I slutet av 2019 upptäcktes ett nytt coronavirus vars framfart klassades som en pandemi av WHO i mars 2020. Sjukdomen som följer på viruset, covid-19, har i Sverige klassats som samhällsfarlig sjukdom vilket inneburit att myndigheterna kunnat vidta extraordinära skyddsåtgärder. I april 2020 infördes i Sverige särskilda rekommendationer riktade till äldre som innebar en uppmuntran till frivillig karantän. Med vetskap från tidigare studier om att många uppgett att denna karantän resulterat i sämre psykiskt mående och stor oro frågar sig den här studien vilka faktorer som ligger till grund för denna oro. Studien använder sig av befintliga fritextsvar från en redan genomförd enkät. Genom att jämföra resultaten med en teori om psykologisk resiliens av John Reich framkommer att många av de äldre oroar sig på grund av bristande information, på grund av en känsla av förlorad kontroll och på grund av en stor saknad efter socialt umgänge. Vidare känner sig många hopslagna som en enda stor riskgrupp vilket gör att de har svårare att acceptera myndigheters beslut. Genom att segmentera den grupp som skall nås av risk- och kriskommunikation och genom att motivera myndigheternas beslut ökar man det psykologiska välbefinnandet i gruppen samtidigt som följsamheten troligen ökar. / At the end of 2019, a new coronavirus made its appearance and in March 2020 it was classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). In Sweden, the disease following infection by the virus, COVID-19, has been classified as a danger to society which have allowed the authorities to apply extraordinary measures. In April 2020, the elderly was encouraged to stay in voluntary quarantine. Knowing from earlier studies that this quarantine has resulted in deteriorating psychological well-being and great anxiety, this paper seeks to understand what factors might be contributing to this anxiety. By studying existing text answers from previous studies and analysing them with regards to a theory of psychological resilience by John Reich, results indicate that increased anxiety stems from lack of information, loss of control and a great longing for social contact. Furthermore, many of the respondents feel wrongfully lumped together in a risk category which makes it harder for them to accept decisions made by the authorities. By segmenting the group that is target for risk and crisis communication, and by giving the grounds for decisions taken by the authorities, psychological well-being and compliance to recommendations would probably be increased.

Objetivo: Asociar el uso del servicio dental y la necesidad de tratamiento en residentes de Lima, Perú durante el aislamiento social obligatorio por la COVID-19 en el año 2020. Métodos: Estudio observacional, analítico y transversal. La muestra fue conformada por 223 residentes mayores de edad que cumplieron con los criterios de inclusión. Se tomó como base encuestas nacionales de autoreporte para seleccionar preguntas relacionadas a las variables uso del servicio dental, necesidad de tratamiento y covariables como sexo, ocupación, grado de instrucción, distrito de residencia, edad, ingreso económico y seguro de salud. Se realizó un análisis descriptivo mediante frecuencias absolutas y relativas, un análisis bivariado mediante la prueba de chi cuadrado y un análisis multivariado utilizando la regresión de Poisson con varianza robusta donde se reportaron razones de prevalencias crudas y ajustadas. Resultados: El 58.3% de los encuestados no hicieron uso del servicio dental durante el aislamiento social obligatorio a pesar de necesitar atención, siendo el principal motivo de inasistencia la pandemia por la COVID-19 (37.67%). Además, se registró que la urgencia (24,66%) fue la necesidad de tratamiento más predominante. No se halló asociación estadísticamente significativa entre el uso del servicio dental y la necesidad de tratamiento Conclusión: Las personas a pesar de tener una necesidad de tratamiento, no necesariamente utilizaron los servicios dentales durante el periodo de aislamiento social obligatorio en el Perú durante el año 2020. / Objective: To associate the use of dental services and the need for treatment in patients in Lima, Peru during social isolation mandated by COVID-19 in the year 2020. Methods: Observational, analytical and cross-sectional study. The sample consisted of 223 residents who met the inclusion criteria. National self-report surveys were used as a basis for selecting questions related to the variables use of dental services, treatment need and covariates as sex, occupation, level of education, district of residence, age, income and health insurance. A descriptive analysis was carried out using absolute and relative frequencies, a bivariate analysis using the chi-square test and a multivariate analysis using Poisson regression with robust variance where crude and adjusted prevalence ratios were reported. Results: 58.3% of the respondents didn’t make use of the dental service during the mandatory social isolation despite needing care, the main reason for non-attendance being the COVID-19 pandemic (37.67%). In addition, it was recorded that urgency (24.66%) was the most predominant need for treatment. No statistically significant association was found between the use of dental services and the need for treatment. Conclusion: Patients, despite having a need for treatment, did not necessarily use dental services during the period of compulsory social isolation in Peru in the year 2020. / Tesis

