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The covid-19 pandemic caused countries around the globe to take measures, and to construct a specific set of language to talk about the virus. The present discussion paper aims to unpack this language based on Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of ‘symbolic power’, and social observations. The analysis indicates that the covid-19 field was formulated where an official language was produced, including scientific, war, enforcement and censorship linguistic practices. The paper discusses why there is not one covid-19 field and linguistic practice, causing a diversity of understanding the pandemic. The paper opens new directions in studies of language on public health threats.

Aim The aim and objective of this study was to understand how non‐specialized nurses understand the possible barriers and facilitators of inpatient care for type 1 diabetes. Design An interpretative phenomenology approach was conducted. Methods The sample consisted of non‐specialized nurses (N = 24) working in medical, surgical and nephrology wards in the state hospitals in Cyprus. The data were collected during 2016‐2018 from one focus group with nurses (N = 6) and individual semi‐structured interviews with nurses (N = 18) conducted. The Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research checklist used to ensure the quality of the study. Results It is evident from the study findings that nurses experience several barriers in diabetes inpatient care reported which are of great concern since this could have adverse effects on patients' outcomes. Only one facilitator has been reported by few nurses.

Now more than ever, monitoring railway track geometry from in-service vehicles is an attractive proposition that ensures improved infrastructure performance without interrupting railway operations. Communicating the collected sensors-data to a central server has always been an issue due to the current GSM-R and LTE data-rate and spectrum limitations. The prospect of opportunistic access to an inefficiently utilised frequency spectrum, known as TV White Spaces (TVWS), is proposed to solve the spectrum scarcity problem that exploits desirable railway propagation characteristics. In order to provide full protection for the spectrum primary users, IEEE 802.22 standard sets strict policies on the mobile platforms. This research proposes a novel handover scheme that utilises a greedy algorithm to select the operational frequency channels. The scheme takes into account; the train’s trajectory, including the possibility of train delays, and coexistence issues between the spectrum’s secondary users. A case study of two trains reporting their collected maintenance data to 3 Access Points (APs) while travelling between Selly Oak and New Street Station, Birmingham, UK is presented. For high channels availability (≥40%), an average of 30 megabytes of extra track data can be transmitted using the new approach for an 8 min journey. In addition, a single channel can be used in the new approach for an average consecutive distance of 1.05 km compared with an average of 0.58 km for IEEE 802.22 standard. Both systems provide identical interference performance with more transmission power that can reach up to 42.2 dBm allowed under the new scheme.

There is evidence to suggest that athletes face multiple challenges during their career from injuries, to pressure from parents, competition, lack of support and so forth. A psychologist is important for helping the athlete overcome individual difficulties and succeed. This study is focusing on understanding the role of sports on athletes’ psychosocial development, the challenges they face and the psychological support they need from the athletes’ perspective. Through a qualitative research analysis, this study shows that a psychologist can have an overarching role and support not only the athlete but also the athletes’ environment such as the coach, parents and teachers. Reflecting this finding, an athlete-centred model is proposed.

Covid-19 is managed by many countries with the help of experts provided that people comply with the measures. This paper relies on the basic tenets of Beck’s theory of risk society to explain the production, distribution, and management of Covid-19 and makes suggestions for the management of future pandemics.

PBL tutors in medical schools worldwide are a diverse population of faculty (subject-expertise, employment status and tutoring experience). Tutors often receive a common initial training program followed by structured support. This study aims to understand tutor motivation, challenges and support needed, the relationship between them and whether a common training and support program is understood as effective. Tutor data (n =50) were analyzed based on age, gender, background, experience, employment status and campus location. Interestingly, the study revealed some evidence that a challenge for tutors is what disrupts their motivation and thus a relevant support mechanism is needed in order to re-establish or maintain this motivation. Specifically, the motivator “interaction with students” correlated with challenges “management of group dynamics”, “student adherence with PBL rules” and “professional behavior of students” whilst motivator “educational value of PBL” correlated with “student adherence with PBL rules”, “professional behavior of students” and “student information and expectations of PBL”. Further, tutors benefited from peer-reviews and opportunities to provide feedback whilst, their needs diverged in terms of content and assessment-related support, motivation and management of group dynamics. Thus, implementation of a framework for restructuring the tutor support system is necessary paving the way for an individualized support system.

