The COVID-19 experience of orthodontists in the UK

Objective: To understand and compare the perceived impact and ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on orthodontic clinical services in the UK. Design: Descriptive cross-sectional survey. Setting: Online electronic questionnaire. Participants: Members of the British Orthodontic Society (BOS). Methods: Electronic questionnaires were circulated between March and June 2021. The UK survey was distributed via emails from the BOS, Orthodontic Managed Clinical Networks and WhatsApp groups. Results: A total of 560 unique responses were received. There were more respondents who were aged over 50 years (52%) then respondents who were aged below 50 years (48%) with the median age range being 50–54 years (20%). The main causes of disruption to clinical practice were felt to be national restrictions (85%), increased cross-infection measures (84%), social distancing (80%) and professional guidance (80%). Respondents felt more negatively in their opinions regarding dentistry’s preparedness for the pandemic (5%) and how dentistry coped in the crisis (35%), when compared to orthodontic services specifically (8% and 58%, respectively). The respondents were not confident about the potential beneficial effects of a vaccination programme on orthodontic clinical service provision (21%). Telephone consultations (84%) and video consultations (61%) were the main adaptations used by the respondents during the pandemic. Conclusions: Respondents felt that COVID-19 will have long-term societal, clinical and professional implications. The majority of our respondents supported the vaccination and weekly testing of the orthodontic team. Respondents felt that during the pandemic there had been a deterioration in care provision and were not optimistic about a vaccination programme restoring services to pre-pandemic levels of activity. During the pandemic, patients in active orthodontic treatment have been prioritised but at the expense of new and review patients, and as services recover respondents were concerned about the difficulty of arranging dental extractions.

Examination of aspects of pro-consumer refund system

PurposePro-consumer refund system (PCRS) should be understood as a process in customer service, within which activities are related to the handling of goods that do not meet customer expectations, both in business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) relations. The research monitored three groups of variables – the importance of shopping decision factors, customer ID characteristics and PCRS characteristics. The authors explore relationships between these three groups of variables, and the authors tried to understand better the role of the PCRS system in customer perception of service quality.Design/methodology/approachAn electronic survey was used to collect data in the planned structure. Research questions were developed into variables, and these were then the basis for creating questionnaires. Data were collected through electronic questionnaires. The sample consisted of 327 respondents from Poland (confidence level = 95%, confidence interval = 5.42).FindingsThe results of the research show that the PCRS is very important and appreciated from the customer's perspective. Most of the respondents are aware of their consumer rights and correctly understand the meaning of the term “pro-consumer refund system”. Respondents require complex service in terms of returns; their satisfaction does not depend on any individual factor. This also means that the return system must be lenient in each aspect.Originality/valueA detailed analysis of aspects of PCRS has not yet been carried out in the literature. Although previous studies have focused, at least in part, on defining the essential attributes of PCRS, in most cases, it was an organization-driven view of this topic. The research examined the interrelationships between aspects of PCRS based on empirical data and offered a new perspective on this evolving concept.

Choices of graduates and firms among models of education from employability view

The objective of the article is to evaluate the existence of consonance between the choice of graduates in the area of management and business among the Humboldtian (German) and Napoleonic (French) higher education models and the training required by firms in the hiring process. For undergraduate students, through electronic questionnaires, 281 responses were collected from 06 higher education institutions. For the managers of the human resources area, through the quasi-experimental method, 45 participations were obtained. The analyzes concluded that the majority of students prefer teaching based on the Humboldtian model, while companies prefer students of this model for strategic level vacancies; and students from the Napoleonic model for the operational ones. Operational vacancies predominate in the offer over strategic ones.

The impact of e-commerce drivers on e-customer loyalty: Evidence from KSA

E-commerce and online shopping is the future of global trade, hence the importance of building E-customer loyalty and maintaining it in the electronic markets becomes even more important. This paper attempts to identify factors affecting the value of electronic commerce in the Saudi environment. Likewise, it explores the impact of these factors on E- customer loyalty. Simple random sampling was used for the purposes of the current study, as the first study included 247 electronic customers. Data were collected through electronic questionnaires sent to the study participants. The results show that the factors had a positive impact in building E- customer loyalty Care, Character, Choice, Convenience, Customization, and Cultivation. Basically, e-commerce is considered a pioneer in business organizations today, and this is witnessed by its increasing and growing profits and expanding its market share, through its focus on the E-loyalty customers. Basically, e-commerce is considered a pioneer in business organizations today, and this is witnessed by its increasing and growing profits and expanding its market share, through its focus on the E-loyalty customers.

