Health care of deaf persons during coronavirus pandemics

ABSTRACT Objective: To reflect about the barriers experienced by the deaf population during the COVID-19 pandemic, the proposals to overcome communication barriers in health care and the role of public policies in effecting the social inclusion of deaf people. Methods: Reflection based on studies on health care for deaf people, the COVID-19 pandemic and public accessibility policies. Results: The global crisis of COVID-19 has deepened pre-existing inequalities in the world, in addition to highlighting the vulnerability of people with disabilities, including deaf. Government, institutional and social initiatives to mitigate difficulties in communicating to deaf people have been made, but they are still insufficient to guarantee protection for them in this pandemic and full inclusion in health care. Final considerations: Social inclusion, supported by law, and the linguistic accessibility of deaf people still need to generate broad and concrete actions so that deaf people can enjoy their rights as citizens.

Inclusive Education

The challenges facing full inclusion are many: time, scheduling, role clarity, self-efficacy, collaboration, parity, classroom management, new and different skill sets, training, and support. If we plan for, train, and schedule special and general education teachers as separate entities, they will be. Instead, all educators and leaders must be viewed, and treated, as part of a single working system. This chapter outlines concrete and actionable strategies for school leaders and general and special educators to support effective inclusion and make it a reality for all students. Hard work? Yes! Worth it? Absolutely!

PHILOSOPHICAL DISCOURSE OF MODERN UKRAINE: OWN EXPERIENCE AND POLISH INFLUENCES

Polish influences on the development of Ukrainian philosophy are indisputable, but they need a structural analysis: what was the motivation for these influences, how they were carried out, who was the leader of these influences, what was the greatest influence in Ukrainian philosophy. The study provided the following answers to these questions: the motivation for Polish influence was, among other things, the desire to support an independent Ukrainian state, culture and philosophy; these influences were exercised both consciously by Polish philosophers themselves and by the interest of Ukrainian philosophers in Polish achievements in philosophy, in particular in philosophical terminology; the main leaders of Polish philosophical influences were Polish and Ukrainian philosophers, as well as authors of translations of philosophical works from Polish into Ukrainian; the spheres of the history of philosophy, logic, philosophy of education, political philosophy and some others were most influenced in Ukrainian philosophy, that can be judged, in particular, by the works of Polish philosophers translated from Polish into Ukrainian. Polish philosophy simplifies the path of Ukrainian philosophy to philosophical classics, which is an advantage, and at the same time using Polish philosophy can limit the desire of Ukrainian philosophers to seek their own solutions and in particular their own philosophical terminology, which can already be a significant drawback. The prospect of interaction between Ukrainian and Polish philosophies should be their mutual influence and full inclusion of Polish and Ukrainian philosophical communities in the world philosophical discourse. Key words: philosophical discourse, philosophical translation, Ukrainophilia, Polish influences, national philosophical dictionary, philosophical community.

O edukacji włączającej – z uwzględnieniem problemu bezpieczeństwa uczniów w kontekście formalnoprawnym

The key issue of this article is inclusive education in connection with the formal and legal aspects of students’ safety when they are staying in educational institutions. In the first part, author describes the basic assumptions of the social model of education and it’s international conditions, also referring to solutions that have been recently implemented in the Polish education system. The second part indicates the problems that may be met by educational institutions and teachers trying to achieve a state of full inclusion. They relate to the school’s caring function in terms of security guarantees. The diversity of student population, especially wide range of educational needs may make it impossible for teachers to develop specific approach to individual pupil. It’s caused by formal items, largely determined by the financial situation of particular local government units.

BASAER Team: The First Arabic Robot Team for Building the Capacities of Visually Impaired Students to Build and Program Robots

the purpose of this study was to examine whether visually impaired students can build educational robots and program them if they receive adapted materials and instructions with guided instruction from well-trained educators in the fields of inclusive STEM Classrooms. Discussion of the technologies and our experimental approach is presented in this paper and validated through the continued successful effort with visually impaired students for two years of the program and specialists in the field of visual impairment and STEAM, we also validated our approach by performing experimental classes for students with different visual impairments and ages. The results indicated that the approach used by BASAER team was successful in enabling the blind and visually impaired students to build and program educational robotics and to participate effectively in national and international STEAM programs and competitions, with some limitations and Challenges encountered and explored during this research. The results from this study will be used to suggest a fully adapted system to support full inclusion for blind and visually impaired students in educational robots in STEAM context and to promote the adoption of this study and similar studies toward Inclusive STEM Classrooms.

Science and Inclusion

“Science Dissemination for the Disabled" is a noteworthy topic which is still sparse. In order to increase interest in the study of science and on access to research without exclusion emphasis needs to be paid towards innovation within a scientific environment. We describe some issues on the use of open digital technologies available at Scientific Fablabs to support education and scientific know-how for all. Our hope is to encourage further consideration by the scientific community and present strategies that promote the full inclusion of people with disabilities in society.

