Months Of Restriction Research Articles

Care seek behavior for low back pain in southern Brazil during the COVID-19 pandemic: a panel data analysis

BackgroundDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, people with low back pain (LBP) might have avoided seeking care for their pain. We aimed to investigate how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected LBP care seeking behavior among adults.MethodsData from four assessments of the PAMPA cohort were analyzed. Participants who reported experiencing LBP during wave one both before and during social restrictions (n = 1,753 and n = 1,712, respectively), wave two (n = 2,009), and wave three (n = 2,482) were included. We asked participants about sociodemographic, behavioral, and health factors and outcomes related to LBP. Poisson regression analyses were conducted, and data are presented as prevalence ratios (PR) and respective 95% confidence interval (95%CI).ResultsOverall, care seeking behavior decreased by half in the first months of restrictions, from 51.5% to 25.2%. Although there was an increase in care seeking behavior observed in the other two assessments (nearly 10 and 16 months after restrictions), it was insufficient to reach pre-pandemic levels. In the first months of restrictions, a similar scenario was observed for specific care, such as general practitioner and exercise professional care, with proportions of pre-pandemic levels reached after 10 and 16 months. Women were more likely to seek care for LBP 10 and 16 months after restrictions (PR 1.30 95%CI 1.11; 1.52, PR 1.22 95%CI 1.06; 1.39, respectively). Also, those participants who worked, were physically active, and reported pain-related disability and high pain levels were more likely to seek care at all time points assessed.ConclusionOverall, care-seeking behavior for LBP significantly decreased in the first months of restrictions and increased in the following months; however, this behavior remained lower than pre-pandemic levels.

The Hidden Side of the Covid-19 Epidemic Process Increasing Domestic Violence

After COVID-19, which took hold of the world when the least expected, was declared as a pandemic, quickly made its presence felt throughout the world, and this sudden evolvement undoubtedly affected the family structure and intrafamilial relations the most. While the quarantine process was an opportunity for families which could not get around to each other in family relationships, the situation was not at all heartwarming for family members who had problems in intrafamilial relationships. Home became the most used place in the quarantine process means that families spend time together longer than usual. As families who had problems in pre-COVID-19 period had to spend more time together at the quarantine process, this situation made this difficult situation even more troublesome for family members who experienced violence in the home. This study was conducted to compare the restrictions and quarantine months applied in the Covid-19 continuum with the months before the restriction. The aim of the study is to determine the percentage increase in the number of domestic violence cases that mount during the months restrictions were imposed due to quarantine. The study was carried out with the official figures taken from the courthouse of Tarsus district of Mersin province. The study was completed by comparing the average of the domestic violence applications made to the Tarsus courthouse, in the average months of March, April, May and June, which are the months of restrictions, and the monthly average of cases in September, October, November, December, January and February, which are the months before the restrictions. In the comparison made, it was found that there was a % 129.48 increase in domestic violence numbers during the quarantine months when restrictions were applied. When the quarantine months are compared with the months in the previous year, it was determined that the increase was 276.84%.

‘Kindness and empathy beyond all else’: Challenges to professional identities of Higher Education teachers during COVID-19 times

COVID-19 has continued to effect higher education globally in significant ways. During 2020, many institutions shifted learning online overnight as the sector closed its doors and opened new sites for remote teaching. This article reports on an international study [Phillips et al., 2021] that sought to capture how cross-sectoral teachers experienced these emergency changes during the first months of restrictions. The data, analysed using narrative identity theory, revealed concerns that fall into two broad categories: technologies and relationships. Significantly, it was not a loss of content delivery or changes to assessment that prompted the greatest anxiety for our colleagues, but that they held significant concerns about their students’ mental health; inequities of access to a range of services including technological; and challenges connecting emotionally with their students at a distance. The results provide actionable strategies for higher education institutions to apply in future emergencies where remote teaching is necessary.

COVID Feel Good: Evaluation of a Self-Help Protocol to Overcome the Psychological Burden of the COVID-19 Pandemic in a German Sample.

The COVID-19 pandemic has severe consequences for physical as well as mental well-being. In times of restricted social contact, online self-help programs offer a low-threshold first aid to cope with the psychological burden. This current study evaluates the online self-help protocol “COVID Feel Good” in a German sample. The multicentric study was designed as a single cohort with a waiting list control condition. The convenience sample consisted of 38 German individuals who experienced at least two months of restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The 7-day self-help protocol included the VR video “Secret Garden” as well as a social or cognitive exercise each day. General distress, depression, anxiety, stress, and hopelessness were assessed as primary outcomes. Social connectedness and fear of coronavirus were measured as secondary outcomes. Results showed a significant decrease in all primary outcomes except for hopelessness. Furthermore, the results indicated a significant improvement in social connectedness. Treatment effects on general distress, depression, stress, and anxiety persisted for two weeks after participation. The present study indicates that VR-based self-help protocols can mitigate the psychological burden associated with the pandemic, supporting recent findings.

