Restricting Human Movement During the COVID-19 Pandemic: New Research Avenues in the Study of Mobility, Migration, and Citizenship: IMR

Every government in the world introduced restrictions to human mobility – that is, the movement of persons across and within state borders – in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Such restrictions thus constituted a global phenomenon, but they were by no means globally uniform;rather, they varied significantly between and within states, as well as over time. This research note presents different data sources for studying the drivers and outcomes of mobility restrictions, highlighting specific ways in which the data can be used. We begin by surveying seven new databases capturing various aspects of the regulation of human movement during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing inspiration from research on previous pandemics, we then outline five possible research avenues prompted by these data. We suggest that explaining the causes and consequences of such restrictions, as well as the differences between them, can significantly advance research on the governance of mobility, migration, and citizenship.

Effects of COVID‐19 lockdown measures on nitrogen dioxide and black carbon concentrations close to a major Italian motorway

During the first half of 2020, the Italian government imposed several restrictions to limit the spread of the COVID‐19 pandemic: at the beginning of March, a heavy lockdown regime was introduced leading to a drastic reduction of traffic and, consequently, traffic‐related emissions. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of these restrictions on pollutant concentrations close to a stretch of the Italian A22 motorway lying in the Alpine Adige valley. In particular, the analysis focuses on measured concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and black carbon (BC). Results show that, close to the motorway, NO2 concentrations dropped by around 45% during the lockdown period with respect to the same time period of the previous 3 years. The equivalent analysis for BC shows that the component related to biomass burning, mostly due to domestic heating, was not particularly affected by the restrictions, while the BC component related to fossil fuels, directly connected to traffic, plummeted by almost 60% with respect to the previous years. Since atmospheric concentrations of pollutants depend both on emissions and meteorological conditions, which can mask the variations in the emission regime, a random forest algorithm is also applied to the measured concentrations, in order to better evaluate the effects of the restrictions on emissions. This procedure allows for obtaining business‐as‐usual and meteorologically normalized time series of both NO2 and BC concentrations. The results derived from the random forest algorithm clearly confirm the drop in NO2 emissions at the beginning of the lockdown period, followed by a slow and partial recovery in the following months. They also confirm that, during the lockdown, emissions of the BC component due to biomass burning were not significantly affected, while those of the BC component related to fossil fuels underwent an abrupt drop.

Impact of COVID-19 restrictions on South African air transport and tourism indicators

Background: Air travel restrictions to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) impacted air travel to and from and within South Africa significantly. The duration of the pandemic was more protracted than initially expected as new variants of the pandemic (in ‘waves') resulted in additional restrictions. Objectives: To determine the nature of COVID-19-related air travel restrictions, their impact on annual passenger demand, the number of flights operated (supply of services), the related average passenger loads carried as well as on tourism indicators of the direct contribution of travel and tourism, the total contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employment. Method: The study identifies the number of passengers carried and flights operated and calculates the average passenger load per flight and trends. The impact on tourism indicators is based on the unit values of metrics published by the World Travel and Tourism Council for the 2019 calendar year, adapted for the reduction in passengers in the first and second years following the COVID-19 lockdown. Results: Significant decreases in the annual number of passengers carried, flights operated (in the three geographic areas), and their impact on tourism and employment indicators were identified. Conclusion: The decline in passengers exceeded the decrease in flights operated, which resulted in a decline in the average load of passengers carried per flight. The significance of COVID-19 restrictions on tourism indicators and employment was also calculated. Contribution: The study identifies the impact of COVID-19 air travel restrictions on both air transport and tourism indicators for South Africa.

