Cosplay Collaboration Videos: Community Interactivity in Times of Pandemic

Gendered labour and work, even in pandemic times.

Background. The main challenges, faced by the international departments of the European universities during the COVID-19 pandemic, result from the need for fast adaptation, entirely online interaction with national and international partners, the huge amount of work, the absence of established guidelines and information about the procedures for acting under the unknown circumstances. During the coronavirus crisis the university international departments adopted a key role of communication centres with the world outside and turned into hubs for information exchange. Aim. This article aims to present and analyse the communication at the beginning of the COVID – 19 pandemic between the academic partners of the Medical University of Varna at international level with a focus on the partners under „Erasmus+“ programme in the period March – September 2020. There are four main accents of the study: 1) information about the current conditions in the countries, from which the international partners come, about the stage and the course of the disease, the changes in the training process and the state of the mobility; 2) contact with the universities with which activities are planned in the framework of bilateral agreements for academic cooperation; 3) participation in online international events; and 4) training and exchange of good practices for university partnerships and mobility management in times of COVID-19. Material and methods. Based on written documantation, electronic and virtual communication as well as the reports and observations of the officers working at the Department of International Relations and the team of the „Erasmus+“ programme, an analysis was performed of the communication during the pandemic and the impact of the social distancing on the international partnerships of the Medical University of Varna, the changes in the channels used for communication and the overall process of communication and operational activities. Results. Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the summer internships and practices which became traditional for the last seven years with partner medical universities in Moscow and St. Petersburg (Russia) and Kharkiv (Ukraine) had to be cancelled. Two new agreements for academic cooperation were signed and one was resumed. Two international events were organized by Varna Medical University, in which the teams of the Department of International Relations and „Erasmus+“ programme took an active part. For the studied period of six months in the field of international cooperation, the Medical University participated in twenty online trainings, virtual meetings and conferences, organized by partner organisations, whose member Varna Medical University is. Some of them include the European University Association, the Black Sea Universities Network, the European Health Management Association and the World Health Organisation. Conclusions. The communication with the European partners proved crucial under pandemic conditions, characterized by unpredictability and uncertainty. The international communication and the teams working at the international relations departments, including that at the Medical University of Varna, consolidated and extended their role of university centres for communication with international partners and information exchange with them. This is most prominently reflected in the entirely changed range and type of communication, especially concerning the „Erasmus+“ mobility, in which the students’ and academic staff health protection and safety become key issues. A marked trend is observed of shifting toward online communication, in which the partners communicate from a distance in real time. The traditional fora with physical presence make room for the virtual events, the webinars and virtual conferences becoming a standard in international communication. The numerous unprecedented situations and cases with which the departments of international relations have to cope, can be successfully resolved with fast response, creative thinking in the very course of the pandemic. The unexpected and comprehensive extraordinary situation is a great challenge for the international partnerships but also a preparation for the future. It demonstrates the sustainability of communication, the constructive relations and the good results.

This study aimed to understand the meaningful attitudes of alcoholic men and their expressions of feelings in the face of family and community interactions in times of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a qualitative, descriptive, exploratory study, based on the Oral History of Life method. The participants of this study were five men who experience alcoholism, living in a municipality in the state of Bahia, accompanied by the Psychosocial Care Center for alcohol and other drugs. A semi-structured interview was used to collect information, from March to April 2021, through videoconferences through the Google Meet Digital Platform. The content of the oral reports was analyzed using a content analysis technique. It was observed that the significant attitudes of the alcoholic man were impacted by the unfolding of the pandemic, mainly due to the adoption of sanitary measures, such as social distancing. Some expressions of feelings were also identified of these men facing family and community interactions during the pandemic, such as fear, distrust, and affective insecurity, and social exclusion, in addition to expressions such as faith, gratitude, and hope. The participants’ discourses expressed attitudes of changes in social life and habits during this pandemic period, including the use of masks and gel alcohol in addition to the decrease in alcohol consumption for most of them. Therefore, the symbolic interactions arising from the pandemic scenario promoted protective attitudes that encompass self-care and collective care, in addition to interactions marked by family conflicts.

