Temporary Closures Research Articles

Bobbing in the park: wild swimming, conviviality and belonging

ABSTRACT With swimming pools and lidos closed during the pandemic, the number of people dipping their toes in rivers, lakes and seas and swimming wild has swelled. In this paper, we reflect on the ways in which swimmers living in cities have found ways of immersing themselves, and how they have forged new friendships and communities in the water. Drawing on conversations with swimmers at a lake in an urban park and focusing on small and embodied everyday social interactions, from flashes of nudity to recognition between strangers, we explore how the opening – and temporary closures – of the lake have sparked convivial moments and how swimming reconfigures urban public space. Within this paper we engage with ideas of belonging and becoming. We think about absence and exclusion flowing alongside belonging and conviviality, and reflect on what that means for our understandings of leisure spaces, urban publics and bodies. We suggest that the power of wild swimming to restore, refresh and bring people together can revive our ideas about the place of water and wilderness in cities, while also drawing attention to enduring and pervasive inequalities.

Systemic Review of Open Abdomen versus Primary Closure after Emergency Laparotomy for Peritonitis: Experience in Qazi Hussain Ahmed Medical Complex, Nowshera, Pakistan.

Objective: In secondary peritonitis patients, optimal management after index laparotomy is poorly defined. Although an open abdomen or temporary abdominal closure with planned relaparotomy is used to reassess bowel viability or contamination severity, recent studies show that primary abdominal closure has comparable morbidity and mortality. The differences between Open Abdomen (OP) and Primary Closure (PC) after emergent laparotomy are examined in this study.
 Material and Methods: A systemic review on open abdomen versus primary closure after emergency laparotomy for peritonitis from January 2017 to December 2021 were analyzed. This systemic review was conducted in the department of surgical Qazi Hussain Ahmad Medical complex, Nowshera, Pakistan with approval from the hospital ethical and research committee. The study enrolled 200 patients who met the eligibility requirements. A lottery method was used to divide the patients into two groups at random. Patients with secondary peritonitis requiring emergent laparotomy were identified (N = 200) using the Premier database at a quaternary level. Mannheim Peritonitis Index, lactate, and vasopressor requirement were used to perform propensity matching for PC (n = 100; 65%) or OA (n = 100; 35%). A total of 200 closely matched pairs (PC: OA) were examined.
 Results: About 65 percent of the 200 women patients enrolled in the study had an emergency laparotomy (mean age of 52.2 years). Only one relaparotomy was performed on 100 (65.0%) of the (O.A) patients, while 35 (35.0%) had multiple reoperations. Overnight (4 pm–4 am) laparotomies had more temporary closures with O.A (35.0 percent OA vs. 65.0 percent PC, p = 0.05) than daytime laparotomies. Surgical subspecialties performed PC in 82.1 percent of laparotomies, compared to 35.0 percent (p 0.0002) of acute care surgeons. Postoperative complications and n-100 (65.0 percent vs. 35.0 percent, p = 0.0002), mortality (18.0 percent vs. 09.2 percent, p = 0.005), and a longer median length of stay (12 vs. 12 days p = 0.0001) were all higher in OA patients.
 Conclusion: The study's systemic review revealed that compared to PC, the complications, mortality rates, and costs associated with OA were significantly higher. Given these findings, more research is needed to determine appropriate OA indications.

Did students learn less during the COVID-19 pandemic? Reading and mathematics competencies before and after the first pandemic wave

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted classes in spring 2020. Temporary school closures supposedly led to a considerable learning loss, particularly for low-achieving students. Teachers faced challenges of remote learning environments. Students spent less time learning. The present study investigates the competencies of fifth graders in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, using large-scale assessments in reading and mathematics from annual mandatory tests in September (each n > 80,000). Competence scores were slightly lower in 2020 (after 2 months of school closures) compared with the three previous years (–0.07 SD for reading comprehension, –0.09 for operations, and –0.03 for numbers). Regarding mathematics, low-achieving students seem to have a learning backlog that deserves attention in future education. School characteristics such as the average sociocultural capital and the proportion of students with a migration background played a minor role in mediating the schools’ learning loss. Still, lower sociocultural capital was positively associated with larger learning loss in mathematics.

