The spread of COVID-19 in stock returns along global value chains

This paper examines the performance of industries in the trade network in international stock markets during the onset of COVID-19. In general, the value of all industries in G20 countries declines significantly in the pandemic. Stock returns of industries in the central positions of global value chains exhibit remarkable resilience despite the economic hardship caused by COVID-19. This pattern is more pronounced when the disruptions caused by social distancing requirements are considered. We postulate that this is related to the essential services provided by the central industries.

An Online Collaborative Biology Simulation Used by Ukrainian Students During the 2022 Russian Invasion

Although the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted learning for students worldwide, the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine has more severely impacted education for Ukrainian students. This study was conducted in the context of an educational technology master's thesis (Halchevska, 2022) at the University of Tartu, Estonia. A master's student with Ukrainian background contacted a biology teacher in Ukraine and offered to help teach an online collaborative lesson about genetics and the laws of inheritance. The lesson involved using an innovative computer simulation called the Collaborative Rabbit Genetics Lab. The learning materials were translated into Ukrainian. A quasi-experimental research design compared whether prior experience working with a collaborative seesaw simulation would influence outcomes later with the biology-related collaborative simulation. Data from two classes of 9th-grade students were collected using questionnaire items related to the perception of interdependence, an open-ended question about collaboration, and a focus group interview. The results indicate that prior practice with a collaborative simulation somewhat enhanced perceived collaboration the next time students worked with a similar type of interdependent task but did not affect task performance. The findings suggest that more guidance is needed to support learners in online collaboration when they solve interdependent tasks. Copyright © 2023 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. Under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

DEATH LANDSCAPES AND COVID-19 IN THE AMERICAS: NORMATIVE RESPONSES OF THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION OF HUMAN RIGHTS TOWARDS VULNERABILITY-DEATH

The article engages with the death landscapes of the Americas' two largest democracies – Brazil and the United States – during the Covid-19 crisis, offering a conceptual tool entitled vulnerability-death binomial to consider the extent to which a politics of tragedy is a turning point in the ways institutional politics addresses vulnerability and death, emphasizing the work of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). When analyzing the normative responses of IACHR, no articulation was found between vulnerability and death but, instead, a bifurcation of each. Although it reveals that there is not a normative interplay between vulnerability and death, the bifurcation does not mean a choice between binary paths. While the two democracies have raised institutional challenges, the IACHR deepened certain senses of vulnerability and a normative movement towards death: issues historically absent from the international basic structure and capable of challenging the international justice theory © 2023, Lua Nova.All Rights Reserved.

Inter-hospital Transfer Decision-making During the COVID-19 Pandemic: a Qualitative Study.

BACKGROUND: Inter-hospital patient transfers to hospitals with greater resource availability and expertise may improve clinical outcomes. However, there is little guidance regarding how patient transfer requests should be prioritized when hospital resources become scarce. OBJECTIVE: To understand the experiences of healthcare workers involved in the process of accepting inter-hospital patient transfers during a pandemic surge and determine factors impacting inter-hospital patient transfer decision-making. DESIGN: We conducted a qualitative study consisting of semi-structured interviews between October 2021 and February 2022. PARTICIPANTS: Eligible participants were physicians, nurses, and non-clinician administrators involved in the process of accepting inter-hospital patient transfers. Participants were recruited using maximum variation sampling. APPROACH: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with healthcare workers across Michigan. KEY RESULTS: Twenty-one participants from 15 hospitals were interviewed (45.5% of eligible hospitals). About half (52.4%) of participants were physicians, 38.1% were nurses, and 9.5% were non-clinician administrators. Three domains of themes impacting patient transfer decision-making emerged: decision-maker, patient, and environmental factors. Decision-makers described a lack of guidance for transfer decision-making. Patient factors included severity of illness, predicted chance of survival, need for specialized care, and patient preferences for medical care. Decision-making occurred within the context of environmental factors including scarce resources at accepting and requesting hospitals, organizational changes to transfer processes, and alternatives to patient transfer including use of virtual care. Participants described substantial moral distress related to transfer triaging. CONCLUSIONS: A lack of guidance in transfer processes may result in considerable variation in the patients who are accepted for inter-hospital transfer and in substantial moral distress among decision-makers involved in the transfer process. Our findings identify potential organizational changes to improve the inter-hospital transfer process and alleviate the moral distress experienced by decision-makers.

