Yes / An extensive literature documents the economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, while a nascent one is beginning to detail the mental health impact. A limitation of existing work is that reported findings generally cannot be taken as causal estimates. In this study, we use a large-scale longitudinal survey coupled with a differences-in-differences research design to estimate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health in the United Kingdom. We report substantial increases in psychological distress for the population overall during the first wave. These impacts were, however, not uniformly distributed with the costs in terms of mental health being much more pronounced for females, younger cohorts, the BAME community, and migrants. We also looked beyond socio-demographics to identify characteristics of the individual and their living environment which can predict who was least resilient to the mental health effects associated with the first wave. We find that people with financial worries, feeling lonely or living in overcrowded dwellings experienced significantly worse mental health deterioration during the first wave, ceteris paribus. / Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)

With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic being spread all over the world, lockdown measures are being implemented making air pollution levels go down in several countries. In this context, the air quality changes in the highly populated and trafficked Brazilian states of Sao Paulo (SP) and Rio de Janeiro (RJ) are hereby going to be addressed using a combination of satellite and ground-based data analysis. We explored nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter (PM2.5) daily levels for the month of May during different years within 2015-2020. Daily measurements of NO2 column concentrations from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) aboard NASA's Aura satellite were also gathered and averaged decreases of 42% and 49.6% were found for the year of 2020 compared to previous averaged 2015-2019 years. In parallel to the NO2 column retrieval, the ground-based data, measured by the Brazilian States Environmental Institutions, is analyzed, and correlated with satellite retrievals. Correlation coefficients between column and ground-based concentrations were 77% and 53% in SP and RJ, respectively. It was found a 13.3% (p-value = 0.099) and 18.8% (p-value = 0.077) decrease in NO2 levels for SP and RJ, respectively, in 2020 compared to 2019. For PM2.5, no significant change was observed for the same time period in the SP region, although the high number of fire burnings in the Southeast region seemed to be affecting PM2.5 levels. In addition to natural emissions (fire burnings), the combined data was also evaluated taking meteorological parameters, such as temperature and wind speed, into account. No interference of weather or fire was found in 2020 NO2 ground levels compared to previous years, This integrated analysis is innovative and has yet to be more explored in Brazilian studies. This is true specifically because the ground-based stations are spatially and temporally sparse in Brazil. / Master of Science / This study aims to explore satellite data applied to the lockdown context resultant from the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil. Satellite data usage in air quality management is yet to be explored to its full potential. Two highly populated states were chosen: Sao Paulo (SP) and Rio de Janeiro (RJ). Local governments have been imposing limitations on private and public vehicle circulation, inducing a decrease in atmospheric pollutant levels, specifically nitrogen dioxide (NO2), which is directly emitted to the air by fuel combustion. NO2 is also short-lived in the atmosphere, so its variation within days can be easily captured. PM2.5, a category of fine inhalable particles, can be produced by wildfires, in addition to fuel burning and mechanical processes such as resuspension by cars. Here we retrieved daily NO2 vertical column densities for the month of May within the 2015-2020 years from the OMI instrument onboard of NASA's Aura satellite. Ground daily NO2 and PM2.5 measurements were also collected from local environmental agencies. Results showed an average 42% decrease of the NO2 column values in SP in 2020 compared to 2015-2019. The decrease was 49.6% in RJ for the same timeframe. Correspondent surface data showed a decrease of 13.3% (p-value = 0.099) and 18.8% (p-value = 0.077) during 2020 compared to 2019 in SP and RJ stations, respectively. No significant divergence in PM2.5 values was found between 2019 and 2020. Finally, weather data was added to the pollutant analysis. PM2.5 concentrations were associated with wildfires, while the NO2 levels found in 2020 for SP and RJ were attributed to local lockdown decrees. Satellite retrievals showed significant potential in filling out ground datasets, correlating with the SP and RJ surface data in 77% and 53%, respectively.

