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Since March 2020, Italy imposed a lockdown to the Northern-Central regions, leading to the massive use of distant learning approaches in middle and high school level. This change was sudden and unsupported by any forms of preparation for the teachers, who were required to shift attitude towards digital devices in their teaching from (cit.): “They cannot have their phones in class, into use whatever you can!” This article aims at investigating the main challenges experienced by middle and high school teachers in literature and languages related subjects, through eleven interviews. We conducted a thematic analysis and identified three main challenges related to: Efficiency of teaching, social contact, and technical challenges. The sum of these challenges undermines equality in the pupils’ participationduring class activities. It also highlights existing issues related to social status and family role in education, pupils’ engagement, and proficiency. At the same time, we found that teachers experienced their role, as actors in creating a framework for equality in education in digital learning rooms, dividing teachers and pupils while connecting them on a more personal level.

Due to COVID-19, 2020 and 2021 were strange and different school years for many students around the world. Based on surveys of Danish primary and lower secondary school students conducted in April 2020 (N=5953), June 2020 (N=1187), December 2020 (N=2665) and June 2021 (5768), this article examines students' well-being during COVID-19 in a long-term perspective. Furthermore, the article investigates what, a year after the first national outbreak, emerges in their consciousness when they are asked to think about the way the coronavirus has affected their lives. Based on this, the articlediscusses how the COVID-19 pandemic may change students' values in a long-term perspective. The article finds that the well-being of the primary and secondary school students in the study samples was favourable. All three dimensions of their well-being were good or very good. However, there was adecline in both emotional and academic well-being, while only social well-being had improved from the first to later data collections. Furthermore, the article points to a number of existential or value aspects that have been under attack.

Forskning i, hvordan stressfaktorer i forbindelse med udfordringer og hindringer påvirker performance, er vokset stærkt frem i litteraturen om organisatorisk stress. Vores forståelse af de mekanismer, som kan forklare disse effekter, er dog stadig begrænset. Denne artikelbaserede afhandling, som tager afsæt i udfordrings-/hindrings stressmodellen og transaktionsteori omkring stress, behandler i tre forskningsartikler spørgsmålet om, hvordan stressfaktorer påvirker performance ved at undersøge underliggende kognitive mekanismer og faktorer, som er relateret til disse effekter. Den første artikel har fokus på, hvordan udfordrings- og hindringsvurdering bidrager til vores forståelse af sammenhængen mellem stressfaktorer og performance. Artiklen præsenterer en oversigt over empiriske resultater, og stiller de studier, som måler vurderinger og de studier, der ikke tager vurderinger med i betragtning op overfor hinanden. Den konkluderer, at måling af vurderinger giver et mere detaljeret billede af sammenhængene mellem stressfaktorer og performancerelaterede resultater. Den anden artikel beskriver et præregistreret eksperimentelt studie, som har undersøgt virkningen af stressfaktorens styrke (opgavesværhedsgrad) på udfordrings-/hindringsvurderinger og performance af en krævende kognitiv opgave. Studiet fandt en ikke-lineære effekt af opgavesværhedsgrad på udfordringsvurderinger, mens effekten på hindringsvurderinger var lineær. Samtidig bekræfter det hindringsvurderingens medierende rolle i sammenhængen mellem opgavesværhedsgrad og performance. Den tredje artikel beskriver to studier. Studie 1 er et præregistreret eksperiment, som udforsker, hvilken rolle tidligere erfaringer og feedback spiller i det dynamiske stressforløb. Artiklen fokuserer især på, hvordan opgaveperformance, vist som en sideløbende performance feedback (dvs. simultan præsentation af opadgående social sammenligning og objektiv feedback) medierer ændringer i udfordrings- og hindringsvurderinger. Studie 1 underbygger delvist dets hypoteser om indirekte effekter. Studie 2 bygger på Studie 1 og anvender derudover eye-tracking til at undersøge sammenhængene mellem udfordrings-/hindringsvurderinger og opmærksomhed på de to nævnte aspekter af sideløbende feedback for at kaste lys på hvilke opmærksomhedsprocesser, der ligger bag de effekter, der blev fundet i Studie 1. Studie 2 er i øjeblikket i gang med dataindsamling og er ikke afsluttet på grund af COVID-19-inducerede restriktioner på laboratoriet. Denne afhandlings overordnede resultater anbefaler en gentænkning af den nuværende forståelsesramme for udfordrings-/hindrings stressmodellen ved at åbne for en mere kompleks konceptualisering af sammenhængen mellem stressfaktorer og performance i organisationer. Research on the effects of challenge and hindrance stressors on performance is burgeoning in organizational stress literature. Nevertheless, our understanding of the mechanisms explaining these effects is still limited. Grounded in the challenge-hindrance stressor framework and the transactional theory of stress, this article-based dissertation addresses the question of how stressors produce their effects on performance by investigating the underlying cognitive mechanisms and factors associated with these effects in three research papers. Specifically, to understand how challenge and hindrance appraisals contribute to our understanding of the stressor-performance link, the first paper presents a review of the empirical findings that contrasts the studies that measure appraisals with those that do not consider appraisals. It finds that measurement of appraisals offers more refined picture of the relationships between the stressors and performance-related outcomes. The second paper conducts a pre-registered experimental study to investigate the effects of the magnitude of a stressor (task difficulty) on challenge and hindrance appraisals and performance in a demanding cognitive task. It finds the non-linear effects of task difficulty on challenge appraisals, while the effects on hindrance appraisals were linear. In addition, it provides support for the mediating role of the hindrance appraisals in the task difficulty-performance relationships. The third paper consists of two studies. Study 1 carries out a pre-registered experiment to explore the role of prior experience and feedback in the dynamic stress process. Specifically, it examines how task performance, provided as in-task concurrent feedback, i.e., simultaneous presentation of upward social comparison and objective feedback, mediates change in challenge and hindrance appraisals. Study 1 finds partial support for the hypothesized effects. Study 2 examines the underlying effects found in Study 1 and employs eye-tracking to explore the associations between challenge and hindrance appraisals and attentional focus on the two elements of the in-task concurrent feedback to shed light on attentional processes. Study 2 is currently in the process of data collection and is not completed due to COVID-19 induced restrictions on the laboratory. The overall results of this dissertation encourage rethinking the existing state of the challenge-hindrance stressor framework by inviting a more complex conceptualization of the stressor-performance association in organizations.