Perspectives on the Role of Mysticism as an Inter-religious Meta-narrative in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 has shown the inescapable connectedness of human beings. The virus does not defer to any geography, be it physical, mental or spiritual. Hard questions about collective and personal priorities and responsibilities loom in the face of disease, death and financial ruin. Mysticism is concerned with these questions, which highlight the boundary between life as we know it and the great Unknown. Many mystics embark on their spiritual journey as a result of severe crisis or trauma. Perennialism, social constructivism, and participatory theory are modern theoretical and philosophical perspectives on mysticism. These theories are presented and discussed in this chapter with the purpose of identifying arguments for or against mysticism as a unifying inter-religious meta-narrative in the context of COVID-19. The discussion and conclusion find a unifying narrative in its acknowledgement of altruism as a universal theme within the different mystical traditions. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

International Principles Governing States of During States of Emergency in The Inter-American System: The Colombian Case during the Pandemic

The purpose of this article is to carry out a theoretical-analytical analysis of the international principles that should govern as insurmountable limits of states of exception in the light of the inter-American system, analyzing the exceptional measures that have been adopted in Colombia, this will allow us to conclude that since the appearance of COVID-19 we are witnessing the collapse of the social and democratic rule of law, as every day we see how citizen guarantees yield to an exacerbated hyper-presidentialism, which with disproportionate power imposes its authority over the fundamental pillars of democracy and respect for human rights. © 2022, Universidad de Talca. All rights reserved.

Learning contradictions: does student social interaction occur in the middle of e-Learning?

During the period of the Covid-19 pandemic, distance learning is known to provide new numerous opportunities, in the interaction patterns between learning actors, in Indonesia. The inter-group competitive and collaborative learning methods have also been identified as options for increasing interaction, by paying attention to students' self-concepts. Based on being quantitative explanative, this research aims to determine the influence of both learning methods and the role of students' self-concept, on the interactions between members and groups. This research used non-parametric quantitative methods so moreover, 62 students were selected and divided into 2 classes, namely the control and experimental groups, each with 38 & 24 respondents, respectively. To determine the effect of competitive and collaborative methods between groups, as well as self-concept on students' social interactions, the authors use a two-way ANOVA test. The results showed that there was an influence of using collaborative learning methods on students with low self-concept towards their social interactions. However, there was no influence of students' self-concept toward their social interactions.

Magnetic resonance imaging organ at risk delineation for nasopharyngeal radiotherapy: Measuring the effectiveness of an educational intervention.

INTRODUCTION: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) demonstrates superior soft tissue contrast and is increasingly being used in radiotherapy planning. This study evaluated the impact of an education workshop in minimising inter-observer variation (IOV) for nasopharyngeal organs at risk (OAR) delineation on MRI. METHODS: Ten observers delineated 14 OARs on 4 retrospective nasopharyngeal MRI data sets. Standard contouring guidelines were provided pre-workshop. Following an education workshop on MRI OAR delineation, observers blinded to their original contours repeated the 14 OAR delineations. For comparison, reference volumes were delineated by two head and neck radiation oncologists. IOV was evaluated using dice similarity coefficient (DSC), Hausdorff distance (HD) and relative volume. Location of largest deviations was evaluated with centroid values. Observer confidence pre- and post-workshop was also recorded using a 6-point Likert scale. The workshop was deemed beneficial for an OAR if ≥50% of observers mean scores improved in any metric and ≥50% of observers' confidence improved. RESULTS: All OARs had ≥50% of observers improve in at least one metric. Base of tongue, larynx, spinal cord and right temporal lobe were the only OARs achieving a mean DSC score of ≥0.7. Base of tongue, left and right lacrimal glands, larynx, left optic nerve and right parotid gland all exhibited statistically significant HD improvements post-workshop (P < 0.05). Brainstem and left and right temporal lobes all had statistically significant relative volume improvements post-workshop (P < 0.05). Post-workshop observer confidence improvement was observed for all OARs (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The educational workshop reduced IOV and improved observers' confidence when delineating nasopharyngeal OARs on MRI.

