A People’s process: Post-tsunami self-build housing in Tamilnadu (2005-08)

This essay elucidates some of the lessons learnt from the community participatory process adopted by Artes, in the Post- Tsunami housing reconstruction project at Nagapatinam, Tamilnadu (2005-08). The program was a self-build process, respectful of gender. A pragmatic assessment of regional technologies, materials and skills was undertaken. The technological assessment was conducted by the community, in collaboration with structural engineers. Projects under consideration are in Sirkazhi Taluk and Akkaraipettai, Nagapatinam region in Tamilnadu, which had been adversely affected. The projects were nominated as best practices by the UNDP, India (2008) for community participatory processes. It inspired a new sense of belonging and confidence in the community. Besides indigenous construction practices, the community was provided an opportunity to learn new construction skills that they desired, which were beneficial in the longer term. The new construction skill sets ensured the community was independent to build their own dwellings incrementally in later years. The community was no more at the mercy of external contractors. The design of the dwellings also enabled future incremental growth. This research highlights some of the lessons in capacity building of communities; using construction skills to enable them to rebuild their own homes, as well as be self-reliant in future extensions and additions

05. Pragmatic Assessment of Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness in the DoD (PAIVED): Updates from Year 3 of Multi-Site Trial

Background The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has spotlighted respiratory infections and the value of effective vaccines. The SARS-CoV-2 vaccine has been remarkably effective; however, influenza vaccine effectiveness has been reported to be lower among active duty military populations than in the general public (18% vs 36%). The Pragmatic Assessment of Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness in the DoD (PAIVED) study compares 3 FDA-licensed influenza vaccine types (egg-based, cell-based, and recombinant) to assess differences in immunogenicity and effectiveness in adults. Methods Participants in the 3rd year of PAIVED (2020/21 influenza season) were enrolled from October 2020 through January 2021. Participants received weekly surveys about influenza-like-illnesses (ILI) experienced in the past week; if they reported an ILI, they were queried about symptom duration and severity, and asked to self-collect a nasal swab and dried blood sample. Four weeks later, more information about symptom duration and illness burden was obtained via telephone interview, and the participant collected a second blood sample. Results PAIVED year 3 enrolled 3,269 participants (Table 1). 278 participants reported 1 ILI , while 60 reported 2 ILIs, and 18 reported 3 ILIs. No pathogen was identified for most processed ILI samples (78%); the most common viruses were SARS-CoV-2 (25, 12%), rhinovirus (24, 12%), and seasonal coronaviruses (4, 2%). No influenza has been identified thus far. Among those participants who had convalescent ILI visits (275), the median duration of the reported ILIs was 9 days (IQR 5, 15), with a median of 4 days (IQR 2, 7) of limited activity, and 2 days (IQR 0, 3) with fever. Three individuals were hospitalized. Conclusion There have been relatively low rates of ILI identified in this study during this season, with only 11% of the participants reporting an ILI so far, consistent with low rates of non-COVID-19 ILI reported elsewhere during the current pandemic. We anticipate some influenza cases may be identified as more samples are processed. Planned analyses include calculating comparative influenza vaccine effectiveness to inform future vaccine purchasing decisions, as well as comparing serological response to the different vaccines. Disclosures Ryan C. Maves, MD, EMD Serono (Advisor or Review Panel member)Heron Therapeutics (Advisor or Review Panel member) Jitu Modi, MD, GSK (Speaker’s Bureau)

COVID-19 concerns, health services utilisation and social support among Western Australians with diabetes during the pandemic

People with diabetes face increased risk of serious COVID-19 complications, making self-care for optimal metabolic management crucial. However, the pandemic has reduced access to routine care among people with diabetes. The pandemic can also elicit distress, which can impact diabetes self-management and health. To understand the impact of COVID-19 on Western Australians with diabetes, we conducted an evaluation involving an online survey of consumers of diabetes health services and an analysis of routine program data (i.e. service utilisation/program attendance). Survey respondents were concerned about contracting COVID-19, many intended to change the way they utilised health services and many indicated they would continue to socially isolate. Utilisation of digital/telephone services peaked between April and June 2020. Despite the concerns indicated, a participation resurgence was observed upon resumption of face-to-face programs. Continued access to diabetes programs via multiple modes of delivery is critical to support optimal self-care and mitigate COVID-19 risks, distress and social isolation. This timely and pragmatic assessment of consumer beliefs synthesised with routinely collected evaluation data represents an agile approach to evaluation through an emerging public health crisis. The findings helped to ensure optimal service delivery to meet the needs of this priority population throughout the pandemic.