Adaptation of logistics companies to operation under the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions

The COVID-19 pandemic has made the problem of companies adapting to operate under restrictions more acute. Logistics companies were the special focus of researchers because of the specifics of the COVID-19 pandemic. The article aims to determine the features of the management of logistics companies to adapt them against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. The methodological background of the analysis is the analysis of financial ratios - Total Revenue Growth;Capital Expenditure Growth;Working Capital Growth;Debt/ Equity ratio;Equity/Total Assets, as well as the case method - a description of the business situation of the company in the sample of JD Logistics, which have successfully adapted to changes against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic. Analysis of the financial statements of the surveyed companies revealed several trends in their financial management during the pandemic - a decline in net income from sales after the pandemic;an increase of capital investments in 2019-2021;reduction of working capital growth rates after 2019;growth of the debt-to-equity ratio after the beginning of the pandemic;maintaining the equity to assets ratio at a stable level in 2019-2021. A set of factors influencing the exogenous and endogenous environment is identified in support of the logistics companies adaptation programme under the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions by the following blocks: "government action and regulatory policy";"support of the company's operation";"company finance";"customer relations";"relations with suppliers". Prospects for further research involve studying financial and market factors influencing the practice of adaptation of logistics companies in a pandemic, as well as studying the problem of adaptation of companies in the post-crisis phase after the COVID-19 pandemic.

A machine learning approach to address air quality changes during the COVID-19 lockdown in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Having a prediction model for air quality at a low computational cost can be useful for research, forecasting, regulatory, and monitoring applications. This is of particular importance for Latin America, where rapid urbanization has imposed increasing stress on the air quality of almost all cities. In recent years, machine learning techniques have been increasingly accepted as a useful tool for air quality forecasting. Out of these, random forest has proven to be an approach that is both well-performing and computationally efficient while still providing key components reflecting the nonlinear relationships among emissions, chemical reactions, and meteorological effects. In this work, we employed the random forest methodology to build and test a forecasting model for the city of Buenos Aires. We used this model to study the deep decline in most pollutants during the lockdown imposed by the COVID-19 (COronaVIrus Disease 2019) pandemic by analyzing the effects of the change in emissions, while taking into account the changes in the meteorology, using two different approaches. First, we built random forest models trained with the data from before the beginning of the lockdown periods. We used the data to make predictions of the business-as-usual scenario during the lockdown periods and estimated the changes in concentrations by comparing the model results with the observations. This allowed us to assess the combined effects of the particular weather conditions and the reduction in emissions during the period when restrictions were in place. Second, we used random forest with meteorological normalization to compare the observational data from the lockdown periods with the data from the same dates in 2019, thus decoupling the effects of the meteorology from short-term emission changes. This allowed us to analyze the general effect that restrictions similar to those imposed during the pandemic could have on pollutant concentrations, and this information could be useful to design mitigation strategies.The results during testing showed that the model captured the observed hourly variations and the diurnal cycles of these pollutants with a normalized mean bias of less than 6 % and Pearson correlation coefficients of the diurnal variations between 0.64 and 0.91 for all the pollutants considered. Based on the random forest results, we estimated that the lockdown implied relative changes in concentration of up to -45% for CO, -75% for NO, -46% for NO2, -12% for SO2, and -33% for PM10 during the strictest mobility restrictions. O3 had a positive relative change in concentration (up to an 80 %) that is consistent with the response in a volatile-organic-compound-limited chemical regime to the decline in NOx emissions. The relative changes estimated using the meteorological normalization technique show mostly smaller changes than those obtained by the random forest predictive model. The relative changes were up to -26% for CO, up to -47% for NO, -36% for NO2, -20% for PM10, and up to 27 % for O3. SO2 is the only species that had a larger relative change when the meteorology was normalized (up to 20 %). This points out the need for accounting not only for differences in emissions but also in meteorological variables in order to evaluate the lockdown effects on air quality. The findings of this study may be valuable for formulating emission control strategies that do not disregard their implication on secondary pollutants. We believe that the model itself can also be a valuable contribution to a forecasting system in the city and that the general methodology could also be easily applied to other Latin American cities as well. We also provide the first O3 and SO2 observational dataset in more that a decade for a residential area in Buenos Aires, and it is openly available at 10.17632/h9y4hb8sf8.1 .