Migration and spread of infectious diseases: From the origin of Homo sapiens up to the Anthropocene

A typifying characteristic of Homo sapiens is its ability to walk upright, which allowed humans to move about in grasslands, enabling them to leave the forests of central Africa and populate the rest of Africa and later the world, a success story like no other. Africa is the place of origin of Homo sapiens. The first major migration of anatomically modern humans, known as the Out-of-Africa migration, was the first of many migratory events of Homo sapiens that continue up to the current era that shaped the world and society. This article aims to describe the defining role of human migration in spreading infectious diseases from pre-history to the present. In future, infectious diseases will continue to spread through migration. However, by contrast, the spread of diseases will be exacerbated due to the opportunities provided in the Anthropocene epoch and will become progressively more challenging. Migration is a term that encompasses the simultaneous movement of large numbers or groups of people away from their original place of living and for a specific reason. The main reasons for migration are emigration/immigration, forced displacement, slavery, migrant labour, asylum seeking and refugees. In addition, war, conflict, and environmental disasters such as droughts, famine and overpopulation are other common causes of migration. Migration is usually unplanned;it happens without warning or advanced planning and is accompanied by a large-scale disruption in the socio-economic structure, health, and well-being of the migrants and/or other affected groups. Such major disruptions to individuals' normal living can weaken the immune system, leading to increased susceptibility to infectious diseases. In addition, temporary housing during migration can often also result in humanitarian disasters that increase opportunities for the transmission of infectious diseases. Migrants are also at risk of contracting new or previously-unencountered diseases prevalent in their chosen resettlement area. Conversely, migrants can carry with them microorganisms absent in the resettlement area. An example of this is the smallpox virus that was brought to South America by the Spanish colonisers. At that stage, poxvirus was absent in this continent, and the indigenous populations had no immunity to the pathogen. The transmission of the poxvirus by colonizers to indigenous populations almost destroyed the indigenous populations of the time. A form of migration that emerged more recently is travel. Travel migration is defined as the large number of unrelated individuals who travel simultaneously across the globe for work or pleasure. Travel migration has been enabled by advances in the speed by which air and train travel takes place. This results in large numbers of individuals being transported across the globe in a short period and over long distances. Travel by water, air and land resulted in the world's population being highly interconnected through the mingling of large numbers of people from geographically remote places but in a relatively short period. Travelling connects people and diseases across the globe. Examples of pathogens that spread through migration and that cause major infectious diseases include the smallpox virus, the human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV), and coronaviruses that cause Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome (MERS), coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the cause of tuberculosis, and Helicobacter pylori, which can cause gastric ulcers, are among the oldest known bacteria that infect humans and were already present in humans when the Out-of-Africa migration occurred. These two pathogens were carried with humans as they migrated and populated new areas of the world, and both have been present in large numbers of humans over millennia. These two organisms can only spread through very close contact between humans and have no host outside the body;therefore, they are great examples of how migration distributes infectious diseases across the world. Mycobacterium tuberculosis is exceptionally well-adapted to spread and cause disease among individuals with lower immunity, such as migrants. Poor housing conditions and crowding, which invariably result from migration due to humanitarian disasters, advance the transmission of pathogens such as tuberculosis. Major lifestyle changes of humans occurred from the Paleolithic to the Neolithic after the Out-of-Africa migration, which directly or indirectly benefited the transmission of diseases. During the Neolithic, animals were domesticated, and agriculture started, allowing people to settle down and establishing the first towns and cities. The domestication of animals created an opportunity for pathogens to cross from animals to humans and adapt to the new host to cause new infectious diseases in humans, called zoonosis. The Anthropocene dawned when deforestation, mining, farming, and other human activities left their mark. As a result, the Anthropocene offers unique opportunities for the emergence and spread of infectious diseases: firstly, by zoonosis or the transmission of diseases from animals to humans, and secondly, the spread of the diseases through migration. Furthermore, changes in the weather and climate can lead to environmental migration. This occurs when people need to abandon their normal place of living because of severe weather events such as droughts and ice ages. Labour migration was responsible for the spread of HIV from its place of origin in Africa. This virus initially landed in humans through inter-species cross-over from primates to humans in the 1950s from eating semi-cooked bush meat. As a result, it became established in the indigenous populations of Africa. HIV is a sexually transmitted disease amongst humans, and migratory labourers from Haiti were infected with the virus while working in the Congo, where they transmitted the virus to people in Haiti upon their return. The MERS and SARS coronaviruses became human pathogens due to bat-human species cross-over, probably due to eating bush meat. However, the rapid distribution of these two viruses to other areas of the world was enabled through travel migration and the highly connected world population. Similarly, the extremely rapid spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) upon its discovery in December 2019 was partly due to travel migration. In future, the negative impact of infectious diseases can be prevented by having disaster preparedness plans to protect the health and well-being of migrants and resident populations. However, events that can potentially be disastrous are difficult to pre-empt: the world was largely unprepared on how to respond to the rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 and how to control the ensuing pandemic. Other recent examples of similar unforeseen events are the Ukraine-Russian conflict that started in March 2022, which caused many people from Ukraine to flee to other countries for safety. The second example is the heavy rain of April 2022 in the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa, which caused massive destruction of houses and infrastructure, resulting in affected people being displaced. In both cases, the reasons for migration can have a detrimental impact on the health of the affected people, which renders them susceptible to disease transmission.

