Sexuality and Eroticism in a Post-pandemic World explores the new cultural conditions of sex, relationships, gender awareness, and subjectivity after the COVID-19 pandemic through twelve ...interdisciplinary essays questioning the biopolitics of the new normal: the self-control regime of post-hedonistic societies.
The COVID-19 pandemic and government measures implemented to counter the spread of the infection may be a major stressor affecting the psychological health of university students. This study aimed to ...explore how anxiety symptoms changed during the pandemic.
676 students (76% females) at Zurich University of Applied Sciences participated in the first (T0) and second (T1) survey waves. Anxiety symptoms were assessed using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-Scale-7 (GAD-7). Risk and protective factors (e.g., COVID-19-related variables) were examined.
GAD-7 scores decreased significantly from T0 to T1 (mean change: -0.446, SE = 0.132, 95% CI: -0.706, -0.186,
= -3.371,
= 659,
= 0.001). Participants with moderate-to-severe anxiety score were 20.2 and 15.6% at T0 and T1, respectively. The following positively predicted anxiety: older age, female gender, non-Swiss nationality, loneliness, participants' concern about their own health, and interaction between time and participants' concern about their own health. Resilience and social support negatively predicted anxiety.
Our findings provide information for public health measures and psychological interventions supporting the mental health of university students during the COVID-19 emergency.
Display omitted
•Temporal impact of California wildfires was examined on air pollution and COVID-19.•Tropospheric AAI, CO and NO2 levels increased by ∼ 150%, 100% and 20%, respectively.•Higher levels ...of ground PM2.5, CO, and NO2 detected in five major cities in California.•Pattern of wildfire-induced PM2.5 and CO spikes overlap with COVID-19 cases and mortalities.
Globally, wildfires have seen remarkable increase in duration and size and have become a health hazard. In addition to vegetation and habitat destruction, rapid release of smoke, dust and gaseous pollutants in the atmosphere contributes to its short and long-term detrimental effects. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has emerged as a public health concern worldwide that primarily target lungs and respiratory tract, akin to air pollutants. Studies from our lab and others have demonstrated association between air pollution and COVID-19 infection and mortality rates. However, current knowledge on the impact of wildfire-mediated sudden outburst of air pollutants on COVID-19 is limited. In this study, we examined the association of air pollutants and COVID-19 during wildfires burned during August-October 2020 in California, United States. We observed an increase in the tropospheric pollutants including aerosols (particulate matter PM), carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) by approximately 150%, 100% and 20%, respectively, in 2020 compared to the 2019. Except ozone (O3), similar proportion of increment was noticed during the peak wildfire period (August 16 – September 15, 2020) in the ground PM2.5, CO, and NO2 levels at Fresno, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego and San Francisco, cities with largest active wildfire area. We identified three different spikes in the concentrations of PM2.5, and CO for the cities examined clearly suggesting wildfire-induced surge in air pollution. Fresno and Sacramento showed increment in the ground PM2.5, CO and NO2 levels, while San Diego recorded highest change rate in NO2 levels. Interestingly, we observed a similar pattern of higher COVID-19 cases and mortalities in the cities with adverse air pollution caused by wildfires. These findings provide a logical rationale to strategize public health policies for future impact of COVID-19 on humans residing in geographic locations susceptible to sudden increase in local air pollution.
The present study aimed to test a model of relations to ascertain the determinants of distress caused by lockdown for COVID-19. It was hypothesized that the exposure to the COVID-19 increased ...distress directly and through the mediation of worry, health-related information seeking, and perception of the utility of the lockdown. It was also expected that higher levels of ambiguity intolerance corresponded to higher distress directly and through the mediation of worry, health information seeking behaviors, and perceived utility of the lockdown. Finally, it was expected that risk aversion positively influenced distress directly and through the increasing of worry, health-related information seeking behavior, and more positive perception of the utility of the lockdown The study was conducted in Italy during the mandatory lockdown for COVID-19 pandemic on 240 individuals (age range 18–76). Data recruitment was conducted via snowball sampling. COVID-19 exposure was positively associated with worry and health-related information seeking. Risk-aversion was positively associated with health-related information seeking and perceived utility of the lockdown to contain the spread of the virus. Worry and health-related information seeking were positively associated with distress, whereas the perceived utility of the lockdown was negatively associated with distress. Intolerance for the ambiguity was directly linked to distress with a positive sign. Findings suggest that risk aversion represents both a risk factor and a protective factor, based on what kind of variable mediates the relationship with distress, and that the intolerance to the ambiguity is a risk factor that busters distress.