A Questionnaire Study on the Use of Complementary and Alternative Veterinary Medicine for Dogs in Sweden

Complementary and alternative veterinary medicine (CAVM) includes treatment methods that are not part of established veterinary medicine and where there is not as yet sufficient scientific documentation of the proposed effects. The CAVM use in Swedish dogs is largely unknown, and the aim of this study was to explore this use. Electronic questionnaires were distributed to dog owners, small animal veterinary practitioners, and CAVM therapists. A total of 253 dog owners responded. Except for massage, stretching, and laser therapy, more than 75% of the respondents stated that they did not use CAVM for their dogs. Of the 216 responding veterinarians, 39% did not use CAVM. CAVM use was more common among respondents with <10 years of work experience as compared to those with >10 years of work experience (p < 0.05). Almost half of the 124 responding CAVM therapists treated dogs; the most frequently used methods included massage, stretching, and acupressure. A majority of all respondents found the current Swedish regulation of CAVM insufficient. Although CAVM use in Swedish dogs appears to be uncommon, there is a need for scientific assessment of CAVM in dogs as regards safety and effectiveness for different indications.

COVID 19 Pandemic and the Library Online Services

The purpose of this study is to describe the experiences of St. Scholastica's College Manila High School librarians in implementing library online services during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The researcher used a descriptive research design and employed Document Analysis and Thematic Analysis vis-a-vis the respondents' answers on the electronic questionnaires. It was revealed, through this study, that the roles and responsibilities of the SSC Manila HS librarians were technologists, online learning support professionals, instructional partners, and game-based learning developers. On the other hand, they experienced challenges such as having limited transactions and time constraints in delivering library online services and the opportunities of having proactive team culture and providing appropriate and innovative services to their clientele. With these findings, the following are recommended for better library online services of the school libraries and librarians. First, librarians and staff's technical competencies and skills must continuously be honed. Second, the library's online services must also be evaluated annually by the students and faculty members. Third, the librarians and staff must explore more technological applications or apps and learning management systems. Lastly, further research studies are recommended in relation also to delivering library online services that can be in the contexts of other types of libraries, most especially their experiences so that there will be a deeper and bigger understanding of the roles and responsibilities, and the challenges and opportunities of librarians during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Individual-level Evaluation of the Exposure Notification Cascade in the SwissCovid Digital Proximity Tracing App: An Observational Study (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Digital proximity tracing (DPT) aims to complement manual contact tracing (MCT) in identifying exposed contacts and preventing further transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the population. While several DPT apps, including SwissCovid, have shown to have promising effects on mitigating the pandemic, several challenges have impeded them from fully achieving the desired results. A key question now relates to how the effectiveness of DPT can be improved which requires better understanding of factors influencing its processes. OBJECTIVE In this study, we aimed to provide a detailed examination of the exposure notification (EN) cascade and to evaluate potential contextual influences for successful receipt of EN and subsequent actions taken by cases and contacts in different exposure settings. METHODS We used data from 285 pairs of SARS-CoV-2-infected cases and their contacts within an observational cohort study of cases and contacts identified by MCT and enrolled between 06 August and 17 January 2021 in the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland. We surveyed participants with electronic questionnaires. Data were summarized descriptively and stratified by exposure setting. RESULTS We found that only 60% of contacts using the app whose corresponding case reported to have triggered the EN also received one. Among those, 23% received the EN before being contacted by MCT. Compared to those receiving an EN after MCT, we observed that a higher proportion of contacts receiving an EN before MCT were exposed in non-household settings (67% versus 56%) and their corresponding cases had more frequently reported mild to moderate symptoms (78% versus 69%). Among the 18 contacts receiving an EN before MCT, 14 (78%) took preventive measures: 12 (67%) were tested for SARS-CoV-2 and 7 (39%) called the SwissCovid Infoline. In non-household settings, the proportion of contacts taking preventive actions after receiving an EN was higher compared to same-household settings (82% versus 67%). One in eleven ENs received before MCT led to the identification of a SARS-CoV-2-infected case by prompting the contact to get tested. This corresponds to one in 85 exposures of a contact to a case in a non-household setting, in which both were app users and the case triggered the EN. CONCLUSIONS Our descriptive evaluation of the DPT notification cascade provides further evidence that DPT is an important complementary tool in pandemic mitigation, especially in non-household exposure settings. However, the effect of DPT apps can only be exerted if code generation processes are efficient and exposed contacts are willing to undertake preventive actions. This highlights the need to focus efforts on keeping barriers to efficient code generation as low as possible and promoting not only app adoption but also compliance with the recommended measures upon EN. CLINICALTRIAL ISRCTN14990068

The Impact of Self- and Relation-Inferred Efficacy on Physical Activity in Older Adult Couples

