Epidemics, pandemics and dentistry: a commentary

There is no doubt that epidemics and pandemics have transformed dentistry beyond recognition. In this commentary we recapitulate the possible reasons for the emergence of major global epidemics and pandemics, how and why they emerge, and the successful attempts of the dental profession to mitigate infectious transmission in the clinic, which in turn has metamorphosed our profession today. We also peer into the future of dentistry through the prism of the new conceptual approach of 'one world, one health' recently declared by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Finally, we discuss five realms of dentistry that have been irretrievably impacted by the recent COVID-19 pandemic, viz vaccines, point of care diagnostics, teledentistry, reinforced infection control, and dental pedagogy. CPD/Clinical Relevance: Vaccines and vaccinations have become integral to societal wellbeing and the prevention of global pandemics.

Digital interventions for substance use disorders in young people: Rapid review

This rapid review provides an overview of recent literature on the nature of digital interventions for young people in terms of technologies used, substances and populations targeted, and theoretical or therapeutic models employed. A keyword search was conducted using MEDLINE and other databases for 2015-2021. Following a title/ and full-text screening of articles and consensus decision on study inclusion, data extraction proceeded using an extraction grid. Data synthesis relied on an adapted conceptual framework (Stockings et al., 2016) that involved a three-level treatment spectrum for youth substance use (prevention, early intervention, and treatment). The review identified 43 articles describing 39 digital interventions. Most were early interventions (n = 28), followed by prevention (n = 6) and treatment (n = 5). Of the five technologies identified, web-based interventions (n = 14) were most common. Digital interventions have mainly focused on alcohol use (n = 20), reflecting limited concern for other substance use and co-occurring use. Yet the rise in substance use and related harms during the Covid-19 pandemic highlights a critical need for more innovative substance use interventions. Technologies with more immersive and interactive features, such as VR and game-based interventions, call for further exploration. Only one intervention was culturally tailored and purposefully designed for gender minority youth, and another was geared to young men. As well, most interventions used a personalized or normative feedback approach, while a harm reduction approach guided only one intervention. The incorporation of culturally tailored interventions and harm reduction approaches may promote uptake and stronger engagement with digital interventions amongst youth.

Digital Contact Tracing for COVID-19: Overview of Existing Systems and Framework for Future Innovation

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic catalyzed innovation in infection control measures, including widespread deployment of digital contact tracing systems. However, these technologies were not well understood by the general public and were complex for the public health community to implement, hampering adoption. Objective(s): To provide an overview of existing digital contact tracing systems, creating a framework for understanding design elements that impact their effectiveness as public health tools and offering a rubric for decision-makers to evaluate different systems for selection and implementation. Method(s): Scientific literature and publicly available information from relevant health authorities and other stakeholders was reviewed. Information was synthesized to develop a conceptual framework explaining how key design elements impact effectiveness of digital contact tracing systems and highlighting opportunities for future improvement. Result(s): A range of digital contact tracing interventions were deployed by governments worldwide and several professional sports leagues. Key design elements of the systems include: (1) data architecture (i.e., centralized versus decentralized systems, impacting privacy guarantees and data availability);(2) proximity detection technology (e.g., type of device signaling);(3) alert logic and timing (e.g., time- and distance-based criteria affecting sensitivity and specificity of alerts;real-time proximity alerts and/or bidirectional contact tracing, determining scope of infection prevention);(4) population (eligibility and availability);and (5) the structural and public health context of intervention (e.g., availability and timeliness of testing). Several systems demonstrated effectiveness in preventing transmission during COVID-19, though numerous limitations have also been documented in the literature. Conclusion(s): Digital contact tracing systems have the potential to mitigate the economic and public health impact of future infectious disease outbreaks, reducing community transmission and detecting potential cases earlier in the disease course. Lessons learned from solutions deployed during the COVID-19 pandemic provide an opportunity to improve multiple aspects of these systems, enhancing preparedness for future outbreaks.Copyright © 2023

Content and process approach to the job demands-resources model of emotional labour: A conceptual model

IMPACTThis article's conceptual model provides a holistic lens for exploring the work environment of emotional labour (EL). Research has demonstrated high levels of burnout and mental health issues among EL workers. The negative outcomes associated with EL work are even more pronounced in the present Covid-19 landscape. By understanding EL workers' cognitive processes, organizations stand a better chance of promoting work engagement, well-being, and effective organizational functioning. Practically, organizations may have to provide training and support to line managers to enable them to evolve within the same mindset as EL workers. Senior managers also have to exhibit visible support to workplace initiatives to allow for consistent implementation of job resources.