Introduction: There is a relationship between depression and sleep quality; however, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on this association is unknown, especially for those health workers who faced ...the pandemic. Therefore, we aimed to identify the association between depression and sleep quality in health workers who faced the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: A survey was performed on 150 health workers with at least 2 years of working tenure in a public maternal perinatal hospital in Mexico, between September and December 2021. Sociodemographic data, levels of sleep quality, depression, anxiety, and gastrointestinal function were obtained through a self-administered questionnaire. Cardiovascular risk was obtained according to age, lifestyle habits, blood pressure, anthropometry, body composition and biochemical measurements.
Results: Those with depression were 10.3 times more likely to have poor sleep quality compared to those without depression, adjusted for gastrointestinal function (95% CI 2.92 – 36.54, p<0.001). Those with depression were 7.23 times more likely to have poor sleep quality compared to those without depression, adjusted for gastrointestinal function, anxiety, and cardiovascular risk (95% CI 1.85-28.14, p<0.001).
Conclusion: Health workers’ depression should be considered a predictor of poor sleep quality, especially in those who faced the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our article employs a quantile vector autoregression (QVAR) to identify the connectedness of seven variables from April 1, 2019, to June 13, 2022, in order to examine the relationships between crypto ...volatility and energy volatility. Our findings reveal that the dynamic connectedness is approximately 25% in the short term and approximately 9% in the long term. The 50% quantile equates to the overall average connectedness of the entire period, according to dynamic net total directional connectedness over a quantile, which also indicates that connectedness is very intense for both highly positive changes (above the 80% quantile) and crypto and energy volatility (below the 20% quantile). With the exception of the early 2022 period when the Crypto Volatility Index transmits a net of shocks because of the Ukraine-Russia Conflict, dynamic net total directional connectedness implies that in the short term, the Crypto Volatility Index acts as a net shock receiver across time. While this indicator is a net shock receiver for long-term dynamics, wind energy is a net shock transmitter during the short term. Green bonds are a short-term net shock receiver. This role is valid in the long term. Clean energy and solar energy are the long-term net transmitters of shocks; nevertheless, the series is always and only momentarily a net receiver of shocks because of the short-term dynamics. Natural gas and crude oil play roles in both two quantiles. Dynamic net pairwise directional connectedness over a quantile suggests that uncertain events like the COVID-19 epidemic or Ukraine-Russia Conflict influence cryptocurrency volatility and renewable energy volatility.
•We use a quantile vector autoregression (QVAR) to identify the connectedness between crypto volatility and energy volatility.•The dynamic connectedness is approximately 25% in the short term and approximately 9% in the long term.•Both the cryptocurrency and the energy market change their role from the short-to long run.•COVID-19 pandemic and Ukraine-Russia affects the role of each market.
Over the last twenty-five years, employer branding has been a subject of increasing attention among HRM scholars and practitioners. However, very limited research has explored the link between ...employer branding and HRM performance. To address the gap, in this study we explored how employer branding orientation impacted recruitment outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition we combined both the brand orientation and internal branding concepts to better empirically explain their impact on building employer brand orientation. Based on cross-sectional data collected from 233 companies operating on Russian labor market, we found the positive relationships between brand orientation and employer branding orientation, between employer branding orientation and the employer branding programs, which are positively related to recruitment outcomes. However, the moderating effect of internal branding was negative. We also found moderating effects of COVID-19 in the relationship between employer branding orientation, employer branding programs, and recruitment outcomes.
PDF
