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The COVID-19 pandemic substantially impacted the mental health of the general population and particularly vulnerable individuals and groups. A wealth of research allows for estimating this impact and identifying relevant factors contributing to or mitigating it. The current paper presents and synthesizes this evidence into a multiaxial model of COVID-19 mental health impacts. Based on existing research, we propose four axes: (1) Exposure to COVID-related events; (2) Personal and social vulnerability, such as previous mental health problems or belonging to a vulnerable group; (3) Time, which accounts for the differential impacts throughout the development of the pandemic; and (4) Context, including healthcare and public policies, and social representations of the illness influencing individual emotional reactions and relevant behaviors. These axes help acknowledge the complexity of communities' reactions and are pragmatic in identifying and prioritizing factors. The axes can provide individual information (i.e., more exposure is harmful) and account for interactions (e.g., exposure in an early phase of the pandemic differs from a later stage). This model contributes to the reflections of the evidence and informs the mental health response to the next pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has had a profound influence on different sectors of society, including health. This study hypothesized a significant impact of the pandemic on the quality of life and psychosocial well-being of urothelial cancer patients, specifically anticipating a decrease in anxiety and depression scores as the pandemic progressed. The primary objectives were to assess longitudinal changes in quality of life indexes, evaluate Healthcare Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) score trends over three years (2020–2022), and identify any correlational patterns between the progression of the pandemic and anxiety, depression, and stress levels among this cohort. A cross-sectional analysis was conducted on Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) 1 and Tumor Node Metastasis (TNM) stage 1 bladder cancer patients from the Timis County Emergency Clinical Hospital in Romania. Sixty patients were evaluated each year from 2020 to 2022, utilizing a detailed selection process involving the review of both the hospital database and paper records. Key data included demographic information, medical history, and responses to the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), Short Form (SF-36), HADS, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) questionnaires. A total of 163 completed questionnaires were analyzed, providing insight into various aspects of patients' experiences during the pandemic. Notably, the mean hospitalization days ranged from 3.6 ± 2.1 days in 2020 to 4.0 ± 2.4 days in 2022 (p = 0.663). Concerns that current symptoms might be pandemic-related spiked to 63.5% in 2021, but reduced to 50.9% in 2022, with this fluctuation being significant (p = 0.026). The perception of decreased quality of or accessibility to medical care was significant over the years, with a decline to 52.7% in 2022 (p = 0.033). Quality of life assessments demonstrated an upward trend, from an average score of 55.9 ± 8.9 in 2020 to 59.3 ± 8.8 in 2022 (p = 0.049). Interestingly, anxiety levels, as indicated by the HADS survey, revealed a significant decline from a score of 7.8 in 2020 to 6.5 in 2022 (p = 0.008). On the other hand, GAD-7 scores displayed a downward trend over the years, potentially indicative of developed coping strategies (p = 0.034). This study provides a comprehensive insight into the fluctuating dynamics of psychosocial factors and quality of life among urothelial cancer patients during the pandemic years. It underscores a potential adaptive response, as evidenced by the decrease in anxiety levels and an upward trend in the quality of life scores over the period. These findings highlight the resilience and adaptability of this patient cohort amidst the challenges posed by the pandemic, potentially guiding future interventions and supports in similar health crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on a survey of contemporary collecting projects aiming to document the COVID-19 pandemic in museums and other memory organizations. The survey focused on European memory organizations and investigated the practices they adopted in collecting, accessioning, recording, preserving, and displaying material and immaterial witnesses of the pandemic. This paper presents the results of the survey, with a particular attention on the challenges faced by these projects in relation to born-digital objects. It discusses how organizations were able to quickly launch initiatives aimed at collecting memories of the pandemic, drawing on different collection methods, adapting to the circumstances, and using a proactive attitude to reach out to different communities. The paper highlights the solutions adopted to ensure legal compliance in these projects and discusses the need for ethical considerations in relation to the collection of traumatic memories. It suggests that these collecting projects are likely to face significant challenges in the subsequent processing of this material—due to its volume and the need for new digital curation and preservation workflows. Therefore, the paper argues that these projects could also lead to a renewed attention and collaboration across the heritage sector on issues of digital curation and preservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has severely affected people's lives worldwide in an unexpected manner. