Qualitative Dynamics Research Articles

Barriers to innovation in the housing sector: Economic justifiability of offsite construction for housebuilders

The uptake of offsite construction in the housing sector is low, despite extensive discussions on its benefits. Offsite construction methods significantly disrupt the products and processes of the housing sector. In this context, the interactions of autonomous actors in a loosely coupled system within and beyond the industry determines desirability of offsite construction methods for different actors and consequently the uptake of the methods on sector level. As a result, there is a need to systematically synthesise the mechanisms that shape the desirability of offsite construction for industry practitioners. To fill this gap, a qualitative system dynamics model is developed in this research to study the feedback mechanisms that encourage/discourage application of offsite construction methods with a focus on economic justifiability of these methods for housebuilders. The model is developed via a grounded theory-based approach through a synthesis of the literature. A series of semi-structured interviews with industry experts are then carried out to verify and contextualise the model. The results indicate that a long-term holistic perspective accounting for the interactions of different actors can redefine economic justifiability and consequently improve desirability of offsite construction methods for builders, which will then feed back into the system to sustain the long-term benefits of all involved actors. The model is used to propose uptake strategies based on strengthening the feedback structures that reinforce economic justifiability of offsite construction methods and weakening those that decrease economic justifiability.

Considerations Upon the Effects of Covid-19 Pandemic on the Romanian Economic Environment

Abstract The modern economy has faced, over time, several economic crises. They have determined changes in the behaviour of economic agents and a natural evolution towards the current entrepreneurial environment, taking into account the structural, quantitative, and qualitative dynamics of economic activity, general economic development goals, and technological progress. Starting with the first half of year 2020, most of the world was marked by a completely different situation - the health crisis generated by the SARS Cov-2 virus, with powerful and immediate negative effects at the level of both developing economies and stronger countries. The measures imposed by the Romanian government for crisis management during the state of emergency and alert generated the restriction or even suspension of the activity of diverse economic sectors. Limiting the freedom of movement of the population has led to habits change and reorientation of the consumers towards online markets. The markets had a chain reaction that generated a decrease in production capacity within the manufacturing industry, automotive industry and related, interconnected activities. The main objective of the paper is to analyse how the pandemics affected different Romanian sectors and to identify appropriate tools for market correction and orientation, based on a quantitative and qualitative analysis with the use of preliminary data available on the National Institute of Statistics and Trade Register database. The analysis reveals the pandemic’s effect on national accounts, GDP components, and the short-term impact on companies.

Role of limiting dispersal on metacommunity stability and persistence

The role of dispersal on the stability and synchrony of a metacommunity is a topic of considerable interest in theoretical ecology. Dispersal is known to promote both synchrony, which enhances the likelihood of extinction, and spatial heterogeneity, which favors the persistence of the population. Several efforts have been made to understand the effect of diverse variants of dispersal in the spatially distributed ecological community. Despite that environmental change strongly affects the dispersal, the effects of controlled dispersal on the metacommunity stability and their persistence remain unknown. We study the influence of limiting the immigration using two-patch prey-predator metacommunity at both local and spatial scales. We find that the spread of the inhomogeneous stable steady states (asynchronous states) decreases monotonically upon limiting the predator dispersal. Nevertheless, at the local scale, the spread of the inhomogeneous steady states increases up to a critical value of the limiting factor, favoring the metacommunity persistence, and then starts decreasing for a further decrease in the limiting factor with varying local interaction. Interestingly, limiting the prey dispersal promotes inhomogeneous steady states in a large region of the parameter space, thereby increasing the metacommunity persistence at both spatial and local scales. Further, we show similar qualitative dynamics in an entire class of complex networks consisting of a large number of patches. We also deduce various bifurcation curves and stability conditions for the inhomogeneous steady states, which we find to agree well with the simulation results. Thus, our findings on the effect of the limiting dispersal can help to develop conservation measures for ecological communities.

