Applying Machine Learning and Model-Driven Approach for the Identification and Diagnosis of Covid-19

Ubiquitous environments are not fixed in time. Entities are constantly evolving;they are dynamic. Ubiquitous applications therefore have a strong need to adapt during their execution and react to the context changes, and developing ubiquitous applications is still complex. The use of the separation of needs and model-driven engineering present the promising solutions adopted in this approach to resolve this complexity. The authors thought that the best way to improve efficiency was to make these models intelligent. That's why they decided to propose an architecture combining machine learning with the domain of modeling. In this article, a novel tool is proposed for the design of ubiquitous applications, associated with a graphical modeling editor with a drag-drop palette, which will allow to instantiate in a graphical way in order to obtain platform independent model, which will be transformed into platform specific model using Acceleo language. The validity of the proposed framework has been demonstrated via a case study of COVID-19. © 2023 IGI Global. All rights reserved.

The semiotics of the anti-COVID-19 mask

The pandemic spreading of the COVID-19 virus has led to the global need to introduce, often by law, the medical face mask, which can undoubtedly be considered as "the object of 2020.” In a few months, most human faces around the world in the public space, but also often in the private space, have been covered with various kinds of protective masks. Very soon, these objects have become the centre of several discursive productions, going from medical reports to media coverage, from artistic representations to ironic memes. The medical face mask was not totally new in the west, where it was already present in special circumstances, like dentists' studios or emergency rooms, and was quite familiar in the east, especially in Japan, China, and Korea. Yet such massive introduction changed the meaning of the medical face mask in every context. Old habits were reconfigured or clashed with the new ones, giving rise to a novel syntax, semantics, and pragmatics of the human face in conjunction with this device and in the context of the global pandemic. The present paper offers an introduction to a semiotic mapping of such radical cultural change and its likely consequences.

TwIdw—A Novel Method for Feature Extraction from Unstructured Texts

Featured ApplicationThe research has a potential application in the field of fake news detection. By using the feature extraction technique, TwIdw, proposed in this paper, more relevant and informative features can be extracted from the text data, which can lead to an enhancement in the accuracy of the classification models employed in these tasks.This research proposes a novel technique for fake news classification using natural language processing (NLP) methods. The proposed technique, TwIdw (Term weight–inverse document weight), is used for feature extraction and is based on TfIdf, with the term frequencies replaced by the depth of the words in documents. The effectiveness of the TwIdw technique is compared to another feature extraction method—basic TfIdf. Classification models were created using the random forest and feedforward neural networks, and within those, three different datasets were used. The feedforward neural network method with the KaiDMML dataset showed an increase in accuracy of up to 3.9%. The random forest method with TwIdw was not as successful as the neural network method and only showed an increase in accuracy with the KaiDMML dataset (1%). The feedforward neural network, on the other hand, showed an increase in accuracy with the TwIdw technique for all datasets. Precision and recall measures also confirmed good results, particularly for the neural network method. The TwIdw technique has the potential to be used in various NLP applications, including fake news classification and other NLP classification problems.

A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Microstructure of Covid-19 Health-Protocol Advertisements in Tourist Facilities

To alleviate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on tourism, tourist facilities in Bali are informing visitors of the relevant health protocols, using posters to describe the appropriate behaviours. Using critical discourse analysis, this study examines the microstructure of the texts in these posters to identify their semantic, syntactic, lexical, and rhetorical elements. The study findings show that the semantic aspects consist of background, intention, and detail. The syntactic elements involve coherence and the use of the pronouns 'you' and 'we', and of the imperative, and the declarative. The lexical aspects include abbreviations and vocabulary, related to the health protocol. The textual messages are delivered in official language, supported by pictures and photographs.