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), several viral epidemics continue to occur and pose a significant public health problem. Until May 2023, there have been 676 million cases of COVID-19 infections and over 6.8 million deaths, globally. This paper surveys the role and effectiveness of advanced fifth-generation (5G)/beyond 5G (B5G)/sixth-generation (6G) technologies, combined with mobile applications (apps) and the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), in detecting, managing, and mitigating the spread of COVID-19 and designing smart healthcare infrastructures for future pandemics. Analyzing and summarizing the research of relevant scholars based on the impact of 5G/B5G/6G and other technologies on COVID-19. The study tabulates the technical characteristics and effectiveness of different technologies in the context of COVID-19, summarizing the research of previous scholars. Challenges and design issues in the implementation of advanced information and telecommunication systems were demonstrated. These technologies can inspire the design of smart healthcare infrastructures to combat future virus pandemics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When major emergencies or accidents occur, risk evaluation and prediction are the most important means to reduce their impact. Typical risk evaluation uses the failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) method for failure-risk ranking and control. However, when faced with severe special infectious diseases such as COVID-19, there are many cognitive and information uncertainties that the FMEA method is unable to effectively handle. To effectively deal with the issue of risk evaluation when major emergencies or accidents occur, this paper integrated the risk-priority number and spherical fuzzy-sets methods to propose a novel emergency-risk-evaluation method. In the numerical verification, this paper applied the example of preventing secondary COVID-19 transmissions in hospitals to explain the calculation procedure and validity of the proposed new emergency-risk-evaluation approach. The calculation results were also compared with the typical RPN, fuzzy-set, and intuitionistic fuzzy-set methods. The calculation results showed that the proposed new emergency-risk-evaluation approach could effectively handle the cognitive and informational uncertainties of emergency-risk-evaluation issues during the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to investigate the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the financial performance and cash holdings of Chinese agri-food companies. We also examine whether or not company ownership, the affected areas, and leverage level affect this relationship. The empirical results show that the COVID-19 outbreak has had no significant impact on financial performance and the cash-holding level of agri-food companies. In addition, the financial performance of state-owned companies is enhanced during such a crisis, whereas COVID-19 reduced the financial performance and cash-holding level of privately owned companies. In middle- and high-risk areas, the pandemic has had a negative impact on financial performance, while it has had a positive impact on financial performance in low-risk areas. The negative impact of COVID-19 on cash holding is greater in highly leveraged companies than it has been in low-leveraged companies. This paper may provide some new insights for managers to ensure smooth operation and improve firms' performance in order to overcome this crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leaders on the forefront of the rapidly escalating climate crisis continually seek effective strategies to help communities stay engaged without burning out or spiraling into despair. This paper examines the concept of adaptive change for its potential to reframe disruption and intentionally harness its potential for building resilience in both practical and psychological ways. In particular, social science suggests that secure communal bonds lay the foundation for the adaptive ability to build resilience through and from disruption. Swiss history offers an intriguing example of this phenomenon: held up as a model for its social, political, and ecological resilience, Swiss democracy evolved as part of the restructuring of society after a series of disruptive historical pandemics. This paper uses the Swiss example and the current COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease) pandemic in order to explore the potential of transcendent and adaptive sociological and theological frameworks for the development of robust concepts of resilience in the face of climate destabilization. It further argues that a wide theological interpretation of Eucharistic abundance offers a lens through which to claim the liberative resurrection of disruptions, even, or perhaps especially, in the extreme case of human or planetary annihilation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to identify the changes in religiosity among Catholic practitioners in Poland that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, based on the changes in the realization of religious practices by students (N = 354). A questionnaire prepared by the authors was used for the study. We sought to answer the question of the extent to which the socio-demographic characteristics of the subjects, a history of COVID-19, and the death of a family member due to SARS-CoV-2 infection differentiated the subjects' opinions about religiosity and their undertaking of religious practices. The paper also addresses the issue of media-facilitated religious practices. The study showed that the frequency of religious practices was influenced by the perceived religiosity of the family, the religiosity of the respondent, and the declaration concerning the belief in God. The same factors most often significantly differentiated respondents' opinions on COVID-19. No relationship was confirmed between having COVID-19 and subjects' beliefs about the pandemic or frequency of religious practice. Among the respondents, the pandemic did not intensify the practice of religion. In the face of danger, respondents did not turn to God; there was no revitalization of religion. The situation of limiting the physical experience communion of the Church was treated not as an acute undersupply but as an opportunity or a pretext to abandon the practice of religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected many aspects of life. The aim of this study was to assess the mental state of medical personnel most involved with patients affected