Identification of critical paths leading to cost claims for underground metro projects: a system dynamics approach

PurposeInfrastructure projects play a vital role in the development of countries' economies. However, these projects, notably underground ones, are encountering growing claims as they are subject to many unknowns. Without having a clear insight into the causes of claims and their influence on one another, it is not possible to mitigate their adverse impacts on these projects' goals. To this aim, the main purpose of this study is to identify the critical paths leading to cost claims for underground metro projects.Design/methodology/approachFirst, causes of claims were identified through a literature review and then refined to 22 main causes according to the opinions of 148 Iranian experts. A qualitative system dynamics (SD) model was then provided to visualize how various causes interact with each other. The model was developed and validated by drawing on the expertise of industry-related experts, and the critical paths were finally recognized based on their frequency and severity indexes.FindingsThe findings revealed that each cause should be evaluated based on their connections with others as there are complex relations among the causes. It was also shown that the major claim paths among others were initiated due to ambiguous contract clauses, unforeseen physical conditions and land handover problems.Originality/valueThe findings of this study provide a better insight into how various causes of claims for underground metro projects are related to each other and can eventually assist project managers of different parties, even in other countries, to select proportional strategies to mitigate their adverse impacts.

Assessing the Wall-to-Wall Spatial and Qualitative Dynamics of the Brazilian Pasturelands 2010–2018, Based on the Analysis of the Landsat Data Archive

Brazilian livestock is predominantly extensive, with approximately 90% of the production being sustained on pasture, which occupies around 20% of the territory. It is estimated that more than half of Brazilian pastures have some level of degradation. In this study, we mapped and evaluated the spatiotemporal dynamics of pasture quality in Brazil, between 2010 and 2018, considering three classes of degradation: Absent (D0), Intermediate (D1), and Severe (D2). There was no variation in the total area occupied by pastures in the evaluated period, in spite of the accentuated spatial dynamics. The percentage of non-degraded pastures increased by ~12%, due to the recovery of degraded areas and the emergence of new pasture areas. However, about 44 Mha of the pasture area is currently severely degraded. The dynamics in pasture quality were not homogeneous in property size classes. We observed that in the approximately 2.68 million properties with livestock activity, the proportion with quality gains was twice as low in small properties compared with large ones, and the proportion with losses was three times greater, showing an increase in inequality between properties with more and fewer resources (large and small properties, respectively). The areas occupied by pastures in Brazil present a unique opportunity to increase livestock production and make areas available for agriculture, without the need for new deforestation in the coming decades.

Root causes of underperforming urban waste services in developing countries: Designing a diagnostic tool, based on literature review and qualitative system dynamics.

Cities in developing countries struggle with providing good waste collection services to all their citizens. Daily practice mostly shows low service coverage, especially in the poorer parts of cities. Up until now, research has mainly dealt with the symptoms of poor performance. This article aims at designing a qualitative System Dynamics model of the urban system that may serve as a diagnostic tool to find the root causes and leverage points for interventions. The research presented here uses a broad literature review to draw up a complex causal loop diagram describing all relevant urban variables (demographic, economic, social, financial, technical and governance-related) and their relations. The diagram is analysed using qualitative methods, partly derived from graph theory. It results in an evaluation of all variables, paths, loops and branches of the model, and finally in a simplified model. This simplified model is helpful in diagnosing waste management problems in cities, in formulating interventions and their points of leverage and even in formulating a new taxonomy that classifies cities with regard to the effect and delay in their urban processes. When it comes to interventions, the model suggests that the root cause is in populations growing faster than their economies, and that the enabling circumstances are mainly in poor governance practices that are unable to secure that tax incomes keep pace with needed budgets for sound services.