Whilst COVID-19: The Educational Migration to Online Platforms and Lessons Learned

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, universities around the world urgently suspended face-to-face classes, imposing mandated temporary closures of campuses, and required all teachers and students to convert traditional face-to-face classrooms to online screen-to-screen classes. This global ongoing crisis has created unsettled feelings, resulting in both positive and negative emotional reactions among teachers and students. While current research has been focusing on the new technological pedagogies and the rise of blended learning during and post-COVID, good classroom practices have not been presented clearly to maintain student engagement and teacher-student interactions. This study offers insights into this area, highlighting the strategies that a group of Vietnamese university teachers utilized to support their students’ learning in the new normal. The lessons learned are hoped to be useful and applicable to a wide range of instructors of different levels.

Teacher-Implemented Parent Coaching in Inclusive Preschool Settings for Children With Autism

This mixed-methods study aimed to test the feasibility, acceptability, and fidelity of involving early childhood education (ECE) staff without special education training or prior parent coaching experience in the delivery of an adapted evidence-based parent coaching intervention for young children with autism (Focused Playtime Intervention-Preschool, FPI-P). Ten staff members of a university-affiliated, inclusive ECE program were trained to deliver parent coaching procedures during temporary classroom closures due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Child participants included nine preschool students with ASD aged between 34 and 52 months. While findings highlight several opportunities for improving FPI-P staff training and implementation procedures, results demonstrate (a) the feasibility of involving ECE staff in the delivery of ASD-specific parent coaching to promote social communication, (b) that both parents and preschool staff viewed the experience as beneficial for themselves and the child, and (c) that parents perceived the program to be aligned with family-centered intervention principles.

Ensuring rights matter: England’s and Scotland’s frameworks for implementing the rights of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities

ABSTRACT In recent years, both international law (notably the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) and domestic legislation have led to a new emphasis on children’s rights in the field of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in England and additional support needs (ASN) in Scotland. Scotland has moved ahead of England in extending these rights, but research has pointed to shortfalls in the practical realisation of the rights agenda in both jurisdictions. The Covid-19 pandemic, resulting in temporary school closures, has created further barriers to the realisation of children’s educational rights. The Scottish Government has developed a Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment framework, and proposed new legislation incorporating the UNCRC into domestic legislation promised to generate further pressure for improvement in the delivery of rights. In England, there are less focused channels for influencing policy delivery. In the context of the domestic rights on SEND and ASN and the pandemic response, this paper provides a comparative assessment of the potential contribution of Children’s Rights Impact Assessments (CRIAs) to the protection of children’s rights, finding their potential not yet fully realised.

Workin' moms ain't doing so bad: Evidence on the gender gap in working hours at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic

Objective: In this project, we study changes in the working hours of men and women with and without children in the early phase of the COVID-19 crisis in Germany until August 2020.
 Background: The COVID-19 outbreak in Europe led to a sharp decrease in economic activity, along with temporary closures of childcare facilities and schools. Subsequent changes in working hours in the early phase of the pandemic and during summer 2020 may have contributed to inequalities between men and women or parents and non-parents respectively.
 Method: We use a unique panel dataset containing monthly survey data of the Institute for Employment Research (the IAB-HOPP) combined with administrative data of the German Federal Employment Agency. We run regression models with the change in working hours (before the crisis vs. working time at each panel wave) as the dependent variable and gender, parental status, and childcare arrangement as the main independent variables.
 Results: We observe a comparable reduction in working hours for both men and women during the spring lockdown. However, only the working hours of women recover and return to their pre-crisis level in summer 2020. Most surprisingly, having children has an accelerating effect on recovery for mothers but not for fathers. At the end of the observation period, fathers do not recover as fully as mothers do.
 Conclusion: These results challenge concerns about a temporary or possibly persistent 're-traditionalisation' of gender roles during the COVID-19 crisis.

