scholarly journals Identifying regional variation in place visit behavior during a global pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 95-124
Author(s):  
Grant McKenzie ◽  
Kevin Mwenda
Keyword(s):  
Regional Variation ◽  
Lower Income ◽  
Public Concern ◽  
Regional Variability ◽  
Government Regulations ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Hispanic Populations ◽  
Visit Duration ◽  
Activity Behavior ◽  
Insight Into

The emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in 2019 lead to a global pandemic that altered the activity behavior of most people on our planet. While government regulations and public concern modified visitation patterns to places of interest, little research has examined the nuanced changes in the length of time someone spends at a place, nor the regional variability of these changes. In this work, we examine place visit duration in four major U.S. cities, identify which place types saw the largest and smallest changes, and quantify variation between cities. Furthermore, we identify socio-economic and demographic factors that contribute to changes in visit duration and demonstrate the varying influence of these factors by region. The results of our analysis indicate that the pandemic's impact on visiting behavior varies between cities, though there are commonalities found in certain types of places. Our findings suggest that places of interest within lower income communities experienced less change in visit duration than others. An increase in the percentage of younger, Black or Hispanic populations within a community also resulted in a smaller decrease in visit duration than in other communities. These findings offer insight into the factors that contribute to changes in visiting behavior and the resilience of communities to a global pandemic.

scholarly journals Zoombombing During a Global Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 205630512110353
Author(s):  
Greg Elmer ◽  
Stephen J. Neville ◽  
Anthony Burton ◽  
Sabrina Ward-Kimola
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
Public Life ◽  
Cultural Practice ◽  
Online Harassment ◽  
Media Frames ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Cross Platform ◽  
Digital Methods ◽  
Insight Into

Using a digital methods analysis, the following article conducts a cross-platform study of the emergent “Zoombombing” phenomenon alongside COVID-19 and the concomitant on-lining of professional and public life. This empirical study seeks to provide further insight to media frames characterizing Zoombombing at the outbreak of the pandemic, providing further insight into Zoombombing as a practice, how related actions act as an extension of longer histories and practices of online harassment, and the role that various platforms play in the phenomenon’s unfolding. By interrogating these points of departure, our study sheds light not only on Zoombombing as a cultural practice, but also how these acts manifest within and across a range of Internet platforms.

Human Rights at the Time of a Global Pandemic: The Case of Muslim Tatars

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Renat Shaykhutdinov
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Public Concern ◽  
Freedom Of Conscience ◽  
Middle Volga Region ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Muslim Minority ◽  
Middle Volga ◽  
Internet Forums ◽  
Conceptual Shift ◽  
The Empirical Analysis

Abstract How are the human rights pertaining to the freedom of conscience/religion, health, and distinct culture intersect in the context of a global pandemic in the Muslim-minority areas? How do Russia’s Muslims make sense of the challenges to those rights caused or exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic? In this paper, I focus on diverse Muslim Tatar communities, primarily of the Middle Volga region, who have recently witnessed numerous political and socioeconomic challenges infringing on their human rights. Attending on the period of the COVID-19 pandemic, in this paper I gauge the nature of human rights in the areas of health and religion by interrogating how the general Muslim publics and elites understand, justify, and explain those challenges in an environment of creeping authoritarianism. I call for a conceptual shift from the elite-driven traditional security perspectives to those of human rights as quotidian/everyday experiences while considering these vital issues. I use the Tatar-language Internet forums for the empirical analysis, offering and delineating the discursive repertoires and categorizing the areas of public concern in the new pandemic world.

scholarly journals What is happiness: a cross-cultural research into present-day associations

2021 ◽  
Vol 122 ◽  
pp. 01008
Author(s):  
Irina N. Kabanova ◽  
Anna M. Gorokhova ◽  
Elena G. Nozhevnikova ◽  
Ekaterina V. Vaseneva
Keyword(s):  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Dynamic Character ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Cultural Research ◽  
Cross Cultural Research ◽  
French And English ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
Ancient Times ◽  
Insight Into