Weathering a Crisis: A Multi-Level Analysis of Resilience in Young Ventures: ET&P

In the context of the external disruption presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, we investigate (1) how individual-level resilience and inter-functional coordination relate to organizational resilience and (2) the link between organizational resilience and firm performance. We view organizational resilience as a resource-based capability and draw on insights regarding psychological capital and relational resources to inform our hypotheses. Our hypotheses are tested with a time-lagged, multi-level study of young technology ventures. The results show that when such firms are resilient, they tend to perform significantly better in a crisis. Further, organizational resilience is positively influenced by the individual resilience of top management team members, as well as inter-functional coordination. We discuss implications for theory and practice and suggest avenues for research on resilience in entrepreneurship.

On the Influence of Microscopic Mobility in Modelling Pedestrian Communication

In the recent past, wireless network simulations involving pedestrians are getting increasing attention within the research community. Examples are crowd networking, pedestrian communication via Sidelink/D2D, wireless contact tracing to fight the Covid-19 pandemic or the evaluation of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) for the protection of Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs). Since in general the mobile communication depends on the position of the pedestrians, their mobility needs to be modeled. Often simplified mobility models such as the random-waypoint or cellular automata based models are used. However, for ad hoc networks and Inter-Vehicular Communication (IVC), it is well-known that a detailed model for the microscopic mobility has a strong influence – which is why state-of-the-art simulation frameworks for IVC often combine vehicular mobility and network simulators. Therefore, this paper investigates to what extent a detailed modelling of the pedestrian mobility on an operational level influences the results of Pedestrian-to-X Communication (P2X) and its applications. We model P2X scenarios within the open-source coupled simulation environment CrowNet. It enables us to simulate the identical P2X scenario while varying the pedestrian mobility simulator as well as the used model. Two communication scenarios (pedestrian to server via 5G New Radio, pedestrian to pedestrian via PC5 Sidelink) are investigated in different mobility scenarios. Initial results demonstrate that time- and location-dependent factors represented by detailed microscopic mobility models can have a significant influence on the results of wireless communication simulations, indicating a need for more detailed pedestrian mobility models in particular for scenarios with pedestrian crowds. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Spatial contagion during the first wave of the COVID‐19 pandemic: Some lessons from the case of Madrid, Spain