GENDER FEATURES OF AGE DYNAMICS OF THE NEEDS OF THE POPULATION OF OLDER AGE GROUPS IN INPATIENT MEDICAL CARE FOR DISEASES OF THE ORAL CAVITY, SALIVARY GLANDS AND JAWS

Abstract: The purpose of the study: to study the gender characteristics of the age dynamics of the needs of the population of older age groups in medical care provided in hospital conditions for diseases of the oral cavity, salivary glands and jaws. Materials and methods. We used data on cases of medical care provided to the population of older age groups (60 years and older) (the database of the Moscow region for 2019). The probability of treatment for the reasons included in the block K00-K14 ICD-10 (2014–2016) in each one-year age range, starting from the age of 60 years, was studied. The regression method was used in the modeling process, the modeling error was minimized by the least squares method. Results. The level of need for medical care provided in inpatient conditions is higher for men than for women. Regardless of gender, the age dynamics of the level of need is fluctuating, but the amplitude of fluctuations in men is higher than in women. When planning, it is advisable to use models of age dynamics only in relation to one indicator "Duration of treatment in a 24-hour hospital stay", since the indicator "Number of hospitalizations in a 24-hour hospital stay" is strongly correlated. The calculation of this indicator during planning is possible using data on the average duration of hospitalization, which is 9.3 days for men and 8.9 days for women. The most qualitative age dynamics is modeled by polynomial functions.

Chaos in the incompressible Euler equation on manifolds of high dimension

We construct finite dimensional families of non-steady solutions to the Euler equations, existing for all time, and exhibiting all kinds of qualitative dynamics in the phase space, for example: strange attractors and chaos, invariant manifolds of arbitrary topology, and quasiperiodic invariant tori of any dimension. The main theorem of the paper, from which these families of solutions are obtained, states that for any given vector field X on a closed manifold N, there is a Riemannian manifold M on which the following holds: N is diffeomorphic to a finite dimensional manifold in the phase space of fluid velocities (the space of divergence-free vector fields on M) that is invariant under the Euler evolution, and on which the Euler equation reduces to a finite dimensional ODE that is given by an arbitrarily small smooth perturbation of the vector field X on N.

Sounds of Healing: Qualia and Medical Efficacy in a Traditional Korean Medicine Clinic

In traditional Korean medicine (TKM) clinics in South Korea, acupuncture is a popular therapeutic practice to remove physical discomforts. This paper examines the cultural‐semiotic rendering of an abstract, kinesthetic quality called “shiwŏnham” into medical efficacy through acupuncture treatments, observed through ethnographic fieldwork in a TKM clinic. By employing the conceptual framework of qualia, I argue that shiwŏnham in TKM clinic is the sign of efficacy expressed through the body, both in linguistic and synesthetic forms. The analysis of shiwŏnham also reveals the semiotics of change: the qualitative dynamics of changes‐of‐state and the cultural change across generations in Korean society.I examine an extended interaction observed in a TKM clinic, during which a young patient learns to experience and interpret the senses and sounds of shiwŏnham as a sign of efficacy through conversations with an older family member and the doctor. This interaction illustrates how participants attempt to bridge their intergenerational, interpretative gaps about the relevant qualia and the conventional qualisign of shiwŏnham. Together through this semiotic analysis of shiwŏnham, I show how central shiwŏnham is to the expressive evidence for TKM, that is, culturally legible evidence of efficacy reflecting modes of awareness, expression, and the value of a sensation.

A qualitative system dynamics model for effects of workplace violence and clinician burnout on agitation management in the emergency department

