Measuring the Physical Activity of Seniors before and during COVID-19 Restrictions in the Czech Republic.

Social workers require a better understanding of the impact of pandemic measures on the level of physical activity of their clients to better target client activation. In this retrospective tracker-based study (two years of measurement), we examined changes in the physical activity of the elderly population (204 participants with an average age of 84.5 years) in the Czech Republic as a result of measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Physical activity was statistically compared according to the physical, demographic and social conditions of the participants. In addition to observing the expected activity decrease during the COVID-19 pandemic, we made several hypotheses based on the sex, age group, body mass index, type of housing (apartment or house) and size of the city of residence. We found that 33% of the 204 participants had increased levels of physical activity in the period following the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in Central Europe. We found that the size of the city where the seniors lived and the type of housing did not affect the general level of physical activity. When comparing physical acquisition rates in each month of 2019 and 2020, we saw the largest declines in April and May 2020, that is, one month after the start of the lockdown.

Laboratory and In-Situ Testing of Integrated FBG Sensors for SHM for Concrete and Timber Structures.

Long-term structural health monitoring (SHM) plays an important role in the safety of public transport infrastructure such as bridges or tunnels and warns in the event of any emerging problem. This article describes development and testing of system based on fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors that can detect changes in strain and temperature. The first phase of the research has been focused on the development of new fiber optic sensors for the monitoring of concrete structures and their investigation in laboratory conditions. The work also shows novel applicability of the same FBG technology for glulam structures. Mechanical loading tests of the concrete beam as well as glulam beam with embedded sensors were carried out. Data measured by developed fiber optic sensors were compared with the readings from reference sensors as well as with the analytically calculated values. The achieved results proved good agreement between the measured data, analytical data and reference methods. In second phase of the research, the pilot installation of the sensors was carried out on the newly constructed prestressed-concrete bridge. The bridge was monitored throughout pre-stressing phase and monitoring continued after the completion of the construction works. Problems with the fragility of the sensors occurred during the measurements, but the obtained results provide a good basis for further improvement of the system.