Evaluation of COVID-19 Restrictions on Distance Runners' Training Habits Using Wearable Trackers

The COVID-19 pandemic caused widespread disruption to many individuals' lifestyles. Social distancing restrictions implemented during this global pandemic may bring potential impact on physical activity habits of the general population. However, running is one of the most popular forms of physical activity worldwide and one in which it could be maintained even during most COVID-19 restrictions. We aimed to determine the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on runners' training habits through analyzing the training records obtained from their GPS enabled wearable trackers. Retrospective and prospective data were collected from an online database (https://wetrac.ucalgary.ca). Runners' training habits, including frequency, intensity and duration of training, weekly mileage and running locations were analyzed and compared 9 months before and after the start of COVID-19 restrictions in March 2020. We found that runners ran 3 km per week more (p = 0.05, Cohen's d = 0.12) after the start of COVID-19 restrictions, and added 0.3 training sessions per week (p = 0.03, Cohen's d = 0.14). Moreover, runners ran an additional 0.4 sessions outdoors (p < 0.01, Cohen's d = 0.21) but there was no significant change in the intensity or duration of training sessions. Our findings suggested that runners adopted slightly different training regimen as a result of COVID-19 restrictions. Our results described the collective changes, irrespective of differences in response measures adopted by various countries or cities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Impact Analysis of COVID 19 Response Measures on Social Media Postings

Declared a pandemic in March 2020, SARS-COVID19 has become a health emergency of global concern. The World Health Organization has directed the countries all over the world to take measures to stop the spread of disease. There was a public outburst for policies like lockdown and a mixed review for Working from Home on social networking platforms. By analyzing this change, we can identify the sentiment of people about different policies. A lot of work has been done on sentiment analysis of Covid19 tweets. This is an in-depth impact analysis of COVID-19 response measures on sentiments of tweets. It can help us understand the social media trends revolving around COVID19. For achieving the goal, Google Mobility Report has been used for obtaining data about the mobility in different countries. A huge collection of tweets is extracted using Twitter API. Both datasets are used to analyze multiple trends over a period of more than a year. This article shows the change in social media sentiments with the evolving state of pandemic and the steps taken by authorities. Although, number of cases have more impact on Sentiments, the impact of changing mobility of residential and non-residential areas is also not negligible because average sentiments have seen significant up and down trends because of changing government policies.

Digital Mental Health Support for Students in Higher Institutions in Nigeria During Pandemics

This chapter examined the challenges associated with students' mental health in a pandemic period like the COVID-19 era and the expected coordinated response measures that should be in place to mitigate such challenges with focus on the mental health of students in institutions of higher learning in Nigeria, the most populous nation on the continent of Africa. Specifically, the review strengthened the need for school counselors' going back to the drawing board to come up with modalities that could keep students psychologically and emotionally healthy. Students normally enjoy school community life but would have to adjust their patterns of social interactions during an outbreak of an infectious disease. The review explored and applied the assumptions of social support theory which laid emphasis on supportive relationships within social contexts. School counselors were charged in this chapter to engage their students' community with digital mental health support to help them remain mentally healthy in spite of the adverse events usually provoked by the presence of a pandemic.

MalSEIRS: Forecasting Malware Spread Based on Compartmental Models in Epidemiology

Over the last few decades, the Internet has brought about a myriad of benefits to almost every aspect of our daily lives. However, malware attacks have also widely proliferated, mainly aiming at legitimate network users, resulting in millions of dollars in damages if proper protection and response measures are not settled and enforced. In this context, the paper at hand proposes MalSEIRS, a novel dynamic model, to predict malware distribution in a network based on the SEIRS epidemiological model. As a result, the time-dependent rates of infection, recovery, and loss of immunity enable us to capture the complex dynamism of malware spreading behavior, which is influenced by a variety of external circumstances. In addition, we describe both offensive and defensive techniques, based on the proposed MalSEIRS model, through extensive experimentation, as well as disclosing real-life malware campaigns that can be better understood by using the suggested model.