Predictors of The Subjective Effectiveness of Emergency Remote Teaching During The First Phase of The COVID-19 Pandemic

Worldwide school closures which were happening during the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020 created a great lesson about the conditions for effective teaching. As temporary school closures seem very likely to occur in the forthcoming school year(s), at least locally, it is worthwhile to exploit this lesson to learn more about the capacities and resources that can be utilised in both emergency remote teaching (ERT) and regular teaching, beyond the pandemic. This research was initiated in the third week of ERT, on 13 April 2020, and involved 154 teachers in 87 schools in Poland. Its purpose was to identify predictors of subjective effectiveness of emergency remote teaching (SEERT) that might be important for remote teaching pedagogy in general. The results show that the best predictors of the SEERT are self-efficacy, digital competence and peer support from other teachers. The situation of the pandemic in a sense confirms the key role of transferable resources in the performance of teachers’ professional duties and sets a path for strengthening these in teacher training and continuing professional development programmes to increase capacity for both regular and remote teaching.

Caring for Your Child during COVID-19-Utilizing a Light-Touch Parenting Resource during Lockdown in Indonesia.

To tackle the spread of COVID-19 globally, countries around the world have responded by implementing measures such as lockdowns, social distance maintenance, temporary school closures, and remote working and learning. COVID-19 social isolation has been found to increase stress, and potentially have long term harmful effects on both mental and physical health. Stress and compromised parenting often place children at risk of violence and abuse. In parallel, times of hardship might also provide an opportunity to build stronger relationships with our children. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) joined many other agencies and international organizations in recognizing the threat the pandemic might have on individual and family wellbeing, and has thus availed a number of light-touch parenting resources. One such tool is the ‘Caring for your child in response to the COVID-19 lockdown’ booklet, developed to enhance parenting skills, and to build family harmony as challenged by the COVID-19 context. This short communication reflects on a feasibility study that took place in Indonesia during the implementation of this booklet with 30 parents in five cities. Thematic analysis identified challenges in parenting during COVID-19, as well as reported positive experiences of engaging in the parenting resource. The findings are discussed with regard to the usefulness of light-touch parenting information, adding to the context of the feasibility and global scalability of reaching families. The implications pave the way to the engagement and implication of more intensive parenting information interventions in high-stress contexts. Despite the challenge, there is promising news for families globally, as agencies and policy-makers begin to recognize the importance of supporting families with the appropriate skills to navigate extreme stress contexts with effective strategies.

Readiness of the health department in maternal and child health service programs during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bolaang Mongondow Regency

Background: The current COVID-19 pandemic poses a major challenge in efforts to improve the health status of the Indonesian people and has an impact on maternal and child health services, which can be seen from the decline in K1, K4 and infant care services in Bolaang Mongondow Regency. This is due to public and staff concerns about the transmission of COVID-19. In some areas, there were even temporary closures of health service facilities, especially in posyandu and puskesmas. Methods: The research method used is qualitative through a case study at the Bolaang Mongondow district health office which was conducted through in-depth interviews using interview guidelines with 3 informants, namely the head of the health office as a key informant and 2 other informants namely the head of the family health sector and the head of the infectious disease control section then recorded. using a tape recorder. Results: The results of this study are unclear regulations and SOPs from the health office in maternal and child health service programs, human resources are very minimal and facilities and facilities are not feasible at supporting health centers in remote villages so that the service program provided is less than optimal.Conclusions: During the pandemic, some health facilities were closed and there were no services for MCH for a while. For services, it is directed to the designated health facility as a reference if there are complaints and are of an emergency nature. So there needs to be a policy for the sustainability of maternal and child health services during the pandemic.

The economic impact of school closures during the 2015 flood in Richland County, South Carolina

AbstractResearch on the societal costs of disaster‐related US school closures has focused, and due to COVID‐19 will likely continue to focus, on pandemics, with very limited research on closures from natural hazards. This is surprising given that school closures occur frequently to protect children, teachers, and staff pre‐event as well as post‐disaster to convert facilities into emergency shelters, etc. This study investigates the secondary effects from post‐flooding, temporary school closures after the catastrophic 2015 flash flood in Richland County, South Carolina. Lost productivity from school closures was quantified using the Human Capital Method. Out of the 208 completed surveys, 75% of households had children that missed school. Post‐stratifying survey results on race produced an average of $437 in lost productivity due to school closures and an overall $2175 in lost productivity due to flood‐related impacts in general. Expressed in FEMA benefit‐cost analysis terms, our study shows that schools have a standard value of $215 per household and per day for the unweighted sample ($180 for the race‐weighted sample). Furthermore, households' disutility for a late start is almost as great as their disutility for a school closure. These exploratory findings suggest that unplanned school closures should be minimized, and community characteristics carefully considered to avoid unintended socioeconomic consequences.