Clarifying Organizational Generativity: A Future Forming Perspective for OD Practitioners and Researchers

As the catastrophic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic have made clear, both the practice and research of organizational development (OD) urgently need alternative pathways to the future. Organizational generativity (OG) offers one such promising alternative. While much of OD practice and research are focused on enabling organizations to better prepare for an unknown future, OG accommodates new ways for organizations to proactively create their own future. As a nascent field of inquiry, however, research on OG is underdeveloped and characterized by a lack of clarity. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to clarify the construct of organizational generativity to be more actionable by OD practitioners, researchers, and managers alike. Using grounded theory, we review and critique the literature on generativity, from the "ancestral" writers in psychology to current OD authors. Through successive rounds of inquiry, we reveal the syntax, the semantics, and the inherent processual nature of organizational generativity. We then derive a conceptual framework describing seven manifestations of generative organizational processes: relational, transformational, disruptive, future-focused, idea-giving, actionable, and procreative. Finally, we discuss implications for OD practice and opportunities for future research.

Parole che non c'erano. La lingua e le lingue nel contesto della pandemia

Notamment il parcourt ľhistoire des mots-clés de la pandémie en italien : on est donc partis de Coronavirus, SARScoV-2 et Covid-19 afin d'observer l'élargissement du vocabulaire par lequel on fait référence â la présence de ce virus dans nos vies, sans méme le nommer directement : par exemple, il suffit de mentionner des mots tels que pandemia, mascherina, lock down, smart working, distanziamento sociale, etc., pour évoquer un scénario partagé. Aprēs avoir présenté des exemples parlants de nouveautés lexicales dans le domaine du droit en temps de pandémie (par exemple, quarantaine, attestation de déplacement dérogatoire, etc.), l'auteure détaille notamment l'origine et l'évolution, parfois surprenantes, de trois termes de la langue française qui ont apporté des innovations dans le droit en contexte de lutte contre le virus, â savoir confinement, distanciation sociale et port du masque. Elles s'occupent en particulier du format « spotted » avant et pendant la Covid-19, afin de montrer que les comptes @Spotted enregistrent eux-aussi bon nombre de néologismes et d'emprunts centrés sur la pandémie (lockdown, quarantena, etc.) et sur le nouveau statut d'étudiants aux prises avec les nouvelles technologies de la didactique â distance (server, qrcode, bot, Teams, etc.). L'auteur analyse ainsi certaines techniques communicatives que Bolsonaro met en scene pour manipuler son public, comme l'embrayage par le nós/nosso/nossa inclusif et l'identification avec l'énonciateur moyennant eu/meu/minha, l'emploi de déictiques (aqui, agora, hoje), d'une syntaxe rapide, tantôt fragile, et d'un lexique coloré et emphatique, parfois obscene Pour ce qui est du russe, dans « Parole che non c'erano :

Interaction, challenges and paths, in times of pandemic, in the context of LEdoC teacher training

This paper analyzes the interaction between teachers and students in the context of online classes, of the curricular component ‘Syntax of the Portuguese Language', in the second half of 2020, identifying didactic strategies to maintain teacher training in the Degree in Rural Education (LEdoC), at University of Brasília (UnB), in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, when there was an abrupt change in the daily life of humanity, especially in relation to social isolation, which printed the interaction at a distance between people. Interactional Sociolinguistics, The Literacy Studies, as well as multiliteracies are the theoretical basis of the work. The methodology is qualitative, focusing on interactional frameworks, based on Interactional Sociolinguistics. The frames, with their specific genres, and the material produced for the discipline make up the data. The result of the study brings a reflection on a context of teacher training, from the perspective of Culturally Sensitive Pedagogy, which reveals possible strategies to provide a fruitful environment for teaching and learning language, even in complex times and with unconventional resources. In addition, it shows, in a way, the use of Digital Information and Communication Technologies (TDIC), as a strategy, for the continuation of teacher training at LEdoC. The research also showed that WhatsApp was the tool that enabled the interaction of teachers with students, even though it was not a resource planned by the University for pedagogical mediation. In view of this, the research also highlights the need for investment in TDIC that reach rural people, who need good quality internet access. Because, without internet access, the different forms of literacies will not be achieved by these people, excluding them from such important access for research, individual and professional training. © 2022 Eduem - Editora da Universidade Estadual de Maringa. All rights reserved.

