Mental Health Implications of Isolation During Hospitalization for Covid-19: Self-Perceived Variations in Emotion

Forced isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in numerous mental health consequences. Individuals who have required hospitalization due to contracting the illness are at an increased risk of developing potentially harmful mental health concerns resulting from the emotional distress of forced isolation. Families separated from one another experience anxiety and fear due to helplessness fostered by the separation. Furthermore, medical caretakers are placed in the position to make life-altering decisions for their patients, increasing their stress and anxiety levels. Therefore, it is imperative that hospitals provide adequate mental health support for patients and their family members. Furthermore, communities experiencing restricted freedom or lockdowns may benefit from increased access to mental health services

Quantifying the impact of hurricanes, mid-latitude cyclones and other weather and climate extreme events on the Mississippi-Alabama Barrier Islands using remotely sensed data

Recent high-profile hurricanes have demonstrated the destructiveness of extreme events on coastal landscapes to the world. Barrier islands across the planet are disappearing, exposing vulnerable coastal cities to the damage caused by extreme events. Growing resolve among scientists regarding climate change\u27s connection to tropical cyclones heightens the concern around intensifying extremes and landscape dynamics. This study uses more than 600 Landsat images to examine the role of extreme events on barrier island morphology on four of the Mississippi-Alabama barrier islands from 1972-2014. Each island, West Ship Island (WSI), East Ship Island (WSI), Petit Bois Island (PBI), and Sand Island, was measured for area in hectares (ha) 14 times per year on average with higher temporal resolution before and after hurricanes, allowing for a high-resolution statistical history of surface area change and the quantification of the impact of extreme weather events. The results reveal that extreme events, specifically hurricanes, mid-latitude cyclones, and thunderstorms, shape the islands more than gradual erosion and accretion processes across all islands. The results also show that hurricanes trigger accelerated erosion beyond landfall. Catastrophic events caused 54-59% of all land area change on the islands during the study period. Hurricanes caused 26-37% of all change across the islands, thunderstorms 11-13%, and mid-latitude cyclones 11-14%. Three of the islands lost at least one-quarter of their 1972-1973 areas: WSI 25%, ESI 39%, and PBI 38%. WSI, ESI, and Sand Island are all in post-Katrina (2005) regrowth periods while PBI has destabilized and continues to experience net erosion. The results of this study can serve the Gulf Islands National Seashore in long-term environmental planning

Duality of moduli and quasiconformal mappings in metric spaces

We prove a duality relation for the moduli of the family of curves connecting two sets and the family of surfaces separating the sets, in the setting of a complete metric space equipped with a doubling measure and supporting a Poincar\'e inequality. Then we apply this to show that quasiconformal mappings can be characterized by the fact that they quasi-preserve the modulus of certain families of surfaces

New Zealand's food system is unsustainable : a survey of the divergent attitudes of agriculture, environment and health sector professionals towards eating guidelines : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

