The outdoor nature, indoors: relationship between contact with nature, life satisfaction and affect during a COVID-19 pandemic lockdown

The COVID-19 pandemic led to national lockdown measures, implying individuals' household confinement, constraining active contact with outdoor nature, with potential associated mental health consequences. Hence, this cross-sectional correlational design study with 310 participants examined the relationship between self-reported measures of variety and intensity of indoor/outdoor activities involving contact with nature, life satisfaction and affect during the first nationwide lockdown in Portugal in 2020. Results showed a positive weak association between indoor activity intensity and positive affect, and between reported indoor mental recreation of contact with nature and negative affect. Actual indoor contact with nature was positively associated with life satisfaction and positive affect. Individuals without a variety of contact with indoor nature reported lower life satisfaction than those with high variety. Indoor contact with nature seemed particularly important for well-being during lockdown. During prolonged household confinement, mental health and well-being could be promoted through outdoor contact but indoor alternatives should also be considered.

THE SOCIAL DISTANCE AND DAILY LIFE OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES: Social distance and people with disabilities

Covid-19 has manifested itself as a highly infectious disease. In this sense, People with Disabilities were advised to redouble their precautions to prevent Covid-19, such as social withdrawal, because they are considered to be in the risk group. The purpose of this study was to understand the interference of social distancing in the daily lives of people with physical disabilities during the Covid-19 pandemic period. This study is of an applied nature and descriptive observational character. The data analysis and discussion was carried out under the qualitative paradigm. As for the technical procedures, it is characterized as a field research. The group of collaborators was composed of ten People with Disabilities. The results indicated that the greatest impacts of the distancing were the difficulties of access to health and rehabilitation activities, as well as the changes in hygiene habits due to the danger of contamination. On a personal level, some perceived the distance as a factor of introspection and reflection on the relationships with oneself and with others, putting into perspective the world in a post-pandemic future.

Burnout in Healthcare Professionals during Covid-19 Pandemic Times

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the increased work overload of healthcare professionals, in the near breakdown of healthcare services, may have affected their emotional state and burnout levels. To know the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the burnout levels of healthcare professionals in a hospital institution, identifying the relationship with sociodemographic, organisational and other characteristics. Quantitative, observational, descriptive, analytical and transversal methodology, in a convenience sampling process, consisting of 324 healthcare professionals. A questionnaire-based on validated methods was used as a data collection instrument. The data obtained were statistically analysed. Healthcare professionals presented moderate levels of burnout in emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation, and high in the professional achievement dimension;30.2% met high burnout criteria. Higher burnout levels have been associated with organisational aspects such as working directly with infected patients, not having access to the necessary personal protective equipment, and high-risk perception of COVID-19 infection. It is essential to implement organisational measures, health and psychosocial risks surveillance and psychosocial risks to stop burnout increase in healthcare professionals,, an alarming trend and transversal to various health services.

Theoretical and practical assessments over SSH

During the COVID-19 pandemic, universities worldwide were forced to close, causing a shift from presential to remote classes. This situation motivated teachers to find suitable tools to evaluate students remotely, fairly, and accurately. However, currently available systems are either survey or exercise evaluation based, not suitable for competency-based assessments. Faced with this context and limitations of available evaluation systems, we developed TestsOverSSH, a system to devise, deliver, and automatically correct assessments performed in a Command Line Interface (CLI) environment. Unique assessments are generated per student when they access the proposed system via Secure SHell (SSH). TestsOverSSH is composed of shell scripts that orchestrate a series of tools and services that come pre-installed in Linux distributions. It can be used to construct multiple-choice or direct answer questions while also requiring students to perform tasks in the environment per se, namely computer programming or CLI manipulation-related assignments. We present examples of the question types in this system, explaining question formats and operating guidelines. Since the assessments are directly performed in the system, logs and command history can be easily retrieved while keeping information within student devices uncollected. We performed evaluations using this system in a real context and obtained student feedback through a custom survey and the System Usability Scale (SUS). Survey results and SUS score suggest that TestsOverSSH is an intuitive evaluation tool, with eased access and usage, making it applicable for e-learning. © The Author(s). 2023.