Covid-19 Sonrası Kalıcı Konutlara Dönüşen Íkincil (Yazlık) Konutların Mekân Organizasyonundaki Değişimi

Bu makalede ikincil (yazlık) konutların, Covid-19 sonrası sürekli yaşanan konutlara dönüşmesi sonucu geçirdikleri mekânsal değişimlerin, konutların mekân organizasyonu üzerindeki etkilerini tespit etmek ve ikincil konut literatürüne katkıda bulunmak amaçlanmıştır. Çalışmada kullanıcıların, konutlarında kendi ihtiyaçlarına yönelik mekânsal değişimler yapabilmesinin, esnek mekân çözümlerine olanak sağlayan planlama ile gerçekleşeceği vurgulanmıştır. Bu amaç doğrultusunda makale kapsamında, dönüşüm geçiren yazlık konut örnekleri seçilmiş, konut sahipleri ile ankete dayalı ampirik soruşturma gerçekleştirilerek öncelikle kullanıcı görüşlerine ve ifadelerine yer verilmiştir. SPSS istatiksel programında kullanılan "Chi Square” testiyle anket analizi, "Space Syntax” (mekânsal dizim) yöntemi ile de konutların mekân analizleri yapılmıştır. Makalenin sonuç bölümünde tüm bulgular, sosyal ve ekonomik bileşenler bağlamında değerlendirilmiştir. Çalışmanın sonuçları şunları vurgulamaktadır: Covid-19 pandemisinden sonra, özellikle de aktif iş hayatı sona ermiş ve emekli olmuş yazlık konut sahipleri, kent merkezlerindeki konutlarını terk ederek, daha güvenli buldukları ve merkezden uzak yerleşimlerde yer alan konutlarına yerleşmişlerdir. Çoğu iş sektörünün, uzaktan çalışabilme imkanının olması, eğitimde online sürece geçiş, kalıcı konuta dönüşen yazlık konut sayısını artırmıştır. Yazlık konutların kullanım süresinin ve amacının değişmesi, kullanıcı ihtiyacının da değişmesine neden olmuştur. Konutları ihtiyaçlarına yetersiz gelen kullanıcılar, kendi buldukları çözümler ile konutun yeni kimliğine adaptasyonunu sağlamışlardır. Dönüşüm sonrasında konutun mekân organizasyonu değişmiştir. Yazlık konutların tüm yıl içinde yaşanan konutlara dönüşmesinin kullanıcının yaşı, mesleği, ekonomik durumu ile ilişkisi bulunmuştur. Konutun, değişen yaşam koşullarına adaptasyonunun sağlanması, esnek mekân çözümlerinin hâkim olduğu tasarımların yapılması hem kullanıcı memnuniyeti açısından hem de içinde bulunduğumuz Covid-19 pandemisinde mekân üretimi açısından önemli ve gereklidir.Alternate abstract:The Covid-19 pandemic, which has influenced the whole world, has caused business areas to switch to the remote working model and the education to turn into distance education. Summer home owners and retirees with the opportunity to work from home have left their crowded city centers and residences and settled permanently in their summer residences in coastal areas. The summer houses, which have been transformed into permanent residences, have been insufficient for the spatial needs of the user and have not been able to meet their expectations from the residence. House owners have made spatial changes in line with their preferences in order to find a solution to this problem. The present article aims to seek an answer to the question of how the spatial changes they have undergone after the transformation of the summer cottages into permanent residences have changed the spatial organization of the residence. In this way, it is aimed to contribute to the secondary (summer) housing literature by evaluating the changing spatial organization of summer houses in the context of social and economic components. Other questions of the study that remain unanswered are: Is the conversion related to the demographic information of the user? In addition, what should be the design principles that the architect should observe in future summer house designs? In order to find answers to all these questions;First of all, during the field study, a survey was conducted with the users and their personal opinions were reported in face-to-face interviews. The survey results were evaluated with the SPSS statistical analysis program. Spatial analyzes of the changed spaces were carried out with the Space Syntax method. The study area is the Güzelyalı a d Dardanos towns of Çanakkale, which are the cities with the highest number of summer residences, living in big city centers after the Covid-19 pandemic, thanks to the transportation facilitated by the implementation of the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge. The most crowded sites in the towns in winter were learned from local administrations and real estate consultants, and a survey was conducted with 147 homeowners in 3 sites. When the results are evaluated, it has been determined that 76 residences have been converted into permanent residences. The biggest reason for the transformation in the residences, which are mostly retirees between the ages of 56-60 as homeowners, has been the Covid-19 pandemic. As a change in their residences, the users used it as a warehouse by covering the bottom of the stairs at the highest rate, and they turned their balconies on the ground and normal floors into closed spaces. As a result of the statistical analyzes, the fact that the users whose residences have been transformed are mostly retired homeowners over the age of 56, has shown that there is a relationship between the age and occupation of the user and the transformation. Turning it into a warehouse by closing the bottom of the stairs among the spatial changes in the houses resulted from the inadequacy of the usage area of the house and especially the kitchen. Likewise, balconies, kitchens and rooms were closed because they were insufficient. In the syntactic analysis, increases or decreases were observed in depth, connectivity and integration values according to the spatial changes made in the plan scheme of each house. In the evaluation of the findings, what these numerical changes mean for the user is evaluated. After the Covid-19 pandemic, the interventions made by the user in order to adapt her summer residence to a permanent residence were solutions that met her needs, but negatively affected the facade and zoning order and caused additional costs. In addition, as a result of these unconscious interventions by each user, houses with architectural characters that are incompatible with each other and their surroundings have emerged. When evaluated holistically, housing silhouettes were encountered that distorted the texture. In order for the residence to respond to the changing user needs depending on the living conditions, the spaces must be planned in a way that allows transformation during the design phase. This study, which is specific to the transformation of summer houses used only in the summer season of the year, into permanent residences, has shown the importance of flexible space solutions in planning. The fact that the spaces are designed in a flexible way, that they can grow, shrink, divide, open and close, is a situation that increases the comfort and satisfaction of the user in her residence. The characteristic and unique architectural formation and spatial organization of the summer residence can be preserved by planning with a flexible space understanding. On the other hand, by increasing the social communication between the residence and the user and the interaction of the user with the space, architectural sustainability is ensured in economic terms.