Appendix D: Chapter 16: Sustainable Diets was removed for copyright reasons. Jones, R., Volgliano, C., & Burlingame, B. (2019). Sustainable diets and food-based dietary guidelines. In B. Berlingame. & S. Dernini (Eds.), Sustainable diets: Linking nutrition and food systems (pp. 158-171). CAB International.Background: The United Nation’s (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) address the adverse health and environmental changes associated with changes in the food and nutrition system. In one of its many sustainable development initiatives, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN (FAO) has called for sustainable diets, which align with SDG 2, Zero Hunger, and SDG 12, Sustainable Consumption and Production. The inclusion of sustainability characteristics in New Zealand’s (NZ) eating and activity guidelines (EAGs) would contribute to directly addressing the SDGs and lead to achieving sustainable diets. This study aimed to evaluate the agreement among sectoral professionals of including sustainability characteristics within the guidelines. Methods: Professionals within the agriculture, environment and health sectors were invited to complete an online survey to establish agreement with sustainability characteristics. Opinion and attitude questions were completed using a 5-item Likert scale. One-way ANOVA analyses were conducted to compare the level of agreement with the inclusion of sustainability statements of the three professional sector groups. A one-way ANCOVA analysis was undertaken to detect a difference in means of the sectoral levels of agreement whilst controlling for covariates. Post-hoc tests were used to determine where the significant differences in opinion lay between the sector groups. Results: Overall, 298 (65% female) respondents completed the survey from the agriculture (37%), environment (22%) and health (41%) sectors. Two-thirds (66%) of respondents were over 35 years and 90% had a tertiary education. Two-thirds (63%) of respondents disagreed with the statement that NZ’s current food system is sustainable; sector respondents from health (77%) and environment (78%) had greater disagreement than agriculture (35%) (P = 0.00). Overall, 77% of respondents agreed that sustainability characteristics should be included in guidelines; with greater agreement from health (90%) and environment (84%) versus agriculture (58%) (P = 0.00). Five sustainability characteristics received unanimously high levels of agreement (> 90%) for inclusion: dietary diversity (97%), sustainable seafood (90.8%), to limit processed foods (90.7%), reduced food waste (95.3%) and sustainable lifestyle behaviours (97.2%). Agreement for eight sustainability characteristics was higher for health and environment versus agricultural sector (P < 0.05). There was relatively lower level of agreement from all three sectors, particularly environmental (68.7%), to consume recommended serves of dairy products. Only 38.5% of all respondents agreed with the inclusion of “organic food produce”. Respondents who agreed with the inclusion of sustainability characteristics were more likely to be familiar with the EAGs and to agree NZs current food system is unsustainable. Conclusion: Professionals from the agriculture, environment and health sectors of New Zealand largely support the inclusion of sustainability characteristics within NZ’s EAGs. However, there are areas of divergence that need to be addressed for their successful development and implementation

Testing the Links from Fit to Effective Use to Impact: A Digital Hospital Case

The global health sector is undergoing rapid digital transformation. Because such transformations often fail to meet expectations, researchers have begun studying the full chain from implementation to outcomes to learn what improvements are needed. Recent studies suggest that it is especially important to learn what ‘effective use’ of new systems involve, because effective use is the lynchpin between a system and its benefits. A key challenge, however, is operationalizing effective use. In this paper, we compare two approaches: theory-driven, operationalizing effective use using the ‘theory of effective use’, and context-driven, operationalizing it in terms of the workarounds users devise to achieve their goals. We compare these approaches using survey data from a multi-hospital digital transformation. The results support the theory-driven approach, while offering useful insights on workarounds

Internet Monitor 2014: Reflections on the Digital World: Platforms, Policy, Privacy, and Public Discourse

This publication is the second annual report of the Internet Monitor project at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. As with the inaugural report, this year's edition is a collaborative effort of the extended Berkman community. Internet Monitor 2014: Reflections on the Digital World includes nearly three dozen contributions from friends and colleagues around the world that highlight and discuss some of the most compelling events and trends in the digitally networked environment over the past year.The result, intended for a general interest audience, brings together reflection and analysis on a broad range of issues and regions—from an examination of Europe's "right to be forgotten" to a review of the current state of mobile security to an exploration of a new wave of movements attempting to counter hate speech online—and offers it up for debate and discussion. Our goal remains not to provide a definitive assessment of the "state of the Internet" but rather to provide a rich compendium of commentary on the year's developments with respect to the online space.Last year's report examined the dynamics of Internet controls and online activity through the actions of government, corporations, and civil society. We focus this year on the interplay between technological platforms and policy; growing tensions between protecting personal privacy and using big data for social good; the implications of digital communications tools for public discourse and collective action; and current debates around the future of Internet governance.The report reflects the diversity of ideas and input the Internet Monitor project seeks to invite. Some of the contributions are descriptive; others prescriptive. Some contain purely factual observations; others offer personal opinion. In addition to those in traditional essay format, contributions this year include a speculative fiction story exploring what our increasingly data-driven world might bring, a selection of "visual thinking" illustrations that accompany a number of essays, a "Year in Review" timeline that highlights many of the year's most fascinating Internet-related news stories (and an interactive version of which is available at thenetmonitor.org), and a slightly tongue-in-cheek "By the Numbers" section that offers a look at the year's important digital statistics. We believe that each contribution offers insights, and hope they provoke further reflection, conversation, and debate in both offline and online settings around the globe