ANIMALISTIC VOCABULARY AS VERBALIZATION OF ZOOMORPH CULTURAL CODE IN DIALECT WORLD VIEW OF KUBAN REGION INHABITANTS

Целью статьи, источником языкового материала для которой послужили региональные лексикографические источники и данные полевых экспедиций, является выявление когнитивных особенностей анималистической лексики, функционирующей в кубанских говорах. Актуальность изучения зоонимов, относящихся к наиболее древнему лексическому пласту и отражающих этнокультурные различия (психологические, ментальные и социальные особенности диалектного сообщества), обусловлена их информативностью для описания диалектной картины мира. В исследовании, выполненном в рамках антропоцентрической парадигмы, продемонстрированы универсальность и продуктивность зооморфного культурного кода в диалектной картине мира жителей Кубани. Установлены синхронические и диахронические мотивационные признаки диалектной анималистической лексики, имеющие ориентирующий характер и в целом аналогичные отмечаемым в русских говорах и общеславянском контексте. Выявлена отражающая своеобразие мировидения жителей Кубани этнокультурная специфика, которая проявляется в особенностях реализации мотивем в народных наименованиях животных. Показано, что многие зоонимы склонны к метафоризации. Наиболее продуктивными и значимыми при описании ДКМ являются обладающие этнокультурной маркированностью метафорические модели животное ® человек и животное ® растение , отражающие прагматическую оценку реалий окружающей действительности. Продемонстрировано, что когнитивные особенности анималистической лексики ярко проявляются как в бытовой, так и в обрядовой сфере, где зоонимы, выступая в обрядовом значении, выполняют символьные функции. Полученные результаты имеют важное значение для когнитивной диалектологии и этнолингвистики, обогащая представления о реализации зооморфного кода в общеязыковой картине мира. The aim of this article (its linguistic materials source being the regional lexicographical sources and field expedition data) is to establish cognitive nature of the animalistic vocabulary, functioning in Kuban sub-dialects. The significance of studying the zoonyms, related to a more ancient lexical layer and depicting ethnocultural differences (psychological, mental and social features of the dialect community), is driven by their informative value when describing the dialect world view. The research, carried out within the anthropocentric paradigm framework, demonstrates the universal nature and productivity of zoomorphic cultural patterns in the dialect world view of Kuban region inhabitants. It establishes synchronous and diachronous motivational indicators of dialect animalistic vocabulary, which have direction properties and are generally similar to the ones observed in Russian sub-dialects and Common-Slavic context. The ethnocultural features, which reflect the uniqueness of Kuban region inhabitants’ world view, manifest in peculiar implementation of motivemes in folk naming of animals. The article demonstrates that many zoonyms are subject to metaphorization. The most productive and significant of them, when describing the DWV, are metaphoric models which have ethnocultural markings such as animal ® human and animal ® plant, reflecting pragmatic assessment of realities of the world around us. It demonstrates that cognitive nature of animalistic vocabulary is vividly expressed in both common and ceremonial areas, where zoonyms, in their ceremonial meaning, serve their symbolic functions. The results received are significant for the cognitive dialectology and ethnolinguistics by broadening the understanding of zoomorphic patterns implementation in the general-linguistic world view.

A Pragmatic Assessment of Google Translate for Emergency Department Instructions

ABSTRACT Background Because many hospitals have no mechanism for written translation, ED providers resort to the use of automated translation software, such as Google Translate (GT) for patient instructions. A recent study of discharge instructions in Spanish and Chinese suggested that accuracy rates of Google Translate (GT) were high. Study Objective To perform a pragmatic assessment of GT for the written translation of commonly used ED discharge instructions in seven commonly spoken languages. Methods A prospective assessment of the accuracy of GT for 20 commonly used ED discharge instruction phrases, as evaluated by a convenience sample of native speakers of seven commonly spoken languages (Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Korean, Armenian, and Farsi). Translations were evaluated using a previously validated matrix for scoring machine translation, containing 5-point Likert scales for fluency, adequacy, meaning, and severity, in addition to a dichotomous assessment of retention of the overall meaning. Results Twenty volunteers evaluated 400 google translated discharge statements. Volunteers were 50% female and spoke Spanish (5), Armenian (2), Chinese (3), Tagalog (4), Korean (2), and Farsi (2). The overall meaning was retained for 82.5% (330/400) of the translations. Spanish had the highest accuracy rate (94%), followed by Tagalog (90%), Korean (82.5%), Chinese (81.7%), Farsi (67.5%), and Armenian (55%). Mean Likert scores (on a 5-point scale) were high for fluency (4.2), adequacy (4.4), meaning (4.3), and severity (4.3) but also varied. Conclusion GT for discharge instructions in the ED is inconsistent between languages and should not be relied on for patient instructions.

Why are the institutional injustice and the lack of fairness omnipresent in Serbia? A pragmatic assessment of plural orders of worth

Recent results from Round 9 of the European Social Survey (ESS) indicate that Serbia differs from other European countries in terms of justice and fairness. Whereas the Serbian people?s dissatisfaction relating to unjust income distribution, unfair employment chances and political institutions may not be surprising, these findings still raise a dozen questions. Situated within contemporary discussions on normativity in sociology and survey methodology, this paper aims to reassess the moral grammar of these judgments. By endorsing tenets of pragmatic sociology and its principal aim to recognize the plural modes of valuation and criticism and reflective capacities of social actors to judge and evaluate, this paper develops around few major points. First, we underline how most major approaches to axiology remain stuck in a co-determinist framework, thereby renewing a number of dualisms. Instead, we opt for a relational approach and further present how the theoretical model of Boltanski and Thev?not enables the locating of different assessments of worth. After setting our methodological framework against the ?externalist? epistemology, we explore our key assumption that the above-mentioned high rates come as a problem of a feasible ?truce? between the domestic regime and the civic polity, ruled by proclaimed legality, representativeness and impersonal character. We trace the problem of incorporating multiple arrangements as a problem of generality, by relating these to two layers of information acquired through the ESS. One involves the analysis of the domestic polity covering the household situation in terms of organization and unveiling the specific worth given to care and protection. Another layer is derived from regression analysis which affirms that the absence of fairness in civic polity correlates with a higher degree of worth given to the domestic one, but also that the latter situation depicts a deeper ontological puzzle about making a mild transition to the assumed ?horizontality? of civic matters.