COVID-19 Conceptual Modeling: Single-Center Cross-Sectional Study.

BACKGROUND: Conceptual models are abstract representations of the real world. They are used to refine medical and nonmedical health care scopes of service. During the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous analytic predictive models were generated aiming to evaluate the impact of implemented policies on mitigating the spread of the virus. The models also aimed to examine the psychosocial factors that might govern the general population's adherence to these policies and to identify factors that could affect COVID-19 vaccine uptake and allocation. The outcomes of these analytic models helped set priorities when vaccines were available and predicted readiness to resume non-COVID-19 health care services. OBJECTIVE: The objective of our research was to implement a descriptive-analytical conceptual model that analyzes the data of all COVID-19-positive cases admitted to our hospital from March 1 to May 31, 2020, the initial wave of the pandemic, the time interval during which local policies and clinical guidelines were constantly updated to mitigate the local effects of COVID-19, minimize mortality, reduce intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and ensure the safety of health care providers. The primary outcome of interest was to identify factors that might affect mortality and ICU admission rates and the impact of the implemented policy on COVID-19 positivity among health care providers. The secondary outcome of interest was to evaluate the sensitivity of the COVID-19 visual score, implemented by the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Health for COVID-19 risk assessment, and CURB-65 (confusion, urea, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and age >65 years) scores in predicting ICU admission or mortality among the study population. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study. The relevant attributes were constructed based on research findings from the first wave of the pandemic and were electronically retrieved from the hospital database. Analysis of the conceptual model was based on the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research guidelines and the Society for Medical Decision-Making. RESULTS: A total of 275 individuals tested positive for COVID-19 within the study design interval. The conceptualization model revealed a low-risk population based on the following attributes: a mean age of 42 (SD 19.2) years; 19% (51/275) of the study population being older adults ≥60 years of age; 80% (220/275) having a CURB-65 score <4; 53% (147/275) having no comorbidities; 5% (13/275) having extreme obesity; and 20% (55/275) having a significant hematological abnormality. The overall rate of ICU admission for the study population was 5% (13/275), and the overall mortality rate was 1.5% (4/275). The multivariate correlation analysis revealed that a high-selectivity approach was adopted, resulting in patients with complex medical problems not being sent to MOH isolation facilities. Furthermore, 5% of health care providers tested positive for COVID-19, none of whom were health care providers allocated to the COVID-19 screening areas, indicating the effectiveness of the policy implemented to ensure the safety of health care providers. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the conceptual model outcome, the selectivity applied in retaining high-risk populations within the hospital might have contributed to the observed low mortality rate, without increasing the risk to attending health care providers.

The Power of Bellicose Rhetoric: Metaphors in the Croatian Public Discourse

The use of metaphors often characterizes contemporary public discourses on various issues. By the same token, metaphors have been used extensively in the discourse on the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper examines the war metaphor as a framing and rhetorical device with distinct persuasive potency within the Croatian sociocultural context. The analysis shows that militaristic metaphors were omnipresent in the Croatian public discourse at the beginning of the pandemic. Their dual role, explanatory and persuasive, was instrumental in convincing the public to understand the pandemic and accept the restrictive mandates put in place.

