scholarly journals Assessing the impact of widespread respirator use in curtailing COVID-19 transmission in the USA

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 210699
Author(s):  
Calistus N. Ngonghala ◽  
James R. Knitter ◽  
Lucas Marinacci ◽  
Matthew H. Bonds ◽  
Abba B. Gumel

Dynamic models are used to assess the impact of three types of face masks (cloth masks, surgical/procedure masks and respirators) in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic in the USA. We showed that the pandemic would have failed to establish in the USA if a nationwide mask mandate, based on using respirators with moderately high compliance, had been implemented during the first two months of the pandemic. The other mask types would fail to prevent the pandemic from becoming established. When mask usage compliance is low to moderate, respirators are far more effective in reducing disease burden. Using data from the third wave, we showed that the epidemic could be eliminated in the USA if at least 40% of the population consistently wore respirators in public. Surgical masks can also lead to elimination, but requires compliance of at least 55%. Daily COVID-19 mortality could be eliminated in the USA by June or July 2021 if 95% of the population opted for either respirators or surgical masks from the beginning of the third wave. We showed that the prospect of effective control or elimination of the pandemic using mask-based strategy is greatly enhanced if combined with other non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) that significantly reduce the baseline community transmission. By slightly modifying the model to include the effect of a vaccine against COVID-19 and waning vaccine-derived and natural immunity, this study shows that the waning of such immunity could trigger multiple new waves of the pandemic in the USA. The number, severity and duration of the projected waves depend on the quality of mask type used and the level of increase in the baseline levels of other NPIs used in the community during the onset of the third wave of the pandemic in the USA. Specifically, no severe fourth or subsequent wave of the pandemic will be recorded in the USA if surgical masks or respirators are used, particularly if the mask use strategy is combined with an increase in the baseline levels of other NPIs. This study further emphasizes the role of human behaviour towards masking on COVID-19 burden, and highlights the urgent need to maintain a healthy stockpile of highly effective respiratory protection, particularly respirators, to be made available to the general public in times of future outbreaks or pandemics of respiratory diseases that inflict severe public health and socio-economic burden on the population.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Calistus N Ngonghala ◽  
James R Knitter ◽  
Lucas Marinacci ◽  
Matthew H Bonds ◽  
Abba B Gumel

Dynamic models are used to assess the impact of three types of face masks − cloth masks, surgical/procedure masks and respirators − in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. We showed that the pandemic would have failed to establish in the US if a nationwide mask mandate, based on using respirators with moderately-high compliance, had been implemented during the first two months of the pandemic. The other mask types would fail to prevent the pandemic from becoming established. When mask usage compliance is low to moderate, respirators are far more effective in reducing disease burden. Using data from the third wave, we showed that the epidemic could be eliminated in the US if at least 40% of the population consistently wore respirators in public. Surgical masks can also lead to elimination, but requires compliance of at least 55%. Daily COVID-19 mortality could be eliminated in the US by June or July 2021 if 95% of the population opted for either respirators or surgical masks from the beginning of the third wave. We showed that the prospect of effective control or elimination of the pandemic using mask-based strategy is greatly enhanced if combined with other nonpharmaceutical interventions that significantly reduce the baseline community transmission. This study further emphasizes the role of human behavior towards masking on COVID-19 burden, and highlights the urgent need to maintain a healthy stockpile of highly-effective respiratory protection, particularly respirators, to be made available to the general public in times of future outbreaks or pandemics of respiratory diseases that inflict severe public health and socio-economic burden on the population.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Tofigh Maboudi ◽  
Ghazal P. Nadi ◽  
Todd A. Eisenstadt

Abstract Since the third wave of democracy, term limits have become a popular fixture of most constitutions intended to constrain the executive. Yet, recent constitutional reforms around the world show that presidents seeking re-election sometimes overturn the entire constitutional order to extend their power. What is the impact of these constitutional manipulations on the longevity of the executive in office? Using survival analysis of all political leaders and national constitutions from 1875 to 2015, this article demonstrates, for the first time, that when ‘authoritarian-aspiring’ presidents remove constitutional term limits, they increase their stay in office by more than 40%. Our findings contrast with a widely held position in the comparative authoritarian literature suggesting that dictators survive longer under institutional constraints. On the contrary, we argue that by removing constitutional barriers, rulers consolidate more power at the expense of their most ambitious allies and can stay in power longer.