Dutch Responses to Lockdown Liturgies. Analysis of the Public Debate on Sacraments During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Analyzing the discourse around sacraments – most notably the Eucharist – in Dutch newspapers in the first months of restrictions issued to combat the coronavirus pandemic, this article categorizes the various manifestations of liturgical life encountered and presents the main theological interests at stake. The article is structured according to the four types of adaptations to liturgical life displayed in the sample of articles, readers’ letters, and opinion pieces included in this study: abstinence, spectator liturgy, private domestic liturgy, and embedded domestic liturgy. This categorization helps to track the theological presuppositions involved, some of which have been explicitly articulated in the sample. These arguments are then collected and discussed. In doing so, this article lists significant responses to the liturgical practices that emerged during the first lockdown of 2020 in the Netherlands and analyses the most important themes involved, formulating some of the implications for the future of liturgical practice and thought.

The impact of COVID-19 on cost outlays for car and public transport commuting - The case of the Greater Sydney Metropolitan Area after three months of restrictions

This paper estimates the short-term reduction in money and time costs associated with a reduction in car and public transport commuting activity in the Greater Sydney Metropolitan Area (GSMA) during a period of the COVID-19 pandemic in which Australia started to see an easing of restrictions (see Beck and Hensher 2020a). As of late May 2020, three months after COVID-19 resulted in restrictions in Australia, we saw an annual travel time reduction for car and public transport commuters in the GSMA of $5.58 billion, representing a 54.02% reduction in the Pre-COVID-19 total time costs, much of which we would suggest can be associated with reductions in congestions costs. Adjusting further for reduced employment volumes relative to pre-COVID-19 levels, to take into account reduced commuting activity due, in part, to a lower volume of work associated with a loss of employment or lower employment hours, the annual time cost reduction for all commuters who still have regular pre-COVID-19 levels of employment are estimated as $4.4 billion. Hence there is $1.17 billion worth of reduced time costs associated with significantly reduced employment hours, including a loss of employment. The implications for road investment linked to congestion in particular is profound, and shows how much of an increase in benefit to society, through congestion busting, can be obtained by more flexible work arrangements, even allowing for some switching into car out of public transport. Whether the current decrease in travel costs will be long-lasting is unknown, but it does support the appeal of working from home, if it is sustainable, as a policy lever to reduce levels of congestion on the roads and crowding in public transport.

Early effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on physical activity locations and behaviors in adults living in the United States.

COVID-19 restrictions andsocial-distancing may inhibit adults from attaining recommended levels of physical activity. This study examined early impact of COVID-19 pandemic on physical activity in adults during the first two months of restrictions in the U.S.and how physical activity locations were associated with physical activity levels during this period. Adults (N=268) completed an online survey between April 10-May 25, 2020. Participants reported minutes of vigorous, moderate, and walking physical activity for past 7days (early-COVID-19) and for a typical week in February 2020 (pre-COVID-19). Adults reported locations (e.g., home/garage, parks/trails) were they were active over the past 7days. Past 12-month step count data were extracted from participants' personal smartphones. Participants (18-74years old, 22% Hispanic/Latino, 81% female) showed reductions in vigorous (Mdiff=-66.9min/week), moderate (Mdiff=-92.4min/week), walking (Mdiff-70.8min/week), and step counts (Mdiff=-2232 steps/day) from the pre- to early-COVID19 periods. Reductions in walking and steps were larger for low-income and Hispanic/Latino adults. During early-COVID19,more vigorous and moderate activity were reported by those who were active in their home/garage or driveway/yard, and more steps were recorded by those who were active on the roads in their neighborhood or at parks/trails.We observed a decline in adults' physical activity during the first two months of the COVID-19 pandemic based on retrospective self-report and device-based measures.Although these restrictions were necessary to slow the spread of the virus, data indicate that there may be unintended consequences onhealth-related behaviors.

Lockdown 101: Managing economic lockdowns in an epidemic

Countries worldwide have implemented lockdown measures to contain the covid-19 pandemic. After more than three months of restrictions to economic activities in many countries, the question has turned to the best ways to lift lockdowns while keeping the epidemic in check. Here I use basic economic principles to shed light on the key tradeoffs. A central message is that there is no “health vs. economics” dichotomy. Rather, some degree of lockdown is typically optimal in crisis like this, balancing its economic costs against its health benefits. Moreover, the optimal lockdown is dynamic, changes over time and eventually becomes more lenient, although the path is not necessarily monotonic.