The outdoor nature, indoors: relationship between contact with nature, life satisfaction and affect during a COVID-19 pandemic lockdown (La naturaleza al aire libre, en el interior: relación entre contacto con la naturaleza, satisfacción vital y afectividad durante el confinamiento por la pandemia COVID-19)

The COVID-19 pandemic led to national lockdown measures, implying individuals' household confinement, constraining active contact with outdoor nature, with potential associated mental health consequences. Hence, this cross-sectional correlational design study with 310 participants examined the relationship between self-reported measures of variety and intensity of indoor/outdoor activities involving contact with nature, life satisfaction and affect during the first nationwide lockdown in Portugal in 2020. Results showed a positive weak association between indoor activity intensity and positive affect, and between reported indoor mental recreation of contact with nature and negative affect. Actual indoor contact with nature was positively associated with life satisfaction and positive affect. Individuals without a variety of contact with indoor nature reported lower life satisfaction than those with high variety. Indoor contact with nature seemed particularly important for well-being during lockdown. During prolonged household confinement, mental health and well-being could be promoted through outdoor contact but indoor alternatives should also be considered. © 2023 Fundacion Infancia y Aprendizaje.

Competence Development Strategies after COVID-19: Using PBL in Translation Courses

The 2019 pandemic had a direct impact on all educational stakeholders. While many teachers and trainers regarded the changes with some scepticism, others embraced the opportunity to integrate technology into their teaching-and-learning methods and resources. As translation trainers, it is essential to follow and understand the translation market. Translators require vast competencies, amongst which is the flexibility to adapt. In translation training, project-based learning (PBL) has been established as an essential teaching-and-learning method, as it has proven to foster the development of essential competencies, since it simulates the translator's work environment. Thus, the need to implement new strategies within a short timeframe reinforced the practice of PBL. PBL reflects the work of a freelance translator, because it places the student at the centre of the learning process. In these situations, student self-regulation becomes essential, as it is necessary to analyse the market/situation/project received and be flexible enough to adapt to the specific context. As of 2018–2019, ISCAP implemented PBL as the main teaching-and-learning method in its Technical Translation courses. At the same time, on these courses, an ongoing qualitative quasi-experimental study on student self-regulated learning (SRL) began. The purpose is to understand student perception of their self-regulation competence and its development, or lack thereof, after using PBL to complete translation assignments. The study presented in this article aims to examine the possible effects an online-PBL approach may have on a student's SRL during the pandemic. Students enrolled in the translation courses voluntarily answered a survey on SRL two times: at the beginning and then at the end of the course. The purpose was to analyse and compare each student's responses before and after using PBL strategies, identifying changes in student perception over a six-month period. Additionally, we compare each group's results over a period of three years, which includes the lockdown. Statistical analysis showed that a higher level of self confidence in autonomous learning was achieved, but a lower level of belief in the importance and usefulness of the course contents was noted. Additionally, the study revealed that, with the exception of time-management, student SRL increased. Results indicate that PBL is a useful simulation of the translation labour market and that it does enhance essential competencies, amongst which is student SRL. © 2023 by the authors.

Multimedia resources in pharmacy education: A lab experience

Introduction: During the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, teachers were forced to suddenly adjust their teaching methods. The phenomenon was particularly challenging for teaching laboratory classes at a time of full lockdown. Visual memory shows the personal ability to process images and this type of memory is very important for enhancing learning and processing of information. This experience aimed to develop pedagogical strategies to help the students' learning process in a particular moment, as well as to use the methods developed to enhance future learning of pharmaceutical techniques within pharmacy education. Method(s): Multimedia resources were used to produce short videos of the preparation of laboratory assignments for pharmaceutical technology classes. In synchronous online classes, the videos were watched, commented on, the compounding preparation record was performed and at the end of the class the video was shown once again to consolidate the compounding process. In a first approach, in 2019/2020, students did not repeat the assignments in person and carried out their assessment remotely. In a blended-learning approach, with different students in 2020/2021, they had the opportunity to return to the lab to repeat the experiment protocols viewed online and perform the assessment in person. Result(s): There was no relevant difference between the grades obtained with classical face-to-face teaching (before the pandemic) and with the use of e-learning/blended-learning methodologies. However, students with online exclusive learning reported that they would have liked to repeat the assignments face-to-face in the laboratory. The blended-learning students reported that seeing the videos before the experimental work helped their memory and execution, leading to the perception that the video resources are useful. Conclusion(s): A combination method of multimedia resources to stimulate visual memory and practical execution of the activity may have a synergistic effect on learning and acquisition of practical skills.

