International journal of environmental research and public health
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Int J Environ Res Public Health · May 2020
Epidemiological Aspects and Psychological Reactions to COVID-19 of Dental Practitioners in the Northern Italy Districts of Modena and Reggio Emilia.
The outbreak and diffusion of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus-2 (Sars-CoV-2) and COronaVIrus Disease 19 (COVID-19) have caused an emergency status in the health system, including in the dentistry environment. Italy registered the third highest number of COVID-19 cases in the world and the second highest in Europe. An anonymous online survey composed of 40 questions has been sent to dentists practicing in the area of Modena and Reggio Emilia, one of the areas in Italy most affected by COVID-19. ⋯ All respondents reported practice closure or strong activity reduction. The perception of this negative impact was accompanied by feelings of concern (70.2%), anxiety (46.4%) and fear (42.4%). The majority of them (89.6%) reported concerns about their professional future and the hope for economic measures to help dental practitioners.
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Int J Environ Res Public Health · May 2020
Aligning the "Manifesto for a European Research Network into Problematic Usage of the Internet" with the Diverse Needs of the Professional and Consumer Communities Affected by Problematic Usage of Pornography.
The Manifesto for a European research network into Problematic Usage of the Internet was published in May 2018. It was written from the perspective of the COST Action Network, a programme of the European Cooperation in Science and Technology CA16207 and is expected to have significant influence on research funding priorities over the next decade. The Manifesto identified nine key research priorities to advance understanding in the field. ⋯ This paper uses the Manifesto's framework to suggest research areas into the problematic usage of pornography which are of particular relevance to clinicians and other professionals working in the field who want to develop approaches to assist individuals and target groups affected by PUP. It also looks at potential research opportunities inspired by the lived-experience of users withdrawing from PUP. A large number of opportunities are identified for new work on PUP across all nine key research areas of the Manifesto.
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Int J Environ Res Public Health · May 2020
Artificial Intelligence-Empowered Mobilization of Assessments in COVID-19-like Pandemics: A Case Study for Early Flattening of the Curve.
The global outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has uncovered the fragility of healthcare and public health preparedness and planning against epidemics/pandemics. In addition to the medical practice for treatment and immunization, it is vital to have a thorough understanding of community spread phenomena as related research reports 17.9-30.8% confirmed cases to remain asymptomatic. ⋯ To this end, a self-organizing feature map (SOFM) is trained by using data acquired from past mobile crowdsensing (MCS) campaigns to model mobility patterns of individuals in multiple districts of a city so to maximize the assessed population with minimum agents in the shortest possible time. Through simulation results for a real street map on a mobile crowdsensing simulator and considering the worst case analysis, it is shown that on the 15th day following the first confirmed case in the city under the risk of community spread, AI-enabled mobilization of assessment centers can reduce the unassessed population size down to one fourth of the unassessed population under the case when assessment agents are randomly deployed over the entire city.
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Int J Environ Res Public Health · May 2020
Analysis of Cyclist's Drag on the Aero Position Using Numerical Simulations and Analytical Procedures: A Case Study.
Resistance acting on a cyclist is a major concern among the cycling fraternity. Most of the testing methods require previous training or expensive equipment and time-consuming set-ups. By contrast, analytical procedures are more affordable and numerical simulations are perfect for manipulating and controlling inputs. The aim of this case study was to compare the drag of a cyclist in the aero position as measured using numerical simulation and analytical procedures. ⋯ These findings suggest that drag might be assessed using both a set of analytical procedures and CFD.
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Int J Environ Res Public Health · May 2020
Government Intervention, Risk Perception, and the Adoption of Protective Action Recommendations: Evidence from the COVID-19 Prevention and Control Experience of China.
This study examines the relationships between government interventions, risk perception, and the public's adoption of protective action recommendations (PARs) during the COVID-19 coronavirus disease emergency in mainland China. We conducted quota sampling based on the proportion of the population in each province and gender ratios in the Sixth Census and obtained a sample size of 3837. Government intervention was divided into government communication, government prevention and control, and government rescue. ⋯ The effects of government interventions and risk perception on the public's adoption of PARs was not found to vary by region. Risk perception is identified as an important mediating factor between government intervention and the public's adoption of PARs. These results indicate that increasing the public's risk perception is an effective strategy for governments seeking to encourage the public to adopt PARs during the COVID-19 pandemic.