Effect of COVID-19 health threat on consumer's perceived value towards mobile payments in India: a means-end model

Shifting to mobile payments from offline payments can be considered as a social distancing measure in times of a pandemic. The COVID-19 outbreak is currently entering its 'endemic' stage;continued usage of mobile-based payment services is thereby warranted as a social distancing mechanism. This could be true in case of any other pandemic/endemic outbreaks like SARS/Nipah virus outbreaks. The current study examines how the 'perceived' health threat posed by COVID-19 and mobile payment service quality (MPSQ) influence consumers' perceived value toward continuous usage of mobile payment services (MPS) in India. In addition, the investigation considers other factors that prompt consumers to continue using the service. Customers, who used mobile payment applications for making cashless transactions during the pandemic, formed the subjects of the study. Data were collected from 720 mobile payment users. The research model integrates the concept of health threat in health belief model to means-end chain model to explain why a customer opts to choose m-payment at times of a pandemic, and what prompts him/her to continue with its usage. The model was empirically tested with structural equation modeling, along with mediation and moderation analysis. It was found that MPSQ, perceived susceptibility, and perceived severity of COVID-19 significantly enhanced consumers' value perceptions regarding MPS, which leads to satisfaction and continuance intention of using the same. In addition, the study also found a significant positive moderating role of consumer involvement on the relationship between perceived health threat, perceived value, and MPSQ. The threat of COVID-19, being an endemic, or occurrence of similar pandemics persists, and adopting contactless transactions via MPS to comply with social distancing norms may improve customer value perceptions that could aid in the persistence of MPS usage. Also, derivation of value perceptions out of the service quality acts as a driver to continuous usage.

Assessing the construction of a Healthy City in China: a conceptual framework and evaluation index system.

OBJECTIVES: COVID-19 has brought challenges to the health of all mankind. It is particularly important to promote the construction of a 'Healthy China' and build a 'healthy community'. The aims of this study were to construct a reasonable conceptual framework for the Healthy City concept and to assess Healthy City construction in China. STUDY DESIGN: This study combined qualitative and quantitative research. METHODS: This study proposes the concept model of 'nature-human body-Healthy City' and accordingly constructs an evaluation index system for the construction of a Healthy City that integrates five dimensions, namely, the medical level, economic basis, cultural development, social services, and ecological environment to explore the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of Healthy City construction in China. Finally, the influencing factors of Healthy City construction patterns are explored using GeoDetector. RESULTS: (1) The pace of Healthy City construction is generally on the rise; (2) the construction of Healthy Cities exhibits significant global spatial autocorrelation and gradually increasing agglomeration. The spatial distribution of cold hotspot areas was relatively stable; (3) medical and health progress is an important factor; the level of economic development is the leading support; the endowment of resources and environment is the basic condition; public service support provides important support; and scientific and technological innovation capabilities provide technical support for the construction of a Healthy City. CONCLUSIONS: The spatial heterogeneity of Healthy City construction in China is evident, and the state of spatial distribution is relatively stable. The spatial pattern of Healthy City construction is shaped by a combination of factors. Our research will provide a scientific basis for promoting the construction of Healthy Cities and helping to implement the Health China Strategy.

Examining dimensions of teachers' digital competence: A systematic review pre- and during COVID-19.

The digitisation of education has heightened the importance of examining which competences are needed among teachers and student teachers. In the past decade, the opportunities and challenges related to using digital technologies in teaching and training have made the concept of 'digital competence' increasingly relevant. This paper examines how researchers have characterised the dimensions of teachers' digital competences both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a literature review, 116 articles were analysed to identify prevalent understandings of teachers' and student teachers' digital competence. The search was conducted in two rounds: the period up to and including 2019 and supplements from 2020 to 2021. The latter search focused on literature addressing school closures because of 'lockdowns'. The findings indicate that research on teachers' digital competence seems unclear regarding who benefits from teachers' digital competence, the teacher's role and the links between competence and school subject domains. Moreover, teachers have a more functional role than a designer role. In addition, studies on digital competence are typically based on self-reported data, and most publications that have examined the concept of digital competence include knowledge, skills or attitudes. The COVID-19 pandemic seems to have increased the focus on the whole group of pupils and on the use of ready-made educational designs. The pandemic may also have increased researchers' reliance on self-reported data.