BackgroundOver 1.7 million episodes of agitation occur annually across the United States in emergency departments (EDs), some of which lead to workplace assaults on clinicians and require invasive methods like physical restraints to maintain staff and patient safety. Recent studies demonstrated that experiences of workplace violence contribute to symptoms of burnout, which may impact future decisions regarding use of physical restraints on agitated patients. To capture the dynamic interactions between clinicians and agitated patients under their care, we applied qualitative system dynamics methods to develop a model that describes feedback mechanisms of clinician burnout and the use of physical restraints to manage agitation.MethodsWe convened an interprofessional panel of clinician stakeholders and agitation experts for a series of model building sessions to develop the current model. The panel derived the final version of our model over ten sessions of iterative refinement and modification, each lasting approximately three to four hours. We incorporated findings from prior studies on agitation and burnout related to workplace violence, identifying interpersonal and psychological factors likely to influence our outcomes of interest to form the basis of our model.ResultsThe final model resulted in five main sets of feedback loops that describe key narratives regarding the relationship between clinician burnout and agitated patients becoming physically restrained: (1) use of restraints decreases agitation and risk of assault, leading to increased perceptions of safety and decreasing use of restraints in a balancing feedback loop which stabilizes the system; (2) clinician stress leads to a perception of decreased safety and lower threshold to restrain, causing more stress in a negatively reinforcing loop; (3) clinician burnout leads to a decreased perception of colleague support which leads to more burnout in a negatively reinforcing loop; (4) clinician burnout leads to negative perceptions of patient intent during agitation, thus lowering threshold to restrain and leading to higher task load, more likelihood of workplace assaults, and higher burnout in a negatively reinforcing loop; and (5) mutual trust between clinicians causes increased perceptions of safety and improved team control, leading to decreased clinician stress and further increased mutual trust in a positively reinforcing loop.ConclusionsOur system dynamics approach led to the development of a robust qualitative model that illustrates a number of important feedback cycles that underly the relationships between clinician experiences of workplace violence, stress and burnout, and impact on decisions to physically restrain agitated patients. This work identifies potential opportunities at multiple targets to break negatively reinforcing cycles and support positive influences on safety for both clinicians and patients in the face of physical danger.

Industrial clustering as a barrier and an enabler for deep emission reduction: a case study of a Dutch chemical cluster

ABSTRACT Industrial clusters are considered more resource- and greenhouse gas-efficient than stand-alone industrial plants, but clustering may also act as a barrier to radical changes required for deep greenhouse gas emission reductions. Here we explore how clustering in an energy-intensive chemical industry cluster may influence attainability of the deep emission reduction targets. Chemelot, located in the southeast of the Netherlands, was willing to collaborate and we adopt a qualitative system dynamics approach based on expert interviews and group model building sessions. We found that clustering may hinder reaching deep emission reductions by three reinforcing feedback mechanisms, or ‘traps’, related to: incremental changes; short-term focus; and companies acting alone. The system dynamics analysis also identified potential mechanisms to escape from these traps, notably: (1) increasing cluster autonomy; (2) activating public support; (3) promoting changes in the supply chain; and (4) attracting long-term investors. The findings can inform policymakers on how to steer industrial clusters towards deep emission reductions, and support industrial cluster decision-makers on both internal and external strategies. Key policy insights Industrial clustering may offer opportunities to accelerate deep greenhouse gas emission reductions, but it could also cause carbon lock-in because of increased physical and organizational interdependency, which favours incremental changes, short-term focus, and solitary actions rather than collective actions, at the cost of deep greenhouse gas emission reductions. To fully exploit the potential benefits of industrial clustering for greenhouse gas emission reductions, policies need to take into account the causal relations that operate in a self-reinforcing way to lock the cluster into high greenhouse gas emissions, and that can help escape them. A coordinating authority operating across the cluster is necessary to ensure effective collaboration within a chemical cluster so as to escape carbon lock-in. Policies addressing emissions along the full value chain (i.e. to include scope 3) might be mutually beneficial with the circularity and low-emission ambitions of the chemical industry.

HIV/AIDS-Pneumonia Codynamics Model Analysis with Vaccination and Treatment.

