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This article aims to reflect on culminating crises by analysing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, natural disasters, wars and conflicts and political-economy and discuss how these crises have affected sustainable development efforts with a view to suggesting some strategies. Drawing mainly from the secondary data and the author's reflections, each of the four crises is analysed in terms of its negative and positive consequences. Then how these crises have affected sustainable development efforts, particularly the achievement of the sustainable development goals, is discussed. In the final section, seven strategies are suggested to culminate these crises. © The Author(s) 2023.
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COVID-19 has forced the paradigm shift in the education system.This study thoroughly examined the adopted virtual learning practices to understand the changing paradigm positively contributes or has adverse impacts on the education system.The study has found that technologies, devices, and internet access have become essential requirements for students to continue their education during this transition period.The study has also discussed how families' financial status influences the degree of learning attitude and the effectiveness of virtual learning of students.The literature reviewed for this study showed that students from higher-income countries have greater access to and command of technologies, while students from lower-income countries continue to struggle to meet the basic requirements for virtual learning.The study argues that virtual education cannot deliver comprehensive requirements of education as it lacks studenthood, classroom bonding between students and teachers, and a peer learning approach, which is significant in the holistic growth of individuals. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
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Accumulation of waste tyres causes an environmental disaster because of the rapid rise in transport vehicle demand resulting from modern developments, Covid-19 and similar pandemics. Thus, recycling waste tyres in the form of aggregates as a sustainable construction material can be a solution to reduce the environmental problems. Current research focuses on the impact resistance and mechanical properties of the crumb rubber self-compacting alkali-activated concrete reinforced with 1% steel fibres (SFs) where fine and coarse crumb rubbers (CR) are partially replaced with 10% and 15% replacement ratios. The compressive, flexural, splitting tensile strengths and modulus of elasticity were investigated;impact resistance was found using a drop hammer impact test. The incorporation of CR reduced the mechanical properties, and the reduction was found more with increased rubber contents, whereas the incorporation of SF compensated for the strength loss. The impact performance was enhanced with the CR and SF incorporations. The 15% CR incorporation improved the impact energy up to three times, whereas both 1% SF and 15% CR incorporations significantly enhanced the impact energy up to 30 times. Similar mechanical strengths were obtained for the different sizes of CR. However, impact performance was significantly influenced by the sizes of CR. © 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
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The outbreak situation of the COVID-2019 pandemic is an Unpredictable shock to the world economy. World Economy faces the slowdown of share market prices, especially the value of mutual fund value decreases. Companies and Businessmen primarily invested in the mutual funds to play a safer role, modify their risk into the return, and increase the Net Assets Value (NAV). This study attempts to describe the state of mutual funds in India during this COVID 2019 period. Thus the performance of mutual funds when compared with before and during COVID 2019, the proposed model specifies on testing the performance of mutual funds both in the public and private sectors and attains to access the impact of COVID 2019 on mutual funds. The author has used correlation for finding out the relation of COVID 2019 and Mutual Funds. This paper mainly addresses the causes of investors during economic fluctuation and the return of top mutual companies by comparing the return of 1 year and during these last three months. COVID 2019 is not only on particular sectors;it affects almost every sector like construction, manufacturing, business, agriculture. While all the sectors are affected by COVID 2019 pandemics, it hits the society and the economy;once the economy comes down, the inflation rate increase, the Forex rate will increase, and it affects our whole country. In this paper, the author included sectors that are affected and their performance now and how well the different types of funds are performing, which will be helpful for the reader to analyze the affected areas. The paper concluded with the help of a survey and statistical tools whether the investors can make a further payment and hold for some period or continue with the investment whatever situation crisis impacts our economy. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
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Apart from the government, other institutions are needed to make active contributions to the people's economy since the Covid-19 pandemic has made it more difficult. In Indonesia, there are large community organizations with considerable assets, such as LAZISMU. During the pandemic, Indonesians felt the active participation of Muhammadiyah and all of its charitable efforts. Therefore, this study aims to describe the contribution of LAZISMU in dealing with the impact of the pandemic. The data analyzed showed that the contribution of LAZISMU was in order to deal with the impact of the pandemic in various forms, by providing scholarships, distributing basic necessities, helping orphanages and distributing masks. This was carried out in accordance with the procedures of Lazismu and health protocol rules during the pandemic. © 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