Indoor wireless communications need to move towards Terahertz (THz) frequencies in order to keep up with society's demand for data transmission, but this change is currently hindered by limited knowledge of material properties and propagation and scattering models at these frequencies. The dielectric properties of common household materials are investigated here with a twofold objective: (1) to extend the library of material properties at THz, and (2) to estimate and disentangle losses in scattering measurements in order to facilitate propagation, scattering and, ultimately, channel models.

This paper presents the results of a narrative literature review on the use of interpreters in medical education. A careful search strategy was based on keywords and inclusion and exclusion criteria, and used the databases PubMed, Medline Ovid, Google Scholar, Scopus, CINAHL, and EBSCO. The search strategy resulted in 20 articles, which reflected the research aim and were reviewed on the basis of an interpretive approach. They were then critically appraised in accordance with the “critical assessment skills programme” guidelines. Results showed that the use of interpreters in medical education as part of the curriculum is scarce, but students have been trained in how to work with interpreters when interviewing patients to fully develop their skills. The study highlights the importance of integrating the use of interpreters in medical curricula, proposes a framework for achieving this, and suggests pertinent research questions for enriching cultural competence.

Experimental measurement results of automotive radar signal attenuation during various intensities of snowfall at the current automotive radar frequency (77 GHz) and low-terahertz (THz) (100-300 GHz) frequencies are presented and compared in this study. The attenuation is characterised by measuring the ratio of the received power from a reference target through snow precipitation of various intensities and through the same path with no precipitation. Statistical analysis of the attenuation is presented. Higher attenuation is measured at a higher frequency, and also attenuation increases as snowfall rate and liquid water content in snowflakes increases. This study is fundamentally important to investigate the effect of adverse weather conditions on low-THz radar performance in comparison with the current automotive radars operating in the traditional mm-wave band. In addition, the effects of low-THz wave attenuation and scattering due to typical contaminants formed on the radome of automotive radars and reflection from common objects on the road are presented.

This chapter presents the procedure and results of piloting vINCI, a new ambient assisted technology. vINCI aims to enhance older adults’ active life and quality of living by measuring end-users’ physical, psychological and social state and providing them with information and feedback about any necessary corrective measures they need to take. To achieve this, vINCI has been based on a microservices architecture and integrated IoT (Internet of Things) monitoring technologies and artificial intelligence. The interconnected devices which are capturing end-users’ biopsychosocial state are tablets (the vINCI app), smart insoles and smart watches. In order to ensure that end-users would accept and use such set of technologies, this study employed a mixed research methodology to understand any acceptability factors. The results indicated that clarity of instructions, comfort of technology, ease to use, usefulness, and a sense of safety, control, familiarity and normalisation were very important features of vINCI, which could cause participants to accept and use such technology. The study highlights the importance of a mixed research method for gauging acceptability in order to ensure that the end-users’ experience with new technology during pilots is fully captured and understood.

