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This study was conducted to evaluate the impact of formal and informal messages transmitted to urban and rural communities in Ecuador, on the knowledge of prevention and control of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Six focus groups were carried out with six to eight people per group through Zoom platform, from August 2020 to April 2021;NVivo 12 software was used for the thematic analysis of the data. Thirtynine people, including male and female, participated in the study with mean age 39 years. Main outcomes included: use of alternative medicine for prevention and control of COVID-19;religious acceptance;impact of COVID-19 on mental health;lack of understanding and knowledge of the disease;and the mixed messages shared through official and unofficial channels about virus prevention and control. The study demonstrates the importance of using formal channels of communication to transmit accurate information, to reach people regardless of their geographical location. © 2023 Author(s).
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This research aims to develop a new strategy to valorize wasted COVID-19 masks based on pyrolysis to convert them into useful products. First, surgical and FFP2 masks were thermally pyrolyzed at temperatures of 450–550 ºC with the purpose of determining gas, liquid (oil) and solid (char) yields. At low temperatures, solid yield was high, while at high temperatures the gas product was enhanced. The highest yield of liquid was found at an operating temperature of 500 ºC in both surgical and FPP2 masks pyrolysis. The liquid product yields were 59.08% and 58.86%, respectively. Then, the volatiles generated during thermal pyrolysis of residual masks were cracked over sepiolite as catalyst at a temperature of 500 ºC. The catalytic pyrolysis increased the yield of gas product (43.89% against 39.52% for surgical masks and 50.53% against 39.41% for FFP2 masks) and decreased the viscosity of the liquid product. Finally, the effect of sepiolite regeneration and reuse in consecutive pyrolysis tests was examined. Results showed that, with the higher regeneration-reuse of sepiolite, the catalyst was degraded obtaining a liquid product with higher molecular mass. This effect was hardly noticeable in the case of FFP2 masks. © 2022 International Multidisciplinary Scientific Geoconference. All rights reserved.
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The use of disposable personal protective equipment (PPE) as a control measure to avoid transmission against COVID-19 has generated a challenge to the waste management and enhances plastic pollution in the environment. The research aims to monitor the presence of PPE waste and other plastic debris, in a time interval where the use of face mask at specific places was still mandatory, on the coastal areas of Granada (Spain) which belongs to the Mediterranean Sea. Four beaches called La Rijana, La Charca, La Rábita and Calahonda were examined during different periods. The total amount of sampled waste was 17,558 plastic units. The abundance, characteristics and distribution of PPE and other plastic debris were determined. Results showed that the observed amount of total plastic debris were between 2.531·10-2 and 24.487·10-2 units per square meter, and up to 0.136·10-2 for PPE debris, where face masks represented the 92.22 % of the total PPE debris, being these results comparable to previous studies in other coastal areas in the world. On the other hand, total plastic debris densities were in the range from 2.457·10-2 to 92.219·10-2 g/m2 and densities were up to 0.732·10-2 for PPE debris. PPE debris supposed 0.79 % of the weight of total waste and the 0.51 % of total items. Concerning non-PPE plastic waste: cigarettes filters, food containers and styrofoam were the most abundant items (42.95, 10.19 and 16.37 % of total items, respectively). During vacation periods, total plastic debris amount increased 92.19 % compared to non-vacation periods. Regarding type of beaches, the presence of plastic debris was significantly higher on touristic/recreational than in fishing beaches. Data showed no significant differences between accessible and no-accessible beaches, but between periods with restrictive policy about mask face use and periods with non-restrictive policy data suggest significant differences between densities (g/m2) for PPE litter. The amount of PPEs debris is also correlated with the number of cigarettes filters (Person's r = 0.650), food containers (r = 0.782) and other debris (r = 0.63). Finally, although interesting results were provided in this study, further research is required to better understand the consequences of this type of pollution and to provide viable solutions to this problem.