The article under consideration is aimed at cross-cultural quantified associative mapping of the universal concept “happiness” and shaping the hierarchy of its cornerstone axiological constituents as perceived by Russian, French and English linguosocieties within the framework of the global pandemic reality. “Happiness” has been subject to transdisciplinary investigation since ancient times due to its dynamic character and ambiguity. The concept of “happiness”, although psychologically ingrained and biologically predetermined, can change significantly based on different outer and inner factors. It demonstrates an undeniable potential for multiple perceptions, various patterns of ethnic-specific and highly personalized verbalization, requiring unification and analysis of different sociocultural stimuli that trigger off this or that row of associations. The authors provide keen insight into the semantics of the concept and its static lexicographic axiological paradigm in the Russian, French and English languages. Three associative surveys were carried out through Google-forms to estimate the degree at which the “static projection” of “happiness” is relevant nowadays in pandemic-shaken societies as well as collect free associations, manually contrast the data and establish parallels and peculiarities within up-to-date Russian, French and English (American) visions of “happiness”. The survey results testify to the fact that “health”, “family”, “peace” and “freedom” are universally recognized constituents of “happiness” while certain elements prove to be ethnic-specific and arise due to concrete social circumstances.

scholarly journals Potential Health Risks of Chemicals in Car Colorant Products

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 913
Author(s):  
Daeyeop Lee ◽  
Joo-hyon Kim ◽  
Moonyoung Hwang ◽  
Hyunwoo Lim ◽  
Kwangseol Seok
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Risks ◽  
Risk Assessments ◽  
Tier 2 ◽  
Public Concern ◽  
Potential Health ◽  
Government Regulations ◽  
Tier 1 ◽  
Screening Assessment ◽  
Korean Market

Public concern regarding the use of products with chemicals has increased in Korea, following reports indicating that hazardous chemicals in products, such as disinfectants, can cause fatal lung disease. Despite the widespread use of car colorant products, little is known regarding their potential health risks. The purpose of this study was to determine the potential health risks of substances that exist in car colorant products. Thirteen car colorant products were purchased from the Korean market and 15 commonly used chemicals were analyzed. Exposure and risk assessments were conducted in two assessment stages (screening and refined). The analysis showed that all of the examined products contained toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene. The maximum concentration of toluene was 52.5%, with a median concentration of 10.8%. Tier 1 (screening) assessment showed that four chemicals (toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, and 2-butoxyethanol) may pose health risks, but tier 2 (refined) assessment showed that these chemicals do not pose any risk. However, these chemicals were present in all of the examined products, and government regulations did not control their concentrations in these products. Therefore, we suggest that levels of toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene in car colorant products should be regulated to protect public health.

scholarly journals Bibliographic Database “Sources in traditional medicine in Tibet languages”

2018 ◽  
pp. 72-83
Author(s):  
Oleg Rinchinov
Keyword(s):  
Medical Literature ◽  
Knowledge Bases ◽  
Government Regulations ◽  
The Core ◽  
Bibliographic Records ◽  
Tibetan Studies ◽  
Research And Education ◽  
Academic Organization ◽  
Academy Of Sciences ◽  
Insight Into

The collection of the Institute of Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Siberian Branch is based on Tibet and Mongolian books accumulated by generations of Buryat scholars, local historians, museum workers. In accordance with the RF Government Regulations of December 23, 2016 № 2800-r, RAS SB Institute of Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies is an academic organization to deposit of the RF Archival Fund documents that constitute the national property. To preserve and to study this rich heritage, the Institute’s Center for Oriental Manuscripts and Xylography was established. The author describes in detail the specialized database comprising bibliographic records of medical literature in the Center’s Tibetan collection. Based on the revealed information objects, authority records (metadata) of the following types were created: «person», «work», and «location». The rare publications were processed in accordance with the description scheme introduced by the international consortium Asian Classics Input Project (ACIP). The database gives insight into the content and genre diversity of the Tibetan medical literature corpus оn the whole, and may be used for developing offline and online apps for research and education; it can also make the core of e-libraries and knowledge bases.