Purpura Trombocitopenica Trombotica Associada a Covid-19: Correlacoes E Tratamentos

Objetivos: Levantar os principais achados acerca da possivel associacao entre a infeccao pelo SARS-CoV-2 e a manifestacao de Purpura Trombocitopenica Trombotica, compilando as complexidades do quadro e as dificuldades dos tratamentos mais evidenciados na literatura. Material e Metodos: Trata-se de uma revisao de literatura realizada pela analise de seis artigos publicados entre 2020 e 2021, nas linguas portuguesa e inglesa obtidos atraves das bases de dados PubMed e Science Direct. Os descritores utilizados na pesquisa estao de acordo com o Sistema de Descritores em Ciencias da Saude (DeCS) e sao respectivamente "COVID-19"e "Purpura Trombocitopenica Trombotica". Resultados: Foram analisados seis relatos de caso que exemplificam a relacao entre a COVID-19 e a Purpura Trombocitopenica Trombotica (PTT). Especula-se que infeccoes agudas, como as causadas pelo coronavirus, engatilhem uma deplecao da protease de clivagem do fator de von Willebrand, o ADAMTS13, por mecanismos fisiopatologicos ainda nao robustamente estabelecidos. De fato, ja foram registrados casos de PTT apos a exposicao viral pela vacinacao contra a COVID-19. O manejo desses pacientes e muitas vezes dificil visto que sintomas da PTT - piora da funcao renal, febre, alteracoes no nivel de consciencia e trombocitopenia - tambem sao encontrados em quadros de COVID-19;essa sobreposicao fisiopatologica estorva o reconhecimento diagnostico da PTT, comprometendo a adocao rapida e eficiente de condutas terapeuticas para tratar o quadro. E valido mencionar a suposicao de que a COVID-19 possa prolongar a duracao do tratamento de PTT, favorecendo a progressao da doenca. E pertinente ressaltar a importancia do diagnostico precoce da PTT ja que, sem tratamento adequado, esta associada a altas taxas de mortalidade. Dessa forma, o estudo dos tratamentos da PTT associada a COVID-19 fazem-se essenciais, apesar de ainda relativamente escassos. Houve consenso dos trabalhos estudados acerca da plasmaferese terapeutica diaria, primeira linha de tratamento para o quadro. Alguns deles, adicionalmente a plasmaferese, encaminharam a administracao de moduladores imunologicos como imunoglobulina endovenosa. Contudo, os artigos teceram discrepancias quanto a necessidade de corticoterapia, recomendada e bem-sucedida de acordo com a maioria dos estudos, que relataram evolucao favoravel mediante o pulso de corticoides. Um deles ainda exaltou a eficacia da infusao de plasma fresco congelado. Discussao: Perante o exposto, observa-se que a infeccao pelo SARS-CoV-2 possui relacao notoria com a PTT, o que tanto retarda como dificulta seu tratamento. Sofre-se com a carencia de estudos concretos que possam contribuir para a formulacao de uma abordagem sistematica e comprovadamente eficiente para a esquematizacao do diagnostico da PTT durante a COVID-19. Quanto ao tratamento, ha bons resultados com plasmaferese e a administracao de moduladores imunologicos. Conclusao: Pode-se observar que a PTT e um importante fator de piora da COVID-19, tanto pelas adversidades encontradas no diagnostico do quadro clinico - que ocorre frequentemente de forma tardia - quanto pela escassez de conhecimentos acerca dos tratamentos. O progresso cientifico em relacao ao tema ha de trazer nao so esclarecimentos aos profissionais da saude quanto ao manejo dessas configuracoes patologicas complexas, como tambem o estabelecimento de um cuidado mais adequado e preciso para os pacientes acometidos. Copyright © 2022

Student satisfaction with library resources in the COVID-19 era: A case study of Portuguese academic libraries