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Purpose: The research aimed to explore the issues in the implementation of online education practice in elementary school, to study teachers' coping strategy to the online education issues and to evaluate teachers' problem-solving skill in online learning practice during the Covid-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: An exploratory research focused on identifying the obstacles in teaching practice faced by elementary school teachers as well as their coping strategy with eight convenience sampled schools. Findings: Online education practice faced unpreparedness and competency issues. Unpreparedness was found in terms of social, technical and cultural factors, while competency issue was related to online education competency and digital competency. Teachers' struggle to cope with the issue in online education practice was focused on the performing conventional education in the online manner, suggesting teachers' lack of competency in encouraging learning success. Teachers neglected the development of students' readiness and competencies to engage in online learning. Moreover, teachers' struggle had the least impact on the development of their online teaching competency and digital competency that are required for carrying out online teaching. In general, teachers' problem-solving skill was below the expected level. These findings suggested that improvement of teachers' competencies is important in order to cope with the issues such as in online education practice during Covid-19 pandemic and to face future challenges in education. Originality/value: This study evaluated the gap between actual action and expected action of elementary school teachers in coping with the issues regarding online education practice. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.
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Wearing a face mask is strongly advised to prevent the spread of the virus causing the COVID-19 pandemic, though masks have produced a tremendous amount of waste. As masks contain polypropylene and other plastics products, total degradation is not achievable, and masks may remain in the form of microplastics for several years in the environment. Therefore, this urgent issue ought to be addressed by properly handling waste face masks to limit their environmental impact. In relation to this goal, a novel application of recycled mask fiber (MF) derived from COVID-19 single-use surgical face masks (i.e., shredded mask fiber-SMF and cut mask fiber-CMF) has been undertaken. Eighteen mortar mixes (9 for water and 9 for 10% CO2 concentration curing) were fabricated at 0%, 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%, and 2.0% of both SMF and CMF by volume of ordinary Portland cement-based mortar. The compressive strength, flexural strength, ultrasonic pulse velocity, shrinkage, carbonation degree, permeable voids, and water absorption capabilities were assessed. The outcomes reveal that the compressive strength decreased with an increased percentage of MFs due to increased voids of the mixes with MFs as compared to a control mix. In contrast, significantly higher flexural strength was noted for the mortar with MFs, which is augmented with an increased percentage of MFs. Furthermore, the inclusion of MFs decreased the shrinkage of the mortar compared to the control mix. It was also found that MFs dramatically diminished the water absorption rate compared to the control mix, which reveals that MFs can enhance the durability of the mortar. © 2023 Elsevier Ltd
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The COVID-19 pandemic has generated a major crisis in international tourism. The restrictions imposed after the WHO declaration gave way to a selective opening of the borders, with the intention of recovering the economy and tourist travel. The objective of this article is to carry out a comparative study between Cancun (Quintana Roo, Mexico) and Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Spain), through the analysis of their tourist data and the restrictions dictated by their respective governments. This case study shows how the recovery has been driven by the interests of the industry, which is trying to rush back to the old normal, disregarding academic advice that encourages structural change based on sustainability and resilience. The pleasure peripheries of the Turner model continue to define the main movements of international tourism, despite the pandemic.
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Wine and tourism represent a perfect symbiosis, as they offer a different experience to tourists and also promote the economic, social, and environmental development of wine regions. In Spain, wine tourism is an increasingly important research field and several studies have been conducted on the role of wine routes in boosting the competitiveness of a territory, increasing wine production, improving the quality of life of citizens, and respecting the environment. However, to the best of our knowledge, the economic impact generated by these routes in Spain has not been addressed in the academic literature. To overcome this research gap, this paper aims to analyze the supply and demand of tourism activities by examining the evolution of the institutions involved in the Spanish wine routes, on the one hand, and the economic impact of these routes, on the other. The results show a sharp drop in the supply of institutions and the demand for tourist routes in 2020 as a result of COVID-19, with a decrease of 2.58% in the total number of institutions adhered to the wine routes, a decrease of 73.53% in the total number of visitors to the different Wine Routes of Spain and a decrease of 74.7% in the economic impact compared to the previous year. Likewise, the research shows the existence of differences between the Wine Routes of Spain in terms of the number of visitors and their economic impact, which could serve as a guide for managers to make investments through acquisitions and/or their own investments in wineries located on the routes with the greatest economic impact.
