More than smell - COVID-19 is associated with severe impairment of smell, taste, and chemesthesis

Recent anecdotal and scientific reports have provided evidence of a link between COVID-19 and chemosensory impairments, such as anosmia. However, these reports have downplayed or failed to distinguish potential effects on taste, ignored chemesthesis, and generally lacked quantitative measurements. Here, we report the development, implementation, and initial results of a multilingual, international questionnaire to assess self-reported quantity and quality of perception in 3 distinct chemosensory modalities (smell, taste, and chemesthesis) before and during COVID-19. In the first 11 days after questionnaire launch, 4039 participants (2913 women, 1118 men, and 8 others, aged 19-79) reported a COVID-19 diagnosis either via laboratory tests or clinical assessment. Importantly, smell, taste, and chemesthetic function were each significantly reduced compared to their status before the disease. Difference scores (maximum possible change ±100) revealed a mean reduction of smell (-79.7 ± 28.7, mean ± standard deviation), taste (-69.0 ± 32.6), and chemesthetic (-37.3 ± 36.2) function during COVID-19. Qualitative changes in olfactory ability (parosmia and phantosmia) were relatively rare and correlated with smell loss. Importantly, perceived nasal obstruction did not account for smell loss. Furthermore, chemosensory impairments were similar between participants in the laboratory test and clinical assessment groups. These results show that COVID-19-associated chemosensory impairment is not limited to smell but also affects taste and chemesthesis. The multimodal impact of COVID-19 and the lack of perceived nasal obstruction suggest that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus strain 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection may disrupt sensory-neural mechanisms. © 2020 The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved

On how work environments influence innovation: A case study from a large ICT company

The assessment of a company's innovation effort is often reduced to comparing product related measures or in better instances to considering process related measures as well. However, as is known from organizational theory and from studies in innovation management, organizing for innovation is more than the management of the new product development process. There is indeed an enterprise level when it comes to innovation. Simultaneously, research in the area of work sciences indicates that working environments and work organization itself have an impact on the performance of knowledge workers and their ability to focus on creativity and innovation. This impact of organizational settings can be exerted in a number of ways. The theoretical part of the paper will outline how work environments are interrelated with the concept of innovation. To elucidate how environments can influence innovation, a case company will be studied in some detail and presented: A large ICT-based company has recently implemented a strategic plan for increased innovation, instituted through major changes in the way the corporate units work and cooperate, including issues such as collocation, new ways of working, and changes in the physical layout of the corporate headquarters - and the company has reported increased innovation after these changes. Aspects discussed in this paper include the following: - the organizational environment, particularly the hybrid infrastructure for work, and the collocation of activities may be a strategy to further collaboration and innovation; - a changed competitive environment will value formalized measures of innovation; - a new organizational structure, with allocated responsibility for patenting, can meet the demand for formalized measures; - a new culture for cooperation is needed to further innovation. One goal of the research presented in this paper has been to explore different mechanisms through which changes in the work environment may affect the level of innovation. The case study is performed through the presentation and evaluation of statistical data, qualitative interviews with key informants in the company as well as internally and publicly available company information