This chapter presents the results of a narrative literature review study of acceptability of new assistive and information technology, including Internet of Things (IoT) technologies and artificial intelligence, by older adults (65 or older). The study followed a careful search strategy in specific databases and was based on inclusion/exclusion criteria and keywords. The search strategy resulted in 28 articles, which reflected the research aim, and were reviewed on the basis of an interpretive approach and critically appraised in accordance with the ‘critical assessment skills programme’ guidelines. This study is an important contribution to scholarship because, unlike other literature reviews, it explored both assistive and information technology and looked for overarching reasons why older adults may accept new technology. The results showed that older adults accept technology when they have a good sense of control over the devices and their lives, the technology is useful, has characteristics which are not threatening, and other compromising factors such as financial cost, restricting health conditions and inappropriate physical environment are not present. Based on these findings, we propose the N-ACT principles whereby technology developers should consider users’ Needs, Adjustable technology and personalised service, users’ Control over technology and their lives and Trust in technology.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has significantly affected the well-being of individuals worldwide. We herein describe the epidemiology of COVID-19 in the Republic of Cyprus during the first epidemic wave (9 March&ndash, 3 May 2020). We analyzed surveillance data from laboratory-confirmed cases, including targeted testing and population screening. Statistical analyses included logistic regression. During the surveillance period, 64,136 tests (7322.3 per 100,000) were performed, 873 COVID-19 cases were diagnosed, and 20 deaths were reported (2.3%). Health-care workers (HCWs) represented 21.4% of cases. Overall, 19.1% of cases received hospital care and 3.7% required admission to Intensive Care Units. Male sex (adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR): 3.04, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.97&ndash, 4.69), increasing age (aOR: 1.56, 95%CI: 1.36&ndash, 1.79), symptoms at diagnosis (aOR: 6.05, 95%CI: 3.18&ndash, 11.50), and underlying health conditions (aOR: 2.08, 95%CI: 1.31&ndash, 3.31) were associated with hospitalization. For recovered cases, the median time from first to last second negative test was 21 days. Overall, 119 primary cases reported 616 close contacts, yielding a pooled secondary attack rate of 12% (95%CI: 9.6&ndash, 14.8%). Three population-based screening projects, and two projects targeting employees and HCWs, involving 25,496 people, revealed 60 positive individuals (0.2%). Early implementation of interventions with targeted and expanded testing facilitated prompt outbreak control on the island.

Critical reflection on own beliefs, within the context of cultural competence, has been acknowledged as an important skill doctors and medical students should have in order to enhance the quality of health care regardless of patients’ social and cultural background. Yet the guidelines for teaching students critical reflection on their own cultural beliefs are lacking. Based on the method of investigating short reflective narratives and Gibbs’ reflective cycle for development, this paper explores the experience of clinical communication tutors’ in examining cultural competence in OSCEs, how they felt, analyzed and concluded, and examines their account on how to construct a training model for dealing with such challenge in medical education.

Background A national breast cancer (BC) screening programme, targeting women 50-69 years old, was introduced in Cyprus in 2007. This study aims to assess rural/urban differences in BC incidence, tumour stage at diagnosis (TSD) and mortality, since 2004 and since the introduction of the screening programme. Methods Data were obtained for 6589 new cases of BC (diagnosis 2004-2016) from a national population-based cancer registry (1998-today) in Cyprus. TSD was recorded according to the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results categories. We defined late TSD as regional or distant stage. Unknown stages were excluded. We linked cases to the population census data and place of residence (rural/urban) and calculated incidence and mortality rate ratios (RR) by place of residence. We conducted logistic regression to measure the association between place of residence and TSD or mortality, adjusting for sex, age, ethnicity, smoking and marital status. Adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) are reported. Results Since 2004, 54.7% of BC cases were diagnosed at localised stage, 40.6% at regional stage and 4.7% at distant stage. Incidence, but not mortality, rate for all BC was higher in urban than in rural areas (RRincidece=1.22;95%CI=1.51-1.28 and RRmortality=1.10;95%CI=0.97-1.24). Rural place of residence was associated with higher odds of late TSD (aOR=1.34; 95%CI=1.15-1.58) and death (aOR=1.36; 95%CI=1.11-1.68). After the introduction of the screening programme, for the targeted age group, rural place of residence was still associated with higher odds of late TSD (aOR=1.31; 95%C= 1.03-1.67), but not with death (p > 0.05). Conclusions Even though BC incidence is higher in urban than in rural areas, women residing in rural areas had higher odds of late TSD and death. The introduction of the national BC screening programme only slightly reduced geographical inequalities in TSD. Further studies are needed to understand and reduce the role of inequalities in TSD. Key messages Rural/Urban inequalities in TSD are evident among BC cases in Cyprus, diagnosed between 2004 and 2016. The introduction of the national BC screening programme reduced but did not overcome geographical inequalities in TSD.