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In the first chapter of this dissertation, I exploit the Covid-19 pandemic and associated government restrictions as a natural experiment in order to study the resilience of businesses in the United States. I use a border-county identification strategy with data on government restrictions, employment and open small businesses, in order to assess the resilience of small businesses in the United States. In my main results, I find negative impacts of stay-at-home orders on the number of open small merchants. In particular, shutdowns of businesses accelerated 8 weeks after imposition of a stay-at-home order, suggesting that many businesses were only resilient enough to handle adverse conditions for 8 weeks. On average, a county with a stay-at-home order experienced an additional 1.51 percentage points loss in the number of open small businesses, relative to January 2020, 8 weeks later compared to a neighboring county that did not have a stay-at-home order. Firms were quicker to resort to layoffs. On average a county with an active stay at home order in a month experienced an additional 1.19 percentage point loss in employment, relative to January 2020, the following month compared to a neighbor that did not have a stay-at-home order the previous month. My results suggest that in future scenarios where governments consider enacting similar restrictions further aid is needed for businesses in order to help them stay afloat. In particular, more assistance should be delivered to businesses within two months from the enacting of the order. In the second chapter of this dissertation, I study economic spillovers in the context of theCovid-19 associated government restrictions. I use a detailed geolocation dataset to construct data on the number of visitors per-capita between neighboring counties in the early stages of the pandemic, which I use as a proxy for economic spillovers. I employ a similar border-county identification strategy as in the first chapter to identify the causal effect of stay-at-home orders on inter-county movement. Additionally, I provide evidence for an assumption used in chapter one by examining if there are reduced spillovers in county-pairs that lie in the different commute zones. I find that stay-at-home orders caused reductions in inter-county visits in both directions in a county-pair. That is, I find a decrease in travel from the county without a stay-at-home order to the county with one, as well as a decrease in the opposite direction. On average, a county that does not have stay-at-home order will receive 408 fewer weekly visitors from their neighboring county that has a stay-at-home order. I also examine the effect of stay-at-home orders on the ratio of travel between the two directions in order to find evidence of a net spillover effect between the two counties and fail to find evidence of a net spillover effect. I also find that spillover effects are indeed reduced in neighbor county-pairs where the two counties are in different commute zones. The results of this paper imply that residents in counties with stay-at-home orders decreased travel to their neighboring counties even when those counties did not issue their own orders. In future situations where policy makers need to consider similar restrictions, they should focus on acting more quickly and not be concerned if neighboring counties are not cooperative. In the third chapter of this dissertation, I test the predictions of career concerns models by studying Major League Baseball umpires. Major League Baseball games can be dramatically shaped by minor lapses in judgement from the umpires officiating the game. Due to the indefinite length a game may have, this can include having the game shaped in a way that ends it faster. I study whether evidence for the career concerns model can be found in baseball umpires. A career concerns model would suggest that older umpires, whose careers and reputations are much more established than younger ones, would be more inclined to improperly make judgements that favor the end of the game in extra innings. I use data on MLB umpires and extra-innings games from the 2010-2018 seasons to conduct my empirical analysis and use a linear probability model to isolate the impact of the umpires’ tenure on the probability they make a “bad call.” I find evidence supporting the career concerns hypothesis and that the probability that an umpire makes a bad call that shortens the length of the game and allows them to go home increases with their tenure. I show that these results are likely driven by career concerns, rather than carelessness, by showing their error rate does not increase with tenure in situations where it would not reduce their workload.