The Evaluation of Geographical Health Facilities Structure in Makassar City, Indonesia.

Cities across the world, during the last period, have been shocked by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The world of planning has since persevered in providing a response, in terms of how to anticipate this outbreak in the future. Various kinds of concepts have been issued, with various views and points of view. However, one of the needs for this planning is an appropriate evaluation of the geographic structure of existing health facilities, in order to properly provide consideration for future urban planning. This study attempts to provide an integrated model of how to evaluate the geographic structure of health facilities with a case study in Makassar City, Indonesia. By combining big data and spatial analysis, it is expected that it will find patterns and directions for acceptable health facilities planning.

A sequential space syntax approach for healthcare facility layout design

This paper presents a two-phase approach for solving the facility layout problem in a physical rehabilitation hospital. The first phase solves the block layout problem, where the relative location and size of the departments in the facility are determined. The model used in this phase is based on Space Syntax which offers a series of tools that can be used to analyze and quantify spatial relations that are useful when modeling block layouts. Two Space Syntax-based metrics are introduced to model proximity and ease of access in layout designs, critical qualities in health care settings. A tabu search algorithm based on a novel nested-bay encoding is used to find the block layouts. A set of test cases from a large provider of rehabilitation hospitals shows the ability of this approach to handle healthcare-specific design requirements. An important concern for physical rehabilitation hospitals, where a large portion of the patient population is especially vulnerable to infectious diseases, and which has gained greater attention due to the COVID pandemic, is infection control. The approach herein is more capable of addressing control of infectious disease than existing metrics by providing designers with more granular control of space separation. Results show that the Space Syntax approach provides powerful, but easy to use, modeling capabilities, and that the resulting block layouts are more realistic. The second phase model is a mixed integer program for constructing corridor networks on a block layout that minimize travel distance, number of intersections, and maximum traffic on a turn. Both models are configurable so that facility designers can generate different designs according to their goals by changing the model parameters.