Author(s):  
Sudarshan Ramaswamy ◽  
Meera Dhuria ◽  
Sumedha M. Joshi ◽  
Deepa H Velankar

Introduction: Epidemiological comprehension of the COVID-19 situation in India can be of great help in early prediction of any such indications in other countries and possibilities of the third wave in India as well. It is essential to understand the impact of variant strains in the perspective of the rise in daily cases during the second wave – Whether the rise in cases witnessed is due to the reinfections or the surge is dominated by emergence of mutants/variants and reasons for the same. Overall objective of this study is to predict early epidemiological indicators which can potentially lead to COVID-19 third wave in India. Methodology: We analyzed both the first and second waves of COVID-19 in India and using the data of India’s SARS-CoV-2 genomic sequencing, we segregated the impact of the Older Variant (OV) and the other major variants (VOI / VOC).  Applying Kermack–McKendrick SIR model to the segregated data progression of the epidemic in India was plotted in the form of proportion of people infected. An equation to explain herd immunity thresholds was generated and further analyzed to predict the possibilities of the third wave. Results: Considerable difference in ate of progression of the first and second wave was seen. The study also ascertains that the rate of infection spread is higher in Delta variant and is expected to have a higher threshold (>2 times) for herd immunity as compared to the OV. Conclusion: Likelihood of the occurrence of the third wave seems unlikely based on the current analysis of the situation, however the possibilities cannot be ruled out. Understanding the epidemiological details of the first and second wave helped in understanding the focal points responsible for the surge in cases during the second wave and has given further insight into the future.


2017 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sverre Raffnsøe ◽  
Andrea Mennicken ◽  
Peter Miller

Since the establishment of Organization Studies in 1980, Michel Foucault’s oeuvre has had a remarkable and continuing influence on its field. This article traces the different ways in which organizational scholars have engaged with Foucault’s writings over the past thirty years or so. We identify four overlapping waves of influence. Drawing on Foucault’s Discipline and Punish, the first wave focused on the impact of discipline, and techniques of surveillance and subjugation, on organizational practices and power relations. Part of a much wider ‘linguistic’ turn in the second half of the twentieth century, the second wave led to a focus on discourses as intermediaries that condition ways of viewing and acting. This wave drew mainly on Foucault’s early writings on language and discourse. The third wave was inspired by Foucault’s seminal lectures on governmentality towards the end of the 1970s. Here, an important body of international research investigating governmental technologies operating on subjects as free persons in sites such as education, accounting, medicine and psychiatry emerged. The fourth and last wave arose out of a critical engagement with earlier Foucauldian organizational scholarship and sought to develop a more positive conception of subjectivity. This wave draws in particular on Foucault’s work on asceticism and techniques of the self towards the end of his life. Drawing on Deleuze and Butler, the article conceives the Foucault effect in organization studies as an immanent cause and a performative effect. We argue for the need to move beyond the tired dichotomies between discipline and autonomy, compliance and resistance, power and freedom that, at least to some extent, still hamper organization studies. We seek to overcome such dichotomies by further pursuing newly emerging lines of Foucauldian research that investigate processes of organizing, calculating and economizing characterized by a differential structuring of freedom, performative and indirect agency.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michela Marchetti ◽  
Daniele Gatti ◽  
Lucio Inguscio ◽  
Giuliana Mazzoni

After a year from the emergence of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on February 2020, between March and May 2021 Italy faced its third wave of infections. Previous studies have shown that in the first phases of the pandemic certain factors had a protective role against distress. However, as the months in the pandemic went by, people’s feelings and experiences significantly changed and little is known regarding the role of possible protective variables after prolonged pandemic situations. In the present study we aimed to investigate the impact of several behavioral variables on individuals’ mental states and emotions experienced during the third COVID-19 wave in Italy. 454 Italian adults were asked questions regarding the intensity of mental states and emotions experienced, the perceived usefulness of lockdown, the feeling of living a normal life, and the coping strategies implemented to face the pandemic. Using a data driven approach, we calculated the best model on the participation of each factor in explaining participants’ emotions and mental states. Our findings indicate that the presence of acceptance attitudes toward restrictive measures and the implementation of recreational activities helped participants face a prolonged pandemic with positive emotions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 014-014
Author(s):  
Daniela Mariano Carvalho-Louro

Letter to EditorIn the practical clinical of Hepatology, the focus of daily life has been the treatment of patients with severe liver diseases, such as cirrhosis and liver cancer. Of all the liver diseases responsible for cirrhosis development, hepatitis C had made the most treatment progress. In a few years, it evolved from drugs with low efficacy and many side effects to highly safe medications with high cure rates.For hepatologists who manage critically ill patients with advanced stages of liver diseases, finding an effective Hepatitis C drug was a great encouragement, a huge motivation to continue believing in clinical research.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 181-183
Author(s):  
Yaroslav Alexandrovich Levin