by SARS-CoV-2. Methods: The survey research was conducted between October 2021 and March 2022. The study group included 46 paramedics, 48 nurses, and 6 individuals from both professions, ranging in age from 21 to 67 years. Data were collected using paper questionnaires that contained 44 questions. Results: During the pandemic, respondents maintained good contact with their colleagues and were competent enough to help their patients. The main factors that influenced their stress or dissatisfaction were the number of patients and the number of tasks. The nurses and paramedics most frequently reported symptoms related to tension, insomnia, and problems with intellectual performance. The pandemic situation led to the abandonment of hobbies and deterioration of relationships with friends and family. Conclusion: As a result of high stress levels, paramedics and nurses frequently suffered from tension and insomnia. The factors described were associated with poorer well-being of the subjects in various functional areas, even before the pandemic period. This was mainly related to the large number of patients and the tasks. However, this work, as well as studies by other authors, come to alarming conclusions that should draw attention to the mental state of medical staff, as this is the group that is highly responsible for the medical care of patients, especially in such a difficult time as a pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic had an enormous impact on the tourism sector. Economies with a large weight of external tourism were especially affected, as was the case with the Azores region. This paper aims to analyse the level of this crisis and the resilience of tourism recreation companies specializing in canyoning in the Azores region, and whether these reactions led to more sustainable business models. The adopted methodology considered the analysis of recent statistical data on tourism and the available information on COVID-19 pandemic-related impacts. In parallel, questionnaires were applied to all tourism recreation companies in Portugal, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with all the canyoning providers in the Azores region. Results show that all companies survived the crisis, and some have made significant changes to their business models. Furthermore, some degree of success was observed in how services adapted to new demand characteristics, given the small size of most of these businesses and the specialization of their products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper was to examine whether the COVID-19 epidemic has slowed the fulfilment of one of the core tasks of the energy sector "Ensure Access to Affordable, Reliable, Sustainable and Modern Energy for All" (SDG7) taking into account corporate social responsibility. Four research questions and hypotheses were posed, relating to the perspectives of local authorities, the activities of large energy companies, the impact of the epidemic on the implementation of the SDG7 and, in addition, to the understanding of CSR principles from the point of view of ordinary entrepreneurs. A qualitative descriptive analysis based on two reliable databases and a survey procedure (Question 4) was used to answer the research questions posed. The goal was achieved by positively confirming three hypotheses and testing one negatively, relating to COVID-19's slowing role in SDG7 implementation. The analysis showed that the 2020–2021 epidemic in Poland has led to more initiatives in this area, contrary to expectations. However, they were linked to the simultaneous implementation of other SDGs, which distorted their importance for achieving Goal 7. In summary, although energy companies were more active than expected during the epidemic, they had a low contribution to SDG 7. This also applies to local authorities. An analysis of the knowledge about CSR in a group of entrepreneurs from the Lublin district (case study) confirmed the opinion appearing in the literature about the lack of understanding of the concept and the need for its application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic dealt a severe blow to society as a whole and required countries to confront a situation that exceeded the limits of their borders. In this paper, we analyze how these countries as well as supranational organizations responded to this unprepared global emergency. We also explore what alternative models have been proposed in the wake of this crisis and propose some changes—other ways of acting—so that in future pandemics or global emergencies, we can deal with the situation more effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outburst of the COVID-19 pandemic and its rapid spread throughout the world in 2020 shed a new light on mathematic models describing the nature of epidemics. However, as the pandemic shocked economies to a much greater extent than earlier epidemics, the recovery potential of economies was emphasized and its inclusion in epidemic models is becoming more important. The present paper deals with the issues of modeling the recovery of economic systems that have undergone severe medical shocks, such as COVID-19. The proposed mathematical model considers the close relationship between the dynamics of pandemics and economic development. This distinguishes it from purely "medical" models, which are used exclusively to study the dynamics of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike standard SIR models, the present approach involves the introduction of the "vaccine" equation to the SIR model and introduces correction components that include the possibility of re-infection and other nuances such as the number of people at risk of infection (not sick with COVID but not vaccinated); sick with COVID; recovered; fully vaccinated (two doses) citizens; the rate of COVID infection; the rate of recovery of infected individuals; the vaccination coefficients, respectively, for those who have not been ill and recovered from COVID; the coefficient of revaccination; the COVID re-infection rate; and the population fluctuation coefficient, which takes into account the effect of