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COVID-19 , Residuos , Humanos , Residuos/análisis , Monitoreo del Ambiente/métodos , España , Playas , COVID-19/prevención & control , Plásticos , Equipo de Protección PersonalRESUMEN
Covid19 may be associated with prolonged symptoms and post-recovery health impairment. We aim to evaluate persistent symptoms and lung function test (spirometry and 6 minute walk) in patients who were discharged from the hospital after recovery from COVID-19. Method(s): It is a retrospective cohort study including patients admitted to the COVID-19 unit of general hospital ISSSTE dr Belisario Dominguez from Chiapas Mexico, between May 2020 to December 2020. Clinical data were collected from medical records. The patients were evaluated through the follow-up consultation by trained physicians and were asked to respond to a specific questionnaire to collect symptoms after discharge, and spirometry and 6MW were performed at the same visit. Result(s): We enrolled 27 patients, 16 men and 11 women, after a mean of 163 days following admission. The average age was 54 years (21-78) was 1.36. The average length of hospitalization was 15.6 dias days. Twenty six patients (96%) had residual symptoms. The most frequently reported persistent symptoms were insomnia (62%), memory loss (58%), dyspnea and dizziness (54%), headaches (50%), myoarthralgia (46%), cough and tachycardia (35%) and chest pain (12%). Regarding spirometry, 9 patients had a normal study, in the remainder the study was restrictive and the average CFV% was 65%. The average in meters of the 6MW was 325 meters, only two patients had saturation less than 90% during the test (89 and 84%) but they concluded the study. Conclusion. Regarding spirometry, almost two-thirds have a restrictive pattern and 6MW is normal in practically all patients. Even after discharge, patients have persistent symptoms that affect their daily life.
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This research aims to develop a new strategy to valorize wasted COVID-19 masks based on chemical recycling by pyrolysis to convert them into useful products. First, surgical and filtering face piece masks, as defined in Europe by the EN 149 standard (FFP2), were thermally pyrolyzed at temperatures of 450, 500, and 550 °C, and the yields of valuable solid (biochar), liquid (biooil), and syngas products and their characteristics were determined. At low temperatures, biochar formation was favored over biooil and syngas production, while at high temperatures the syngas product yield was enhanced. The highest yield of biooil was found at a pyrolysis temperature of 500 °C, with both surgical and FFP2 masks achieving biooil yields of 59.08% and 58.86%, respectively. Then, the pyrolysis experiments were performed at 500 °C in a two-stage pyrolysis catalytic reactor using sepiolite as a catalyst. Sepiolite was characterized using nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherms and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. Results showed that the two-stage process increased the final yield of syngas product (43.89% against 39.52% for surgical masks and 50.53% against 39.41% for FFP2 masks). Furthermore, the composition of the biooils significantly changed, increasing the amount of 2,4-Dimethyl-1-heptene and other olefins, such as 3-Eicosene, (E)-, and 5-Eicosene, (E)-. Additionally, the methane and carbon dioxide content of the syngas product also increased in the two-stage experiments. Ultimately, the effect of sepiolite regeneration for its use in consecutive pyrolysis tests was examined. Characterization data showed that, the higher the use-regeneration of sepiolite, the higher the modification of textural properties, with mainly higher changes in its pore volume. The results indicated that the pyrolysis of face masks can be a good source of valuable products (especially from biooil and syngas products). © 2023 by the authors.
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This article is a scope review that aims to identify the instruments for collecting and analyzing the measurement of online engagement used in international research, choice for scalable use and adaptation to Brazilian Higher Education. Dimensions database was searched from 2017 to 2021. The documents obtained were 162, which after the screening resulted in a sample of 10 articles. The context for using these instruments is in higher education. The four most current were developed during the Covid-19 pandemic period. Most articles have a quantitative approach. All use some type of self-report questionnaire to collect data, which are, in greater number, closed questions and a 5-point Likert scale. The analysis technique that is most repeated in the articles is structural equation modeling. Of the ten selected questionnaires, we conclude that the one by Sun and Rueda (2012) is the one that best provides the criteria for analyzing student online engagement in the context of higher education, by bringing in its elements a configuration that can be scalable to different institutional contexts and range of disciplines.
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Infection with the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has reached pandemic proportions, with a very high death toll worldwide. Despite the scientific community's strenuous efforts to address this disease in its acute phase, as well as in prevention through the development of vaccines in record time, there remains another important workhorse: understanding and treating the persistence of symptoms beyond the acute phase, the so-called protracted COVID-19 syndrome or persistent COVID. These persistent manifestations affect several organs and systems and may depend on both the pathogenic mechanisms of the virus and the pathophysiological response of the patient. One year after the onset of this pandemic, there is an urgent need to address this situation from a comprehensive approach.
