Geographical identification of the vulnerable groups during COVID-19 crisis: Psychological typhoon eye theory and its boundary conditions.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Tang PM
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7405153 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Geographical identification of the vulnerable groups during COVID-19 crisis: Psychological typhoon eye theory and its boundary conditions.
Tang Pok Man PM Zhang Stephen X SX Li Chi Hon CH Wei Feng F
Psychiatry and clinical neurosciences 20200806 10
Similar Datasets
Project description:Practicality was a valued attribute of academic psychological theory during its initial decades, but usefulness has since faded in importance to the field. Theories are now evaluated mainly on their ability to account for decontextualized laboratory data and not their ability to help solve societal problems. With laudable exceptions in the clinical, intergroup, and health domains, most psychological theories have little relevance to people's everyday lives, poor accessibility to policymakers, or even applicability to the work of other academics who are better positioned to translate the theories to the practical realm. We refer to the lack of relevance, accessibility, and applicability of psychological theory to the rest of society as the practicality crisis. The practicality crisis harms the field in its ability to attract the next generation of scholars and maintain viability at the national level. We describe practical theory and illustrate its use in the field of self-regulation. Psychological theory is historically and scientifically well positioned to become useful should scholars in the field decide to value practicality. We offer a set of incentives to encourage the return of social psychology to the Lewinian vision of a useful science that speaks to pressing social issues.
| S-EPMC8260606 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Covid-19 originated in Wuhan and rippled across China. We investigate how the geographical distance of working adults to the epicenter of Wuhan predicts their burnout - emotional, physical and mental exhaustion due to excessive and prolonged stress. Preliminary results of a survey of 308 working adults in 53 cities showed working adults' distance to the epicenter of Wuhan had an inverted U-shaped relationship with their burnout. Such results help to identify regions where people may need more psychiatric assistance, with direct implications for healthcare practitioners and policymakers.
| S-EPMC7194871 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BACKGROUND:Groups at risk of exclusion from society appear to have a lower health status and more health-related problems. Prevention efforts in these groups are not always successful, and new ways have to be sought by which health messages can be delivered. Many agree on low-threshold sport activities, also called 'community sports', to be a powerful tool to target socially vulnerable groups. Until now, it has not been investigated how and when such sport initiatives may be able to impact health outcomes in socially vulnerable populations. This study aims at developing a program theory that clarifies the mechanisms and necessary conditions for sport programs to be effective in health promotion. Such a program theory may constitute a backbone for developing health promotion initiatives within a sport for development setting. METHODS:We developed a program theory using a realist research design. We build on an extensive data set consisting of the insights of key stakeholders and participants of various community sport organizations at the one hand, and on relevant theoretical frameworks at the other hand. Data were collected through participatory observations of soccer trainings and related group activities, interviews with key stakeholders and participants, document analysis and two focus groups with stakeholders from associated social partnership organizations. RESULTS:The health promoting effect of community sport on socially vulnerable groups seems not to result from an improved physical condition or sport-technical skills as such, but from processes of experiential learning among peers, incremental responsibility-taking and reflexivity. On the condition that participants feel safe, are stimulated to reflect and enabled to become actor of themselves and their situation, these processes are likely to lead to increased self-esteem, self-efficacy and motivation to set and pursue personal (health) goals. The key-influencing factor in these processes is the coach, who therefore needs to be adequately skilled in, for example, social vulnerability, motivational coaching and group dynamics. CONCLUSIONS:The program theory developed in this study offers insights in the mechanisms proper to, and necessary conditions for community sport to be a lever for health promotion in socially vulnerable groups. Motivational processes at individual level and group connectivity are at the basis of personal health goal-setting. One of the necessary conditions is that these processes are guided by community sport coaches skilled in the meaning and impact of social exclusion, and capable of connecting with the target group.
