisation strategies to achieve growth via a focus on more innovative and sustainable activities.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global value chain and implications for the Belt and Road Initiative

China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has the merit of contributing to regional economic development in tandem with infrastructure investment along economic and transport corridors. However, the issue of its sustainability has been raised due to enormous capital requirements and low profitability. Moreover, the outbreak of the COVID-19 has caused incomparable economic damage and supply chain disruptions worldwide in the form of entry bans, quarantines, trade blockades, and global protectionism, which are barriers to international trade and work against the development of the global value chain (GVC). This paper aims to quantitatively estimate the impact of COVID-19 on GVC adjustment by region and industry and derives policy implications based on the decomposition of value added (VA) and vertical specialisation (VS) trade. It is estimated that the GVC will shrink by 4.8%-20.2% in terms of VS trade depending on various scenarios.

Specialised training in paediatric anaesthesia: Need of the hour.

Paediatric anaesthesia is an upcoming speciality which is gaining wide interest and can be a career choice for the new trainees. The need to develop paediatric anaesthesia as a speciality was realised with the progress in the field of paediatric surgery. The profile of the 'patient' encountered by a paediatric anaesthesiologist spans from an extremely premature neonate on the fringes of survival, to a full-grown adolescent equivalent to an adult. Perioperative morbidity and mortality are 2-3 times higher in infants and neonates compared to adults particularly in middle and low-income countries. The anatomical, physiological, pharmacological variations and presence of congenital cardiac, pulmonary and metabolic diseases in young children make perioperative management challenging. Special expertise and training are required for anaesthetic management of these preverbal children. In India, 3-years DM and 1-year Fellowship courses in paediatric anaesthesia are now available for specialisation. An ideal paediatric anaesthesia training centre should have substantial paediatric and neonatal patient load with exclusive intensive care facility. Paediatric anaesthesiologists, having knowledge of several facets of paediatrics and anaesthesia are capable of coordinating with health care professionals performing procedures outside the operating room. Paediatric anaesthesia, as a career thus offers a great opportunity to enhance quality and safety of anaesthesia in this high-risk surgical population. Persistent coordinated team efforts improve patient outcomes, reduce stress at work and increase job satisfaction.

Reflections arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. / Reflexiones derivadas de la pandemia COVID-19.

While we were drafting the recommendations for the joint contingency plan between the Spanish Society of Intensive Care and Coronary Unit Nursing (SEEIUC) and the Spanish Society of Intensive and Critical Care Medicine and Coronary Units (SEMICYUC), predictions were overtaken by events with regard to the magnitude of the COVID-19 pandemic. Members informed us of the lack of personal protection equipment (PPE), the rapid provision of improvised ICUs in various hospital areas and the recruitment of nurses to cover shifts. The failure to recognise the specialty of critical care nursing, included in the macro-specialty of medical-surgical nursing and not yet developed, has highlighted the urgent need to learn from our mistakes: specialisation, increase the number of nurses in teams and protect the public health system.