scholarly journals Comparisons of Website Visit Behavior between Purchase Outcomes and Product Categories

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Chatpong Tangmanee
Keyword(s):  
Online Behavior ◽  
Online Retail ◽  
Clickstream Data ◽  
Product Categories ◽  
Retail Business ◽  
Visit Duration ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Online Stores ◽  
Theoretical Insight ◽  
Insight Into

The online retail business has grown substantially. Given distinctive product categories (e.g. search or experience goods), owners must put an effort in the design of websites so every visit may end with a purchase. Clickstream panel data allowing examination into website visiting behavior (i.e. the number of pages viewed (or pageview) or the visit duration) are increasingly accessible. However, it is unclear whether the differences of the two visiting behavior between purchase outcome or product categories are significant. The present study hopes to fill the void. An analysis of 27,528 visit sessions extracted from ComScore verifies that (1) the difference of page views between purchase outcomes and that between product categories were significant and (2) only the difference of visit duration between the product categories was significant but that between purchase outcomes was insignificant. In addition to theoretical insight into online behavior across purchasing horizons and product categories using clickstream data, online retail practitioners could apply the findings to enhance the possibility of the purchases at their online stores.

scholarly journals Abnormal antibodies to self-carbohydrates in SARS-CoV-2 infected patients

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorothy L. Butler ◽  
Jeffrey C. Gildersleeve
Keyword(s):  
Immune Responses ◽  
Neurological Disorders ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Carbohydrate Antigen ◽  
Sialyl Lewis X ◽  
Sialyl Lewis ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Healthy Control ◽  
Blood Group H ◽  
Insight Into

AbstractSARS-CoV-2 is a deadly virus that is causing the global pandemic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Our immune system plays a critical role in preventing, clearing, and treating the virus, but aberrant immune responses can contribute to deleterious symptoms and mortality. Many aspects of immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 are being investigated, but little is known about immune responses to carbohydrates. Since the surface of the virus is heavily glycosylated, pre-existing antibodies to glycans could potentially recognize the virus and influence disease progression. Furthermore, antibody responses to carbohydrates could be induced, affecting disease severity and clinical outcome. In this study, we used a carbohydrate antigen microarray with over 800 individual components to profile serum anti-glycan antibodies in COVID-19 patients and healthy control subjects. In COVID-19 patients, we observed abnormally high IgG and IgM antibodies to numerous self-glycans, including gangliosides, N-linked glycans, LacNAc-containing glycans, blood group H, and sialyl Lewis X. Some of these anti-glycan antibodies are known to play roles in autoimmune diseases and neurological disorders, which may help explain some of the unusual and prolonged symptoms observed in COVID-19 patients. The detection of antibodies to self-glycans has important implications for using convalescent serum to treat patients, developing safe and effective SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, and understanding the risks of infection. In addition, this study provides new insight into the immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 and illustrates the importance of including host and viral carbohydrate antigens when studying immune responses to viruses.

scholarly journals Prevalence and variability of use of home mechanical ventilators, positive airway pressure and oxygen devices in the Lombardy region, Italy

2018 ◽  
Vol 88 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele Vitacca ◽  
Luca Barbano ◽  
Daniele Colombo ◽  
Olivia Leoni ◽  
Enrico Guffanti
Keyword(s):  
Regional Variation ◽  
Airway Pressure ◽  
Positive Airway Pressure ◽  
Prescription Rate ◽  
Mechanical Ventilators ◽  
Billing Data ◽  
Regional Variability ◽  
Sleep Study ◽  
Lombardy Region