Production and income dynamics of maize farmers in dryland of North Lombok Indonesia before and during the Covid-19 pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a broad impact on several aspects of human life, one of which is the issue of food sufficiency. Due to social restrictions, the agricultural sector, which plays a role in producing food for humans, may be affected by the pandemic. These restrictions impact the availability of farm labor and the market, both agricultural inputs, and outputs. This three-year study examines the factors that influence the productivity and income of maize farmers in the dry sandy lands of Gumantar village, North Lombok, Indonesia, before and during the Covid-19 pandemic. The method used was descriptive quantitative with 50 respondents, determined by accidental sampling. The study results showed variations in land area ownership of respondent farmers, variations in crop productivity, and variations in the form of products sold, such as selling cobs and selling grains. Maize production was more affected by rainfall, fertilizer availability, and pest disturbances than the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the Covid-19 pandemic impacted the income of maize farmers due to restrictions on the mobility of maize buyers.

COVID-19 Pandemic: A Surge in Counterfeit Medicines: An International Journal of Medical Toxicology and Drug Experience

Introduction: Falsified medical products may contain no active ingredient, the wrong active ingredient, or the wrong amount of the correct active ingredient [1]. The prevalence of falsified medicines spans from 1% in developed settings to 10% in the Global South [2]. Due to broken supply chains, strong demand for medicines and limited capacities of law enforcement, the COVID-19 pandemic created the optimal conditions for the falsified medicines' market to expand. Objective: Aim of this is to present evidence about the surge in counterfeit medicines amid the COVID-19 crisis. Methods: This review examines the existing published scientific literature and peer-to-peer networks, grey literature as well as briefs and policy reports on counterfeit medicines amid COVID-19 pandemic. Results: According to EOCD, People's Republic of China and India are the primary producers of counterfeit medicines, with the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Hong Kong (China) serving as transit economies [3]. The review has identified three areas of impact for counterfeit medicines amid COVID-19. These are: (i) the increased demand for COVID-19-reated medicines, due to the medical supply restrictions related to the pandemic. These restrictions have been introduced by local authorities (e.g. supply restriction for Chloroquine and Azithromycin) or occurred because of air traffic reduction. Over 60 countries have implemented export restrictions and 25% of restricted products were medicines [4];(ii) E-commerce as a relevant platform for substandard medicines. For instance, advertisements of illicit COVD-19-related medical products have been reported on social media platforms, such as Instagram. According to the industry, online distribution becomes predominant and about 50% of purchases of illicit medicines are done on-line [5];(iii) weak regulatory frameworks, including insufficient technical capacity, constrained access and ineffective over-sight to address substandard and falsified medical products. WHO reports that 30 per cent of national regulatory authorities do not have full effective capacity to perform their functions [6]. Conclusion: COVID-19 pandemic has increased the vulnerability to counterfeit medicines, leading to serious damage to the health of individuals or failure to treat their medical needs adequately. The identifies three relevant governance gaps (increased demand, E-commerce and weak regulatory frameworks) to be further addressed in dedicated fora.

Gestion de classe en contexte du COVID-19: Quelles sont les perceptions des enseignants des sciences du secondaire au Bénin ?

La pandémie du COVID-19 a causé la perte de plusieurs vies humaines et la transformation globale des systèmes éducatifs à travers le monde. Ceci a résulté à la rapide transition des cours présentiels à l'éducation à distance, surtout dans les pays développés, pour empêcher la dissémination de la pandémie parmi les apprenants. Cependant, à cause des exigences et défis de ces cours à distance, des cours présentiels ont été restaurés avec plusieurs restrictions. L'objectif de cette étude est d'explorer les perceptions des enseignants des sciences de l'enseignement secondaire vis-à-vis de la gestion de classe (GC), à la reprise des cours en présentiel, juste après le confinement. Les données qualitatives ont été obtenues à travers des interviews individuelles et de focus groups avec six professeurs certifiés des sciences (mathématiques, physique, chimie et technologie et sciences de la vie et de la terre) et trois de leurs conseillers pédagogiques. Au regard des mesures barrières et autres restrictions imposées, les résultats ont mis en exergue des difficultés de GC relatives à des facteurs qui ont pour nom: climat de classe, communication, coopération, organisation physique de la classe, conduite des travaux pratiques, gestion des comportements et de la discipline et diminution du sentiment d'efficacité personnelle et professionnelle. Comme pratiques pédagogiques conséquentes pouvant les aider à mieux enseigner, les participants ont sollicité le développement des programmes de développement professionnel, relatifs à la pédagogie différenciée et ont fait des recommandations à l'endroit des autorités administratives de l'enseignement.Alternate :The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the loss of several human lives and the global transformation of education systems throughout the world. It resulted to the fast transition of face-to-face teaching to distance education, especially in the developed countries, to prevent the dissemination of the pandemic among the students. However, because of the requirements and challenges of the online classes, the face-to-face courses had been restored with several restrictions. The objective of this research is to explore the perceptions of secondary school science teachers regarding the classroom management after the period of the confinement. The qualitative data have been received through individual and focus group interviews with six professors certified (mathematics, physics, chemistry and technology and life and earth sciences) and three of their pedagogical counselors. Regarding the barrier measures and other imposed restrictions, the results have pointed up the difficulties of the classroom management relating to the factors such as: classroom climate, communication, cooperation, physical organization of the class, conduct of practical work, management of behaviors and discipline and reduction of the feeling personal and professional efficacy. Concerning the convenient pedagogical practices that can help them to teach better, participants requested the implementation of professional development programs, related to the differentiated pedagogy and offered suggestions toward secondary school decision makers.