The impact of COVID-19 on visitors' wayfinding within healthcare centers

The novel COVID-19 pandemic has caused substantial calamities in developing countries such as Iran, which initially suffered from inadequate infrastructure essential for the pandemic control. Due to the ongoing development of this malady, healthcare centers are recognized as one of the most significant hotspots within public settings so they are directly pertinent to the physical and mental health of visitors. The main objective for conducting the present study is to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the visitors' wayfinding procedure within Qa'em hospital, located in Rasht, northern Iran. The adopted methodology in the present study is based on a comparison between the collected data regarding the wayfinding behavior of visitors before and after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic using mixed methods, namely Space Syntax, gate counting, people following, and semi-structured interviews. The obtained empirical results displayed that visitors were significantly confused and hesitant throughout their wayfinding process after the outbreak of the pandemic. Indeed, spatial accessibility and legibility were not found to be adequate for facilitating the wayfinding of the visitors. Moreover, the requirements for the reconfiguration of furniture layout in the waiting areas, according to the underlying notions of social distancing, became conspicuous as the pragmatic implications for the postpandemic healthcare centers. (c) 2022 THE AUTHORS. Published by Elsevier BV on behalf of Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Influences of obstacle factors on the transmission trends of respiratory infectious diseases in indoor public places

Public facilities are important transmission places for respiratory infectious diseases (e.g., COVID-19), due to the frequent crowd interactions inside. Usually, changes of obstacle factors can affect the movements of human crowds and result in different epidemic transmissions among individuals. However, most related studies only focus on the specific scenarios, but the common rules are usually ignored for the impacts of obstacles' spatial elements on epidemic transmission. To tackle these problems, this study aims to evaluate the impacts of three spatial factors of obstacles (i.e., size, quantity, and placement) on infection spreading trends in two-dimension, which can provide scientific and concise spatial design guidelines for indoor public places. Firstly, we used the obstacle area proportion as the indicator of the size factor, gave the mathematical expression of the quantity factor, and proposed the walkable-space distribution indicator to represent the placement factor by introducing the Space Syntax. Secondly, two spreading epidemic indicators (i.e., daily new cases and people's average exposure risk) were estimated based on the fundamental model named exposure risk with the virion-laden particles, which accurately forecasted the disease spreading between individuals. Thirdly, 120 indoor scenarios were built and simulated, based on which the value of independent and dependent variables can be measured. Besides, structural equation modeling was employed to examine the effects of obstacle factors on epidemic transmissions. Finally, three obstacle-related guidelines were provided for policymakers to mitigate the disease spreading: minimizing the size of obstacles, dividing the obstacle into more sub-ones, and placing obstacles evenly distributed in space. © 2022 Elsevier Ltd

Effects of COVID-19 pandemic on spatial preferences and usage habits of users in shopping malls and its relation with circulation layout

The COVID-19 pandemic, with its global impact on every scale of life, has caused a change in all the habits of people regarding daily life, and this change has also been directly reflected in the human-space interaction. The bidirectional relationship between human and space has evolved by being influenced by each other during the pandemic process. Within the scope of this study, which aims to determine the predicted change in the spatial preferences and usage habits of the users in the shopping malls due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which causes changes in the space and the usage habits of the users from micro scale to macro scale, analyzes were made with the research methodology consisting of three stages (i. space syntax, ii. survey, iii. comparison) and the results were evaluated. According to the results obtained from the case study, it was determined that the COVID-19 pandemic deeply changed people's spatial perception, preferences and usage habits in shopping malls and circulation layout also plays a role on it. To summarize, while personal preferences were at the forefront in places to be preferred for shopping before the pandemic, the characteristics of the place gained importance after the pandemic. CO 2022 THE AUTHOR. Published by Elsevier BV on behalf of Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-ncnd/4.0/).

Tracing Machine and Human Translation Errors in Some Literary Texts with Some Implications for EFL Translators

This research study aims at drawing a comparison between some internet emerging applications used for machine translation (MT) and a human translation (HT) to two of Alphonse Daudet's short stories: "The Siege of Berlin" and "The Bad Zouave." The automatic translation has been carried out by four MT online applications (i.e. Translate Dict, Yandex, Mem-Source, and Reverso) that have come to light in the wake of COVID-19 breakout, whereas the HT was carried out by Hassouna in 2018. The results revealed that MT and HT made some errors related to (a) polysemy, (b) homonymy, (c) syntactic ambiguities, (d) fuzzy hedges, (e) synonyms, (f) metaphors and symbols. The results also showed that Yandex has dealt with polysemy much better than HT in "The Siege of Berlin," but the opposite has been noticed in "The Bad Zouave." Another crucial result is that HT has excelled all MT systems in homonymy and syntactic ambiguities in the two literary texts. A final result is that both MT and HT have dealt with fuzzy hedges at similar rates with little supremacy on the part of Reverso, whereas MemSource and Translate Dict have dealt with synonyms in the two literary texts much better than HT. The study concluded that EFL learners should be aware of the fact that in spite of the advantageousness of MT systems, their inadequacies should not be overlooked and handled with post-editing.