Simulations of Dense Atomic Hydrogen in the Wigner Crystal Phase

Path integral Monte Carlo simulations are applied to study dense atomic hydrogen in the regime where the protons form a Wigner crystal. The interaction of the protons with the degenerate electron gas is modeled by Thomas-Fermi screening, which leads to a Yukawa potential for the proton-proton interaction. A numerical technique for the derivation of the corresponding action of the paths is described. For a fixed density of rs=200, the melting is analyzed using the Lindemann ratio, the structure factor and free energy calculations. Anharmonic effects in the crystal vibrations are analyzed.Comment: Proceedings article of the Study of Matter at Extreme Conditions (SMEC) conference in Miami, Florida; submitted to Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids (2005

The dynamics of organizational culture: the case of culture work in a digital hospital

With the increasing infusion of information systems through organizations, a dynamic understanding of the relationship between cultural values and artifacts is critical. This paper responds to calls to explore organizational culture from a dynamic view rather than the traditional static approach. We performed a case study using grounded theory principles of a digital transformation of a large, acute-care hospital in Australia. Our analysis reveals new insights into the dynamic relationship between the values of the new system (artifact) and the values of the organization, referred to as retroactive and proactive realization respectively. We extend past research by developing a process model that reveals how different types of culture work - the actions and doings through which culture is created, maintained, and disrupted - are invoked during realization processes. This research deepens our understanding of the realization process and the alignment literature with implications for research and practice

PAXX and its paralogues synergistically direct DNA polymerase λ activity in DNA repair

PAXX is a recently identified component of the nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) DNA repair pathway. The molecular mechanisms of PAXX action remain largely unclear. Here we characterise the interactomes of PAXX and its paralogs, XLF and XRCC4, to show that these factors share the ability to interact with DNA polymerase λ (Pol λ), stimulate its activity and are required for recruitment of Pol λ to laser-induced DNA damage sites. Stimulation of Pol λ activity by XRCC4 paralogs requires a direct interaction between the SP/8 kDa domain of Pol λ and their N-terminal head domains to facilitate recognition of the 5′ end of substrate gaps. Furthermore, PAXX and XLF collaborate with Pol λ to promote joining of incompatible DNA ends and are redundant in supporting Pol λ function in vivo. Our findings identify Pol λ as a novel downstream effector of PAXX function and show XRCC4 paralogs act in synergy to regulate polymerase activity in NHEJ.This work was supported by the Medical Research Council (MRC) UK

The Digital Transformation Journey of a Large Australian Hospital: A Teaching Case

With the vision of a seamless, state-wide approach to patient management, the Department of Health within the Queensland State Government of Australia embarked on a digital transformation journey. This involved the configuration and rollout of an integrated electronic medical record system (ieMR) with computerized provider order entry, ePrescribing, decision support, analytics, and research functionalities, together with new devices and work practices, to create a multi-hospital, whole-of-state digital health ecosystem. Drawing on multiple perspectives, including executives and front-line clinicians who are both optimistic and pessimistic towards the ieMR, this teaching case describes the digital transformation of the lead site, Princess Alexandra Hospital, and their experience in becoming Australia’s first large digital hospital. This case has been informed by a multi-year qualitative study involving the collection of primary (observations and interviews) and secondary data (publicly available project records) before and after the implementation. This case is relevant to undergraduate and postgraduate students in information systems, executive management, and clinical/health informatics