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Since the mid-1990s, the French public authorities have changed regulations to allow commercial building conversions into housing. The COVID-19 crisis has affected the global economy, social connections, environmental trajectories and energy demand/supply. Countries have been considering measures to reduce the pandemic's long-term impact and since the beginning of 2020, national governments have recommended that companies facilitate remote work. Thus, COVID-19 has prompted some office building depopulation. With working from home expected to continue after the pandemic, due to technological, environmental and economic considerations, there is a growing impetus to convert empty office space into residential uses. The present research aims, through the Parisian case study, to consider the impacts of the pandemic and the acceleration of homeworking. Using a mixed qualitative and quantitative methodology, the study aims to (1) critically analyse the policy tools implemented by the Paris municipality following the COVID-19 pandemic to accelerate commercial building conversions and (2) evaluate the potential for such conversions, considering former policies. We found that adaptive reuse policies have been implemented following the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis. However, according to the collected data, conversion potential is limited, due to the continuing demand for office space despite the changes and economic considerations. © 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
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Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, several educational institutions were thrust into a forced culture change as learning, teaching, and assessment moved from traditional face-to-face (F2F) instruction to remote delivery with a profound effect on pedagogy. This paper uses transformative learning theory to explore various aspects of academics' transition from face-to-face to remote teaching. Findings from an online cross-sectional survey of academics in higher education institutions (n = 95) indicate that academics were confronted with a disorienting dilemma that challenged previously unquestioned teaching experiences, beliefs, and values upon transition to remote teaching. This was followed by reflection, adoption, and implementation of different modes of instructional delivery. The results indicate statistically significant differences in critical reflection, openness, and teaching differently based on race. As higher education institutions transition to a "new” phase of instructional delivery, re-thinking professional development and support for the transformed academic in a new operating environment that remains prone to disruptive events becomes imperative. © The Author(s) 2023.
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The Bohai Bay as a typical semi-enclosed bay in northern China with poor water exchange capacity and significant coastal urbanization, is greatly influenced by land-based inputs and human activities. As a class of pseudo-persistent organic pollutants, the spatial and temporal distribution of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) is particularly important to the ecological environment, and it will be imperfect to assess the ecological risk of PPCPs for the lack of systematic investigation of their distribution in different season. 14 typical PPCPs were selected to analyze the spatial and temporal distribution in the Bohai Bay by combining online solid-phase extraction (SPE) and HPLC-MS/MS techniques in this study, and their ecological risks to aquatic organisms were assessed by risk quotients (RQs) and concentration addition (CA) model. It was found that PPCPs widely presented in the Bohai Bay with significant differences of spatial and seasonal distribution. The concentrations of ∑PPCPs were higher in autumn than in summer. The distribution of individual pollutants also showed significant seasonal differences. The high values were mainly distributed in estuaries and near-shore outfalls. Mariculture activities in the northern part of the Bohai Bay made a greater contribution to the input of PPCPs. Caffeine, florfenicol, enrofloxacin and norfloxacin were the main pollutants in the Bohai Bay, with detection frequencies exceeding 80 %. The ecological risk of PPCPs to algae was significantly higher than that to invertebrates and fish. CA model indicated that the potential mixture risk of total PPCPs was not negligible, with 34 % and 88 % of stations having mixture risk in summer and autumn, respectively. The temporary stagnation of productive life caused by Covid-19 weakened the input of PPCPs to the Bohai Bay, reducing the cumulative effects of the pollutants. This study was the first full-coverage investigation of PPCPs in the Bohai Bay for different seasons, providing an important basis for the ecological risk assessment and pollution prevention of PPCPs in the bay. © 2022 Elsevier B.V.