Higher education libraries are designed to provide access to information for students, teachers, and researchers, ensuring that they are satisfied. The objective of the study is to raise the perception of the students about the response of libraries during the COVID-19 pandemic to their information needs and to assess whether they consider themselves prepared to research, evaluate, and manage the retrieved information, now that they work autonomously and depend exclusively on digital content. Methods: Online questionnaire applied to three higher education libraries in Portugal-a public education institution, a polytechnic, and a private higher education institution. The questionnaire was submitted by institutional email and focused on the degree of satisfaction with the libraries and electronic resources made available and self-perceived evaluation of their information skills. The first results point that students are satisfied with access to electronic resources remotely;the highest levels of dissatisfaction are associated with B-ON;most are unaware of the availability of databases (Scopus, WoS, and RCAAP), favorable perception of their behaviour in information, in researching, citing, and referencing, but findings show the inverse in the qualitative analysis of data;master’s degrees reveal greater security of knowledge compared to undergraduate students. Conclusions: Is necessary to increase the coverage, dissemination, and training of electronic resources in the academic libraries as a formative and pedagogical strategy and to formally implement it in educational policies. © 2021 David Baker and Lucy Ellis Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Telemedicine experience for diabetes care in a Brazilian referral center during COVID19 pandemic

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed crucial changes to healthcare systems, which had to adapt to the new reality of social distancing with maintenance of care, especially for patients with chronic medical conditions such as diabetes. In that way, telemedicine has become a new standard of care. Objectives: To compare the number and rate of scheduled, completed and no-show medical visits prior to the COVID19 outbreak in Brazil, when visits were exclusively in person, and during the pandemic, when both in person and telehealth visits were conducted. Methods: From January 2019 to June 2021, statistical analysis of electronic health record data for all patients from an outpatient clinic of a Brazilian diabetes referral center were collected. Results: Before the COVID19 outbreak, there was an average of 100 scheduled visits, 82 completed appointments and 18 no-show visits per month. In the months following the outbreak there was a 50% reduction in the outpatient clinic's capacity, due to health restrictions imposed by local authorities. Therefore, in these months (in which the outpatient clinic used telehealth via mobile app), there was an average of 51 scheduled visits, 40 completed appointments and 11 no-show visits per month. Telehealth consultations replaced 12.5% of the in-person appointments, with a 350% increase in the number of online consultations between the first and the last month analyzed by the study. Moreover, regarding the communication between patients and health center, there was a 65% reduction in the number of emails exchanged and a 64% increase in the number of messages exchanged through mobile telehealth app. Conclusions: Despite the poor infrastructure and technology access in a low-income country like Brazil, our service was able to replace 12.5% of in-person care with telemedicine, which allowed the patients safety during medical care in the context of the pandemic.

Portuguese immunoallergology clinical experience in patients with severe atopic dermatitis under dupilumab treatment

Background: Dupilumab has been recently approved for treatment in patients with severe AD in Portugal-until now there is no published data regarding Portuguese experience in Allergy centers. Method: Cross sectional clinical and laboratory assessment of 33 patients (pts) with moderate to severe AD treated with dupilumab (dupi) for at least 16 weeks (W): prospective evaluation of severity scores (SCORAD-Scoring Atopic Dermatitis, EASI-Eczema Area and Severity Index, P-VAS-Pruritus Visual Analogic Scale), report of adverse events up to 52 weeks of treatment. SCORAD and EASI were assessed in 23 pts at W52, P-VAS in 21 pts at W52. Results: Of the 33 pts, 18 were female (55%) with a mean age (SD, range) of 35.3 years (13.2, 15-60). In 16 pts the age of onset was before 2 years old, mean (SD) disease duration 28.1 years (12);94% patients had a diffuse pattern of skin lesions;97% of pts had allergic rhinitis, 82% asthma, 52% conjunctivitis and 30% food allergy. Median total IgE at baseline was of 6313 U/ml (P25-P75: 2842-12491) with a 76% reduction at W52 in 16 pts. Median eosinophil count at baseline was 520 eosinophils/mm3 (P25-P75: 270-740). Before starting dupi 29 pts had been treated with cyclosporine. At the beginning, 15 pts were under oral corticosteroids, 14 under oral systemic immunosuppressive drugs (all pts but two stopped both until W12 of dupi) and 5 switched from omalizumab. At baseline, median SCORAD and EASI were 69.3 and 24.2 points. At W16, W36 and W52, median SCORAD was 27.4, 22.3 and 21.5, and median EASI 5.3, 4.1 and 2.1. At W16, the EASI-50, EASI-75 and EASI-90 were achieved by 91%, 61% and 18% pts, and at W52, by 87%, 70% and 52% pts. The mean percentage of SCORAD reduction at W16 and W52 was 55% and 73%;and of EASI was 76% and 82%. At W16 and W52, an improvement of ≥4 points in P-VAS was achieved by 77% and 95% pts. There was a mean reduction of P-VAS at W2, W4, W16 and W52 of 2.6;3.6;4.7 and 6.3 points, respectively. Conjunctivitis was reported in 10 (30%) pts, two of them with keratoconjunctivitis and blepharitis, without needing to interrupt treatment;two pts also had facial erythema. One patient had COVID, and dupilumab scheme treatment was maintained. Conclusion: The majority of AD patients had a significant and consistent improvement in all the severity scores, after one year of treatment with dupilumab. No relevant adverse events were reported.