Multi-Criteria Decision-Making System for Wind Farm Site-Selection Using Geographic Information System (GIS): Case Study of Semnan Province, Iran

Selecting the best place for constructing a renewable power plant is a vital issue that can be considered a site-selection problem. Various factors are involved in selecting the best location for a renewable power plant. Therefore, it categorizes as a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem. In this study, the site selection of a wind power plant is investigated in a central province of Iran, Semnan. The main criteria for classifying various parts of the province were selected and pairwise compared using experts’ opinions in this field. Furthermore, multiple restrictions were applied according to local and constitutional rules and regulations. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to weigh the criteria, and according to obtained weights, wind speed, and slope were the essential criteria. Moreover, a geographic information system (GIS) is used to apply the weighted criteria and restrictions. The province’s area is classified into nine classes according to the results. Based on the restrictions, 36.2% of the total area was unsuitable, mainly located in the north part of the province. Furthermore, 2.68% (2618 km2) and 4.98% (4857 km2) of the total area are the ninth and eightieth classes, respectively, which are the best locations for constructing a wind farm. The results show that, although the wind speed and slope are the most essential criteria, the distance from power facilities and communication routes has an extreme impact on the initial costs and final results. The results of this study are reliable and can help to develop the wind farm industry in the central part of Iran.

Economic vulnerability and poor service delivery made it more difficult for shack-dwellers to comply with COVID-19 restrictions

In South Africa, demand for housing close to viable/sustained sources of employment has far outstripped supply: and the size of the population living in temporary structures/shacks (and in poorly serviced informal settlements) has continued to increase. While such dwellings and settlements pose a number of established risks to the health of their residents, the present study aimed to explore whether they might also undermine the potential impact of regulations intended to safeguard public health, such as the stringent lockdown restrictions imposed to curb the spread of COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021. Using a representative sample of 1381 South African households surveyed in May-June 2021, the present study found that respondents in temporary structures/shacks were more likely to report non-compliance (or difficulty in complying) with lockdown restrictions when compared to those living in traditional/formal houses/ flats/rooms/hostels (OR: 1.61;95% CI: 1.06, 2.45). However, this finding was substantially attenuated and lost precision following adjustment for preceding socio-demographic and economic determinants of housing quality (adjusted OR: 1.20;95% CI: 0.78, 1.87). Instead, respondents were far more likely to report non-compliance (or difficulty in complying) with COVID-19 lockdown restrictions if their dwellings lacked private/indoor toilet facilities (adjusted OR: 1.56;95% CI: 1.08, 2.22) or if they were 'Black/ African', young, poorly educated and under-employed (regardless of their socio-economic position, or whether they resided in temporary structures/shacks, respectively). Restrictions imposed to safeguard public health need to be more sensitively designed to accommodate the critical roles that poverty and inadequate service delivery play in limiting the ability of residents living in temporary structures/shacks and inadequately serviced dwellings/settlements to comply.