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Sustainable economic development and green recovery in the post-COVID-19 era in China requires consideration of natural resource dependence (NRD) and environmental regulation (ER) of CO2 emissions. Based on panel data covering 2008 and 2018 in China, this paper explores the impacts of NRD on carbon emissions and the moderating role of ER. In addition, the heterogeneity, asymmetry, and mediating mechanism are investigated in this study. Following are the main conclusions: (1) Decreasing the dependence on natural resources and strengthening ER can effectively cut down CO2 emissions, and the enhanced ER can reduce the contribution of NRD to CO2 emissions;(2) the positive influence of NRD on carbon emissions are consistent in various regions, while the influence of ER on CO2 emissions is negative in areas with high levels of NRD;(3) the reduced natural resources dependence can accelerate the carbon emissions reduction process indirectly by causing a reduction in China's total energy demand and coal consumption and accelerating the green technological innovation. The findings present several policy recommendations for achieving carbon emissions reduction.
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Covid-19 pandemic affected aviation severely, resulting in unprecedented reduction of air traffic. While aviation is slowly re-gaining traffic volumes, we use the opportunity to study the arrival performance in the Terminal Maneuvering Area (TMA) in non-congested scenarios. Applying flight efficiency and environmental performance indicators (PIs) to the historical data of arrivals to Stockholm Arlanda and Gothenburg Landvetter airports, we discover noticeable inefficiencies, despite significant reduction of traffic intensity. We analyze the impact of such factors as weather and traffic intensity on arrival efficiency in isolated scenarios when only one factor dominates: isolated scenario with low traffic and isolated scenario with good weather conditions. Our analysis uncovers that weather has a stronger influence than traffic intensity on the vertical efficiency, while traffic intensity has stronger effect on the lateral efficiency. Impact of traffic intensity on the lateral efficiency might be explained by frequent hold-on patterns and flight trajectory extensions due to vectoring in high traffic conditions. Further investigation is needed to explain weather and vertical/lateral efficiency correlations, the conclusions might be country-specific.
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This study empirically examines how the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has impacted foreign direct investment (FDI), using the quarterly data on bilateral FDI flows from 173 home to 192 host economies from the first quarter of 2019 to the second quarter of 2021. The severity of COVID-19 in host economies adversely affected FDI in the manufacturing sector regardless of the entry mode, but the effect of home economies' COVID-19 situation on FDI was insignificant. On the other hand, in the services sector, the severity of COVID-19 in both host and home economies has significantly negative impact on greenfield FDI, not on cross-border M&A.
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Apart from the many social and health problems it has caused, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a severe impact on most sectors of the economy worldwide. One of the areas where such impact is noticeable is the textile, apparel, and fashion (TAF) industry. The lockdowns and limited access to retailer outlets resulted in a considerable drop in consumption, creating problems related to the excess of stock, the decrease of sales, and the disposal of non-used items. This paper outlines the implications of the COVID-19 on the TAF sectors and European retailers. It analyzes how the current supply chains exacerbated stock control problems, and it reports on the changes in consumption during the pandemic. The worldwide restrictive measures implemented to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic were responsible for significant profit losses. Also, the decrease in consumption, caused by several geographically wide lockdowns, prompted a subsequent reduction in orders and sales, resulting in a significant number of constraints. The implementation of more environmentally friendly processes, including sustainable circularity as a competitiveness source to keep the TAF sectors in the loop and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, may help address the problems associated with the COVID-19 pandemic in the sustainability context, as reported in this paper. © The Author(s) 2022.
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Introduction: The level of post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) associated with the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak, stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms was assessed. Risk factors for mental health in the Polish population have been identified. Material and methods: Nine hundred and twenty-six respondents completed a set of questionnaires consisting of questions concerning COVID-19, PTSS related to the COVID-19 outbreak (Impact of Event Scale-Revised, IES-R), and their mental health status (Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale, DASS-21). Results: Most respondents reported severe PTSS related to the COVID-19 outbreak (44.06%), the normal intensity of depressive symptoms (52.38%), anxiety symptoms (56.05%), and stress (56.48%). Almost 20% of Polish respondents were characterized by a severe or extremely severe level of stress, anxiety, or depressive symptoms. Every seventh respondent reported an extremely severe level of depressive symptoms. Female gender, parental status, having a relationship, at least a two-person household were associated with higher PTSS or DASS-21 subscales. A few physical symptoms, a medical visit, quarantine, negative health evaluation, chronic diseases, knowledge about the increase in the number of infected people or deaths were associated with higher levels of PTSS. Some of the precautions and the need for additional information on COVID-19, the certainty of a high COVID-19 contracting probability or of a low survival rate, and concerns about the loved ones were associated with higher PTSS. Conclusions: The indicated risk factors can be used for developing psychological interventions to improve mental health. It is necessary to conduct qualitative research on the psychological reasons for the occurrence of mental symptoms during the pandemic.