The following paper deals with the views of the ambassadors of the USSR, the USA and Great Britain, expressed in telegrams for foreign affairs agencies. Rolling the world to a new global confrontation, the aggressive rhetoric of each participating country, specific actions to build up political and military capabilities required some kind of balanced assessment from experts who were well-versed in the political and social development of states that appeared after the Second World War on different sides of the barricade. In addition, the third world acquired special importance in the new conditions. The disintegration of the colonial system opened great prospects for each of the great powers. Therefore, besides the analyses of prospects and characteristics of relations between the USSR and Western countries, diplomats in their analytical reports affected the prospects for the development of the former colonies, as well as tried to forecast the actions of the probable enemy and the closest allies, comprehended the existing contradictions on this issue and tried to give some assessment, propose solutions to these problems. Considering the influence of the telegrams analyzed in the framework of this study on the formation of the Cold War, conclusions are drawn about the impact of assessments expressed by diplomats on the development of relations with the countries of the third world. The analysis of J. Kennan, N. Novikov and F. Roberts notes shows the difference in the approaches and understanding of each country, both its opponents and its allies, a different view of the process of decolonization and its prospects. The paper is based on the sources on the diplomatic history of the Cold War and on some references on the topic.


Mundo Eslavo ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariia Shymchyshyn

The article deals with the English translations of Lesia Ukrainka’s works. The author considers the new approaches to translation that emerged after the Cultural turn in the last part of the 20th century. In particular, the attention has been paid to the issues of migration and translation, negation of the Eurocentric ideas about translation, and translation as a constituent part for the formation of migrant’s community. Considering the chronology of the translation of Lesia Ukrainka’s works into English, it is argued that as a rule they were done by the Ukrainian diaspora and published in the periodicals, financed by the Ukrainian communities in Great Britain, the USA, and Canada. The most intensive phase of the popularization of poetess’s works in English happened to be during the middle of the last century. This could be explained by the nature of the third wave of migration, which occurred after World War II. This wave brought the highly politicized people, who tried to oppose the Soviet regime. They used literature to oppose the Soviet appropriation of the Ukrainian cultural heritage. Besides the Ukrainian diaspora have utilized the native fictional discourse to maintain the boundaries and consciousness of their collectivity.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabara Parshad Rajeshbhai ◽  
Subhra Sankar Dhar ◽  
Shalabh Shalabh

The pandemic due to the SARS-CoV-2 virus impacted the entire world in different waves. An important question that arise after witnessing the first and second waves of COVID-19 is - Will the third wave also arrive and if yes, then when. Various types of methodologies are being used to explore the arrival of third wave. A statistical methodology based on the fitting of mixture of Gaussian distributions is explored in this paper and the aim is to forecast the third wave using the data on the first two waves of pandemic. Utilizing the data of different countries that are already facing the third wave, modelling of their daily cases data and predicting the impact and timeline for the third wave in India is attempted in this paper. The Gaussian mixture model based on algorithm for clustering is used to estimate the parameters.


Author(s):  
Jorge Eduardo Mendoza Cota

Abstract: Mexican return migration has been stable until 2012, while migration flows to the USA have fallen substantially between 2005 and 2012; the changes in the Mexican migration flows have affected the supply side of the Mexican labor market. The paper analyses the potential effects of the return migration on the Mexican labor market. According to the National Survey of Occupation and Employment (ENOE), return migrants to Mexico started to significantly increase since the third quarter of 2005 to the third quarter of 2009, and after that the number of returned migrants started to slightly decline until the second quarter 2013. Considering the availability of data an empirical econometric model is established including the unemployment rate as dependent variable and the real GDP and socioeconomic characteristics of migrants as explanatory variables. The results showed that changes in return migration have a positive impact in changes in the unemployment rate. On the other hand, the real GDP and migration to the USA have had a negative impact on the unemployment rate of Mexico. Given the increase of unemployment reported in ENOE, the results suggest that the inadequate capacity of the Mexican economy to absorb the return migration workers is limited. Resumen: Desde el 2012, la migración de retorno de México se ha estabilizado mientras que los flujos de trabadores migrantes se ha reducido substancialmente. En este contexto, el presente trabajo analiza los efectos de la migración mexicana de retorno en el mercado laboral en México, en particular, en la tasa de desempleo. De acuerdo a la Encuesta Nacional de Ocupación y Empleo (ENOE), la cantidad de migrantes de retorno hacia México se incrementó entre el tercer trimestre e 2005 y el tercer trimestre de 2009 y, posteriormente, el número de migrantes retornados empezó a declinar ligeramente hasta el 2013. Con base en la disponibilidad de información estadística de la ENOE se realizó una regresión de mínimos cuadrados para analizar el efecto de los cambios del PIB real y los cambios en los flujos migratorios de trabajadores mexicanos a los EUA en los cambios de la tasa de desempleo en México. Los resultados corroboran que los cambios en la migración de retorno tienen un impacto positivo en la tasa de desempleo de México. Por otra parte, el PIB real y la migración de trabajadores mexicanos tienen un impacto negativo en el desempleo laboral de México. Por tanto, considerando que la ENOE ha mostrado un incremento de la tasa de desempleo de México, los resultados sugieren la poca capacidad de la economía mexicana para absorber los migrantes de retorno y la migración declinante de trabajadores mexicanos hacia los EUA.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document