The assertion “Our people are what set us apart from our rivals” is a common statement made by nearly every company, highlighting the significance of their people as the most valuable asset. Similarly, a corporate culture emphasizing risk awareness and learning from experiences has played a key role in shaping supply chain resilience (SCRES) amidst competitive dynamics in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Employee engagement, communication, and collaboration, as dimensions of SC risk awareness, determine the effectiveness of firms’ cultures in handling large-scale disruptions with robustness and agility. Additionally, the COVID-19 crisis has had a positive impact on firms’ learning orientation. The crucial necessity of digital supply chain (SC) transformation to enhance SCRES under pandemic conditions has further reinforced the need for dynamic adaptation and reconfiguration of firms’ culture and employee skillsets through digital upskilling.

The aim of this study was to understand how training and playing conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic affected the performance of Euroleague Basketball players. Using a non-participant observation analysis, the study compared the seasons before the lockdown (2018–2019 and 2019–2020; pre-pandemic) with the season after restart (2020–2021; pandemic). Paired t-tests and Wilcoxon tests were applied for variables with normal and non-normal distributions, respectively. The results revealed significant changes (p < 0.05) in several offensive and defensive performance-related variables during pandemic times (without attendance): free throw attempts, free throw percentage, turnovers, three-point attempt rate, fouls (small effect sizes, ESs), points, and possessions (trivial ES). The pre-pandemic HA (70%) significantly decreased after the lockdown, with games played with no crowd (∼51%; p = 0.018, large ES). The one-sample t-test showed that the HA after the COVID-19 interruption was not significantly greater than 50%, indicating that the HA did not endure during the pandemic condition. Although significant differences between home and away teams were found for most performance-related variables (excepting turnovers) in both pre-pandemic and pandemic conditions, variations of the relative HA were only significant for free throw attempts (large ES), points (medium ES), and turnovers (medium ES). The results of this study showed that performance variables were affected by the COVID-19 lockdown. Thus, these findings may help coaches, players, and referees to counteract unwanted competitive events and improve their overall performance, regardless of the contextual/situational circumstances encountered.

Objective: The objective of this research was to reveal the feelings and tensions that characterize the family relationships of university students in times of pandemic and confinement conditions due to COVID-19. Methods: The method was qualitative, and the feelings and tensions in the family and educational context of 584 university students were evaluated, from a qualitative proposal and a hermeneutic approach, anchored to the question: How have the affective manifestations been, in terms of feelings and tensions, in the family relationships of university students, academically active, in the Caribbean Region of Colombia, during the mandatory confinement process derived from the COVID 19 pandemic?. The methodological design was structured from the concepts of the Grounded Theory, applied to the data obtained through virtual techniques and instruments, such as an online survey. The organization of the information to generate the results was made from descriptive, analytical and interpretive coding, supported by matrices and theoretical maps. Results and Discussion: There are feelings and tensions in three directions: Negative Feelings (in tension) such as anxiety, stress and depression; positive feelings, joy, adaptation and ambiguous feelings, which show ambivalence and variability, which are reflected in family relationships and three senses: They have improved, remain the same and have worsened, according to each type, dynamics and characteristics of the family, associated with gender, coping mechanisms and socioeconomic level. Conclusion: Families were transformed due to the pandemic, and relationships and interactions were found that exacerbated tensions or factors of protection and care among family members, with emotional overload, with stress from work and study.