Pressure-driven wrinkling of soft inner-lined tubes

A simple equation modelling an inextensible elastic lining of an inner-lined tube subject to an imposed pressure difference is derived from a consideration of the idealised elastic properties of the lining and the pressure and soft-substrate forces. Two cases are considered in detail, one with prominent wrinkling and a second one in which wrinkling is absent and only buckling remains. Bifurcation diagrams are computed via numerical continuation for both cases. Wrinkling, buckling, folding, and mixed-mode solutions are found and organised according to system-response measures including tension, in-plane compression, maximum curvature and energy. Approximate wrinkle solutions are constructed using weakly nonlinear theory, in excellent agreement with numerics. Our approach explains how the wavelength of the wrinkles is selected as a function of the parameters in compressed wrinkling systems and shows how localised folds and mixed-mode states form in secondary bifurcations from wrinkled states. Our model aims to capture the wrinkling response of arterial endothelium to blood pressure changes but applies much more broadly.

'The Powerful Ones': Exploring Young Men’s Understandings of Sexual Violence and Rape Culture in Aotearoa New Zealand

<p>The centralising of women within institutional responses to sexual violence (Ministry of Justice, 2019) and sexual violence scholarship (Fanslow & Robinson, 2004a, 2011; Fanslow, Robinson, Crengle, & Perese, 2010; Gavey, 1991; Jordan, 2004, 2008) consequently means that despite men being both the primary perpetrators of sexual violence, and whose privileged identities create and maintain rape culture, men often remain invisible within sexual violence discourse. To gain insight into how young men understand sexual violence, rape culture, and their own identity within these structures, this research involved (n=11) qualitative semi-structured interviews with cisgender men aged between 18-30 who identified as heterosexual. These interviews highlighted the complexities of participant’s comprehension of sexual violence, particularly regarding the typology and motivations of offenders, the relationship between gender, alcohol, power and consent, and the various perceived causes of sexual violence. Participants also signalled the importance of comprehensive consent and sex education as a method of sexual violence prevention. This research is essential to responsibilise sexual violence prevention as the obligation of men, effectively inform prevention, intervention and response measures, and work towards ultimately eradicating sexual violence and the wider rape culture in Aotearoa New Zealand.</p>

'The Powerful Ones': Exploring Young Men’s Understandings of Sexual Violence and Rape Culture in Aotearoa New Zealand

<p>The centralising of women within institutional responses to sexual violence (Ministry of Justice, 2019) and sexual violence scholarship (Fanslow & Robinson, 2004a, 2011; Fanslow, Robinson, Crengle, & Perese, 2010; Gavey, 1991; Jordan, 2004, 2008) consequently means that despite men being both the primary perpetrators of sexual violence, and whose privileged identities create and maintain rape culture, men often remain invisible within sexual violence discourse. To gain insight into how young men understand sexual violence, rape culture, and their own identity within these structures, this research involved (n=11) qualitative semi-structured interviews with cisgender men aged between 18-30 who identified as heterosexual. These interviews highlighted the complexities of participant’s comprehension of sexual violence, particularly regarding the typology and motivations of offenders, the relationship between gender, alcohol, power and consent, and the various perceived causes of sexual violence. Participants also signalled the importance of comprehensive consent and sex education as a method of sexual violence prevention. This research is essential to responsibilise sexual violence prevention as the obligation of men, effectively inform prevention, intervention and response measures, and work towards ultimately eradicating sexual violence and the wider rape culture in Aotearoa New Zealand.</p>

International Aspects of the COVID-19 Infodemic

At present, the speed and scale of the dissemination of false health information has increased significantly, due to the Internet and social networks, which has become a serious problem and challenge for the worlds public health systems. The issue of spreading implausible news has become most acute against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since February 2020, the World Health Organization has introduced the term infodemiс, which characterizes the rapid growth of unreliable and false reports of a pandemic by analogy with the spread of the virus. The purpose of this article is to study the issues of the emergence and ways of spreading misinformation about health, to consider approaches for taking effective response measures in the conditions of infodemiс. The article was prepared using a systematic review of research publications based on strict selection criteria in the bibliographic databases PubMed, ScienceDirect, as well as online resources that addressed the issues of dissemination and countering false information in the field of healthcare. Countering disinformation needs to be done through correcting information, purposeful refutations based on evidence, implementing initiatives to improve the media literacy of the population, as well as by improving the supervision of social networks. Coordinated interaction between governmental and international organizations, the scientific community, the media, and global Internet social media platforms is crucial in this process.