Robots can protect healthcare workers from being infected by the COVID-19 and play a role in throat swab sampling operation. A critical requirement in this process is to maintain a constant force on the tissue for ensuring a safe and good sampling. In this study, we present the design of a disposable mechanism with two non-linear springs to achieve a 0.6 N constant force within a 20 mm displacement. The nonlinear spring is designed through optimization based on Finite Element Simulation and Genetic Algorithm. Prototype of the mechanism is made and tested. The experimental results show that the mechanism can provide 0.67±0.04 N and 0.57±0.02 N during its compression and return process. The proposed design can be extended to different scales and used in a variety of scenario where safe interacting with human is required.

The Covid-19 pandemic has only accelerated the need and desire to deal more openly with mortality, because the effect on survival is central to the comprehensive assessment of harms and benefits needed to meet a 'reasonable patient' legal standard. Taking the view that this requirement is best met through a multi-criterial decision support tool, we offer our preferred answers to the questions of What should be communicated about mortality in the tool, and How, given preferred answers to Who for, Who by, Why, When, and Where. Summary measures, including unrestricted Life Expectancy and Restricted Mean Survival Time are found to be reductionist and relative, and not as easy to understand and communicate as often asserted. Full lifetime absolute survival curves should be presented, even if they cannot be 'evidence-based' beyond trial follow-up limits, along with equivalent measures for other criteria in the (necessarily) multi-criterial decision. A decision support tool should relieve the reasonable person of the resulting calculation burden.

Due to enforced social distancing as a direct consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, many on-site health care services are unavailable. This study seeks to investigate the comparative effectiveness of an alternative on-line delivery model of exercise and education compared to on-site delivery in patients with knee osteoarthritis. Due to the extraordinary events of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, finding alternative delivery-models of treatment has come to the forefront of public health services worldwide. Consequently, on-line treatment is rapidly becoming an integral part of public health service. For patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA), where non-pharmacological and non-surgical treatment is considered first-line treatment, on-line delivered exercise has already shown promise and may be a viable treatment option, especially when traditional on-site exercise delivery models are unavailable. However, further studies are needed to clarify the relative effectiveness of on-line exercise and education when compared to on-site exercise and education programs.This study aims to evaluate the effects of on-line exercise and education in knee OA compared to a cohort of similar knee OA patients completing the same exercise and education program through on-site delivery.This study includes two cohorts of knee OA patients receiving the same exercise and education program through different delivery models (on-line vs. on-site). The on-line cohort is a new treatment delivery initiative, born out of the COVID-19 enforced shutdown of all non-critical on-site health care. The on-site cohort is comprised of knee OA patients from a patient registry, collecting outcome data as part of the exercise and education program.The exercise and education program is called Good Life with osteoArthritis in Denmark (GLA:D), and consists of two to three disease-specific educational sessions and 12 neuromuscular exercise sessions (NEMEX-TJR). GLA:D originates from Denmark and has currently been implemented in Australia, Canada, China, Switzerland and New Zealand.This study will primarily compare outcomes of pain, function and quality of life between the two different treatment delivery models and will provide important insights in effectiveness of alternative delivery models of recommended first-line care for patients with knee OA.

Last Aid courses (LAC) were introduced in 2015 in three countries (Norway, Germany and Denmark) to teach the public about palliative care. The main aims of LAC are to stimulate the public discussion about death, dying and palliative care and to enable people to participate in end-of-life care in the community. At present the International Last Aid working group includes members from 18 countries from Europe, Brazil and Australia. Usually LACs are held in a classroom setting with 6-20 participants and two facilitators. Initially the 2nd International Last aid Conference was planned in October 2020 in Maribor, Slovenia. When the pandemic struck this became impossible. To cope with the demanding challenges and the fact that physical group meetings and conferences became impossible in 2020 Last Aid International had to find ways of continuing the work. A taskforce on Online Last Aid Courses was established in Germany and LACs were held Online via different web based platforms. The 2nd International Last Aid Conference took place online with 174 delegates from 18 countries. The implications and effects of COVID-19 on the development of Last Aid International will be presented and discussed in detail.References: 1. Bollig G, Meyer S, Knopf B, Schmidt S, Bauer EH. First Experiences with Online Last Aid Courses for Public Palliative Care Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Healthcare (Basel). 2021 Feb 5;9(2):172. doi: 10.3390/healthcare9020172. https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/9/2/172 2. Zelko E, Bollig G. Report from the 2. International LAST AID Conference Online—The social impact of palliative care, October 30 2020, Maribor, Slovenia. AIMS Medical Science 2021, Volume 8, Issue 1: 42-45. doi: 10.3934/medsci.2021005 https://www.aimspress.com/article/doi/10.3934/medsci.2021005