population change as a result of births and deaths and due to the departure and return of citizens. The present model contains governance so that it not only generates scenario projections but also models specific governance measures as well to include the pandemic and restore economic growth. The model also adds management issues, so that it not only generates scenario forecasts but simultaneously models specific management measures as well, aiming to suppress the pandemic and restoring economic growth. The model was implemented on specific data on the dynamics of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in selected developing economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of the new SARS-CoV-2 virus two years ago strongly affected economic life and labour markets around the world. The pandemic affected many sectors, including the mining industry. Coal companies have had to cope with the challenges and adapt their operations to the situation. Due to the peculiarities of the mines, not only to the hazardous factors and conditions prevailing underground but also to the large number of employees who usually move in groups in the plants, the emergence of a new threat caused by a biological agent posed a real challenge for them. The aim of this paper was to present the initiatives and measures taken in the coal mining sector to ensure the safety of workers during a pandemic. The guidelines for the operation of mining plants during the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic were analysed, as well as the identification of locations in mining plants particularly vulnerable to infection with the virus. We also presented how the pandemic period affected the operations of a selected coal company in Poland from an economic point of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increased mortality due to SARS-CoV-2 infection was observed among solid organ transplant patients. During the pandemic, in order to prevent and treat COVID-19 infections in this context, several innovative procedures and therapies were initiated within a short period of time. A large number of these innovations can be applied and expanded to improve the management of non-COVID-19 infectious diseases in solid organ transplant patients and in the case of a future pandemic. In this vein, the present paper reviews and discusses medical care system adaptation, modification of immunosuppression, adjuvant innovative therapies, the role of laboratory expertise, and the prevention of infections as examples of such innovations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to study the role of broadband in mitigating the economic losses resulting from COVID-19 in the United States by providing a necessary infrastructure to keep economic systems operating, albeit partially. The study is based on an empirical framework underlined by a Cobb–Douglas production function and estimated within a structural multi-equation model through the three-stage least squares approach. To consider the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, we rely on two main variables: an indicator of the quantity of deaths attributed to the disease for every 100,000 inhabitants; and the Stringency Index, a metric linked to the intensity of social restrictions imposed by national and local governments. The main contribution of this article is to provide robust evidence for how the heterogeneous effects of the pandemic across states are in part explained by differences in broadband adoption. Our results indicate that those states with higher broadband adoption were able to mitigate a larger portion of their economic losses derived from the pandemic-induced lockdowns. Addressing the digital divide and ensuring universal access to broadband represent critical goals for building economic resilience to face future emergencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The date assumed as the beginning of the pandemic in Poland is 4 March 2020, the date of the first confirmed case of the virus. This article presents the actions undertaken by the management of underground hard coal mining plants concerning the risk of epidemic related to SARS-CoV-2. This work shows a set of implemented recommendations, guidelines and decisions, which were established after the appearance of the first wave of cases in Poland. What is more, it discusses measures aiming at reducing the risk of spreading the coronavirus among the mineworkers. The suggestions for different variants of the decision-making process concerning the pandemic and which have an enormous impact on the operating expenses of the company are also made. The paper presents the results of the study on actions taken in individual mining companies and good work practices recommended to be applied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beginning in December 2019, the world faced a critical new public health stressor with the emergence of SARS-CoV-2. Its spread was extraordinarily rapid, and in a matter of weeks countries across the world were affected, notably in their ability to manage health care needs. While many sectors of public structures were impacted by the pandemic, it particularly highlighted shortcomings in medical care infrastructures around the world that underscored the need to reorganize medical systems, as they were vastly unprepared and ill-equipped to manage a pandemic and simultaneously provide general and specialized medical care. This paper presents modalities in approaches to the pandemic by various countries, and the triaged reorganization of medical sections not considered first-line in the pandemic that was in many cases transformed into wards for treating COVID-19 cases. As new viruses and structural variants emerge, it is important to find solutions to streamline medical care in hospitals, which includes the expansion of digital network medicine (i.e., telemedicine and mobile health apps) for patients to continue to receive appropriate care without risking exposure to contagions. Mobile health app development continues to evolve with specialized diagnostics capabilities via external attachments that can provide