| S-EPMC7245920 | biostudies-literature
Project description:A theoretical methodology based on quantum chemistry to calculate mechanical properties of polymer crystals has been developed and applied to representative polymers. By density functional theory calculations including a dispersion force correction under three-dimensional periodic boundary conditions, crystal structures of poly(methylene oxide) (PMO), polyethylene (PE), poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), poly(trimethylene terephthalate) (PTT), and poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) were optimized and their mechanical properties, such as crystalline moduli and linear and volume compressibilities, were calculated. The optimized crystal structures were proved to be fully consistent with those determined by X-ray and neutron diffraction. The crystalline moduli (E ∥) parallel to the chain axis were calculated to be 114 GPa (PMO), 333 GPa (PE), 182 GPa (PET), 7.1 GPa (PTT), and 20.8 GPa (PBT) and compared with those determined from X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and neutron inelastic scattering experiments. Herein, the E ∥ values thus determined are interpreted in terms of conformational characteristics of the polymeric chains and the validity of the homogeneous stress hypothesis adopted in the X-ray diffraction method is also discussed.
| S-EPMC6641976 | biostudies-literature
Project description:In a wide range of problem-solving settings, the presence of a familiar solution can block the discovery of better solutions (i.e., the Einstellung effect). To investigate this effect, we monitored the eye movements of expert and novice chess players while they solved chess problems that contained a familiar move (i.e., the Einstellung move), as well as an optimal move that was located in a different region of the board. When the Einstellung move was an advantageous (but suboptimal) move, both the expert and novice chess players who chose the Einstellung move continued to look at this move throughout the trial, whereas the subset of expert players who chose the optimal move were able to gradually disengage their attention from the Einstellung move. However, when the Einstellung move was a blunder, all of the experts and the majority of the novices were able to avoid selecting the Einstellung move, and both the experts and novices gradually disengaged their attention from the Einstellung move. These findings shed light on the boundary conditions of the Einstellung effect, and provide convergent evidence for Bilalić, McLeod, & Gobet (2008)'s conclusion that the Einstellung effect operates by biasing attention towards problem features that are associated with the familiar solution rather than the optimal solution.
| S-EPMC3790829 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Tropospheric reactive bromine is important for atmospheric chemistry, regional air pollution, and global climate. Previous studies have reported measurements of atmospheric reactive bromine species in different environments, and proposed their main sources, e.g. sea-salt aerosol (SSA), oceanic biogenic activity, polar snow/ice, and volcanoes. Typhoons and other strong cyclonic activities (e.g. hurricanes) induce abrupt changes in different earth system processes, causing widespread destructive effects. However, the role of typhoons in regulating reactive bromine abundance and sources remains unexplored. Here, we report field observations of bromine oxide (BrO), a critical indicator of reactive bromine, on the Huaniao Island (HNI) in the East China Sea in July 2018. We observed high levels of BrO below 500 m with a daytime average of 9.7 ± 4.2 pptv and a peak value of ∼26 pptv under the influence of a typhoon. Our field measurements, supported by model simulations, suggest that the typhoon-induced drastic increase in wind speed amplifies the emission of SSA, significantly enhancing the activation of reactive bromine from SSA debromination. We also detected enhanced BrO mixing ratios under high NOx conditions (ppbv level) suggesting a potential pollution-induced mechanism of bromine release from SSA. Such elevated levels of atmospheric bromine noticeably increase ozone destruction by as much as ∼40% across the East China Sea. Considering the high frequency of cyclonic activity in the northern hemisphere, reactive bromine chemistry is expected to play a more important role than previously thought in affecting coastal air quality and atmospheric oxidation capacity. We suggest that models need to consider the hitherto overlooked typhoon- and pollution-mediated increase in reactive bromine levels when assessing the synergic effects of cyclonic activities on the earth system.
| S-EPMC11018124 | biostudies-literature
Project description:AIM:The use of probiotics has been covered by many guidelines, position papers and evidence-based recommendations, but few have referred to specific patient groups or clinical indications. This review summarises recommendations and scientifically credited guidelines on the use of probiotics for children with selected clinical conditions and provides practice points. METHODS:An expert panel was convened by the European Paediatric Association in June 2017 to define the relevant clinical questions for using probiotics in paediatric health care and review and summarise the guidelines, recommendations, position papers and high-quality evidence. RESULTS:The panel found that specific probiotic strains were effective in preventing antibiotic-associated and nosocomial diarrhoea, treating acute gastroenteritis and treating infantile colic in breastfed infants. However, special caution is indicated for premature infants, immunocompromised and critically ill patients and those with central venous catheters, cardiac valvular disease and short-gut syndrome. This review discusses the safety of using probiotics in selected groups of paediatric patients and the quality of the available products providing practice points based on proved findings. CONCLUSION:Efficacy of probiotics is strain specific. Their benefits are currently scientifically proven for their use in selected clinical conditions in children and not recommended for certain patient groups.