Developing Complexity Science-Problem Based Learning Model to Enhance Conceptual Mastery

Implementing a proper learning model during the post COVID-19 pandemic is fundamental for learning quality enhancement, specifically for students' conceptual mastery. The research aims to develop a Complexity Science-Problem Based Learning (CS-PBL) model assisted by the "Sistem Informasi Pengelola Pembelajaran" (SIPEJAR) e-learning platform that is valid, practical, and effective to enhance students' conceptual mastery during the post COVID-19 pandemic. The research and development model were adapted from Plomp & Nieven consisted of three phases: preliminary research, prototyping phase, and assessment phase. The first phase research result was that the learning process in during COVID-19 pandemic was less interactive, which led to less effective learning. The students' score on conceptual mastery was in the poor category. The second phase resulted in a book of CS-PBL model assisted by SIPEJAR and supporting instruments considered valid by three experts. The third phase result was that the CSPBL model assisted by SIPEJAR was considered practical in the learning process implementation. The CS-PBL model can enhance students' conceptual mastery where the N-gain was sufficiently effective. It is concluded that the CS-PBL model assisted by SIPEJAR was considered valid, practical, and effective to enhance students' conceptual mastery during the post COVID-19 pandemic.

Resilience of virtual and real shops under the impact of Covid19 epidemic: an empirical study on the distribution of breakfast service in Beijing

The breakfast service is an important part of local vitality which are traditionally provided by restaurants and street vendors in real space. The booming virtual economy and delivery service provide alternative type. With the outbreak of COVID-19, both the temporary lock-down of many streets and the reduction of travelling have great impact on breakfast service at the beginning of 2020. During this epidemic period, what kind of breakfast service suffers more, if the location matters, these became interesting questions. This paper presents a comparative study on the central city area (160km2) of Beijing before and after the impact of Covid19. Based on two site surveys in 2019 July and 2020 September, over 3000 breakfast service are mapped in 6 categories (Chain restaurant, subcontracted breakfast service, fixed vendor stance, mobile vendor stance, supermarket and bakery) in real space. Cell phone data of 2018 and 2020 are also used to provide other factors such as employment/residential densities and distances of commuting. Additionally, social media data of breakfast distribution from Dazhongdianping.com are collected to study how service in real and virtual space overlap. In general, it can be found that the space with dominant accessibility has stronger resilience. Breakfast services in an advantageous position are more likely to expand new opportunities through the network platform in virtual space. © 2022 Proceedings 13th International Space Syntax Symposium, SSS 2022. All rights reserved.

Exploring a new method to identify hidden danger space in the post-pandemic period: Taking Beian city in China as a case

COVID-19 has become a major public health emergency in the world, which seriously affects the normal operation of cities. Epidemic prevention and control is not only needed in big cities, but also in small and medium-sized cities. In view of this, the paper takes Beian city, China as the research area. This study establishes a street network model through spatial syntax, and predicts the crossing potential and arrival potential of its street network. This will play a reference role for traffic flow control in Beian city. The article uses emerging data. Through GIS spatial analysis method, we identify the hidden danger space of city. Therefore, this summarizes the places where people are easy to gather and some problems of the current situation of the city. The results show that: (1) Beian bridge and Wuyuer street have a good traffic potential. The intersection of Longjiang Road and Beidahuang street and the intersection of Tianyuan North Road and Baocheng road have good accessibility. (2) The intersection of Ping'an Street and Shanghai road is a potential hidden danger space of the city, and the focus of epidemic prevention and control. (3) The coverage rate of urban community medical services to residential land is 58.61%, and the existing medical infrastructure is insufficient. Under public health emergencies, the paper will argue a new development ideas for health and safety small town planning by visualizing the hidden danger space of the city. [ FROM AUTHOR]