Hybrid Education and Institutional Readiness

Progress is unidirectional by default. The global irreversible shift witnessed in the education sector with the COVID-19 pandemic left teaching and learning far from the same. The current study aims to consider global trends in hybrid education by exploring existing hybrid study models and recognizing institutional readiness by means of hybrid initiatives successfully adopted by institutions. Being conceptual research, the methodology of the current study is based on an extensive review of literature, related to hybrid education, selected carefully from the wealth of academic publications comprising scholarly articles, research journals, webpages, conference proceedings, dissertations, thesis, and authentic material related to the study. A conceptual framework represents the relationship between the research variables. Founded on the qualitative analysis of the data gathered, the study concludes that, while integration of technology in teaching is important, it does not imply total restructuring of what and how we teach. Flexibility in teaching, learning, and testing must become the basis for current pedagogy in meeting the goals of hybrid education. The implications of the current study are proffered to all stakeholders in education along with the recommendations for future research. © 2023 IEEE.

Limbic platform capitalism: understanding the contemporary marketing of health-demoting products on social media

The purposive design, production and marketing of legal but health-demoting products that stimulate habitual consumption and pleasure for maximum profit has been called 'limbic capitalism'. In this article, drawing on alcohol and tobacco as key examples, we extend this framework into the digital realm. We argue that 'limbic platform capitalism' is a serious threat to the health and wellbeing of individuals, communities and populations. Accessed routinely through everyday digital devices, social media platforms aggressively intensify limbic capitalism because they also work through embodied limbic processes. These platforms are designed to generate, analyse and apply vast amounts of personalised data in an effort to tune flows of online content to capture users' time and attention, and influence their affects, moods, emotions and desires in order to increase profits. Social media are central to young people's socialising, identities, leisure practices and engagement in civic life. Young people actively appropriate social media for their own ends but are simultaneously recruited as consumers who are specifically targeted by producers of limbic products and services. Social media platforms have seen large increases in users and traffic through the COVID-19 pandemic and limbic capitalism has worked to intensify marketing that is context, time and place specific, driving online purchases and deliveries of limbic products. This has public health implications that require immediate attention as existing regulatory frameworks are woefully inadequate in this era of data-driven, algorithmic marketing.

Neurogastroenterology & Motility Manifestations After COVID-19 Infection: A Case Series

Introduction: In a subset of Covid19-convalescent patients, a multitude of long-term sequelae are increasingly being reported. We report 4 cases with varying neuro-GI and motility manifestations after recent COVID-19 infection. Case Description/Methods: Case 1: A 23-year-old man contracted COVID-19 and had a protracted course of respiratory illness. Despite resolution of respiratory symptoms and dysgeusia, he continued to experience early satiety, postprandial nausea, vomiting and unintentional weight loss. Gastric Emptying Scan (GES) revealed gastroparesis (Figure A). Dietary modification and metoclopramide led to symptomatic improvement. Case 2: A 39-year-old woman with migraines, suffered from Covid-19 infection where anosmia and respiratory symptoms lasted for 2 weeks. Despite resolution of initial symptoms, she started experiencing nausea and vomiting, and reported stereotypical symptoms with complete absence of vomiting between episodes. Endoscopic examination, CT head and GES were normal. Urine tox screen was negative for cannabinoids. She responded favorably to amitriptyline and ondansetron. Case 3: A 47-year-old man started experiencing severe constipation associated with abdominal pain and bloating soon after being diagnosed with COVID-19. Three months after resolution of respiratory symptoms, in addition to constipation, he began reporting postprandial fullness, early satiation and epigastric pain. GES showed gastroparesis ( figure B) and a Sitzmarks Study revealed delayed colonic transit (Figure C). Prucalopride was started, leading to improvement in symptoms. Case 4: A 74-year-old woman with obesity and diabetes, was hospitalized and intubated for severe respiratory distress due to COVID-19. After discharge, she had persistent symptoms of brain fog, fatigue, dyspnea as well as diarrhea and abdominal cramping, persisting despite loperamide and dicyclomine. C. difficile toxin, random colonic biopsies and H2 breath test were unremarkable. Her symptoms eventually improved with rifaximin. Discussion(s): We report 4 cases with post-COVID gastroparesis, cyclical vomiting syndrome, pan-gut dysmotility, and post-infectious IBS phenotypes.The pathophysiology of post-infectious-gut-brain disorders is still obscure. The current conceptual framework implicates acquired neuropathy, altered motility, intestinal barrier disruption and persistent intestinal inflammation. Similar pathophysiology may be involved in COVID-19 infection leading to sustained neurogastroenterological dysfunction and gut dysmotility.