In this paper, we proposed and analyzed a realistic compartmental mathematical model on the spread and control of HIV/AIDS-pneumonia coepidemic incorporating pneumonia vaccination and treatment for both infections at each infection stage in a population. The model exhibits six equilibriums: HIV/AIDS only disease-free, pneumonia only disease-free, HIV/AIDS-pneumonia coepidemic disease-free, HIV/AIDS only endemic, pneumonia only endemic, and HIV/AIDS-pneumonia coepidemic endemic equilibriums. The HIV/AIDS only submodel has a globally asymptotically stable disease-free equilibrium if ℛ1 < 1. Using center manifold theory, we have verified that both the pneumonia only submodel and the HIV/AIDS-pneumonia coepidemic model undergo backward bifurcations whenever ℛ2 < 1 and ℛ3 = max{ℛ1, ℛ2} < 1, respectively. Thus, for pneumonia infection and HIV/AIDS-pneumonia coinfection, the requirement of the basic reproduction numbers to be less than one, even though necessary, may not be sufficient to completely eliminate the disease. Our sensitivity analysis results demonstrate that the pneumonia disease transmission rate β2 and the HIV/AIDS transmission rate β1 play an important role to change the qualitative dynamics of HIV/AIDS and pneumonia coinfection. The pneumonia infection transmission rate β2 gives rises to the possibility of backward bifurcation for HIV/AIDS and pneumonia coinfection if ℛ3 = max{ℛ1, ℛ2} < 1, and hence, the existence of multiple endemic equilibria some of which are stable and others are unstable. Using standard data from different literatures, our results show that the complete HIV/AIDS and pneumonia coinfection model reproduction number is ℛ3 = max{ℛ1, ℛ2} = max{1.386, 9.69 } = 9.69 at β1 = 2 and β2 = 0.2 which shows that the disease spreads throughout the community. Finally, our numerical simulations show that pneumonia vaccination and treatment against disease have the effect of decreasing pneumonia and coepidemic disease expansion and reducing the progression rate of HIV infection to the AIDS stage.

Common Typology of Virtual Communities and Multi-Sided Platforms. Analysis of Business Models Using Qualitative System Dynamics

Common Typology of Virtual Communities and Multi-Sided Platforms. Analysis of Business Models Using Qualitative System Dynamics

Content of individual micro- and macroelements in different types of soils of the Central Black Soil region

The purpose of fundamental research in agricultural ecology is to solve complex problem of the establishment of patterns of mass transfer in agricultural systems and regulation of these processes in agricultural soil use. The chemical composition of soil is the result of soil-forming processes. The characteristics of the soil-forming material play decisive role. The investigation of the content of macro- and microelements in soils of different types has been quite relevant in recent decades due to their large physiological role in the life of plants and animals and the active transformation of soils during agricultural use. Fertilization is a process of certain soil cultivation and includes a set of measures aimed at the regulation of macro- and microelements, the lack of which can be determined by zonal conditions of soil formation or soil degradation, as a result of irrational agricultural nature management. The paper presents the results of a study of the content of individual macro- and microelements in some types of soils of the Central Black Soil regions. The studies of the aspects of the impact of fertilization existing in the scientific literature are controversial. The consideration of ecologically and economically justified levels of changes in soil properties during cultivation is necessary to control negative transformations of chemical elements in soil and their accumulation in depositing media. A quantitative assessment of the total content of water-soluble salts, their qualitative composition and dynamics under the influence of agrotechnical factors, the study of their spatial differentiation in soil cover allows optimizing the use of fertilizers and increasing the stability of agropedocenoses.

Количественные и качественные характеристики кадровой базы советского атомного проекта