Digital Narrating for Contentious Politics: Social Media Content Curation at Movement Protests

The rapid increase of the use of three-dimensional (3D) printing of COVID-19 medical equipment has taken the attention of both intellectual property owners of such medical equipment and the global health community at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. 3D-printed COVID-19 medical equipment such as personal protective equipment, testing devices, training and visualisation aids, personal accessories, and emergency dwellings have immensely contributed to responding to the supply-demand gap of the COVID-19 medical equipment that occurred due to the disruptions in global medical equipment supply chains. Even though the global health community has embraced the role of 3D printing in making a way out of the pandemic wholeheartedly, intellectual property rights owners of such medical equipment have highlighted 3D printing as a factor that adversely affects their rights. However, intellectual property regulations, including the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS Agreement), do provide exceptions to facilitate health concerns such as fair use and compulsory licensing that can be used to justify the global movement towards 3D printing of COVID-19 medical equipment. Hence, this research emphasises the need for wider application of TRIPS-based health exceptions and effective use of emerging institutional mechanisms to facilitate 3D printing of COVID-19 medical equipment. Using the legal doctrinal research method, this research analyses the integration of 3D printing technology, intellectual property law, and health law in time of the global pandemic. Ultimately, this research offers policy suggestions on balancing the competing interests of IP rights owners and the public in 3D printing of COVID-19 medical equipment. &#x0D; Keywords: 3D Printing, COVID-19 Medical Equipment, Intellectual Property Rights, Public Health

Mi Casa es Su CasaCubanía in Cyberspace Sarah Town (bio) On March 13, 2020, I spent the final evening of my trip to Havana, Cuba with friends at Le Select, a restaurant in Miramar where the organization Proyecto Rueda de Casino hosts a weekly dance social. Rueda de casino is a social dance that emerged in 1950s Cuba and is one of the most popular forms of Cuban social dance both on and off the island today. It is danced in a rueda, or "wheel" formation, in which pairs of dancers form a circle and execute known patterns and combinations in unison. The crowd at Le Select tends to be a mix of older social dancers and younger friends of the Proyecto dancers, but that night the dance floor was rather empty, with just a few regulars stepping out song after song. Over the previous few days, news of the spread of COVID-19 in Europe and the United States had circulated with increasing urgency. Cuba had just announced the first four confirmed cases on its soil, diagnosed in Italian tourists who had been quickly quarantined. Rumors that recreational venues and events would soon be closed gradually became more concrete, and that night at Le Select, we counted ourselves among the lucky ones for having been able to get in "one last dance" before the shutdown. The next day as I waited for my connecting flight at Miami International Airport, notifications of impending travel restrictions and shutdown orders in Europe and the United States flashed persistently across the screen of my cellphone, and I prepared myself mentally to go into isolation for the duration. Over the next week, as this new reality set in, there was a surge of activity on social media. In particular, artists took to these networks to offer an unprecedented number of free and donation-based live shows and classes, to pursue innovative modes of collaboration, and to continue interacting with their audiences in the face of closed venues and canceled tours. Producers and fans of Cuban popular dance culture on the island and around the world contributed to this surge, mobilizing with creativity and resilience. Their goal was to exercise the role of artistic leaders by lifting people's spirits and encouraging people to stay home during the pandemic. On a more personal level, their online activities helped them to stay active, inspired, and positive during a time when generalized [End Page 99] health and financial uncertainty compounded the usual precarity of artistic lives in tangible ways. Decades ago, Fernando Ortiz defined cubanía as "full, felt, conscious, and desired Cubanness; responsible Cubanness, Cubanness with the three virtues […] of faith, hope, and love."1 Cubanía in cyberspace, then, is an extension of in-the-flesh spaces and relationships that have long fostered a global community, which has continued to flourish in recent months, strengthening those ties, producing new experiences for its participants, and gesturing toward a new, translocal kind of soundscape.2 Musicians and dancers have created songs and choreographies explicitly referencing and making sense of COVID-19 realities; existing organizations have curated new online #quedateencasa and #stayathome series, and new networks have sprung up to produce such series; teachers have shifted their teaching to online platforms like Zoom and Facebook; and community leaders have offered informal lectures online in their areas of expertise. At the same time, this burgeoning of online offerings raises a number of critical questions about present-day US society's troubled relationship with the arts, Cuban access to and use of Wi-Fi and internet-related technologies, and the life of the global Cuban dance community. Many COVID-19 inspired offerings have built directly on preexisting practices. For example, dance teachers and choreographers of the Cuban diaspora commonly share brief clips on social media of new choreographies to promote themselves and their work. Early on in the generalized quarantine, Cuban dancer Nano Manuel Hechavarría Ulloa, now based in Ness Ziona, Israel, offered a new choreography called "The Corona Dance."3 Set in a back patio—one imagines it's his—the clip heralded a new, intensified era of home video making by working artists. For music...