rapid information sharing between patients and care providers while eliminating the need for office visits. Telemedicine, still in the early stages of adoption, especially in the developing world, can ensure access to medical information and contact with care providers, with the potential to release emergency rooms from excessive cases, and offer multidisciplinary access for patients and care providers that can also be a means to avoid contact during a pandemic. As this pandemic illustrated, an overhaul to streamline health care is essential, and a move towards greater use of mobile health and telemedicine will greatly benefit public health to control the spread of new variants and future outbreaks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Valued in hundreds of billions of Malaysian ringgit, the Bursa Malaysia Financial Services Index's constituents comprise several of the strongest performing financial constituents in Bursa Malaysia's Main Market. Although these constituents persistently reside mostly within the large market capitalization (cap), the existence of the individual constituent's causal influence or intensity relative to each other's performance during uncertain or even certain times is unknown. Thus, the key purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze the individual constituent's causal intensity, from early 2018 (pre-COVID-19) to the end of the year 2021 (post-COVID-19) using Granger causality and Schreiber transfer entropy. Furthermore, network science is used to measure and visualize the fluctuating causal degree of the source and the effected constituents. The results show that both the Granger causality and Schreiber transfer entropy networks detected patterns of increasing causality from pre- to post-COVID-19 but with differing causal intensities. Unexpectedly, both networks showed that the small- and mid-caps had high causal intensity during and after COVID-19. Using Bursa Malaysia's sub-sector for further analysis, the Insurance sub-sector rapidly increased in causality as the year progressed, making it one of the index's largest sources of causality. Even after removing large amounts of weak causal intensities, Schreiber transfer entropy was still able to detect higher amounts of causal sources from the Insurance sub-sector, whilst Granger causal sources declined rapidly post-COVID-19. The method of using directed temporal networks for the visualization of temporal causal sources is demonstrated to be a powerful approach that can aid in investment decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A quick and effective solution to address the immediate change in teaching methods after the COVID-19 pandemic was digital learning environments (DLEs). The way in which this process of change towards DLEs was tackled was different around the world, depending on multiple factors, including the level of digitization, technology, and innovation. This paper conducts quantitative research on the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on the adaptation of university professors to DLEs. In order to achieve this objective, a sample of 723 university professors from 15 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean was taken. The participants' self-perception of the stress generated and their levels of digital competence during the COVID-19 pandemic were studied according to the Global Innovation Index (GII) of their country of origin. The results show that professors have an intermediate–high self-perception of both their digital competence and their ability to adapt to DLEs. It is also shown that neither the professors' level of digital competence nor the GII of the country of origin fully explain the level of pandemic stress regarding the use of DLEs. This fact suggests that there must be other influential factors to consider, thus opening new lines of future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the COVID-19 period, many authors observed changes occurring in pilgrimage along the Way of Saint James. Pandemics have appeared many times in the history of this route, causing changes in the behavior of pilgrims and their environment, such as improvements in healthcare. In this paper, we begin by examining the new contributions that the pandemic has made to the contemporary religious experience of the Camino. The pandemic can be read in a twofold manner: as an attempt to "verify" the motives and as an "opportunity" to preserve the essence of pilgrimage; it also seems to be capable of changing the attitudes of the residents living along the Camino towards the pilgrims. Next, we point to several phenomena that appear on the horizon of the post-pandemic Camino, such as the isolationism of pilgrims, the dominance of individualism, the medicalization of pilgrimage and the restrictions on access to religious practices. This opens up the question of new forms of asceticism with which the Camino has been associated and new trends in pilgrimage to Compostela. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The COVID-19 lockdowns imposed new challenges to couples who were planning to conceive. In this research paper, we aimed to study the perceptions of women in Jordan during the pandemic regarding fertility behavior, the desire to use assisted reproductive technology (ART) and the awareness and beliefs of potential risks related to conception. Methods: A validated online-based questionnaire was distributed to women from April–May 2020, Statistical analysis was performed using the statistical software SPSS version 22 and R software (2020); p values ≤ 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: The total number of participants was 814 women, with 78.2% of the participants (58.7% fertile and 76.6% infertile) believing that pregnancy during the COVID-19 pandemic could be risky. Among them, 16% and 40%, respectively, were trying to conceive during the pandemic, and 97.4% and 89.9%, respectively, were not willing to use ART if needed during the pandemic. Young, nulliparous women who were married for less than one year were significantly associated with the desire to conceive