The article examines the socio-demographic features, the quantitative and qualitative dynamics of the Soviet atomic project's manpower. The chronology is from 1945 to the second half of the 1950s. It was time between the beginning of the project active stage after a protracted start and its completion, when the main results were achieved. It is the first comprehensive research of the Soviet atomic project's manpower in the historiography of this topic. The work is based on published primary sources and declassified archival documents collected by the author. The author used the methods of statistical analysis and case-study methods. The last one helps to overcome the problems of the topic's sources base: quite a few of primary sources have not been declassified, and most of declassified documents are devoted to scientific and technical details, but not social aspects. The author examines the dynamics of the number of Soviet “atomic” manpower, based on the currently known data. The figures obtained allow us to assess the scale of “atomic” employment - about 0,3% from the USSR population in the late 1940s - the first half of the 1950s. This correlates with the Manhattan Project's the cumulative employment. The author investigates the following groups of the Soviet atomic project's human resources: scientific and industrial heads, grassroots cadres (residents of closed nuclear towns), foreign specialists, prisoners, including scientists, other specific Soviet slave categories (so-called spetscontingent), military builders, as well as personnel of Soviet uranium enterprises outside the Soviet Union. It were analyzed such indicators as sex, age, ethnicity, social origin and status, official capacity, education, together with the changes in the structure and ratio of different personnel groups. The study raises controversial issues: number of foreign specialists, the prevalence of prisoners among the project's human resources and mortality rate. The study shows that ‘atomic” personnel selection in general prefers young, men, Russians, educated. Membership in the Communist Party was important for the leaders of the Soviet and foreign enterprises, and for last one it was more important than education. At the same time, membership in Party and social origin were not so important for scientists. The mortality rate in the project was not catastrophic and the prisoners did not make up half of the project's human resources, as a number of publications claim. The project developed on the way to a gradual refusal of indentured labor.

Pullback attractors for weak solution to modified Kelvin-Voigt model

&lt;p style='text-indent:20px;'&gt;The paper is devoted to the investigation of the qualitative dynamics of weak solutions for the modified Kelvin-Voigt model on the base of the theory of pullback attractors for trajectory spaces. At first, for the studied model, an auxiliary problem is considered, its solvability in the weak sense is proved, and some solution estimates are established. Then, on the base of these estimates, a family of trajectory spaces is determined and the existence of trajectory and minimal pullback attractors for the considered trajectory spaces is proved.&lt;/p&gt;

PHENOMENOLOGICAL PARADIGM OF DIGITAL INNOVATIVE LOGOSPHERE MODELLING (BASED ON INNOVATIONS OF THE CHINESE LANGUAGE)

The problem of theoretical and methodological substantiation of cross-cutting principles, directions, mechanisms, and results of qualitative dynamics of macro- and microstructures of vocabulary in the field of the digital realm as a consolidated linguistic object is still awaiting a comprehensive study. The analysis of this issue requires the involvement of a phenomenological perspective of the study of complex linguistic objects in view of the main task of phenomenological epistemology – knowledge of the full system of facts of consciousness that constitute reality. The paper overall objective is the inquiry into the phenomenological premises of comprehensive structuring of global innovative linguistic sphere of modern digital technologies (Global Innovative Logosphere of computer being as construed by the transformative neological strata of the modern globalized Chinese language). The principles of the dynamics of the microstructure of the global innovative logosphere of computer being are determined on the basis of the analysis of the lingual mechanisms of phenomenological reduction. An integrative parameter of the dynamics of the global innovation logosphere of the digital realm is the phenomenon of attraction of the corresponding general discrete innovation units of the logosphere, which are the centers of semantic phenomenological units clustering in global communication languages in digital environment. Mosaic, simulation, and multidimensional approaches to understanding complex dynamic linguistic phenomena and entities, prioritized by this methodological context, allowed us to identify the ontological nature of computer lexical innovations of the globalized Chinese language (namely, the ability to embody and structure elements of the relevant realm of life independently from the filter of human experience), which enables and provides a complex determinative interaction of multisubstrate (linguistic, existential and anthropological) parameters of the innovative logosphere of the digital realm. The dynamic interaction of the structural stages of the ICTs content plane within the linguistic innovative logosphere of computer being is characterized by the expansion of the ontological denotatum, resulting in isolation/absorption/replacement, or partial isolation/absorption/replacement of anthropogenic parameters of the content plane, mediated by the subjective and collective cognitive experience of native speakers of globalized languages in the realm of functioning and use of computer technologies (the area of the conceptual core projection of the logosphere onto the innovative logosphere of the digital realm).