Unit load device reassignment following temporary airport closures

In this study, a reassignment model is developed for helping airline planners in reassigning unit load devices (ULDs), which include containers and pallets, to flights after temporary airport closures. The objective of the model is to minimise the system cost, which includes total weighted delay time and the total penalty for leftover ULDs. To test the model's efficiency and applicability, several problem instances of different scales are randomly generated based upon data from an airline in Taiwan. The sensitivity of results is analysed. The results show that as weight capacity increases, more ULDs can be assigned and average ULD delays increase. The approved ULD's quantity per flight increases, while the number of un-assigned ULD and average ULD delay time may decrease. Also, as the ULD weight increases, fewer ULDs can be assigned, and average ULD delay time may increase. The results show the usefulness of the proposed model for actual operations.

Temporary community pharmacy closures 'relatively infrequent', says chief pharmaceutical officer

Temporary pharmacy closures in England are “relatively infrequent”, and many are just for a “matter of hours”, the chief pharmaceutical officer for England has told The Pharmaceutical Journal. The comments come after the Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA) reported that it had received more than 50 reports of community pharmacies temporarily closing at short notice […]

Pharmacies should face 'special measures' to discourage temporary closures, says PDA

Community pharmacies should be put into “special measures” by NHS Scotland to protect patients from temporary pharmacy closures, the Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA) has said. In a statement on 10 August 2022, the organisation said that Humza Yousaf, Scottish cabinet secretary for health and social care, needed to take “necessary action” to stop businesses that […]

The effects of COVID-19 on employment, labor markets, and gender equality in Central America

Abstract This study considers the economic impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on commercial enterprises in four Central American countries – El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. At the time of analysis, neither the pandemic nor its economic consequences had fully run their course. It is not, therefore, a definitive analysis, but it is important to try to draw important lessons as soon as possible. The main focus of the study was the initial impact on labor markets. The analysis was based on World Bank Enterprise Surveys undertaken before the outbreak of COVID-19 and follow-up surveys on the effects of the pandemic, also undertaken by the World Bank (Source: Enterprise Surveys, The World Bank, http://www.enterprisesurveys.org). These were combined with data on both government containment measures and rates of morbidity and mortality. The use of enterprise data to analyze labor market issues has some limitations but also many strengths. The data are useful for analyzing the consequences for gender equality in employment. Since the demand for labor is a derived demand, firm-level data provide a clear link to labor market effects. The pandemic has caused a significant loss in sales for many firms. This has created a loss of liquidity, which, in turn, has caused some firms to reduce employment, working hours, and wages. Government containment measures necessary to save lives, such as temporary workplace closures, have added to the burden for both firms and employees. The study starts by using the surveys to identify the important stylized facts. Although some issues are already well documented anecdotally through media reports, this method provides a more evidence-based approach. It also helps identify several issues, such as the impact on gender equality, which has received less journalistic attention. The study is further supported by a regression analysis (ordinary least squares and seemingly unrelated regression equations models) of several key outcomes (changes in sales, employment, the share of females in employment, and expectations of firm survival). A limitation of such an analysis at any enterprise level is heterogeneity and, consequently, a risk of sample selection bias. To provide robustness checks, we use a matching approach. The results suggest that a significant proportion of surviving firms are vulnerable to permanent closure. The ability of firms to retain labor depends on sales, which are affected by both the pandemic itself and the government containment measures. Only a small proportion of firms have received government support, and there is evidence that it could help both firm survival and the retention of labor. There is some doubt whether the four countries have the institutional capacity to provide effective support. If such doubts prove well founded, then support may need to be externally driven.