Background: The aim of this study was to comprehend how people with diabetes view their experiences of the possible barriers and facilitators in inpatient care for type 1 diabetes from non-specialized nurses. Design: An interpretative phenomenology analysis (IPA) was conducted. Methods: The sample consisted of people with type 1 diabetes 1 (n = 24) who use the services of the state hospitals in Cyprus. The data were collected in two phases: firstly, focus groups with people with diabetes (n = 2) were conducted and analysed, and then individual semi-structured interviews with people with diabetes (n = 12) were conducted. Results: It is evident from the findings that people with diabetes experienced several barriers in diabetes inpatient care, which is concerning since this can have adverse effects on patients&rsquo, outcomes. No facilitators were reported. Conclusion: Significant results were found in relation to the barriers to diabetes inpatient care. Crucially, the findings demonstrate that all these factors can negatively affect the quality of care of patients with diabetes, and most of these factors are related not only to diabetes care but also generally to all patients who receive inpatient care. Interestingly, no participant reported any facilitators to their care, which further affected the negative perceptions of the care received.

Social exclusion is complex and dynamic, and it leads to the non-realization of social, economic, political or cultural rights or participation within a society. This critical review takes stock of the literature on exclusion of social relations. Social relations are defined as comprising social resources, social connections and social networks. An evidence review group undertook a critical review which integrates, interprets and synthesizes information across studies to develop a conceptual model of exclusion from social relations. The resulting model is a subjective interpretation of the literature and is intended to be the starting point for further evaluations. The conceptual model identifies individual risks for exclusion from social relations (personal attributes, biological and neurological risk, retirement, socio-economic status, exclusion from material resources and migration). It incorporates the evaluation of social relations, and the influence of psychosocial resources and socio-emotional processes, sociocultural, social-structural, environmental and policy contextual influences on exclusion from social relations. It includes distal outcomes of exclusion from social relations, that is, individual well-being, health and functioning, social opportunities and social cohesion. The dynamic relationships between elements of the model are also reported. We conclude that the model provides a subjective interpretation of the data and an excellent starting point for further phases of conceptual development and systematic evaluation(s). Future research needs to consider the use of sophisticated analytical tools and an interdisciplinary approach in order to understand the underlying biological and ecopsychosocial associations that contribute to individual and dynamic differences in the experience of exclusion from social relations. This article is based upon work from COST Action CA15122 ROSEnet, supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology).

The wideband frequency tunability of a two-port microstrip-fed patch antenna is achieved using injection matching. It is demonstrated that controlling the relative amplitude and phase shift between the excitation signals at port one and port two of the microstrip-fed patch antenna can tune its operating band to a lower wideband frequency range compared to the fundamental intrinsic resonance frequency of the corresponding one-port antenna. The resulting two-port antenna has an overall simulated efficiency in excess of 80% with fairly stable radiation pattern in the E-plane. The antenna is suitable for use in wireless communication applications in the C-band.

Saturation of data has been acknowledged by many social scientists as evidence of rigor in qualitative research. Though there is a consensus about its definition and usefulness in qualitative research, the methods for achieving saturation are scarce while the social scientists who mention data saturation in their research methodologies do not adequately describe how this is achieved. This paper describes a new method for achieving saturation in studies that use interviews. The method is called Comparative Method for Themes Saturation (CoMeTS). CoMeTS is comparative in two ways. First, all themes from all interviews are compared with each other. Second, the sequence of interviews is reordered multiple times in order to check saturation again. This is because the sequence of interviews during the check makes saturation vary and, therefore, reordering helps confirming saturation. This paper concludes that CoMeTS is a simple, comparative and holistic method for achieving saturation and that it can be used in complicated qualitative studies.

In this paper, a wideband injection matched patch antenna is proposed for the wireless applications in the S and lower C bands using the injection matching theory. In this arrangement, the relative amplitude and phase shift between the excitation current signals at the two ports of a two-port antenna are used to match the antenna to a 50 Ohm source. A marginal reduction in efficiency from the corresponding one-port antenna is sacrificed to achieve a bandwidth ratio of 1.1:1 with a stable radiation pattern over the large operational bandwidth. The lower operational mode of the corresponding one-port antenna is also shifted to a lower frequency and the higher mode to a higher frequency by use of the injection matching. The realized antenna is compact in terms of thickness and is easy to fabricate.