This paper analyses the magnitude of the spatial transmission of COVID‐19 through the municipalities of the region of Madrid during the first pandemic wave using a spatial contagion index. The study also provides additional insights into the main factors contributing to the spread of the virus in both time and space by estimating a novel conditional spatial contagion index. Our results reveal high values of spatial contagion before and during the national lockdown enacted on 15 March 2020, becoming medium/low since then. Furthermore, the study confirms the leading role of inter‐municipal mobility and population density in spatial contagion.Alternate :Este artículo analiza la magnitud de la transmisión espacial de COVID‐19 a través de los municipios de la región de Madrid durante la primera ola pandémica, para lo cual utiliza un índice de contagio espacial. El estudio también proporciona información adicional sobre los principales factores que contribuyen a la propagación del virus, tanto en el tiempo como en el espacio, mediante la estimación de un novedoso índice de contagio espacial condicional. Los resultados revelan altos valores de contagio espacial antes y durante el confinamiento nacional promulgado el 15 de marzo de 2020, pasando a ser medios o bajos desde entonces. Además, el estudio confirma el protagonismo de la movilidad intermunicipal y la densidad de población en el contagio espacial.Alternate :抄録本稿では、空間的感染指標を用いて、パンデミックの第一波におけるマドリッド地域の自治体におけるCOVID‐19の空間的伝播の規模を解析する。また、新しい条件付き空間感染指標を推定することにより、時間と空間の両方でウイルスの拡散に寄与する主要因子の解明の手掛かりを提供する。結果から、2020年3月15日に施行された全国的なロックダウン前とロックダウン中の空間的感染のレベルが高く、それ以降は中程度~低程度になっていることが明らかになった。本研究からさらに、都市間の移動性と人口密度が空間的感染の主導的役割となっていることを確認された。

Comparison of the efficiency of core stabilization exercises and abdominal corset in the treatment of postpartum diastasis recti abdominis.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the feasibility of three physiotherapy interventions for the treatment of diastasis recti abdominis (DRA): core stabilization exercises, abdominal corset and a combination of exercise and abdominal corset. STUDY DESIGN: Forty-five women 6 to 12 weeks postpartum who were diagnosed with DRA by a gynecologist/obstetrician were recruited for the study. The women were randomly divided into three groups: core stabilization exercises (1st group), the combination of exercise and abdominal corset (2nd group) and abdominal corset (3rd group). The treatment session for each group continued for 8 weeks. Outcome measurements were pain evaluation, inter-rectus distance (IRD) measured using ultrasound, trunk flexion strength and endurance, balance with open eyes/closed with a balance board, and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). RESULTS: Statistically significant difference was observed in all outcome measures except the balance eyes closed results in the first group (p < 0.05). There was a statistically significant difference in all outcome measures in the second group (p < 0.05). Also, there was a statistically significant difference in visual analog scale, trunk flexor endurance, IRD results, balance with open eyes and ODI results in the third group (p < 0.05). When the values pre and post-treatment between the groups were examined, a statistically significant change was observed in trunk flexion strength, trunk flexor endurance, and balance with open eyes/closed parameters (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Physiotherapy interventions as core stabilization exercises and the abdominal corset can positively impact IRD, trunk flexion muscle strength and endurance, balance and disability in DRA management. The combination of exercise and corset was found more effective in the postpartum process.