Influences of obstacle factors on the transmission trends of respiratory infectious diseases in indoor public places

Public facilities are important transmission places for respiratory infectious diseases (e.g., COVID-19), due to the frequent crowd interactions inside. Usually, changes of obstacle factors can affect the movements of human crowds and result in different epidemic transmissions among individuals. However, most related studies only focus on the specific scenarios, but the common rules are usually ignored for the impacts of obstacles' spatial elements on epidemic transmission. To tackle these problems, this study aims to evaluate the impacts of three spatial factors of obstacles (i.e., size, quantity, and placement) on infection spreading trends in two-dimension, which can provide scientific and concise spatial design guidelines for indoor public places. Firstly, we used the obstacle area proportion as the indicator of the size factor, gave the mathematical expression of the quantity factor, and proposed the walkable-space distribution indicator to represent the placement factor by introducing the Space Syntax. Secondly, two spreading epidemic indicators (i.e., daily new cases and people's average exposure risk) were estimated based on the fundamental model named exposure risk with the virion-laden particles, which accurately forecasted the disease spreading between individuals. Thirdly, 120 indoor scenarios were built and simulated, based on which the value of independent and dependent variables can be measured. Besides, structural equation modeling was employed to examine the effects of obstacle factors on epidemic transmissions. Finally, three obstacle-related guidelines were provided for policymakers to mitigate the disease spreading: minimizing the size of obstacles, dividing the obstacle into more sub-ones, and placing obstacles evenly distributed in space.

A new method to explore the abnormal space of urban hidden dangers under epidemic outbreak and its prevention and control: A case study of Jinan City

In recent years, the proliferation of coronavirus disease has profoundly affected the world. The vitality of urban space is difficult to recover in the short term. Therefore, in the early stage of human-to-human transmission of the epidemic, we need to determine the potential urban agglomeration space as soon as possible, the timely find of hidden danger areas, and carry out spatial optimization to prevent the further spread of the epidemic. This becomes the urgent problem at the moment. Jinan is the capital city of Shandong Province, and the mega-city of China. The study is focused on the main urban area within the bypass. This study used spatial data methods such as spatial grammar and GIS technology. First, we analyzed the spatial topological properties of urban road network during the epidemic. Then, we carried out spatial autocorrelation analysis on the topological attributes to get the shape of urban spatial clustering layout during the epidemic. Finally, the thesis crawled through various types of infrastructure points-of-interest and conducted nuclear density analysis to get the dynamic trend of urban space in Jinan. The research results showed that there is significant space for agglomeration in the main urban area of Jinan. The areas with strong agglomeration are basically located in tourism areas, school areas, business areas, living circle areas of residential communities in Licheng and Lixia districts, transportation hub areas in Tianqiao District, and high-tech industrial areas in Lixia District. Topography, water body, greening, and parks could effectively reduce the concentration of human flow, and are important areas to relieve the potential abnormal epidemic. This study provided a new method for detecting epidemic prevention and control areas, optimizing urban space layout and formulating prevention and control strategies in the early stage of human-to-human epidemic transmission and lack of case surveillance data and control measures.

Estimation of Pedestrian Flows in Urban Context: A Comparison Between the Pre and Post Pandemic Period

The Covid-19 pandemic, within a few months, radically changed the organization of daily life on a global scale;this has affected all aspects related to everyday life such as home-to-work or not home-to the work trips, accessibility of destination, recreational activities and so on. The need to reduce coronavirus transmission, especially indoors, has imposed the “social or physical distancing” that has required administrations to reorganize roads and sidewalks for public use both to tackle this crisis and to prepare for the future pandemic challenges. Following a previous extensive study devoted to the analysis and prediction of pedestrian flows in urban area in the city of Cassino, a new experimental campaign has been recently designed and carried out in order to validate the previous methodology and/or to highlight new trends in urban pedestrian activities. Comparison between pre-pandemic and post-pandemic data and calibrated models provided an interesting insight on the pedestrian behavioral impacts of emergency measures undertaken during pandemic. It is believed that obtained results may provide a useful knowledge for urban planners and designers to retrofit urban spaces taking into account the new pedestrian attitudes to mobility induced by the pandemic. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.