The Food and Drug Administration's e-Cigarette Flavor Restrictions Have Not Gone Far Enough to Curb the Youth e-Cigarette Use Epidemic

Driven by targeted marketing, high nicotine content, and the availability of flavors appealing to youths,1 past 30-day use surged among high school students from 1.5% in 2011 to 27.5% in 2019.2 To curb youth access and use, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an enforcement policy against any flavored, cartridge-based e-cigarettes with tobacco and menthol flavor exemptions in February 2020. Because of the concern of the comparability of the August 2020 data collected during the pandemic, Hammond etal. did not assess the potential impact of the policy on the accessibility of vaping devices or e-cigarette use prevalence. Studies that exploited the variation in the comprehensiveness of flavor restrictions between state and local jurisdictions indicated a reduction in flavored and total e-cigarette sales associated with more stringent flavor restrictions.9 However, other studies have raised an important concern that reducing youth access to flavored e-cigarettes may motivate substitution of e-cigarettes with traditional cigarettes.10 Moreover, flavor is also a primary driver of e-cigarette initiation among adult cigarette smokers and may be critical for adult smokers who are otherwise unable to quit cigarette smoking to switch to a potentially safer alternative.

European primary emissions of criteria pollutants and greenhouse gases in 2020 modulated by the COVID-19 pandemic disruptions

We present a European dataset of daily sector-, pollutant- and country-dependent emission adjustment factors associated with the COVID-19 mobility restrictions for the year 2020. We considered metrics traditionally used to estimate emissions, such as energy statistics or traffic counts, as well as information derived from new mobility indicators and machine learning techniques. The resulting dataset covers a total of nine emission sectors, including road transport, the energy industry, the manufacturing industry, residential and commercial combustion, aviation, shipping, off-road transport, use of solvents, and fugitive emissions from transportation and distribution of fossil fuels. The dataset was produced to be combined with the Copernicus CAMS-REG_v5.1 2020 business-as-usual (BAU) inventory, which provides high-resolution (0.1∘×0.05∘) emission estimates for 2020 omitting the impact of the COVID-19 restrictions. The combination of both datasets allows quantifying spatially and temporally resolved reductions in primary emissions from both criteria pollutants (NOx, SO2, non-methane volatile organic compounds – NMVOCs, NH3, CO, PM10 and PM2.5) and greenhouse gases (CO2 fossil fuel, CO2 biofuel andCH4), as well as assessing the contribution of each emission sector and European country to the overall emission changes. Estimated overall emission changes in 2020 relative to BAU emissions were as follows: -10.5 % forNOx (-602 kt), -7.8 % (-260.2 Mt) for CO2 from fossil fuels,-4.7 % (-808.5 kt) for CO, -4.6 % (-80 kt) for SO2, -3.3 % (-19.1 Mt) for CO2 from biofuels, -3.0 % (-56.3 kt) for PM10, -2.5 % (-173.3 kt) for NMVOCs, -2.1 % (-24.3 kt) for PM2.5, -0.9 % (-156.1 kt) for CH4 and -0.2 % (-8.6 kt) for NH3. The most pronounced drop in emissions occurred in April (up to -32.8 % on average forNOx) when mobility restrictions were at their maxima. The emission reductions during the second epidemic wave between October and December were 3 to 4 times lower than those occurred during the spring lockdown, as mobility restrictions were generally softer (e.g. curfews, limited social gatherings). Italy, France, Spain, the United Kingdom and Germany were, together, the largest contributors to the total EU27 + UK (27 member states of the European Union and the UK) absolute emission decreases. At the sectoral level, the largest emission declines were found for aviation (-51 % to -56 %), followed by road transport (-15.5 % to -18.8 %), the latter being the main driver of the estimated reductions for the majority of pollutants. The collection of COVID-19 emission adjustment factors (10.24380/k966-3957, Guevara et al., 2022) and the CAMS-REG_v5.1 2020 BAU gridded inventory (10.24380/eptm-kn40, Kuenen et al., 2022b) have been produced in support of air quality modelling studies.