The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on the Digital Transformation in the Banking Sector in Portugal

Currently, digital transformation is a process that cuts across different sectors of activity, including banks. One of the examples is the availability of products and services on digital channels. This study aims to identify the changes implemented in the digital channels of banks in Portugal that were driven by the covid-19 pandemic, contributing to the acceleration of digital transformation. 30 Reports and Accounts from 10 banks were selected from 2019 to 2021 and analyzed using the Leximancer software to identify the main themes and concepts. The results allowed the identification of 4 themes and 40 most relevant concepts. It is concluded that banks have reinforced digital channels in terms of products and services with evident concerns associated with security. This study, at an academic level, aims to contribute with a conceptual map of the measures adopted. At the business level, it aims to enable managers to define other initiatives and enhance those already implemented. © 2022 Associacao Portuguesa de Sistemas de Informacao. All rights reserved.

Social Media Acceptance and e-Learning Post-Covid-19: New factors determine the extension of TAM

The key objective of our study involves devising a conceptual model for estimation of social media acceptance by students for effectively accomplishing their educational and academic goals. Factors e.g., perceived social capital, social influence, and perceived mobility that associated with student acceptance of social media were investigated, and integrated into the TAM model using the PLS-SEM. Data were collected through online survey (461 students) at UAE universities. The findings revealed that mentioned factors positively affected students' intention to use social media during their learning process. Respondents' behavioral intention were also linked to both the core and external constructs of the TAM. Important practical insights on technology acceptance in education were provided. © 2022 IEEE.

Supply chain resilience: A conceptual evolution analysis

Research related to resilience in the supply chain has taken great interest in recent years, especially due to major disruptions such as COVID-19. Generating actions to minimize the impacts caused by these disruptive events has become a paramount in operations management and has become a strategic capability of the supply chain. Therefore, it is essential to know how the concept of resilience has evolved by identifying their capabilities. For this purpose, a systematic literature review was carried out, focused on gathering the concepts of resilience in supply chain management present in the literature, generating a keyword correlation analysis to establish their action approaches, and jointly analyzing the conceptual evolution. From this literature, a new definition is proposed integrating the different aspects found. Finally, conclusions are exposed. © 2023 Universidad Politecnica de Madrid. All rights reserved.

Siamo in Cura, non in Guerra: WAR metaphors, political discourse, and evaluation during the Covid-19 pandemic

The present paper analyses political tweets regarding the Covid-19 crisis. It focuses on four leaders-Trump, Johnson, Sánchez, and Conte-and in a particular time frame: March 2020. The goal of this paper is twofold: on the one hand, it endeavours to confirm whether war metaphors are pervasive in the discourse of the pandemic, on the other, it seeks to transcend the conceptual approach to metaphor and situate it within the context of evaluation in discourse. In order to do so, once war metaphors are individuated, we identify the evaluative processes implied in their use. Our claim is that war metaphors played an essential role not only by framing a novel situation as a conflict, but also by allowing the situation to be evaluated in a way that would provoke the audience to act. © Peter Lang Group AG, International Academic Publishers, Bern 2023. All rights reserved.