Yes / We interviewed people with dementia and carers from the IDEAL cohort to find out how the COVID-19 lockdown and continuing restrictions affected those living with dementia. Some people with dementia coped well, while others coped with difficulty or were only just coping. The additional stress of COVID-19 exacerbated pre-existing coping difficulties. For many, social isolation increased anxiety. Some felt that lack of activity or lack of social contact caused a decline in their abilities to manage everyday tasks. Confusion about COVID-19 rules or difficulty remembering what to do led to anxiety when leaving the house. People felt that members of the public might not understand their particular needs. While some carers felt they were coping well, others experienced stress when having to leave the home because the person with dementia might not be safe if left alone. Some experienced increased strain in the caring relationship compounded by an uncertainty about future availability of respite. Some were concerned about the complex health needs of the person with dementia alongside COVID-19 risk and lack of personalised information. Both people with dementia and carers talked about the importance of access to safe outdoor space. People were anxious about how others would react or behave towards them regarding keeping a distance if they went out. Being connected to friends, family and wider community or support groups was important to help combat the effects of isolation. People from BAME communities worried about their increased vulnerability to the virus. A lack of trust in Government guidance and in health care services added to their anxiety. However, some benefitted from strong community and faith group involvement. What might be helpful for people with dementia? • Reablement to help regain or maintain skills • Personalised health advice regarding managing COVID-19 risk and the opportunity to ask questions. • Identification of people with dementia who live alone and an assessment of their needs. What might be helpful for carers? • Needs assessment in regard to respite. • Novel forms of respite care that incorporate social distancing. What might be helpful for both carers and people with dementia? • Access to COVID-safe outdoor spaces. • Continuation and expansion of ‘just checking’ services. • Support to get online and use the internet. • Communication and information through non-digital means. • Community COVID-19 ‘dementia awareness’ initiatives. What might be helpful for people from Black and minority ethnic groups? • Addressing concerns about their increased risk of COVID-19. • Directing information and support through existing community and faith groups. / This report presents independent research funded by the National Institute for Health Research Policy Research Unit in Older People and Frailty.

Churches have been prompted to rethink the format of preaching and the content of sermons since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent restrictions on church gatherings. What does preaching look like, or what may it look like in times of crisis? These questions arose, specifically considering the content of sermons in the week before and after the national lockdown was announced in South Africa. Using Grounded Theory, the content of sermons delivered during this period was examined in order to identify an emerging theory regarding the homiletical content. From these findings, a homiletic praxis theory is formulated for preaching in times like these. The tension between proximity and distance that is experienced by hearers and proclaimed by preachers is explored. Habits of faith and discernment emerge as core concepts in mitigating this tension and in navigating the thin spaces that are created by liminal times such as these.

As Moore`s law continues to reduce the cost of computation at an exponential rate, embedded computing capabilities spread to ever-expanding application scenarios, such as smartphones, the Internet of Things, and automation, among many others. This trend has naturally caused the underlying technology to evolve and has introduced increasingly complex microarchitectures into embedded processors in attempts to optimize for performance. While other microarchitectures, like those used in personal computers, have been extensively studied, there has been relatively less research done on embedded microarchitectures. This is especially true in terms of their security, which is growing more important as widespread adoption increases. This thesis explores an undocumented cache behavior found in ARM Cortex processors that we call implicit cache lockdown. While it was presumably implemented for performance reasons, it has a large impact on the recently popular class of cybersecurity attacks that utilize cache-timing side-channels. These attacks leverage the underlying hardware, specifically, the small timing differences between algorithm executions due to CPU caches, to glean sensitive information from a victim process. Since the affected processors are found in an overwhelming majority of smart phones, this sensitive information can include cryptographic secrets, credit card information, and passwords. As the name implies, implicit cache lockdown limits the ability for an attacker to evict certain data from a CPU`s cache. Since this is precisely what known cache-timing attacks rely on, they are rendered ineffective in their current form. This thesis analyzes implicit cache lockdown in great detail, including the methodology we used to discover it, its implications on all existing cache-timing attacks, and how it can be circumvented by an attacker.

This thesis aims to gain insight to lockdowns and social distancing measures taken by European governments during the early period of the Covid-19 pandemic. Questions have been raised of whether the variations of responses can be systematically explained, which have so far received little attention in research. However, prior research has stressed the importance of government capacity and legitimacy for the facilitation of a crisis response. On the one hand, capacity to coordinate within governing authorities, and with external actors is crucial. On the other hand, emphasis is put on cultural factors, such as citizens’ trust in political institutions. Through a quantitative analysis of 30 European countries, this thesis maps the stringency of measures implemented by governments. Furthermore, utilizing an expert survey from SGI (Sustainable Governance Indicators) and the Eurobarometer survey (2019), this thesis asks how coordination capacity and political trust are associated with the maximum stringency of policy responses implemented by governments. Using bivariate and multivariate regressions, the models suggest that European countries with high coordination capacity are more likely to implement modest policy responses, while European countries with low coordination capacity are more likely to implement strict policy responses. A possible understanding is that countries with high coordination capacity weigh alternatives and address certain issues, instead of beating the drum all at once. As expected, there is a negative relationship between political trust and stringency of policy responses, but further research is needed to confirm this covariation. The complexity of the Coronavirus crisis complicates a comprehensive understanding of governmental responses. However, this thesis contributes with early insights and provides a piece of the puzzle as to why European governments have acted so differently.