Optimization of full zirconium crowns manufacturing using hybrid digital approach under the sanitary restrictions during Covid-19 pandemic and limited clinical access to intraoral scanner

PurposeTo assess clinical optimization of hybrid digital approach for full zirconium crowns manufacturing developed under sanitary restrictions during COVID-19 pandemic considering specific economical interaction of “low budget clinic–high budget dental laboratory”.MethodsDeveloped primary approach included following steps: 1) taking analog impression by dental clinician;2) digitalization of impression by mobile dental technician team outside the dental clinic;3) transfer of obtained *.stl file to the dental lab;4) inversion of *.stl file for dental model production with further CAD-CAM manufacturing of zirconium crowns;and 5) delivery of manufactured crowns to the clinic in a non-contact manner. The clinical effectiveness of such an approach was assessed by criteria of clinical time expenditures associated with appropriate crowns fitting and fixation, clinical marginal fit, and risk reduction considering COVID-19 transmission.ResultsAnalysis of 116 cases demonstrated that in 81.89% of cases, time expenditures associated with appropriate crowns fitting and fixation were not statistically different (p > 0.05) from those needed for crowns manufactured by usual digital protocols. Clinical marginal fit in 70.68% cases was classified as “excellent”, in 21.55% cases – as “good”, and in 7.76% cases – as “appropriate”. Risk reduction of COVID-19 transmission considering a possible way of disease spread varied in the range of 34.61-56.78%.ConclusionsA proposed approach for full zirconium crowns manufacturing developed specifically under sanitary restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic optimizes the quality of dental care considering limited clinical access to an intraoral scanner while demonstrating sufficient clinical effectiveness in the means of marginal crowns fit and clinical time expenditures.

Widening inequities in clean cooking fuel use and food security: compounding effects of COVID-19 restrictions and VAT on LPG in a Kenyan informal urban settlement

Universal access to cleaner cooking fuels (including liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)) is a key target of Sustainable Development Goal 7. Currently, approximately 40 million Kenyans rely on polluting cooking fuels (e.g. charcoal, wood). While the Kenyan government aims to rapidly scale up use of LPG for cooking by 2030, COVID-19 restrictions and a 16% value added tax (VAT) re-introduced on LPG in 2021 have likely hampered progress in LPG uptake. We aimed to quantify the effect of these economic shocks on food and energy security in Langas informal urban settlement in western Kenya. We further evaluated whether households most adversely affected by COVID-19 restrictions were more likely to be socioeconomically impacted by the VAT re-imposition. A cross-sectional survey (n = 1542) assessed changes in cooking fuel patterns, food security and livelihoods of primary cooks due to these two economic shocks. While under COVID-19 restrictions, 75% (n = 1147) of participants reported income declines and 18% (n = 164) of participants using LPG (n = 922) switched their primary cooking fuel to charcoal, wood or kerosene. Households reporting lower income while under COVID-19 restrictions had 5.3 times (95% CI:[3.8,7.4]) the odds of experiencing food insecurity as those with no change in income. Unemployment and food insecurity under COVID-19 restrictions were substantially higher among informal sector workers (70% and 60%, respectively) compared with business/government employees (45% and 37%, respectively). Following the VAT re-introduction, 44% (n = 356) of households using LPG consumed less, and 34% (n = 276) cooked more frequently with polluting fuels. Individuals switching away from LPG under COVID-19 restrictions had 3.0 times (95% CI:[2.1,4.3]) the odds of reducing their LPG consumption due to the VAT re-introduction as those maintaining use of LPG. COVID-19 restrictions and the VAT re-introduction disproportionately negatively affected informal sector workers’ livelihoods. A zero-rating of VAT on LPG can help alleviate deepened inequities in LPG access in Kenya.

Pegasus Hava Yolları’nın Covid-19 Instagram Paylaşımları Üzerinden Kültürel Boyutların Okunması