Few studies have analyzed the prevalence and accessibility of home mechanical ventilation (HMV) in Italy. We aimed to investigate the prevalence and prescription variability of HMV as well as of long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT) and continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), in the Lombardy Region. Prescribing rates of HMV (both noninvasive and tracheostomies), CPAP (auto-CPAP, CPAP/other sleep machines) and LTOT (liquid-O2, O2-gas, concentrators) in the 15 Local Healthcare districts of Lombardy were gathered from billing data for 2012 and compared. Crude rates (per 100,000 population) and rates for the different healthcare districts were calculated. In 2012, 6325 patients were on HMV (crude prescription rate: 63/100,000) with a high variation across districts (8/100,000 in Milano 1 vs 150/100,000 in Pavia). There were 14,237 patients on CPAP (crude prescription rate: 142/100,000; CPAP/other sleep machines 95.3% vs auto-CPAP 4.7%) with also high intra-regional variation (56/100,000 in Mantova vs. 260/100,000 in Pavia). There were 21,826 patients on LTOT (prescription rate: 217/100,000 rate; liquid-O2 94%, O2-gas 2.08%, O2-concentrators 3.8%), with again high intra-regional variation (100/100,000 in Bergamo vs 410/100,000 in Valle Camonica). The crude rate of HMV prescriptions in Lombardy is very high, with a high intra-regional variability in prescribing HMV, LTOT and CPAP which is partly explainable by the accessibility to specialist centers with HMV/sleep-study facilities. Analysis of administrative data and variability mapping can help identify areas of reduced access for an improved standardization of services. An audit among Health Payer and prescribers to interpret the described huge variability could be welcomed.

scholarly journals Fatigue Alters the Pattern of Physical Activity Behavior in Older Adults: Observational Analysis of Data from the Generation 100 Study

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 633-641 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thorlene Egerton ◽  
Jorunn L. Helbostad ◽  
Dorthe Stensvold ◽  
Sebastien F.M. Chastin
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Time Series ◽  
Older People ◽  
Daily Activity ◽  
Vertical Axis ◽  
Physical Activity Behavior ◽  
Rate Of Change ◽  
Activity Behavior ◽  
Insight Into

Fatigue has been associated with reductions in daily activity of older people. Summary measures of daily physical activity provide limited understanding of how fatigue affects physical activity behavior. This study examined the hour-by-hour energy expenditure estimated from accelerometry data to provide insight into physical activity behaviors of older people experiencing fatigue. Fatigued participants were matched to ‘not fatigued’ participants by age, sex, and BMI. Each group consisted of 86 people with a mean age 73.8 years (SD 2.0), BMI 26.5 kg⋅m–2 (SD 3.9) and 61% female. The phase-space plot, constructed to express rate of change of average vertical axis counts per hour as a time series, showed fatigued participants deviated from the not fatigued participants during the morning period, when hour-by-hour activity was increasing. Older people who feel fatigued have a different morning activity pattern, which appears to lead to the lower overall levels of physical activity.

scholarly journals Salmonella Interactions with Plants and Their Associated Microbiota

2013 ◽  
Vol 103 (4) ◽  
pp. 316-325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria T. Brandl ◽  
Clayton E. Cox ◽  
Max Teplitski
Keyword(s):  
Enteric Pathogens ◽  
Animal Origin ◽  
Plant Responses ◽  
Human Pathogen ◽  
Human Pathogens ◽  
Public Concern ◽  
Public Health Burden ◽  
Vertebrate Hosts ◽  
Plant Surfaces ◽  
Insight Into

The increase in the incidence of gastroenteritis outbreaks linked to the consumption of foods of plant origin has ignited public concern and scientific interest in understanding interactions of human enteric pathogens with plants. Enteric disease caused by nontyphoidal Salmonella is a major public health burden, with the number of cases of illness linked to fresh produce, spices, and nuts surpassing those linked to foods of animal origin. Mounting evidence supports the hypothesis that colonization of plants is an important part of the life cycle of this human pathogen. Although plant responses to human pathogens are distinct from the more specific responses to phytopathogens, plants appear to recognize Salmonella, likely by detecting conserved microbial patterns, which subsequently activates basal defenses. Numerous Salmonella genes have been identified as playing a role in its colonization of plant surfaces and tissues, and in its various interactions with other members of the phyto-microbial community. Importantly, Salmonella utilizes diverse and overlapping strategies to interact with plants and their microflora, and to successfully colonize its vertebrate hosts. This review provides insight into the complex behavior of Salmonella on plants and the apparent remarkable adaptation of this human pathogen to a potentially secondary host.

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