People with Disabilities in the Workplace: Results of a Survey Conducted among Polish and Finnish Employers

The key aspect of the inclusion of people with disabilities (PwD) in the workplace is how they are perceived by employers who make decisions on hiring employees. The article presents the results of CAWI (Computer Assisted Web Interview) research conducted among Polish and Finnish employers (n = 414) in 2021 using a proprietary questionnaire. Employers were asked to assess the state policy in the field of PwD’s inclusion, the social atmosphere in this respect, the level of acceptance of privileges/special solutions dedicated to PwD in the workplace and the knowledge of the specificity of disability. When analysing the obtained data, we verified the differentiation of Polish and Finnish employers’ assessments, the impact of respondents’ characteristics on their assessment and the relations between the assessments of various aspects of PwD’s inclusion. For the analysis, we used the t-test of independent samples for equality of means and the Pearson correlation coefficient. The results showed that Finnish respondents assess the conditions for the full inclusion of PwD much better than Polish ones. The characteristics most differentiating employers’ assessments is gender and the fact of employing PwD. There were also correlations between the responses of respondents in both countries to three out of four analysed questions from the questionnaire. The differences found in this study indicate that it would be worth extending the research to other European countries to generalize conclusions about the influence of cultural determinants on the situation of PwD on the labour market.

Roles of Surgery in the Treatment of Patients With High-Risk Neuroblastoma in the Children Oncology Group Study: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Purpose: Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid tumor in children, and most patients are at high risk when they are initially diagnosed. The roles of surgery and induction chemotherapy in patients with high-risk neuroblastoma have been a subject of much controversy and debate. The objective of the current study was to assess the roles of surgery in high-risk neuroblastoma.Method: The review protocol was prospectively registered (PROSPEROID: CRD42021253961). The PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, and CNKI databases were searched from inception to January 2020 with no restrictions on language or publication date. Clinical studies comparing the outcomes of different surgical ranges for the treatment of high-risk neuroblastoma were analyzed. The Mantel–Haenszel method and a random effects model was utilized to calculate the hazard ratio (95% CI).Results: Fourteen studies that assessed 1,915 subjects met the full inclusion criteria. Compared with the gross tumor resection (GTR) group, complete tumor resection (CTR) did not significantly improve the 5-year EFS [p = 1.0; HR = 0.95 (95% CI, 0.87–1.05); I2 = 0%], and the 5-year OS [p = 0.76; HR = 1.08 (95% CI, 0.80–1.46); I2 = 0%] of patients. GTR or CTR resection had significantly better 5-year OS [p = 0.45; HR = 0.56 (95% CI, 0.43–0.72); I2 = 0%] and 5-year EFS [p = 0.15; HR = 0.80 (95% CI, 0.71–0.90); I2 = 31%] than subtotal tumor resection (STR) or biopsy only; however, both CTR or GTR showed a trend for more intra and post-operative complications compared with the STR or biopsy only [p = 0.37; OR = 1.54 (95% CI, 1.08–2.20); I2 = 0%]. The EFS of the patients who underwent GTR or CTR at the time of diagnosis and after induction chemotherapy were similar [p = 0.24; HR = 1.53 (95% CI, 0.84–2.77); I2 = 29%].Conclusion: For patients with high-risk neuroblastoma, complete tumor resection and gross tumor resection of the primary tumor were related to improved survival, with very limited effects on reducing intraoperative and postoperative complications. It is necessary to design strong chemotherapy regimens to improve the survival rate of advanced patients.Systematic Review Registration:https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/, PROSPEROID [CRD42021253961].

Influence of PM1 exposure on total and cause-specific respiratory diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis

An increasing number of studies examined the potential effects of PM1 (submicronic particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤ 1 μm) on the risk of respiratory diseases; however, the results have been inconclusive. This study aimed to determine the overall association between PM1 with total and cause-specific respiratory diseases. A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted with 68 related articles retrieved, and six articles met the full inclusion criteria for the final analysis. For a 10 μg/m3 increase in PM1, the pooled odds ratio (OR) was 1.05 (95% CI 0.98–1.12) for total respiratory diseases, 1.25 (95% CI 1.00–1.56) for asthma, and 1.07 (95% CI 1.04–1.10) for pneumonia with the I2 value of 87%, 70%, and 0%, respectively. Subgroup analyses showed that long-term exposure to PM1 was associated with increased risk of asthma (OR 1.47, 95% CI 1.33–1.63) with an I2 value of 0%, while short-term exposure to PM1 was not associated with asthma (OR 1.07, 95% CI 0.89–1.27) with the I2 value of 0%. Egger’s test showed that publication bias existed (P = 0.041); however, the funnel plot was symmetrical with the inclusion of the moderator. In conclusion, elevated levels of PM1 may increase morbidity in total and cause-specific respiratory diseases in the population.