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Background: SARS-CoV-2 mainly attacks the respiratory system, but as more has become known about the virus, other organs have also been affected. As time passes, new symptoms emerge, no longer in the water phase, now in the recovery stage in what has been called long COVID or persistent COVID. Objective: To communicate one more of the symptoms of patients with long COVID- 19. Materials and Methods: A case series study was done from October 1st2020 to March 31st2021 at Neumology consultation of a private medical center at Chiapas, Mexico, including patients that had recurrently reported hair loss of unexplained cause after the SARS-CoV-2 infection. Results: Information was collected from 28 patients, 16 men and 12 women, the hair loss began one month after the infection and in 5/28 it persisted for more than 6 months. Conclusions: Having a series of cases where all have in common having been infected by SARS-CoV-2, the association is impossible, so these alterations of the hair follicle can be caused by SARS-CoV-2 and should be included to the long list of symptoms that occur in this entity.
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An appeal has been issued to the scientific community to investigate physical, mental and emotional states, and pro-social behaviours during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, this study aims to investigate adolescents' self-concept before and during a lockdown period in relation to gender and type/amount of physical activity or sports. The pre-lockdown sample of 366 adolescents were aged 13-17 years (M = 15.51 +or- 0.65), of whom 192 (52.5%) were females and 174 (47.5%) were males. During the lockdown, the age range of the sample was 13-17 years (M = 14.57 +or- 1.47), of whom 82 (60.3%) were females, and 54 (39.7%) were males. The Form-5 Self-concept Questionnaire (AF-5) was used to measure adolescents' self-concept. There was a reduction in adolescents' overall self-concept during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was positively associated with emotional well-being, with family and peers being essential factors in the development of an appropriate self-concept. Furthermore, girls' self-concept, especially academic self-concept, was higher than that of boys during the lockdown. However, both physical and emotional self-concept were higher for boys than girls before the COVID-19 lockdown, although no differences were found during the lockdown. The findings reveal that physical activity was positively correlated to self-concept before and during the COVID-19 lockdown.
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HCI and social science experimentation that explores or uses extended reality (XR) has been particularly impacted by the recent Covid-19 pandemic. This is due to typical deployment of XR experiments inside laboratories, and a paucity of research into how to effectively conduct remote XR experimentation. This first CHI Remote XR workshop aims to explore the current state of the art around three main themes of remote XR experimentation: (i) participant recruitment and screening;(ii) data collection, including limitations and affordances of existing research and XR tools;and (iii) software frameworks and requirements for the effective design of encapsulated remote XR user studies. This workshop brings together researchers and practitioners in XR to explore these recently emerged themes and to imagine how effective future remote XR research might be conducted. © 2021 Owner/Author.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has compelled the French government to impose confinement measures to stem the spread of the coronavirus. These measures may have had a potential impact on the glycemic control of diabetic patients. Within this context, telemedicine appears to be a viable option for follow-up appointments of diabetic patients. To assess this theory, we simultaneously led a prospective observational study during the novel coronavirus pandemic at Strasbourg's teaching hospital and at a private medical office to evaluate glycemic control in 491 diabetic patients either attending a telehealth appointment (n = 338) or whom in-person consultation had been postponed by 6 months (n = 153). Surveys were collected to assess both the patients’ and the physicians’ satisfaction. A decrease in average glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) was observed among patients from the telehealth appointment group: ΔHbA1c = −0.33% (n = 175) as well as the other group: ΔHbA1c = −0.13% (n = 92) 3 months after the beginning of the study. Patients belonging to the telehealth appointment group at Strasbourg's teaching hospital (n = 97) experienced a decrease in their HbA1c average from 7.65 ± 1.19% to 7.18 ± 0.9%, while patients from the same group attending a private medical office (n = 78) also experienced a decrease from 7.28 ± 0.80% to 7.11 ± 0.79%. Ninety-two percent of patients were satisfied with the telehealth appointment, think it could be a virtual alternative to in-person consultation and would recommend it to other diabetic patients. Even though seven out of eight diabetologists had never offered telehealth appointments to their patients prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, all of them hope to provide such services to their patients once the health crisis is over. The tendency towards a decrease in HbA1c levels within our cohort should be qualified due to missing data caused by the disruption in data collection during the COVID-19 pandemic. Evaluation and assessment of the cohort's glycemic control 6 months after the beginning of the study could help confirm these results.