during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: This study concluded that the fertility behavior of women in Jordan changed during the pandemic, and their desire for natural conception and for using ART declined, as they believed that there were potential risks related to conceiving during the pandemic. However, the effect was greater among the general fertile population than the infertile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modeling the number of individuals in different states is a principal tool in the event of an epidemic. The natural transition of individuals between possible states often includes deliberate interference such as isolation or vaccination. Thus, the mathematical model may need to be re-calibrated due to various factors. The model considered in this paper is the SIRD epidemic model. An additional parameter is the moment of changing the description of the phenomenon when the parameters of the model change and the change is not pre-specified. Detecting and estimating the moment of change in real time is the subject of statistical research. A sequential (online) approach was applied using the Bayesian shift point detection algorithm and trimmed exact linear time. We show how methods of analysis behave in different instances. These methods are verified on simulated data and applied to pandemic data of a selected European country. The simulation is performed with a social network graph to obtain a practical representation ability. The epidemiological data used come from the territory of Poland and concern the COVID-19 epidemic in Poland. The results show satisfactory detection of the moments where the applied model needs to be verified and re-calibrated. These show the effectiveness of the proposed combination of methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ever since the World Health Organization gave the name COVID-19 to the coronavirus pneumonia disease, much of the world has been severely impact by the pandemic socially and economically. In this paper, the mathematical modeling and stability analyses in terms of the susceptible–exposed–infected–removed (SEIR) model with a nonlinear incidence rate, along with media interaction effects, are presented. The sliding mode control methodology is used to design a robust closed loop control of the epidemiological system, where the property of symmetry in the Lyapunov function plays a vital role in achieving the global asymptotic stability in the output. Two policies are considered: the first considers only the governmental interaction, the second considers only the vaccination policy. Numerical simulations of the control algorithms are then evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A pneumonia outbreak was primarily reported in the fall of 2019 in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, with the identity SARS-CoV-2, a novel coronavirus. It quickly grew from a local epidemic to a global pandemic and was declared a public health emergency by the WHO. A total of three prominent waves were identified across the globe, with a slight temporal variability as per the geographical locations, and has impacted several sectors which connect the world. By March 2022, the coronavirus had infected 444.12 million people and claimed 6.01 million human lives worldwide, and these numbers have not yet stabilized. Our paper enlightens readers on the seven strains of human coronaviruses, with special emphasis on the three severe deadliest outbreaks (SARS-2002, MERS-2012, and COVID-19). This work attempts a comprehensive understanding of the coronavirus and its impact on the possible sectors that link the world through the economic chain, climate conditions, SDGs, recycling of the event, and mitigations. There are many points that are raised by the authors in the possible sectors, which are emerging or are as yet unnoticed and thus have not been taken into consideration. This comprehension will leave sets of new challenges and opportunities for the researchers in various streams, especially in earth sciences. Science-integrated research may help to prevent upcoming disasters as a by-product of (existing) epidemics in the form of coronavirus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has had an immense impact on the treatment protocols of orthopedic and trauma departments, yet its specific effect on mortality in patients with hip fractures due to possible surgical delays is still unclear. The purpose of this paper was to investigate whether the COVID-19 pandemic worsened the mortality rate of hip fracture patients. Patients and methods: This study comprised 175 prospectively included patients who (1) suffered from hip fractures, (2) presented during the Austrian state of emergency period from 15 March 2020 to 30 May 2021, and (3) were admitted to a level I trauma center. This cohort was compared with a retrospective control group of 339 patients admitted for hip fractures during the same timeframe in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Results: An admission reduction of 22% in the COVID period compared with the pre-COVID period was evident (p = 0.018). The 30-day mortality rate was 14.67% (pre-COVID) compared with 15.18% (p = 0.381). No differences in surgical complication rates or relationships between comorbidity burden and survival were observed. There were no significant changes in demographic variables, except for admission rate, gender (p = 0.013), and place of accident (p = 0.049). Conclusion: Surgeons should be reassured to take COVID-19 precautions, as this study did not show higher perioperative mortality due to COVID-19 measures. Under the current circumstances, with possibly reduced surgical and hospital bed capacities, it is expected that hip fractures may continue to require a high degree of resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During 2020–2021, the COVID-19 pandemics exacerbated the use of digital communication tools for the general population as well as for migrant and diasporic communities. Due to social distancing requirements, church activities had to be suspended or restricted, therefore, local congregations and denominations had