Search results

A research agenda for post-COVID-19 fatigue

Restart: analysis of post-COVID 19 capacity in security checkpoints at Mexico City Airport

COVID-19 arrived in the world suddenly and unexpectedly. It caused major disruptions at economical, operational and other levels. In the case of flight traffic, the operations were reduced to 10% of their original levels. The question after COVID-19 is how to restart the operations and how to keep the balance between safety and capacity. In this paper we present an analysis using simulation techniques for understanding the impact in a security area of an important airport in Latin America; the airport of Mexico City. The results allow to illustrate the potential congestion given by the implemented covid-19 restriction, even when the traffic recovers only by 25% of the pre-covid-19 traffic. The congestion can be mitigated by applying some layout changes (snake queue vs parallel queue) and when more capacity is added to the system (extra security line). The results will raise situational awareness for airport stakeholders when implementing the actions suggested by different international institutions like WHO, IATA or ICAO.

International Students’ Perceptions towards Their Learning Experience in an International Network Seminar in Japan: During and Post the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has struck educational experience systems around the globe. This paper investigates and evaluates the student participants’ perceptions who joined the international exchange seminar on global citizenship and peace held at a University in Hiroshima, Japan. Approximately seventy students and faculty members from nine to ten different universities from around the globe joined this summer program in August 2021 (online) and 2022 (face-to-face). This study is a mixed-method study. The first part consists of a quantitative analysis of BEVI data obtained from the students in the seminar before COVID-19 and after. The research concludes that there are no changes in the effects of what students learn. The second part consists of qualitative data. The data shows the perceptions of students of online teaching versus hybrid teaching. It compares the differences in participants’ perceptions reported in students’ feedback on the programs during and post-COVID-19. Our results confirm prominent differences exist in the students’ perceptions of their learning experience during the pre-pandemic and post-pandemic periods. The findings indicate based on lessons learned post-pandemic, universities need to strive and define the meaning and purpose of international seminars, which enable students to experience a high level of intercultural social interaction online and face-to-face. As the world becomes more interconnected, virtual environments, such as the ones presented within the International Seminar in Hiroshima, Japan, are vital to facilitating intercultural teaching environments and the implications within this paper indicate that these virtual mediums can promote inclusion, leading to a more sustainable world.

How to Reduce Mental Health Concerns Among Students in the Post-COVID-19 Universities – An Empirical Analysis of HAN International School of Business

This paper intends to provide an understanding of how higher education can promote good mental health amongst university students in the post-COVID-19 era. Recent trends during the global pandemic outbreak have shown that mental health issues among students are increasingly on the rise. This affects students’ well-being and overall ability to function in their studies and daily life. In this research, a survey completed by 135 students from HAN International School of Business forms our sample. Our findings show that while performance demands are continuously increasing, students’ mental health is being more and more compromised. As students are in a particular age group vulnerable to establishing mental health disorders, they tend to fail to recognize and meet important needs to ensure healthy living. As a result, higher education needs to actively focus on the inclusion and promotion of mental health education and awareness and becomes more self-aware of its own impact on students’ mental health. We recommend that higher-education institutions implement a strategy, policy, model, or framework for mental health guidance at their institution that actively promotes a healthy balance for their students to support good mental health and improve their overall well-being.

Challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic and design responses in public space: Towards strategies for resilient post-Covid cities

The Covid-19 pandemic triggered governments and designers to revalue and redesign public spaces. This paper focuses on the various design responses to Covid-19 proposed and implemented in public spaces. In particular, we identify the kinds of challenges that such design responses address and the strategies that they use. We selected 56 design examples, largely collected from internet sources. By analyzing the design examples we identified five Covid-related challenges that were addressed in public space: sustaining amenities, keeping a distance, feeling connected, staying mentally healthy, and expanding health infrastructures. For each challenge, we articulated 2 to 6 design strategies. The challenges highlight the potential of public space to contribute to more resilient cities during times of pandemic, also in the future. The design strategies show the possible ways in which this potential can be fulfilled. In our next steps, we will use our findings to develop a program of possibilities; this program will contain a wide range of design strategies for responding to future pandemics and will be made publically accessible in an online database. The program contributes to more resilient post-Covid cities, by offering a variety of possibilities for coping with, and adapting to, pandemic-related shocks and stressors.

Skeletal muscle alterations in patients with acute Covid-19 and post-acute sequelae of Covid-19

Skeletal muscle-related symptoms are common in both acute coronavirus disease (Covid)-19 and post-acute sequelae of Covid-19 (PASC). In this narrative review, we discuss cellular and molecular pathways that are affected and consider these in regard to skeletal muscle involvement in other conditions, such as acute respiratory distress syndrome, critical illness myopathy, and post-viral fatigue syndrome. Patients with severe Covid-19 and PASC suffer from skeletal muscle weakness and exercise intolerance. Histological sections present muscle fibre atrophy, metabolic alterations, and immune cell infiltration. Contributing factors to weakness and fatigue in patients with severe Covid-19 include systemic inflammation, disuse, hypoxaemia, and malnutrition. These factors also contribute to post-intensive care unit (ICU) syndrome and ICU-acquired weakness and likely explain a substantial part of Covid-19-acquired weakness. The skeletal muscle weakness and exercise intolerance associated with PASC are more obscure. Direct severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV)-2 viral infiltration into skeletal muscle or an aberrant immune system likely contribute. Similarities between skeletal muscle alterations in PASC and chronic fatigue syndrome deserve further study. Both SARS-CoV-2-specific factors and generic consequences of acute disease likely underlie the observed skeletal muscle alterations in both acute Covid-19 and PASC.