The importance of eliciting stakeholders’ system boundary perceptions for problem structuring and decision-making

Differences in system boundaries and problem framings are unavoidable in multi-organisational decision-making. Unstructured problems, such as the grand challenges, are characterised by the existence of multiple actors with different perspectives and conflicting interests, and they require a coordinated effort from multiple organisations. Within this context, this paper aims to understand stakeholders’ perceptions of system boundaries and problem framings, and their potential effects on decision-making by systematically comparing different stakeholder groups’ causal maps around the same shared concern. Bridging notions from Operational Research, System Dynamics and Organisational Studies, the comparison is based on a novel type of thematic analysis of Causal Loop Diagrams (CLDs) built with each stakeholder group on their perceptions of a given system. The proposed integrated approach combines qualitative with quantitative analysis, such as the centrality of the variables and the structure of the CLDs. Such CLDs comparison provides an intuitive way to visualise differences and similarities of the thematic clusters of variables, underlining factors influencing the shared concern. This could be considered a starting point for more shared understanding as well as more integrated holistic perceptions of the system and, consequently, a more systemic decision-making. Furthermore, for the sake of replicability, this paper also presents a qualitative participatory System Dynamics modelling process aimed to define the key aspects of a problem for each group of stakeholders to support a collaborative multi-organisational decision-making process. The research is based on the activities carried out for an urban regeneration case study in Thamesmead, London, United Kingdom.

A Dynamic Theory of Moral Distress in Child Welfare Workers

AbstractChild welfare (CW) professionals who provide direct services to families, referred to as ‘caseworkers’ in the USA, often have to act in ways that are inconsistent with their professional values, leading to feelings of guilt, anxiety and self-blame, referred to as moral distress. The conceptual basis for moral distress primarily comes from the nursing literature, leaving a theoretical gap in how CW workers experience moral distress. Hence, this study used qualitative system dynamics modelling to develop a dynamic theory of moral distress amongst US CW caseworkers (N = 25 focus groups, 192 participants). Results, presented in a qualitative system dynamics model, reveal that participants held strong values pertaining to CW casework and that moral distress was common. Participants described discrepancies between the services they wanted to provide and the services they were actually providing, and the distressing feelings that resulted. Study findings also highlight coping strategies and ‘breaking points’ related to moral distress. Overall, this study’s dynamic theory provides a framework that illustrates the stock (accumulation) and flow (release) of moral distress specific to CW caseworkers and sheds light on the psychological distress and conflict experienced in this profession. Implications for social work education and CW organizational change are discussed.

Community Transmission of Respiratory Infectious Diseases using Agent-based and Compartmental Models

Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) were the mainstay to control the spread of COVID-19 at the start of the pandemic. Mathematical modeling has played an important role in determining the effects of these NPIs. An agent-based model and a compartmental model (i.e., extended susceptible-exposed-infectious-recovered) were formulated to simulate the spread of a respiratory infection between two neighboring communities. The study aimed to determine the effects of non-pharmaceutical interventions such as social distancing, community lockdowns and the use of protective gears. The chance of traveling to another community and within the community during the lockdown, and an initial percentage of exposed and infected individuals in both communities influenced the increase in the number of newly infected individuals on both models. It was shown through simulations that an increase in exposed individuals increased the number of new infections; hence, the need for amplified testing-isolation efforts. Protection level of 75-100% effectiveness impeded disease transmission. Inter- or intra-community travels can be an option given that strict preventive measures (e.g., non-pharmaceutical interventions) were observed. The ideal setup for neighboring communities was to implement lockdown when there is a high risk of local transmission while individuals observe social distancing, maximizing protective measures and isolating the exposed. The results of the agent-based and compartmental models showed similar qualitative dynamics; the differences were due to different spatiotemporal heterogeneity and stochasticity. These models can aid decision-makers in designing infectious disease-related policies to protect individuals while continuing population movement.