Global uncertainty in the diagnosis of neurological complications of SARS-CoV-2 infection by both neurologists and non-neurologists: An international inter-observer variability study.

INTRODUCTION: Uniform case definitions are required to ensure harmonised reporting of neurological syndromes associated with SARS-CoV-2. Moreover, it is unclear how clinicians perceive the relative importance of SARS-CoV-2 in neurological syndromes, which risks under- or over-reporting. METHODS: We invited clinicians through global networks, including the World Federation of Neurology, to assess ten anonymised vignettes of SARS-CoV-2 neurological syndromes. Using standardised case definitions, clinicians assigned a diagnosis and ranked association with SARS-CoV-2. We compared diagnostic accuracy and assigned association ranks between different settings and specialties and calculated inter-rater agreement for case definitions as "poor" (κ ≤ 0.4), "moderate" or "good" (κ > 0.6). RESULTS: 1265 diagnoses were assigned by 146 participants from 45 countries on six continents. The highest correct proportion were cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST, 95.8%), Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS, 92.4%) and headache (91.6%) and the lowest encephalitis (72.8%), psychosis (53.8%) and encephalopathy (43.2%). Diagnostic accuracy was similar between neurologists and non-neurologists (median score 8 vs. 7/10, p = 0.1). Good inter-rater agreement was observed for five diagnoses: cranial neuropathy, headache, myelitis, CVST, and GBS and poor agreement for encephalopathy. In 13% of vignettes, clinicians incorrectly assigned lowest association ranks, regardless of setting and specialty. CONCLUSION: The case definitions can help with reporting of neurological complications of SARS-CoV-2, also in settings with few neurologists. However, encephalopathy, encephalitis, and psychosis were often misdiagnosed, and clinicians underestimated the association with SARS-CoV-2. Future work should refine the case definitions and provide training if global reporting of neurological syndromes associated with SARS-CoV-2 is to be robust.

Taking Care of Forced Migrants Together: Strengths and Weaknesses of Interorganizational Work from the Perspective of Social Workers.

The reception and taking care of forced migrants with mental health issues is undoubtedly a very complex task. The literature shows that reception systems are characterized by a high level of fragmentation due to poor collaboration among services that are required to respond to complex and multidimensional needs brought by forced migrants. Starting from the need to deepen what elements support or hinder the implementation of the services' networks for the care and management of forced migrants, qualitative research was conducted within a constructivist paradigm. As the literature reveals a lack of studies considering the perspective of practitioners, we decided to explore the representations of professionals working with migrants in northern Italy in four different service areas (health and psychological well-being, reception, family, and legal areas). A total of 24 professionals (13 F and 11 M) with an average age of 42.4 years were involved in four focus groups according to the four areas. A paper-pencil content analysis was conducted following IPA guidelines. The results show strengths, weaknesses, and elements of improvement for service network implementation. The needs of forced migrants seem to be effectively met only through a service network that takes shape in the interweaving of social, organizational, group, and individual levels.

Telehealth consultation before inter-hospital transfer after falls in a subacute hospital (the PREVENT-2 study).

OBJECTIVE: Inter-hospital transfers are increasingly common due to the regionalisation of healthcare, but are associated with patient discomfort, high costs and adverse events. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a trauma outreach service for preventing inter-hospital transfers to a major trauma centre. METHODS: This was an observational pre- and post-intervention study over a 12-month period from 1 October 2020 to 30 September 2021. Eligible patients sustained a fall at Caulfield Hospital, a subacute care hospital specialising in community services, rehabilitation, geriatric medicine and aged mental health. The intervention was delivery of site-specific education at Caulfield Hospital and a trauma outreach service by specialist trauma clinicians at The Alfred Hospital who provided remote assessment, assisted with clinical management decisions and advised on appropriateness of transfer. RESULTS: The present study included 160 patients in the pre-intervention phase and 203 after the intervention. The primary outcome of transfer occurred in 19 (11.9%) patients in the pre-intervention phase and 4 (2.0%) in the post-intervention phase (P < 0.001). In the subgroup of patients without pelvis or long bone fractures, pre-intervention transfer occurred for 17 (10.9%) patients and post-intervention transfer occurred for 4 (2.0%) patients (P < 0.001). CT imaging was performed for 54 (33.8%) patients in the pre-intervention and 45 (22.2%) patients in the post-intervention group (P = 0.014). CONCLUSIONS: Telehealth consultation with a trauma specialist was associated with significant reduction of inter-hospital transfers, and significant reduction of CT imaging. This supports continuation of the service with scope for expansion and evaluation of patient-centred outcomes.