The origin of groundwater recharge and subsequent flow paths are often difficult to establish in fractured, multi-lithological, and highly compartmentalized aquifers such as the Troodos Fractured Aquifer (TFA). As the conjunctive use of stable isotopes and hydrogeochemical data provides additional information, we established a monitoring network for stable isotopes in precipitation in Cyprus. The local meteoric water line, altitude effect and seasonal variation of stable isotopes in precipitation are derived from monitoring data. Stable isotopes and hydrogeochemical data are combined to model water-rock interactions and groundwater evolution along a complete ophiolite sequence. As a result a generic hydrogeologic description for the observed water types is developed. Isotope hydrology was applied in conjunction with hydrogeochemical modelling in Kargiotis Watershed, a major north-south transect of the TFA. PHREEQC was used for hydrogeochemical modelling to establish generic descriptions for observed water types. Mean precipitation-weighted values from 16 monitoring stations were used to calculate the Local Meteoric Water Line (LMWL), which was found to be equal to δ2H = (6.58 ± 0.13)*δ18O + (12.64 ± 0.91). A general decrease of 1.22‰ for δ2H and 0.20‰ for δ18O in precipitation was calculated per 100 m altitude. A generic groundwater evolution path was established: 1. Na/MgClHCO3, 2. MgHCO3, 3. Ca/MgHCO3, 4. Ca/MgNaHCO3, 4a. MgNa/CaHCO3/Cl, 5. NaMg/CaHCO3/Cl, 6. NaHCO3, 7. Na/MgHCO3SO4, 8. NaSO4Cl/HCO3. Hydrogeologic descriptions, consisting of groundwater origin, flow path and possible active water-rock processes, have been realised for the observed water types. The first two water types occur in serpentine and ultramafic-gabbro springs. Type 3 waters represent early stages of recharge and/or short flow paths, in gabbro whereas types 4 and 5 are typical for further percolating waters in gabbro and diabase. Water types 6 and 7 occur both in diabase and in the basal group and represent the regional flow. Water type 8 is the end member of regional, upwelling groundwater in the basal group. The presented descriptions and methods have practical applications in groundwater exploration, characterization, and protection. The methodology can be applied in other complex aquifer systems.

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. The prevalence of mental illness among medical students is high and this continues to be the case in spite of interventions and of providing students with access to mental health services. In this article we present the basic literature on the issue and the reasons why mental illness still prevails among medical students, and we propose the PEACE model for approaching the issue at multiple and interconnected levels, providing examples of relevant actions.

Ophiolites often form complex, fractured, multi-lithological and highly compartmentalized aquifers that are difficult to characterize. Groundwater chemistry reflects water-rock interactions and can provide insights to groundwater recharge mechanisms, flow paths and relative residence time. A comprehensive hydrogeochemical modelling approach with PHREEQC has been developed to identify water-rock interactions and simulate groundwater evolution and mixing with connate water in fractured aquifers. The methodology was applied in the gabbro aquifers of Troodos Massif (Cyprus). The geochemical processes generating the most frequently observed water types were reproduced through modelling. Based on the overall results, a generic evolution path has been identified: CaMgHCO3 → MgCaHCO3 → CaMgNaHCO3 → Ca/Mg/Na/HCO3/SO4 → NaMgHCO3SO4 → NaSO4/Cl group. CaMgHCO3 and MgCaHCO3 types were modelled to occur predominantly in early stages of recharge. Deep unsaturated zones and longer flow paths result in gradual removal of Ca+2 and Mg+2 from groundwater, through secondary mineral precipitation, and in an increase of Na+2 and SO4−2. The most frequently occurring water types, CaMgNaHCO3 and MgCaNaHCO3, were modelled to occur at later stages of hydro-chemical evolution, after secondary mineral precipitation, and in closed conditions. In regional flow, where closed conditions with secondary mineral precipitation prevail, water types progressively shift from the HCO3 to the NaSO4 end-member group. In 38% of the 536 samples from gabbro aquifers in Troodos, groundwater mixing with connate water at a ratio of ≥0.999:0.001 occurs.

This article was migrated. The article was not marked as recommended. Cultural competence has been acknowledged as an important skill for providing good quality care to all people regardless of their cultural background and for contributing towards reducing health disparities. Though there are models for training in cultural competence, integrating it in medical curricula has proven to be challenging. This paper presents an example of a course of action and a case of successfully integrating cultural competence in a new international medical programme. The paper also explores suggestions for further development.