| S-EPMC5969308 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThe global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been extensive, disproportionately affecting various vulnerable populations. In addition to traditional vulnerable groups (TVGs) such as the elderly, women, people with lower education, disabled individuals, and low-income groups, new vulnerable groups (NVGs) have emerged, including essential workers, face-to-face workers, temporary workers, and the self-employed. This study focuses on exploring the economic and psychological effects of the pandemic on both traditional and newly recognized vulnerable groups within Korea.MethodsThe study employed multiple logistic regression using micro-level social survey data from Statistics Korea to calculate the odds ratio relating to two categories of vulnerable groups and their economic and mental health impacts. Additionally, through interaction term analysis, we tried to uncover the complex interrelationship between these non-vulnerable groups and target vulnerable groups.ResultsBoth the newly identified and traditional vulnerable groups showed higher likelihood of facing economic and mental health challenges compared to non-vulnerable groups. The likelihood of encountering a decrease in income and work-related stress was 2.17 times higher (95% CI = 1.90-2.47) for NVGs, while those belonging to TVGs had a 1.75-fold increase (95% CI = 1.47-2.08). Moreover, female self-employed workers faced higher overall stress at 1.36 times greater risk (95% CI = 1.08-1.71), whereas elderly individuals who are self-employed exhibited lower odds of experiencing such stress at the intersection between TVGs and NVGs.ConclusionThis research offers in-depth understanding of the diverse impacts of COVID-19 on at-risk groups. Furthermore, examinations that take into account interactions between NVGs and TVGs uncovered subtle effects within subgroup dynamics, suggesting that intersecting factors play a role in different levels of vulnerability. This provides valuable evidence for informing policy decisions and allocating resources.
| S-EPMC11545496 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Equations of the Loewner class subject to non-constant boundary conditions along the real axis are formulated and solved giving the geodesic paths of slits growing in the upper half complex plane. The problem is motivated by Laplacian growth in which the slits represent thin fingers growing in a diffusion field. A single finger follows a curved path determined by the forcing function appearing in Loewner's equation. This function is found by solving an ordinary differential equation whose terms depend on curvature properties of the streamlines of the diffusive field in the conformally mapped 'mathematical' plane. The effect of boundary conditions specifying either piecewise constant values of the field variable along the real axis, or a dipole placed on the real axis, reveal a range of behaviours for the growing slit. These include regions along the real axis from which no slit growth is possible, regions where paths grow to infinity, or regions where paths curve back toward the real axis terminating in finite time. Symmetric pairs of paths subject to the piecewise constant boundary condition along the real axis are also computed, demonstrating that paths which grow to infinity evolve asymptotically toward an angle of bifurcation of π/5.
| S-EPMC7655755 | biostudies-literature
Project description:A critical step toward tailoring effective interventions for heterogeneous and medically complex patients is to identify clinically meaningful subgroups on the basis of their comorbid conditions. We applied Item Response Theory (IRT), a potentially useful tool to identify clinically meaningful subgroups, to characterize phenotypes within a cohort of high-risk patients. This was a retrospective cohort study using 68,400 high-risk Veteran's Health Administration (VHA) patients. Thirty-one physical and mental health diagnosis indicators based on ICD-9 codes from patients' inpatient, outpatient VHA and VA-paid community care claims. Results revealed 6 distinct subgroups of high-risk patients were identified: substance use, complex mental health, complex diabetes, liver disease, cancer with cardiovascular disease, and cancer with mental health. Multinomial analyses showed that subgroups significantly differed on demographic and utilization variables which underscored the uniqueness of the groups. Using IRT models with clinical diagnoses from electronic health records permitted identification of diagnostic constellations among otherwise undifferentiated high-risk patients. Recognizing distinct patient profiles provides a framework from which insights into medical complexity of high-risk patients can be explored and effective interventions can be tailored.
| S-EPMC6261016 | biostudies-literature