A Microfluidic Biosensor for Rapid Detection of Covid-19

We have designed, fabricated, and tested a MEMS-based impedance biosensor for accurate and rapid detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) using of clinical samples. The device consists of focusing region that concentrate low quantities of the virus present in the samples to a detectable threshold, trap region hat maximize the captured virus, and detection region to detect the virus with high selectivity and sensitivity, using an array of interdigitated electrodes (IDE) coated with a specific antibody. Changes in the impedance value due to the binding of the SARS-COV-2 antigen to the antibody will indicate positive or negative result. The device was able to detect inactivated SARS-COV-2 antigen present in phosphate buffer saline (PBS) with a concentration as low as 50 TCID50/ml in 30 minutes. In addition, the biosensor was able to detect SARS-COV-2 in clinical samples (swabs) with a sensitivity of 84 TCID50/ml, also in 30 minutes. © 2023 IEEE.

‘That was all over the shop': Exploring the COVID-19 response in disability residential settings

People with disability are an ‘at-risk' group in a pandemic context for various clinical and structural reasons. However, in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, people with disability were not identified as a priority group, which exacerbated this risk, particularly for those living in congregate settings. This paper examines inter-organisational issues during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in disability residential settings gathered from senior managers, team leaders, and disability support workers. We use Victoria as a case study since several Victorian disability residential settings were in mid-transition from state provision to non-profit organisations. We argue that residential settings in mid-transition had clearer lines of organisational accountability and communication, which was thought to reduce the impact of outbreaks compared to residential settings in other States and Territories with multiple lines of communication and blurred accountability. The paper contributes to the literature on inter-organisational collaboration by reinforcing the necessity of clear lines of accountability and leadership in collaborative governance during emergencies. The evidence suggests how government and disability residential settings could better support residents and staff in future COVID-19 outbreaks or other pandemics. Points for practitioners: People with disability, particularly those living in congregate settings, are often at heightened risk during public health emergencies. Clearer lines of responsibility, administrative, and communication arrangements across organisations and governments, alongside tailored responses within residential settings, are required to keep ‘at-risk' individuals safe. Emergency management block funding could be designed to alleviate the financial pressures identified in this study for residential disability services in future pandemic responses. © 2023 Institute of Public Administration Australia.

Cellule de coordination des flux sortants des réanimations en période de Covid-19