Analysis, Evaluation and Reusability of Virtual Laboratory Software Based on Conceptual Modeling and Conformance Checking †

Virtual laboratories have been increasingly used in tertiary education for natural and applied sciences, especially due to the COVID pandemic, generating a substantial investment in corresponding software applications, including simulation experiments and procedures. However, it is expensive and time-consuming to analyze, understand, model and implement the virtual experiments, especially when it is necessary to create new ones from scratch, but also when they must be redesigned and addressed to an audience in a different educational setting. We use UML Activity Diagrams and Petri nets to model experimental procedures and then apply conformance checking to detect possible nonconformities between expected model behavior and actual model execution. As a result, we provide an estimation of the conceptual proximity between experiments performed in different educational settings using the same virtual laboratory software, assisting educators and developers in making informed decisions about software reuse and redesign by providing a systematic and formal way of evaluating software applicability. A virtual microscoping experiment was used as a case study for validation purposes. The results revealed that the specific virtual lab software can be ported, without modifications, from tertiary to secondary education, to achieve learning outcomes relevant to that education level, even though it was originally designed for a distance education university. The proposed framework has potential applications beyond virtual laboratories, as a general approach to process modeling and conformance checking to evaluate the similarity between the specification of experimental procedures and actual execution logs can be applied to various domains. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Mathematics (2227-7390) is the property of MDPI 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.)

A Scientometric Analysis of COVID-19 and Social Media Marketing

This study gives a comprehensive picture of various trends of worldwide scientific research on the impact of COVID-19 on social media marketing from 2019 to early 2022. Relevant articles were retrieved from the Scopus database using specific keywords, and a bibliometric analysis was performed in Biblioshiny, an R-based software package. An examination of a total of 603 papers on the themes 'COVID-19' and 'social media marketing' indicated reasonably good collaboration among authors and a whooping scientific production worldwide in the last two years. Bina Nusantara University was the highest contributor to the chosen theme used in the study. Indonesia topped the list in single country publications. The UK had the highest multiple country publication. The UK, China, Spain, and India were the most cited countries. The output of the study may help the researchers and marketers understand the trending areas in social media marketing during COVID-19. © 2023 IGI Global. All rights reserved.

Some key aspects of telemedicine development to support human illness: a systematic review

The aim of this research is to describe the use of telemedicine applied to patients characterised by a particular state of illness, which often drives them toward a frail and chronic status, in a systematic manner. This work employed the Tranfield approach to carry out a systematic literature review (SLR), in order to provide an efficient and high-quality method for identifying and evaluating extensive studies. The methodology was pursued step by step, analysing keywords, topics, journal quality to arrive at a set of relevant open access papers that was analysed in detail. The same papers were compared to each other and then, they were categorised according to significant metrics, also evaluating technologies and methods employed. Through our systematic review we found that most of the patients involved in telemedicine programs agreed with this service model and the clinical results appeared encouraging. Findings suggested that telemedicine services were appreciated by patients, they increased the access to care and could be a better way to face emergencies and pandemics, lowering overall costs and promoting social inclusion.Copyright © 2022 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Impacts of Covid-19 pandemic on agriculture industry in Sri Lanka: Overcoming challenges and grasping opportunities through the application of smart technologies

COVID-19 is currently a global pandemic with worldwide magnitude and transversal implications. In Sri Lanka, during several island-wide curfews imposed since March 2020 and up to now, the agriculture industry's stakeholders and consumers have been coming across several challenges such as food scarcity, dramatic price fluctuations of commodities, and difficulties in searching of market for both product buying and selling. Also, communities have faced challenges related to the timely purchase of planting materials and other agro-inputs (fertilizers and pesticides), loss of income, inadequacy of reliable advices and directions, and market uncertainties, which have demoralized them with no clear way forward. This blockage created a sudden imbalance of the entire value chain of agriculture industry affecting almost all stakeholders. Electronic representation of physical entities-such as local fairs and mega trading hubs driven by computer intelligence services-are believed in this study to be viable solutions to overcome most of the above-mentioned challenges. Therefore, this study proposes a smart-agriculture support system naming it as Electronic Partner for Agro Services (EPAS), which would seamlessly connect farmers, consumers, and other relevant stakeholders of the agriculture value chain in the virtual space electronically. The system intends to regulate price for goods and services while organizing a balanced supply and demand in more informative and intelligent manner, thus provisioning electronic financial accounting facilities for subscribers. Timely dissemination of knowledge, advice, financial services and linking agro-input suppliers are also embedded into the proposed model. The Design Science Research (DSR) Methodology was adopted in this study in developing the EPAS conceptual model. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022. All rights reserved.