Lockdown 101: Managing Economic Lockdowns in an Epidemic

Countries worldwide have implemented lockdown measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. After more than three months of restrictions to economic activities in many countries, the question has turned to the best ways to lift lockdowns while keeping the epidemic in check. Here I use basic economic principles to shed light on the key tradeoffs. A central message is that there is no “health vs. economics” dichotomy. Rather, some degree of lockdown is typically optimal in crisis like this, balancing its economic costs against its health benefits. Moreover, the optimal lockdown is dynamic, changes over time and eventually becomes more lenient, although the path is not necessarily monotonic.

O potrzebie uchylenia lub zmiany art. 87 Kodeksu karnego

The author postulates that as a consequence of introducing in the Act of 20 February 2015 the institution of simultaneous adjudication of imprisonment and restriction of liberty, the legislator should repeal Art. 87 of the Criminal Code. According to Art. 87 § 1 of the C.C., in the case of conviction for concurrent offences for penalties of deprivation of liberty and restriction of liberty, the court shall impose an aggregate penalty, assuming that one month of restriction of liberty is equal to 15 days of deprivation of liberty. The sequence of penalties introduced in Art. 37b of the C.C. undermines the purpose of Art. 87 § 1 of the C.C. Since the legislator introduced a new concept of sequential execution of penalties, he should not preserve the obligation to convert restriction of liberty into imprisonment.

Body-weight changes are clearly reflected in plasma concentrations of leptin in female mink (Mustela vison).

The mink is a seasonal breeder with a propensity for seasonal fatness, and it is very responsive to changes in energy supply. The objectives of the present study were first, to validate a multi-species leptin assay for mink (Mustela vison) plasma, and second, to evaluate how plasma leptin and insulin concentrations responded to energy restriction and body-weight loss and refeeding with restoration of body reserves. The study was performed with six very fat yearling females (initial mean body weight 1,451 (SD 119) g, i.e. approximately 300 g more than for a female in normal body condition). The animals were fed in restricted amounts (about 35 % metabolizable energy requirement for maintenance) in order to reach a very lean body condition. The target weight of 800 g was reached after about 1 month of restriction. The animals were then refed ad libitum until almost complete weight recovery. Blood samples were taken on days 1, 24, 34 (end of restriction), 44, 55 and 71 (end of experiment) and analysed for plasma concentrations of leptin and insulin. Three females were mated on day 44. Leptin and insulin concentrations mirrored each other and clearly reflected changes in body weight. Significant (P<0.001) Pearson correlation coefficients of 0.75 (leptin-insulin), 0.72 (leptin-body weight) and 0.59 (insulin-body weight) were found. Two of the three females that were mated gave birth to normal litters. It was concluded that the leptin assay yielded acceptable results for animals with body weight:fat content within the range investigated here, and that plasma leptin reflected body fat mass.

Adaptation of middle aged rats to long-term restriction of dietary vitamin D and calcium

Previous studies have shown that middle aged rats do not increase renal 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D 3(1,25(OH) 2D 3) production in response to short-term (4 weeks) dietary vitamin D and calcium restriction. The purpose of the experiments reported here was to determine if middle aged rats demonstrate adaptation to long-term restriction of dietary calcium and vitamin D and to compare that adaptation to the adaptation seen in young rats. Middle aged (14–16 months) Fischer 344 rats were fed either a 0.02% calcium, vitamin D-deficient (restricted) or a 1.2% calcium, vitamin D-replete (control) diet. Rats from each group were sacrificed after 1.5, 3.0, 4.5, and 6.0 months on the diets. Renal conversion of 25(OH)D 3 to 1,25(OH) 2D 3 and 24,25(OH) 2D 3 was measured in vitro using isolated renal cortical slices. Renal 1,25(OH) 2D 3 production in the restricted group was not significantly increased until 3 months and reached a maximum of 85% higher than the control at 4.5 months. Renal 24,25(OH) 2D 3 production was significantly decreased after only 1.5 months of restriction and was decreased maximally by 70% at 3.0 months. Serum calcium remained in the range 11–12 mg/100 ml in both diet groups, and serum immunoreactive PTH (iPTH) was modestly increased one- to twofold in the restricted group compared to the control group. In contrast, young rats (3 months old) fed the deficient diet for 1 month had a fourfold increase in renal 1,25(OH) 2D 3 production and a 71% decrease in 24,25(OH) 2D 3 production. Feeding the deficient diet also produced a 43% reduction in serum calcium and a 13-fold increase in serum iPTH. These findings demonstrate that middle aged rats do alter their 25(OH)D metabolism in response to long-term vitamin D and calcium restriction. However, both the rapidity and the magnitude of the response is decreased compared to that seen in the young rat. This blunted vitamin D response in the middle aged rat reflects the lack of a decrease in serum calcium and the marginal increase in serum iPTH in response to vitamin D and calcium restriction.