La pandémie de Covid-19 a inscrit l'hôpital au coeur d'une crise sanitaire de cinétique longue. Le système de santé a dû dans un premier temps accepter cette notion de crise déstructurante et piloter dans l'incertitude. Un des enjeux majeurs était d'éviter la saturation du système, notamment l'accessibilité à la réanimation. À la demande de la cellule de crise du groupe hospitalier AP–HPSorbonne Université, l'équipe Dynamo a dû apporter des propositions permettant de libérer des places en réanimation. C'était la stratégie retenue pour éviter une mise en tension de l'hôpital. La cellule Dynamo, avec l'accord du directeur médical de crise, a ouvert un flux entre les réanimations expertes et des unités créées de novo (publiques et privées). Cette équipe est le fruit d'une préparation conjointe entre le département médico-universitaire DREAM et le service médical du RAID. Elle a permis d'organiser et d'effectuer dans de bonnes conditions sanitaires et sécuritaires le transfert d'une centaine de patients entre les réanimations d'Îlede- France. L'objectif était une répartition cohérente pour maintenir une capacité d'accueil dans les réanimations les plus spécialisées et impactées par l'intensité des soins. Pour cela, la cellule Dynamo a défini des critères médicaux de patients éligibles au transfert. La méthodologie utilisait quatre boucles indépendantes : le service demandeur, l'équipe de transfert, le vecteur de transfert et le service receveur. Cette organisation a offert agilité et autonomie. Nous publions ce retour d'expérience pour partager les bases méthodologiques et humaines de notre organisation afin d'inspirer d'autres cellules innovantes en cas de situations sanitaires exceptionnelles.Alternate : The COVID-19 pandemic has put the hospital infrastructure into the difficulty of a long time public health crisis. The health care system had to accept the concept of destructuring crisis and ultimately piloting with uncertainty. The key factor during the crisis was to avoid the saturation of the care system especially for the intensive care unit. Upon the hospital medical crisis unit request, the DYNAMO team was accountable to propose solutions for "outflow”. Under the crisis medical director's green light, the DYNAMO unit has opened flow between the hospital intensive care unit and step down units created de novo (public and private). DYNAMO is the outcome of the collaboration and joint preparation between the university medical department DREAM and RAID Tactical medical unit allowing the use of technical tools and adding the tactical spirit into the hospital frame. This collaboration has supported the transfer in secure conditions of about 100 patients across the intensive care units with a consistent distribution of patients in order to maintain the most efficient intensive care units impacted by the crisis able to accept an influx of new patients. To achieve this, the DYNAMO team defined medical criteria to determine a patient's eligibility to be transferred under the team transfer supervision. The methodology is formed by 4 independent loops: the requester service, the transfer team, the medium for transfer and the receiver service. This model appeared to be simple, agile and autonomous. We are delighted to share our lessons learned on the methodology and human organization with the emergency care community.

Interfirm collaboration as a performance-enhancing survival strategy within the business models of ethnic minority-owned urban restaurants affected by COVID-19

PurposeGuided by resource-based theory, this investigation examines the extent to which knowledge sharing as part of interfirm collaboration serves as a performance-enhancing strategy;that is, in the context of assisting ethnic minority-owned urban restaurants to survive during a major market disruption. Specifically, the study features owner-managers' perceptions concerning the evolving environmental circumstances associated with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.Design/methodology/approachData collection took place among owner-managers of urban restaurants in a Canadian city during the COVID-19 pandemic in late 2020. This featured semi-structured interviews with restaurants' owner-managers originating from various ethnic origins together with secondary data where possible. Data analysis followed an adapted Gioia approach.FindingsExamples of interfirm collaboration include restaurants' owner-managers leveraging social capital and sharing knowledge about the effects of legislation and health guidelines on operating procedures, together with good and bad practices where firms have pivoted their business models via take-outs, patio dining and in-room dining. Irrespective of the strength of network ties (within and across ethnic communities), owner-managers were motivated to share information to facilitate their survival. Nevertheless, this study raises questions over the extent that certain decision-makers exhibit strategic flexibility responding to environmental conditions together with their respective ability to engage/retain customers plus service-oriented employees. In addition, a question is whether some owner-managers will continue to collaborate with their competitors after COVID-19 ends, and if so, with whom and the magnitude of activities. In particular, "trust” via psychological contracts and "complementary strategies” among partners across coethnic and different ethnic origins are key considerations.Originality/valueA body of knowledge exists addressing the notions of both interfirm collaboration and market disruptions in the broader cross-disciplinary literature. However, the interfirm collaborative practices of small firms with ethnic minority ownership that are otherwise rivals remain under-researched. More specifically, interfirm collaboration as a survival strategy for owner-managers during the market disruption arising from a crisis situation features as an original contribution.