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Background: Cardiac injury (CI) is not a rare condition among hospitalized patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Its prognostic value has been extensively reported through the literature, mainly in the context of observational studies. An impressive number of relevant meta-analyses has been conducted. These meta-analyses present similar and consistent results;yet interesting methodological issues emerge. Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted aiming to identify all relevant meta-analyses on (i) the incidence, and (ii) the prognostic value of CI among hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Results: Among 118 articles initially retrieved, 73 fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were included in the systematic review. Various criteria were used for CI definition mainly based on elevated cardiac biomarkers levels. The most frequently used biomarker was troponin. 30 meta-analyses reported the pooled incidence of CI in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 that varies from 5% to 37%. 32 meta-analyses reported on the association of CI with COVID-19 infection severity, with only 6 of them failing to show a statistically significant association. Finally, 46 meta-analyses investigated the association of CI with mortality and showed that patients with COVID-19 with CI had increased risk for worse prognosis. Four meta-analyses reported pooled adjusted hazard ratios for death in patients with COVID-19 and CI vs those without CI ranging from 1.5 to 3. Conclusions: The impact of CI on the prognosis of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 has gained great interest during the pandemic. Methodological issues such as the inclusion of not peer-reviewed studies, the inclusion of potentially overlapping populations or the inclusion of studies with unadjusted analyses for confounders should be taken into consideration. Despite these limitations, the adverse prognosis of patients with COVID-19 and CI has been consistently demonstrated.
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These are constantly changing times for the tourism industry. The COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying negative economic effects significantly impacted customer behavior and accelerated the need for companies to innovate. Business model innovation (BMI) is ideal for overcome these challenges by innovating the very core of the firm. However, siloed BMI thinking is insufficient: firms need a more holistic approach. We expand the current understanding of business model innovation by proposing a framework that integrates relevant dimensions (change impulses and business model configurations), context factors (service newness and degree of change or destination characteristics), and the outcomes of BMI initiatives into a comprehensive model for the tourism industry context. With our work, we want to guide future research and expand the currently unbalanced, heterogeneous picture of BMI in service industries. © 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
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Background: We aim to explore the factors related to job satisfaction among pain physicians and identify the reasons why individuals minimize or stop practicing outpatient pain medicine.Objectives/Study Design: This is a survey-based study with the primary goal to identify factors determining job satisfaction and dissatisfaction among pain medicine fellowship graduates who continue to practice and those who are no longer practicing interventional pain. A secondary goal is to elucidate reasons for anesthesiologists trained in pain medicine to leave pain medicine, despite an additional year of training, and to work as general anesthesiologists.Methods: In this study, all 114 pain program directors listed on the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) website, or their administrative assistants were directly contacted via email. All email addresses were obtained from the ACGME website. The survey opened in September 2021, with reminder emails sent before the closing of the survey in December 2021. A final reminder email was sent 4 weeks prior to the closing of the survey.Results: Of all the respondents, 79 (89.77%) were currently practicing pain medicine, and 9 (10.23%) were no longer practicing pain medicine.Limitations: Our study has a major limitation as we are unable to determine the response rate and are limited in the data points gathered.Conclusion: We hope this study will allow for pain medicine fellowship program directors to improve recruitment and retention of pain fellows in the field while addressing the pros and cons of future career aspirations with anesthesiology residents prior to fellowship selection. A larger, more thorough study with an exact response rate can compare the various outcomes based upon different types of settings, such as private practice, partnership, and academia, as well as geographical locations.