Student food selection behaviour after returning to face-to-face classes

The pandemic raised awareness about the consumption of healthy and high-quality food which was practiced at home leaving aside the consumption of "junk food" but students are returning to the consumption of these unhealthy foods in university. The objective of this research is to describe and analyze the behavior of students in the selection of their food (good and bad for health) after returning to school. The methodology applied is descriptive, correlational and predictive of a cross-sectional quantitative type in which 765 students participated anonymously and voluntarily in an online survey. Results. A low level of consumption of "good" foods was found while the consumption of "bad" foods is growing daily. Conclusion. " Good" food is only eaten at home while "bad" food is eaten everywhere A policy of selling healthy food should be implemented. If these foods are not regulated, there is a tendency to have an overweight university student population in the future. © 2023, Innovative Research Publishing. All rights reserved.

Geo-setting research: Idea, agenda and approaches

In the past 12 years, geo-setting research has made great progress and become one of the key points in the current domestic geopolitical research, gathering many domestic geopolitical research groups and promoting the revival of China's geopolitical studies. On the basis of summarizing and analyzing the latest developments and trends of geopolitics and geo-setting research in China and abroad, this paper focuses on the idea, agenda and approaches of geo-setting research. Centered on the interactive practices of multiple geo-actors, its idea regards the geo-setting as the "information" or decision-making dataset for their interactive practices, which also results from their interactions. Thus, geo-actors' decisions for actions can be made under complete information, incomplete information, or even when true or false information cannot be distinguished. Under this new thought, the geo-setting research agenda generally includes three items: (1) the analysis of geo-setting elements (including fundamental, relational and structural elements);(2) the spatio-temporal process and mechanism of geo-setting;(3) the design of geo-setting technical system. In order to integrate different fields, various scales and multiple actors, this paper takes the conflict in northern Myanmar as an example to present three approaches of geo-setting research, namely, cross-field interaction, cross-scale coupling and multiple geo-actors' game playing. Under current complex situation of once-in-a-century changes and COVID-19 pandemic, clarifying the idea, agenda and approaches of geo-setting studies is of great theoretical value and practical significance for accurately and scientifically analyzing the current complex situation and proposing China's response strategies. © 2023, Science Press. All right reserved.

Realising the Sustainable Development Goal 11.7 in the post-pandemic era – A case study of Taiwan

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically impacted our daily lives worldwide. For instance, pandemic-prevention policies restrict people's mobility, which causes problems in accessing urban greenspaces. Indeed, unequal access to urban greenspace has been accentuated during the most stringent lockdowns of 2020 and 2021. Amid such challenging circumstances, there has been a growing attention placed on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11.7, which has brought opportunities for urgent action. In this paper, we applied the Gini coefficient to our analysis of unequal access to urban greenspaces across all urban planning areas in six special municipalities in Taiwan. Moreover, we also conducted comparative analyses between the Gini coefficient and other socio-economic factors. The results show that approximately 63.98% of the urban planning area suffers from unequal access to greenspaces. In addition, urban greenspace provision and household income show significant positive correlations with the Gini coefficient, which reflects Taiwan's environmental injustice. Furthermore, these findings can help city planners and decision-makers evaluate levels of equality in each urban planning area and decide which priority areas should be improved. Finally, this study can also be used as a reference for decision-makers to realise SDG 11.7 in the post-pandemic era. © The Author(s) 2022.

Using the big data analysis and basic information from lecture Halls to predict air change rate

School lecture halls are often designed as confined spaces. During the period of COVID-19, indoor ventilation has played an even more important role. Considering the economic reasons and the immediacy of the effect, the natural ventilation mechanism becomes the primary issue to be evaluated. However, the commonly used CO2 tracer gas concentration decay method consumes a lot of time and cost. To evaluate the ventilation rate fast and effectively, we use the common methods of big data analysis - Principal Component Analysis (PCA), K-means and linear regression to analyze the basic information of the lecture hall to explore the relation between variables and air change rate. The analysis results show that the target 37 lecture halls are divided into two clusters, and the measured 11 lecture halls contributed 64.65%. When analyzing the two clusters separately, there is a linear relation between the opening area and air change rate (ACH), and the model error is between 6% and 12%, which proves the feasibility of the basic information of the lecture hall by calculating the air change rate. © 2023 Elsevier Ltd