Studies of accessibility and impairment face recent glocal cultural change by reconsidering human notion of normality towards new approaches to mobility, communication, and socialisation that had become social priorities. Values of public care and subcultural solidarity now integrate more people suffering through pandemic conditions, as previously mostly impaired, and other socially vulnerable individuals had been addressed by various measures and specific attitudes of resocialisation and cultural adaptation. SARS-2 COVID-19 pandemics in 2020-2021 affected at first those members of society that had already needed special care, including youth, elderly, poor, disabled, migrants, etc. But the effects of pandemic health risks, deficits of social organisation, obstacles to civil protection, public and global reflections on the necessity of lockdowns, intensity of digital communication and infodemics on people unprepared, inexperienced, unaware in such conditions, became also statistically considerable. Therefore both social groups: of previously discriminated or needing special care, and of those who experience or reach such conditions of low equity, require accordingly adequate concern. Authorities, experts, and practitioners, responsible in managing disability and accessibility, are to focus on both general situation and its details, so that adaptation models applicable in these fields can be effective in times of pandemics, and specific measures could become more popular for all people. This paper, based on direct and participant observations, and on previous stages of our research on variety of accessibilities of tourist sites, educational media, and communication technologies, analyses particular cases of social dysfunction and problematic integration potential of spaces and infrastructure and models of organisation of new approaches that would improve resocialisation of people and activities damaged and isolated yet before pandemic. Although pandemic research is rapidly increasing in order to face various scholarly gaps, a more objective and sustainable scope of interest to accessibility is still not locally enough popular, as well as emergent integration studies and initiatives. There is no sufficient fundamentally and practically oriented support to the field, that would result in particular evaluation or regulation methodology, that could be applied and improve current situation. Nevertheless, actualisation of comparative field studies by pandemic situation is highly likely to result in paradigm shifts.

This study aimed to understand the meaningful attitudes of alcoholic men and their expressions of feelings in the face of family and community interactions in times of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a qualitative, descriptive, exploratory study, based on the Oral History of Life method. The participants of this study were five men who experience alcoholism, living in a municipality in the state of Bahia, accompanied by the Psychosocial Care Center for alcohol and other drugs. A semi-structured interview was used to collect information, from March to April 2021, through videoconferences through the Google Meet Digital Platform. The content of the oral reports was analyzed using a content analysis technique. It was observed that the significant attitudes of the alcoholic man were impacted by the unfolding of the pandemic, mainly due to the adoption of sanitary measures, such as social distancing. Some expressions of feelings were also identified of these men facing family and community interactions during the pandemic, such as fear, distrust, and affective insecurity, and social exclusion, in addition to expressions such as faith, gratitude, and hope. The participants’ discourses expressed attitudes of changes in social life and habits during this pandemic period, including the use of masks and gel alcohol in addition to the decrease in alcohol consumption for most of them. Therefore, the symbolic interactions arising from the pandemic scenario promoted protective attitudes that encompass self-care and collective care, in addition to interactions marked by family conflicts.