El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar la relación entre el sentido de vida y las fuentes de sentido de vida durante la cuarentena por el COVID-19. Los participantes fueron 424 voluntarios (53.1% mujeres y 46.9% hombres) con edades entre 18 y 65 años. La investigación es de tipo cuantitativo correlacional. Los instrumentos aplicados fueron una ficha de datos sociodemográficos, el MLQ, instrumento de 10 ítems que mide la presencia y búsqueda de sentido, y el PMP-B, instrumento de 21 ítems que mide siete fuentes de sentido: relaciones, intimidad, logro, autoaceptación, autotranscendencia, trato justo y religión. Los resultados indican que presencia de sentido se relacionó significativamente con autotrascendencia (r=.51) y logro (r=.50). Los participantes hombres presentaron mayores niveles de presencia de sentido en comparación con la mujeres. Asimismo, los adultos mayores de 60 años presentaron mayores puntuaciones en autotrascendencia, trato justo y autoaceptación. Se concluye que el sentido de vida es un factor protector ante la crisis e incertidumbre de la pandemia a través de las fuentes de sentido de vida. En esta coyuntura, autotrascendencia y logro son variables que se asociaron de manera significativa con presencia de sentido. / This study aimed to analyze the relationship between meaning in life and the sources of meaning in life during the COVID-19 pandemic quarantine. 424 volunteers participated (53.1% women and 46.9% men) aged between 18 and 65 years. This is a correlational quantitative investigation. The applied instruments were a sociodemographic datasheet, the MLQ, a 10-item instrument that measures the presence and search for meaning, and the PMP-B, a 21-item instrument that measures seven sources of meaning: relationships, intimacy, achievement, self-acceptance, self-transcendence, fair treatment and religion. The results indicate that the presence of meaning is positively and significantly associated with self-transcendence (r = .51) and achievement (r = .50). The male participants presented higher levels of presence of meaning compared to the women. Likewise, adults over 60 years of age had higher scores in self-transcendence, fair treatment and self-acceptance. It is concluded that the meaning of life is a protective factor against the crisis and uncertainty of the pandemic through the sources of meaning of life. At this juncture, self-transcendence and achievement are variables that were significantly associated with the presence of meaning. / Tesis

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From roughly 1865 to 1926, the forces of European imperialism brought the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca under the scrutiny of non-Muslim interests. The driving force behind this dramatic change was the expansion of the British Empire’s maritime supremacy in the Indian Ocean basin. With the development of steamship travel and the opening of the Suez Canal, colonial authorities became increasingly involved in the surveillance of seaborne pilgrims. During this period, the hajj came to be recognized as both the primary conduit for the spread of epidemic diseases, such as cholera and plague, and a critical outlet for the growth of Pan-Islamic networks being forged between Indian dissidents, pilgrims, and the Ottoman Empire. As a result, the British and Ottoman empires engaged in a struggle for control of the hajj, which would ultimately reshape both the hajj and the political landscapes of the Middle East and South Asia.

This thesis seeks to uncover women’s concerns about chemicals in the household, and, more specifically, in cleaning products. The research is based on semi-structured interviews with women who are primarily responsible for household cleaning and who consciously avoid conventional cleaning products. From a sociological standpoint, the topic remains unstudied. The women were critical of greenwashing and the institutions responsible for chemical regulation. Further, the women’s chemical-free lifestyle defied conventional definitions of activism. Sociological theories of risk are used to help understand women’s avoidance of chemicals. It was found that tenets of the precautionary principle were reflected in their reasoning for avoiding chemicals. Recent biomonitoring and body burden studies have influenced women’s knowledge of chemical risk and their decision to avoid them. The thesis demonstrates that risk-management, in this context, has become an individualized pursuit reflective of the neo-liberal ideology informing chemical regulation. / Canadian Institutes of Health Research