A systems view of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic: A causal loop model for Taiwan's approach

Since the worldwide outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in December 2019, Taiwan has successfully stopped the spread of COVID-19. The policies and works of the epidemic control are a complex and dynamic process. This study applied the methodology of system dynamics to explore the structure of the COVID-19 epidemic control system in Taiwan and analysed its system behaviours. The results show that the system is composed of key subsystems, such as national health insurance and quarantine, combined with government policies. Joint efforts among the central and local governments and the general public have been made to strengthen the quarantine of border entrants, encourage the public to wear masks and employ technology for contact tracing and tracking down those being tested positive with COVID-19. Together with the efficient increase in the capacity of testing and medical treatments, these measures can effectively reach a balance between epidemic control and economic activities. © 2022 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Memory, Time, and Law

This chapter takes an initial sidestep from the Anzac focus and into an examination of the British mobilizations of war memories, grounded in the origin of the Anzac story in the failed British Naval campaign which led to the landing of Anzac troops at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915 as part of the Allied war effort in WWI. It emphasizes how impressions of British military power, and deference to significant figures within the British Navy, overrode contemporary considerations and became a powerful impetus behind particular courses of action. As such, it considers how the temporality of expectation in relation to times of conflict is equally oriented to the past and the future, and is underscored by militarized mnemohistories. The chapter focuses on both the origins of Anzac Day and a parallel discussion of the UK response to COVID-19, as another example of how militarized popular memories are mobilized as a means of making sense of emergent crises, demonstrating how the mnemonic temporality of militarized expectations is entangled with legal consciousness. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Children and young people's perspectives on and experiences of COVID‐19 in global contexts

An introduction is presented in which the author discusses articles within the issue on topics including children's perspectives and experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic in various aspects such as education, health and child care, challenges facing children and their families across different cultural and geographical contexts, and empowerment of children and young people through innovative methods.

Implementing and sustaining lean, buyer-supplier role, and COVID-19 pandemic: insights from the garment industry of Bangladesh

PurposeThis study aims to explore the challenges in implementing and sustaining lean in garment supplier factories and the buyer-supplier role in mitigating lean barriers in a typical situation and pandemic. Design/methodology/approachFollowing a qualitative research approach and multiple embedded case study method, data were collected through in-depth interviews with senior managers of one lead buyer and their four key garment supplier factories in Bangladesh. Within and cross-case analysis, techniques were applied to understand the context-oriented lean challenges and buyer-supplier role in mitigating the challenges. FindingsThe study findings demonstrate that garment suppliers are less prepared and unsystematic in lean implementation having limited capabilities and less preparation. Moreover, they have limited support from buyers, less commitment from top management and employee resistance to implementing lean. Lean challenges become more intense because of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, buyer-supplier responsible, cooperative and collaborative behaviour can mitigate lean challenges. Research limitations/implicationsWhereas many stakeholders may be responsible for lean challenges, this study explores dyadic role between buyer and supplier only based on a single lead buyer and their four suppliers. Hence future studies could consider more buyers and suppliers for a holistic understanding. Practical implicationsThis study could help buyers and suppliers understand the underlying causes of lean implementation challenges in garment supplier factories and their role in sustaining lean reducing the challenges, particularly in a pandemic. Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge, for the first time, this study depicts how buyer and supplier can play their due roles to mitigate lean challenges in garment supplier factories in a pandemic situation.

Determinants and effects of the use of COVID-19 business support programs in Japan

Using a survey of and financial data for Japanese small- and medium-enterprises (SMEs), this paper examines the determinants of firms' use of the business support programs provided by the Japanese government during the COVID-19 pandemic and their effect. With respect to the determinants, we obtain the following three findings: First, firms were more likely to have obtained subsidized loans, grants, or subsidies the more their sales had fallen during the pandemic, suggesting that funds flowed to firms that were adversely affected by the pandemic. Second, the likelihood that firms obtained funds was higher if their credit scores were lower or if they were classified as "zombies” and/or "low-return borrowers” before the pandemic, suggesting that the government programs also helped firms that had been under-performing before the pandemic. Third, firms were more likely to receive funds if they had a stronger relationship with their main bank before, suggesting that bank relationships play an important role in firms' access to government programs. Regarding the causal effects, we obtain the following three findings: First, except for the subsidies for employment adjustment, the support programs increased the cash holdings of user firms. Second, subsidized loans from private financial institutions lowered exit rates, while none of the programs had a significantly positive effect on employment relative to non-users (or in absolute terms). Third, the credit scores and profit-to-sales ratio of firms that used the support programs decreased and the likelihood of such firms being a zombie and/or a low-return borrower increased. Overall, our findings provide a cautionary tale in that the business support programs produced mixed results in that they may have prevented business failures but have also helped to prop up firms that are not viable in the long run. © 2022 Elsevier Inc.