In March of 2020, the Czech Republic was hit by the covidu-19 pandemic. This was followed by three waves of forced closures, which limited the activities of museums and galleries and prevented the public from visiting them. The museum presentation has therefore moved to the online sphere, where institutions sought to engage their online visitors with virtual tours, videos, social media communications and other projects. The aim of this diploma thesis was to find out what consequences the forced closures in 2020 had on Prague's museums and galleries and how these institutions managed to adapt in the online world. For this purpose, I chose the methods of a questionnaire survey and an interview. I contacted a total of 64 Prague's museums and galleries, from which I received 32 responses. The results point to far-reaching problems that forced closures have meant for these institutions. Even after reopening, visitor numbers did not return to the state before the covid-19 pandemic broke out. Nevertheless, none of the respondents is in immediate danger of extinction in the near future. The adaptation of Prague's museums and galleries in the online world turned out to be more optimistic. Institutions were able to create a whole range of interesting online projects that caught the attention of their...

COVID-19 has affected the lives of millions of people worldwide. This thesis includes two statistical studies on the response to COVID-19. The first study explores the impact of lockdown timing on COVID-19 transmission across US counties. We used functional principal component analysis to extract COVID-19 transmission patterns from county-wise case counts, and used supervised machine learning to identify risk factors, with the timing of lockdowns being the most significant. In particular, we found a critical time point for lockdowns, as lockdowns implemented after this time point were associated with significantly more cases and faster spread. The second study proposes an adaptive sample pooling strategy for efficient COVID-19 diagnostic testing. When testing a cohort, our strategy dynamically updates the prevalence estimate after each test if possible, and uses the updated information to choose the optimal pool size for the subsequent test. Simulation studies show that compared to traditional pooling strategies, our strategy reduces the number of tests required to test a cohort and is more resilient to inaccurate prevalence inputs. We have developed a dashboard application to guide the clinicians through the test procedure when using our strategy. / Graduate / 2023-05-27

Architecture is known to gather people and encourage shared spaces in our buildings and homes, while the Corona virus, aka COVID-19 has refrained us from our usual face to face communication and meetups. For some, work and social life has been reduced and limited to a screen, virtual meetings for studies, work, social events and so forth. Architecture has its impact on us more than ever before. It can and should provide us safety, infection control and prevention from getting sick. The materials we choose to design our home with is also crucial in a pandemic situation as we should be looking for disinfectant material properties. Copper have been shown to perform better than other common materials like steel, plastic, and wood. Air circulation and ventilation in inner spaces will also have stricter requirements where the air should be changed every hour and checking the air quality – that could be improved with the ratio of greenery and open spaces. Designing a home that can stimulate the productivity, flexibility, comfort, happiness, and health in its dwellers is the ultimate goal for this study. The target audience for the thesis are architects, interior designers and laymen who are interested in this field or those that are seeking a design which promotes healthy, safe and adequate living spaces and homes. The methods used in this study where both quantitative and qualitative methods through an international online survey as well as conducting local interviews with residential buildings’ dwellers in Berlin. On one hand, poor design can lead to both higher expenses in the long term as well as leading to bad physical and mental health, which is felt through the responses from both the survey and interviews. The biophilic design on the other hand, can have a huge positive impact on the dwellers both physically and mentally and should be tested and used more as a solid base for designing interior spaces.

This paper studies the Covid-19 pandemics effect on female labor market participation in Sweden and Denmark. Previous studies have various assessments on whether women were affected to a different extent than men. Studies from the United States indicate that women have been hit harder than men as a result of the pandemic. According to the Swedish data, women were not affected significantly more than men. This study contributes to the research by examining how the gender gap develops during the pandemic in Sweden and Denmark. This is warrant by the different policies that the countries have introduced. In this study panel data between 2014 and 2021 is used, the results of this study indicate that there is no significant effect of the pandemic on women's unemployment rate in Sweden while the results from Denmark is significant at a 1 percent level. The results show that the pandemic has affected the gender gap in Sweden more than in Denmark.