Covid-19 salgınını dünyaya yayılmasının ardından gelen birçok kısıtlama ve tedbir yaşantımızda büyük değişikliklere yol açmıştır. Dünyanın genelinde kısıtlama ve tedbirler benzer olsa da hastalığın yayılımı farklı ülkelerde farklı gidişatlar seyretmiştir. Yapılan çalışmalarda bu farklılıkların kültürel boyutlar ile açıklanabildiği görülmüştür. Pandemi ile mücadele etmenin ilk adımı teması azaltmak olarak belirlenmiştir. Bu nedenle uçuşlar bir süreliğine askıya alınmıştır. Bu süreçte hava yolları hem iptal olan uçuşlar hakkında bilgi vermek hem de müşteri sadakatini sürdürmek için sosyal medya araçlarını aktif şekilde kullanmıştır. “Pandemi gidişatını etkileyen kültürel boyutların hava yolu iletişim stratejilerinde de kendine yer bulmakta mıdır?” sorusu çalışmanın problemini oluşturmaktadır. Gönderilerde Türkiye’nin kültürel boyutlarına uygun temalara yer verilip verilmediğini bulmak çalışmanın amacıdır. Yaşam tarzımızı açıklayan kültürel boyutlar aynı zamanda pazarlama çalışmalarında önemli bir rol oynadığı ve bilinçli veya bilinçsiz bir şekilde şirketler tarafından müşteri ile iletişimde bu boyutlara uygun iletişim kurulduğu öngörülmektedir. Bu kavramlar ekseninde Pegasus Hava Yolu şirketinin, en çok kullanılan sosyal medya araçlarından biri olan Instagram hesabından 27 Mart- 13 Haziran 2020 tarih aralığında paylaşılan 33 fotoğraftan Covid-19 kısıtlamaları hakkında olan 23 tanesi içerik analizi yöntemiyle incelenmiştir. Çalışmada Kültürel Boyutlar Kuramı’nın Bireysellik Erillik ve Belirsizlikten Kaçınma boyutları ele alınmıştır. Gönderilerde tespit edilen boyutlar ile Türkiye ulusal boyutları arasında pozitif ilişki tespit edilmiştir. Ínstagram gönderilerinde kültürel boyutları ifade eden temaların bulunması ve bu boyutların toplumsal boyutlarla eşdeğerlik göstermesi, kültürel boyutların hava yollarının sosyal medya iletişim stratejilerinde kendine yer bulduğunu göstermiştir.Alternate : Many restrictions and measures that followed the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic to the world have led to great changes in our lives. Although restrictions and measures are similar throughout the world, the spread of the disease has followed different trends in different countries. Studies have shown that these differences can be explained by cultural dimensions. The first step to fight the pandemic has been determined to reduce contact. The way to reduce contact is to prevent human mobility. Therefore, flights have been suspended for a while. In this process, airlines actively used social media tools to inform their passengers about canceled flights and to maintain customer loyalty. The assumption that the cultural dimensions affecting the course of the pandemic should also find a place in airline communication strategies has made the study necessary. The importance of developing a marketing communication strategy suitable for customer culture has been recognized in the field. It is predicted that the cultural dimensions that explain our lifestyle also play an important role in marketing studies and that companies consciously or unconsciously communicate with customers in accordance with these dimensions. In line with these concepts, the posts of Pegasus Airlines from the Instagram account, one of the most used social media tools, during the Covid-19 restrictions process will be analyzed by content analysis method. It will be researched whether themes suitable for Turkey's cultural dimensions are included in the posts. In the study, if it is seen that the Theory of Cultural Dimensions finds its place in the images that are the post form of Instagram, it will be understood that it will contribute to different fields such as marketing, visual culture and social media.

Socioeconomic Factors and Changes in Food Choice and Availability During COVID-19 Restrictions in Latvia

The COVID-19 pandemic changed the life of many. The study aimed to identify fragile groups of the population regarding nutrition during the COVID-19 restriction period. An online survey was conducted from 26 July to 3 September 2020. A total of 1173 answers were received from persons aged 18–68 years living in Latvia. The results showed that food availability mainly was not limited, although for 15.3% responders restrictions caused increased worries about not having enough food, and 12.2% noted a decrease in the ability to eat preferred food. Responders aged 40–54 noted that they ate less, and that their food stocks were scarce in comparison with other age groups. Almost 50% of responders increased food consumption. One-fifth of responders increased consumption of foods of low nutritional value, especially among 25–39 year old persons and in households where the economic situation became worse. Fragile groups regarding nutrition in times of COVID-19 restrictions included households whose economic situation became worse during the COVID-19 restrictions, younger people who increased food consumption together with consumption of food of low nutritional value, and persons aged 40–54 years. The data from the study serve as an indicator that more detailed research is needed to determine whether crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic are changing dietary habits and food availability in the population.