The Existence of Personality and Hikikomori State: a Socio-Philosophical Reflection on the Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The article is devoted to the problem of humans joining the ranks of hikikomori at the time of and after the introduction of strict quarantine measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. The lifestyle of the hikikomori, as a specific subcultural trend that focuses on the physical distancing of the individual from the space of social communication, is emphasised. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the hikikomori lifestyle became common to many people under a regime of enforced self-isolation. However, even when quarantine measures are relaxed and a return to familiar communication practices is allowed, not all people are willing to return to offline life. Attitudes towards temporality also change under conditions of pandemic and enforced self-isolation, where complex ethico-social dilemmas arise, bringing psychological discomfort to the individual on micro-and macro levels.

Parenting in a Pandemic: Preliminary Support for Delivering Brief Behavioral Parent Training Through Telehealth

Behavioral problems, such as noncompliance and aggression, are a common referral reason to mental health services for young children. Behavioral parent training (BPT) is the leading intervention for addressing behavioral problems and leads to benefits in a variety of parental factors (e.g., parenting efficacy and parenting stress). While the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically shifted service delivery toward telehealth services, limited work has evaluated the effectiveness of BPT when delivered in a brief, group format through telehealth. The current retrospective chart review study evaluated the engagement to and preliminary effectiveness of a brief version of BPT delivered through telehealth to 64 families of 3- to 7-year-olds referred for behavioral problems. Families attended an average of 4.55 of 6 sessions and most families had two caregivers who engaged in the intervention. Significant reductions in caregivers' report of children's behavioral problems and improvements in parenting self-efficacy resulted. Future research and clinical implications are discussed.

Social Workers Response to Domestic Violence and Abuse during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The rapid global spread of COVID-19 has put increased pressure on health and social service providers, including social workers who continued front line practice throughout the pandemic, engaging with some of the most vulnerable in society often experiencing multiple adversities alongside domestic violence and abuse (DVA). Movement restrictions and stay-at-home orders introduced to slow the spread of the virus, paradoxically leave these families at even greater risk from those within the home. Utilising a survey methodology combining both open- and closed-ended questions, this study captured a picture of social work practice in Ireland with families experiencing DVA during the early waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings highlight both the changes and challenges in work practices and procedures that limit social work assessment and quality contact with families, changes to the help-seeking behaviours from victims/survivors, as well as emerging innovative practice responses with enhanced use of technology. Implications for practice include an increased awareness of the risk and prevalence of DVA accelerated by the pandemic. Conclusions assert that social work assessment and intervention with families experiencing DVA must remain adaptive to the changing COVID-19 context and continue to develop innovative practice approaches.

Risk management in gynaecology

Healthcare providers are obliged to reduce the risk of harm to patients using their services. Robust risk management embraces a blame-free reporting culture and learning from clinical errors whilst adopting a proactive approach to the measurement of patient safety indicators. A good safety culture within an organisation provides assurance to service users, staff, and the public, that there is commitment to provision of high quality safe and effective care. Risk management is everybody's responsibility. Therefore, all clinicians must possess an understanding of risk management processes. This review outlines the key elements of risk management within gynaecology and explains how risks are identified, assessed, quantified and managed. Examples from within the gynaecological setting and the challenges and the emergent risks posed by the COVID19 pandemic, are also discussed. © 2022

Students home alone—profiles of internal and external conditions associated with mathematics learning from home

This study aims at describing differences in internal and external resources of students to handle mathematics learning from home. Based on data from N = 223 7th-grade secondary school students gathered via an online survey at the end of the first school year during the COVID-19 pandemic, we used latent profile analysis to identify student profiles defined by the internal factors perceived value and success of students' math learning from home and the external factors family support and teacher support—all specifically related to home learning. A number of general learning conditions, comprising internal (e.g., sustained attention) and external factors (e.g., socioeconomic status), are included as outcome variables. The best-fitting four-profile solution suggests one profile with comparably unfavorable internal and external resources. About 35% of the students are assigned to that profile. The other three profiles show combinations of, relative to the sample, more and less promising specific home learning and general learning conditions suggesting that these students have different resources available in the face of learning mathematics from home. © 2022, The Author(s).