Unit load device reassignment following temporary airport closures

Unit load device reassignment following temporary airport closures

Community pharmacies in some areas in Scotland allowed to close on Saturdays over the summer

Four health boards in Scotland have told The Pharmaceutical Journal that they are currently accepting requests from some community pharmacies to close or offer a reduced service on Saturdays during the summer holidays. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, NHS Ayrshire and Arran, NHS Lanarkshire and NHS Highland said they were allowing temporary weekend closures owing […]

Reimagining the Visceral Protective Layer with Tailored Manipulation: A Case Report

The visceral protective layer is a standard component of the ABTHERATM systems for temporary abdominal closures. Nonetheless, there are circumstances where the standard, fenestrated visceral protective layer is too large to be successfully applied into every patient’s open abdomen, such as within the abdomen of a child, smaller adult or a patient with previously placed ostomies or drains. The fenestrated, visceral protective layer may require alterations or tailoring for adequate deployment instead of placing the bulk of the visceral protective layer entirely into the open abdomen for temporary abdominal closure. This case report illustrates how the visceral protective layer can be adapted or “reimagined” to conform to a patient with unique or complex abdominal domain features when utilizing the ABTHERATM device prior to facial closure or abdominal wall reconstruction. Photographs are utilized in a step-by-step fashion to aid the clinician in these detailed maneuvers.

Oncologic Rehabilitation in the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Situation in Clinics.

Oncological rehabilitation is an important pillar in the treatment of cancer patients. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this form of therapy is particularly challenged, as it relies heavily on group therapies. The aim of the study was to find out what impact the pandemic has had on oncological rehabilitation so far and how the rehabilitation clinics have dealt with it. A web-based survey was used to collect data from 14 oncological rehabilitation clinics on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on occupancy, staffing trends, and hygiene measures for the observation period from March 1, 2020, to February 28, 2021. The data were compared with the same period 1 year earlier. In addition, the compensatory measures taken with regard to therapy were recorded. While only 15,272 patients were rehabilitated in the period under review, 21,257 patients were rehabilitated in the same period 1 year earlier. This corresponds to a decrease in occupancy of 28%. Three clinics were affected by temporary closures due to the pandemic. In 39% of the clinics, screening tests for patients had already been started for more than 8 months, while this was also offered to staff in only 23% of the clinics. With regard to changes in the therapeutic offer, more physiotherapeutic small groups with a reduced number of participants were used. This was also used in the area of sports therapy and education offers by 73% and 60% of the clinics, respectively. Overall, 92% of the participants assumed an economic recovery at the time of the survey. Despite a considerable decrease in occupancy in the oncological rehabilitation clinics, the therapies could be changed and carried out in a hygiene-compliant manner. Screening tests were offered at an early stage for patients as well as somewhat delayed for staff. The data show that pandemic-consistently changes in oncological rehabilitation are possible and that supply chains can be maintained.

IMPLEMENTATION OF HEALTH-BASED STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES (SOP) AS COVID-19 MITIGATION IN HOTEL INDUSTRY

In Indonesia, the Covid-19 virus has infected since March 2, 2020. Since then, the Large-Scale Social Restrictions (PSBB) policy has been implemented in several areas with a high spread of the virus, (Regulation of the Minister of Health of the Republic of Indonesia No. 9 of 2020). This is used to suppress the spread of the virus. Hospitality is one of the tourism industries affected. The problem of hotel occupancy rates has decreased due to the Covid 19 pandemic in hotels, forcing a number of hotels to experience temporary or permanent closures. In an effort to develop standard governance standards in mitigating the impact of the Covid 19 outbreak for the hotel industry, the community service team views the need to establish standard operating procedures (SOPs) to prevent and control the impact of Covid 19 in the hotel industry. The object of this activity is the management of Hotel Laweyan Surakarta. The methods used were socialization, FGD and trials. At this stage the output produced is SOP Front Office and Housekeeping. The PKM team also helped with a set of tools for washing hands and personal protective equipment. SOPs are important especially for disaster mitigation and health services to control the stages of activities so that they are easy to monitor.