Previous research has indicated that physical activity (PA) is a health-promoting behavior that is closely linked in couples. However, few studies have examined how PA is intertwined among couples in their everyday lives. For example, relation-inferred efficacy (RIE) is an individual perception that captures whether a close other believes in one’s own abilities to perform specific behaviours; it originates from the sports literature on coach-athlete dyads and has been shown to shape athlete performance. Applying a repeated daily life assessment design, the current study targets self-efficacy (SE) and relation-inferred efficacy (RIE) as predictors of PA in older adult couples, as well as potential moderators when obstacles occur. We hypothesized that: (a.) There is a main effect of SE and RIE on PA. (b.) PA is lower on days when people anticipate barriers (c.) SE and RIE moderate the time-varying relationship between PA and barriers. Heterosexual couples (N=108 couples, Mage=70.5 years, SD=6.70) rated their SE and REI, completed daily electronic questionnaires asking about barriers and wore an accelerometer to capture indices of PA across seven days. In line with past work, SE (r(2438)=.13, p=&lt;.001) and RIE (r(2438)=.14, p=&lt;.001) were significantly related to total moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and step counts. A series of multilevel models were fit to examine the hypotheses. Preliminary analyses indicated that RIE (estimate=3.93, SE=1.49, p=.009) is a stronger predictor of MVPA than SE (estimate=2.83, SE=2.02, p=.16). Further analysis will be conducted to unpack daily life circumstances that create barriers to PA, including daily pain, anxiety, and tiredness.

Prevention of leg cramps by using compression stockings or magnesium supplements in the 50–84 age group: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Background Leg cramps are painful sensations of tightening in the muscles of the legs that commonly appear during the night and are often associated with secondary insomnia. They are common especially in older age. There is no evidence that any method of prevention of nocturnal leg cramps is both safe and effective. There are no previous trials concerning cramp prevention by using compression stockings. The objective of this study is to assess in a prospective randomised controlled trial whether leg cramps can be prevented by the daily use of knee-length compression stockings or magnesium supplements. Methods The study will be set in Finland, and 50–84-year-old volunteers will be recruited through Google Ads, the Finnish health library website and Finnish primary health care centres. The participants must have a minimum of two episodes of leg cramps per week for the past 4 weeks to be included in the study. The participants (n = 225) will be allocated to three equal groups: the compression stocking arm, the magnesium supplement arm and the placebo arm. The participants will go through 4 weeks of follow-up without intervention and then another 4 weeks of follow-up with the assigned intervention. The material for the study will be collected through electronic questionnaires. Discussion This protocol describes a study that compares compression stockings, magnesium supplements and placebo for the prevention of leg cramps. The results of this study can significantly improve knowledge on the methods of preventing leg cramps. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04694417. Registered on Jan 4, 2021.

QOLP-15. FEASIBILITY OF AN ELECTRONIC PATIENT REPORTED STEROID TOXICITY MONITORING PROGRAM IN PATIENTS WITH MALIGNANT GLIOMAS

OBJECTIVE To determine the feasibility of a longitudinal, electronic, patient-reported survey of steroid toxicity in patients with malignant glioma (MG). BACKGROUND Corticosteroids are frequently used for management of cerebral edema in MG, with side effects resulting from prolonged use or high dosage. Corticosteroid use is common and may negatively impact quality of life (QOL) and survival in MG. DESIGN/METHODS We prospectively enrolled patients with MG receiving neuro-oncologic care at the University of Rochester with or without their caregivers on an IRB-approved study. Subjects received 12 weekly electronic questionnaires through a secure health portal focused on symptoms of corticosteroid toxicities, dosing and functional status. Weekly toxicity scores were calculated based on the number of reported toxicities (0-17). Completed questionnaires were reviewed by a care team member to inform clinical management. Corticosteroid dosing adjustments were documented in the medical record. Feasibility was defined as an overall questionnaire completion rate of 70%. RESULTS 11 patient/caregiver pairs were enrolled (11 patients, including 9 with caregivers). Median patient age was 58. Patient tumors were glioblastoma (82%), anaplastic astrocytoma (9%) and anaplastic oligodendroglioma (9%). Phase of treatment was concurrent (55%), adjuvant (36%) and recurrence (9%). Median dexamethasone does at study start and conclusion were 4mg/day and 3mg/day. Median weekly toxicity score was 5/17 (range: 0-14). The most common toxicities were muscle weakness, sleep disturbance and weight gain and were reported by 82% of participants. Overall questionnaire completion rate was 81%. Ten percent of questionnaires resulted in clinically significant symptoms requiring follow-up from a provider. CONCLUSION Patients with MG experience frequent corticosteroid toxicities. Electronic corticosteroid toxicity monitoring is feasible in patients with MG and may lead to changes in management. Future studies are needed to assess utility of this tool and impact on QOL and survival.