Sustainable institutional investment in the COVID-19 pandemic

This article examines institutions' investment strategies towards environmental and social (E&S) stocks in the first quarter of 2020, coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. Backed with both institutional- and firm-level analyses, we find that institutional investors shift towards stocks with higher E&S performance. The high E&S portfolios exhibit lower risk and return characteristics, outperforming (underperforming) their peers on market-down (-up) days. Further analysis shows this shift towards E&S is not a permanent transition, rather it reversed with the market rebound in the second quarter, thereby suggesting that the underlying driver of institutional E&S investment strategy in the pandemic is downside-risk protection. JEL Classification: G01, G12, G23, M14 © The Author(s) 2022.

Non-invasive respiratory support in the management of COVID-19: a synthesis of systematic reviews

Hospitalised patients with COVID-19 often require oxygen because of the increased risk of hypoxia, and one of the main treatment goals is to avoid mechanical ventilation where possible. Non-invasive respiratory support such as high-flow nasal oxygen, bi-level positive airway pressure and continuous positive airway pressure appear to be clinical alternatives. However, further research is needed to assess the effectiveness of non-invasive respiratory support and its varying modes as a treatment for COVID-19 within a diverse population. This commentary aims to critically appraise three reviews concerning the use of non-invasive respiratory support in patients with COVID-19 and expand upon the findings with regards to clinical practice.

Information-giving: an approach for contemporary practice

Information-giving, a relevant approach for contemporary practice, is a method of communication and a skill whose purpose is to develop client's abilities to distinguish between truthful information and inaccurate information. Building clients' trust in a non-judgemental way, and avoiding being over-authoritative, are necessary precursors to using information-giving. The negative legacy of the class system imposed harsh discipline on children, failed to build their self-esteem, and led to their lack of trust in authority. A democratising movement beginning in the 1970s resulted in more paraprofessionals being employed in community-based charities. They drew on their own lived experiences and used information-giving to support clients who experienced poverty, violence, discrimination and low self-esteem. Information-giving's theoretical influences include person-centred, constructive approaches, empathy, empowerment, resilience and self-actualisation. Information-giving is an effective approach that can help counter the growth of ‘fake news' and false beliefs about the Covid-19 pandemic. © 2021 GAPS.

Predicting the weekly COVID-19 new cases using multilayer perceptron: An evidence from west Java, Indonesia

COVID-19 is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) that attacks the respiratory tract. On August 14th, 2021, 653,741 persons had been proven positive for COVID-19. The number of patients tends to increase as the number of COVID-19 cases grows. The more infected people, the more cases of COVID-19 there will be. The Bed Occupancy Ratio (BOR) in West Java reached an all-time high of 91.6 percent in June 2021, far exceeding the WHO recommendation of 60 percent, before gradually declining to 30.69 percent in August. Because of the new cases mentioned, the rate of spread of COVID-19 in West Java, the forecast of new cases is very strategic. The number of new cases in this study was predicted using a Multilayer Perceptron (MLP). The data used in this study were sourced from the COVID-19 Task Force. The data is the number of positive and new cases from 34 provinces in Indonesia from March 2nd, 2020, to August 14th, 2021. The results of the evaluation using test data on the number of active cases in the last 19 weeks, namely April 10th - August 14th, 2021, The MLP is accurate in forecasting the number of new cases 18 times for both forecast periods with APE < 15%, with the value MAPE, RMSE and MAE obtained were 5.52%, 1157,61, and 706.811. The results of this study can be helpful for the government as a reference in conditioning hospital bed capacity to deal with active COVID-19 cases in West Java in the next two weeks so that the hospital rejects no COVID-19 patients because the hospital is full. (c) 2022 by the authors;licensee Growing Science, Canada.