to incorporate social media as part of their regular worship channels in an unprecedented way. At the same time, these new spaces opened an opportunity for diasporas to reconnect with their churches back home, and to participate in digital worship projects. In this paper, we study the case of the digital worship collective Adorando en Casa (AeC), which was started at the onset of the pandemics, producing several crowdsourced original musical compositions, uploaded in popular social media sites, and distributed via messaging apps. We focus on the reasons for participation of Venezuelan musicians and singers from different regions in the country, and from the large diaspora of Venezuelan Evangelicals. Additionally, we analyze the characteristics, structure, and theology of some of the songs recorded, to show how the concept of a digital diasporic spiritual consciousness is powerfully expressed through worship music. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current pandemic is sustained in dichotomies and distancing, as most of us awkwardly have recently experienced. Moreover, COVID-19 has definitely put the spotlight on social inequalities that are underpinning our society and it has highlighted the escalation of the state surveillance capability and new forms of oppression too. The discrimination ingrained in our societies, built on a historically defined regime of racialized oppression and structural disadvantage of racialized citizens and migrants, was produced well before the coronavirus, but it is now casting a different shade, reinforcing forms of exclusions, highlighting the pandemic as a political issue. Hence, this paper addresses a range of political perspectives of the lived experiences in and through social space with examples of narratives in language which capture the everyday political experiences of the pandemic within Europe. The kind of language used and its profound effect on the growing discourse regarding COVID-19 is the main focus in this paper. I here explore the intertwining of language and politics during the pandemic and bring out the countervailing narratives that seem to be in constant tension. I then ask where this takes us, not only in terms of scholarship and expansion of knowledge, but also with a pragmatic edge to it, trying to figure out how is it possible for us to achieve some sort of cognitive shift in our approach in order to learn from this challenge and from this new perspective. Methodologically, as well as looking at existing data, references to attitudes in general are made. A theoretical discussion on migration and language, and the kind of intersection between them, is offered, from the point of view of critical theory, before pointing to the metaphors used, the implications they allow, and how all these fit together, in the form of a concluding discussion. Metaphor or not, the power of language in its ramifications of articulations about the pandemic and the idea of distance underlines COVID-19 as a deeply political issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) is a rare and chronic neutrophil inflammation belonging to the spectrum of autoinflammatory disorders. Immunosuppressive therapy is the cornerstone of successful treatment. However, due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, physicians struggle with therapeutic strategies during infection. This paper describes the case of a 58-year-old patient with a very painful, rapidly increasing wound on his right foot, which was diagnosed as pyoderma gangrenosum. Five weeks after the initial treatment with high-dose immunosuppressives (combination therapy with cyclosporine A and systemic methylprednisolone), he became infected with COVID-19. Reduction in the immunosuppressive dosage proved effective, as the patient recovered from COVID-19 without any complication and showed rapid wound healing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maskne, a newly coined term deriving from the contraction of mask-related acne, is a form of mechanical acne resulting from continuous textile–skin adherence and friction. Prolonged mask use heats up the face environment, thus modifying skin microbiota and sebum production. Although effective prevalence is unknown, since the pandemic began and the prolonged use of masks was extended to the general population, maskne has been a frequent topic of consultation among dermatologists. This term has been successfully introduced into common language, with more than 200,000 hashtags on social media, where it is also possible to find "home remedies" that can worsen this dermatosis. The aim of this paper is to discuss the pathogenesis, address clinicians on the correct differential diagnoses among facial dermatoses, and move towards the correct therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the close link between economics and health in the context of emergency management. A widespread vaccination campaign is considered the main tool to contain the economic consequences. This paper will focus, at the level of wealth distribution modeling, on the economic improvements induced by the vaccination campaign in terms of its effectiveness rate. The economic trend during the pandemic is evaluated, resorting to a mathematical model joining a classical compartmental model including vaccinated individuals with a kinetic model of wealth distribution based on binary wealth exchanges. The interplay between wealth exchanges and the progress of the infectious disease is realized by assuming, on the one hand, that individuals in different compartments act differently in the economic process and, on the other hand, that the epidemic affects risk in economic transactions. Using the mathematical tools of kinetic theory, it is possible to identify the equilibrium states of the system and the formation of inequalities due to the pandemic in the wealth distribution of the population. Numerical experiments highlight the importance of the vaccination campaign and its positive effects in reducing economic inequalities in the multi-agent society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has raised many questions on how to manage an epidemiological and economic crisis around the world. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists and policy makers have been asking how effective lockdowns are in preventing and controlling the spread of the virus. In the absence of vaccines, the regulators lacked any plausible alternatives. Nevertheless, after the introduction of vaccinations, to what extent the conclusions of these analyses are still valid should be considered. In this paper, we present a study on the effect of vaccinations within the dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model with an agent-based epidemic component. Thus, we validated the results regarding the need to use lockdowns as an efficient tool for preventing and controlling epidemics that were obtained in November 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The e-commerce industry has been developing extremely dynamically for many years. This development was intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the research conducted by the authors of this paper, in Poland, during the pandemic, the number of delivered parcels increased 20–100%, depending on the courier company. The research of the authors of this article focused on the energy efficiency of the last mile, which is very important for the efficiency of the entire delivery process to customers. As the authors calculated, the last mile can consume over 70% of energy of the whole distribution channel. The article presents the results of research concerning the energy efficiency of deliveries performed by couriers and express companies in Poland. Two models of distribution used Poland have been compared—direct deliveries to final customers, and deliveries to parcel lockers. The research methods are interviews with the managers and couriers, analysis of the literature, and the simulation method. According to the results of the simulations performed by the authors, distribution with the use of parcels lockers can help reduce the consumption of fuel even by 74–87% per parcel or 36% per m3. Apart from this, the authors calculated the impact of scale of operations on the energy efficiency of the transport processes on the last mile, which is an indirect effect of the growth of the e-commerce market, caused by the pandemic. Based on the results of the original research of the authors, it can be assessed that the growth of the number of the delivered parcels during the pandemic resulted in the consumption of fuel per one parcel being reduced in some cases by over 36%. The novelty of the authors' research is that the conducted simulations regarded not only the efficiency of the processes, but also the energy consumption in delivering parcels at the last mile and during the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the outbreak of the COVID-19, offline consumption has been significantly impacted. For the sake of safety, online consumption has become the most common manner, and this has generated e-commerce, which not only breaks the spatio-temporal or regional restrictions, but also conforms to the normal economic development needs for epidemic prevention and control. However, this new business model causes problems such as the shortage of post-sales service, false publicity, and uneven quality of live streaming anchors, seriously affecting the interests of consumers. Therefore, it is urgent to strengthen the management of the chaos of live streaming. This study focuses on exploring the problems and the behavioral strategies of stakeholders in the governance process. The paper obtained online user comments by python, and used topic clustering and subject extraction methods to dig out the problems and related multiple subjects in live streaming at first. Secondly, the theory of social preference was introduced to construct an evolutionary game model among multiple subjects, and how to guide the behavioral decision-making of multiple subjects to standardize and rationalize was studied, so as to control the problem of live streaming. Finally, simulation experiments were conducted and the results demonstrated that: (1) Compared with strengthening the reciprocal preference of the government, live streaming platforms, and consumers, changing the individual's altruistic preference is more effective in controlling the chaos of live streaming; (2) weakening the platform's altruistic preference for anchors is conducive to creating a good live streaming environment; and (3) changing consumers' altruistic preference or reciprocal preference is less effective in promoting the governance of the live streaming environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: COVID-19 is a rapidly spreading and mutating pandemic. In the case of some people the disease can be fatal It has been observed that weight and age are parameters of comorbidity If it is difficult to take into account the uncertainties related to the combination of the two parameters to build up a model of simulation. Therefore, we propose in this article a SIR/SIH model with fuzzy parameters which allows us to simulate the pandemic in the absence of barrier actions and vaccines. In this paper, we propose a multi-group SIR to simulate the spread of COVID-19 in an island context. The multi-group aspect enables us to modelize transmissions of the virus between non-vaccinated individuals within an age group as well as between different age groups. In addition, fuzzy subsets and aggregation operators are used to account for the increased risks associated with age and obesity within these different groups. From a conceptual point of view, the model emphasizes the notion of Hospitalization which is the major stake of this pandemic by replacing the compartment R (Removed) by compartment H (Hospitalization). The experimental results were carried out using medical and demographic data from the archipelago, Guadeloupe (French West Indies) in the Caribbean. These results show that without the respect of barrier gestures, a first wave would concern the elderly then a second the adults and the young people, which conforms to the real data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]