This study aims to investigate the relationship between returns and risk of Islamic stock under stable economic conditions, crises, and pandemics within the scope of Indonesian and Asian Islamic capital markets. How do economic conditions affect the risks and returns of investors in the Indonesian and Asian Islamic capital markets? Verification of the veracity of the Islamic capital market serves as a more resilient option for alternative investments. This study uses Granger causality to determine exogenous and endogenous variables when building the model. The model that is formed is then analyzed using regression with dummy variables of stable economic conditions, crises, and pandemics. The first research findings on differences in crisis, stable and pandemic times in the Asian stock market show that there is no significant difference in effect between stable times and during a crisis, but there are differences in the effect during stable and pandemic times. The second research finding states that the return on Asian market Shariah stocks has no influence on increasing or reducing the value of risk or value at risk. The third finding explains that Islamic stocks in Indonesia have a greater risk value during pandemics and crises than in stable times, but the effect of pandemic and crisis conditions is not as great as Islamic stocks in Asia as a whole. In order to stabilize markets and reduce risks, regulatory bodies and governments frequently employ a variety of actions during times of crisis. When applied to trading volume, risk, and return patterns, these findings can help determine the appropriate policy.

The Power of Chaos

We report on distance teaching of an experimental project, taught during an advanced chemistry course given to our chemistry-major students (47, divided into eight groups). The project required 12 h to complete, during three weeks. We chose a subject of socio-economic relevance, namely, the physical dissolution of cellulose (Cel), an important step in processing wood-based Cel to fabricate, e.g., fibers and films. The solvents employed were mixtures of DMSO with (green) ionic liquids (ILs) 1-allyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate- (AlMeImAcO) and chloride (AlMeImCl). The former IL dissolves more Cel than the latter, this difference in efficiency was probed using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The dissolved biopolymer was dyed with a reactive dye and regenerated as films. The online activities during the classes included showing videos of the experiments done by the instructor; explaining how MD simulations of Cel dissolution were done, and seminars given by the students on themes related to the project. The seminars were on the commercial production of Viscose and Lyocell Cel fibers, dyeing of cellulosic fibers, and properties (light- and washing fastness) of dyed textiles. Additionally, the students were asked to suggest experiments to corroborate, or refute the results of MD simulations. The students appreciated our active learning approach (85.1%); reported that they learned new material and found the seminar themes interesting (80.9%). They indicated that online classes do not replace face-to-face practical classes (59.6%), and that the activities given do not replace the experience acquired by doing the experiment (66.0%). Regarding their local environment, 74.5% considered the conditions at home as good/very good (internet connection and hardware). After returning to face-to-face teaching, we will continue showing videos of the staff while carrying out the experiments, before going to the laboratory. This is a very useful approach to highlight important experimental precautions/protocols e.g., regarding the proper handling of chemicals and equipment. We recommend this project (distance-, or face-to-face teaching) for students of science courses because of its relevance, safety, and low-cost.

Popular culture provides materials out of which people create their identities. Since it plays such a prominent role in current society, particularly with youth, it is crucial for clinicians to engage with popular culture as a therapeutic tool. This article espouses some of the key tenets of the interdisciplinary field of cultural studies, a useful methodology in analyzing popular culture and the mass media. Paying attention to how therapy clients make meaning of media texts can be a powerful therapeutic tool. A case example with a gay youth, Steven—who inserts himself into the text of the Harry Potter stories—illustrates a cultural studies-informed therapeutic approach that draws both upon cultural studies methods and a strong theoretical partner, queer theory. By using a queer cultural studies viewpoint, Steven uncovered some of the hidden “queer” readings and messages in the Harry Potter books that helped him find support for his own sexual identity. In contemporary society, popular media culture is the dominant culture. The culture industries (organizations that produce and distribute art, entertainment, and/ or information) produce images and messages that provide the very materials out of which people constitute their identities (Barker, 2000). Media images supply the models out of which people construct their sense of gender, race, class, nationality, sexuality, and ethnicity. Media stories also provide the symbols, myths, and resources which help constitute a common culture for the majority of people in contemporary global, capitalist societies. Media culture helps induce individuals to identify with dominant discourses, values, institutions, and practices (Miller, 2001). Since media and consumer culture is so ubiquitous, it is important to learn how to understand, interpret, and critique its meanings and messages. In contemporary