Public software development activity during the pandemic

Background The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all human activity, including software development. Early reports seem to indicate that the pandemic may have had a negative effect on software developers, socially and personally, but that their software development productivity may not have been negatively impacted. Aims: Early reports about the effects of the pandemic on software development focused on software developers well-being and on their productivity as employees. We are interested in a different aspect of software development: The developers public contributions, as seen in GitHub and Stack Overflow activities. Did the pandemic affect the developers public contributions and, of so, in what way? Method: Considering the data from between 2017 and till 2020, we study the trends within GitHubs push, create, pull request, and release events, and within Stack Overflows new users, posts, votes, and comments. We performed linear regressions, correlation analyses, outlier analyses, hypothesis testing, and we also contacted individual developers in order to gather qualitative insights about their unusual public contributions. Results: Our study shows that within GitHub and Stack Overflow, the onset of the pandemic (March/April 2020) is reflected in a set of outliers in developers contributions that point to an increase in activity. The distributions of contributions during the entire year of 2020 were, in some aspects, different, but, in other aspects, similar from the recent past. Additionally, we found one noticeably disrupted pattern of contribution in Stack Overflow, namely the ratio Questions/Answers, which was much higher in 2020 than before. Testimonials from the developers we contacted were mixed: while some developers reported that their increase in activity was due to the pandemic, others reported that it was not. Conclusion: In Github, there was a noticeable increase in public software development activity in 2020, as well as more abrupt changes in daily activities;in Stack Overflow, there was a noticeable increase in new users and new questions at the onset of the pandemic, and in the ratio of Questions/Answers during 2020. The results may be attributed to the pandemic, but other factors could have come into play. © 2021 IEEE Computer Society. All rights reserved.

Cognitive and affective predictors of occupational stress and job performance: the role of perceived organizational support and work engagement

Purpose This study aimed to (1) analyze whether the perceived organizational support (POS) was a significant predictor of performance and stress and (2) explore the mediating role of engagement in these relations. Design/methodology/approach To test the hypotheses, the authors collected data with 200 working adults in a mandatory quarantine due to COVID-19 pandemic crisis. Findings The results showed that the POS contributed to increase engagement, and consequently, job performance. These relations also proved to be significant for stress, because when the POS increased, the work engagement also increased, and as a result decreased occupational stress. Research limitations/implications This study relied on a cross-sectional design. Therefore, future research should consider a daily design to replicate this study and analyze daily fluctuations. Overall, the authors can conclude that work engagement is an affective process through which POS decreases stress and increases performance. Originality/value This study tests the mediating effect of work engagement on the link between POS, stress and performance, and its theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

COVID-19 patients in prone position: validation of instructional materials for pressure injury prevention

OBJECTIVE: to perform the content and face validation of a checklist and a banner on pressure injury prevention in patients in prone position. METHOD: this is a methodological study of content and face validation with 26 nurses with specialization. Professionals assessed the checklist and the banner in relation to clarity, theoretical relevance, practical relevance, relation of the figures to the text and font size. The Content Validity Index was calculated for each item, considering one with a value equal to or greater than 0.8 as valid. RESULTS: all the actions described in the checklist and in the banner had a Content Validity Index greater than 0.80, with standardization of verbal time and esthetic adjustments in the banner's layout, as suggested. CONCLUSIONS: the checklist and the banner were validated and can be used in clinical practice to facilitate pressure injury preventions in patients in prone position.