Browsing by Type "Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Publication
    Atmospheric light air ion concentrations and related meteorologic factors in Rezekne city, Latvia.
    (2012-04-01T00:00:00Z)
    Skromulis, Andris
    ;
    Noviks, Gotfrids
    The well-minded impact of light negative air ions on human organism is still under discussion. The measurements of air ions are not widespread in Latvia yet. The paper presents new results of air pollution evaluation in Rezekne city. Measurements of positive and negative air ion concentrations in Rezekne city were taken during the spring, summer and autumn 2009 and during the winter 2010. Measurements were taken by portative air ions counter "Sapfir-3M" in eight different points of Rezekne city thrice a day. The concentrations of positive and negative air ions with mobility factor k > or = 0.4 cm2 V(-1) s(-1) were measured. Temperature, relative humidity, wind velocity, direction, etc., were also taken into account. The approximate interconnection between ionization and chemical and mechanical air pollution in relation with meteorological conditions was analyzed. The highest level of air ion concentration was observed in mornings, whereas in afternoons this concentration level decreased due to the growth of anthropogenic air pollution in the city, as light air ions, because of their charge, promoted the coagulation and the settlement of pollution particles. This regularity is typical for summer, whereas in spring, autumn and winter it is not characteristic. The unipolarity factor was usually less than 1 in mornings, but usually larger than 1 in afternoons especially in the most polluted city areas where minor concentration of air ions was detected. The ionization level is an original indicator of energetic saturation and aerosol pollution of atmospheric air.
  • Publication
    Reasons for Low Protection of Vulnerable Workers from COVID-19-Results from the Quantitative and Qualitative Study on Working Life in Latvia
    (2021)
    Matisāne, Linda
    ;
    Paegle, Linda
    ;
    Eglīte, Maija
    ;
    Akūlova, Lāsma
    ;
    Linde, Asnate Anna
    ;
    Vanadziņš, Ivars
    ;
    Mietule, Iveta
    ;
    Lonska, Jeļena 
    ;
    Rozentāle, Sarmīte
    ;
    Arbidāne, Iluta
    ;
    Litavniece, Lienīte
    ;
    Grīntāle, Ieva
    Several individual factors like older age and chronic diseases have been linked with more severe symptoms often leading to hospitalization and higher mortality from COVID-19. Part of adults with such factors is still active in the workforce. The objective of the study was to identify measures taken by the employer to protect them and to investigate reasons for low protection of vulnerable workers during the 1st wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Answers from 1000 workers collected via web-survey and results from 10 focus group discussions were analyzed. Only 31.5% of respondents mentioned that their employer had identified existing vulnerable groups and offered specific measures to protect them. Moving vulnerable workers away from the workplace was the most frequent measure (e.g., transfer to the back-office without contact with clients, telework, paid vacations, paid downtime). Most employers do not see elderly workers and workers with chronic diseases as risk groups, thus are not specifically protecting them. Instead, several employers have included workers critical for business continuity in their risk group. Others had not taken measures because of the lack of information due to general data protection regulation. Poor communication and lack of interest of employers to ask their workers if they need special protection is the topic to be addressed at the national level.
    Scopus© Citations 5
  • Publication
    Usability in social telerehabilitation systems for elderly users
    (2017)
    Marzano, G
    ;
    Lubkina, V
    Healthy ageing has been conceptualized from a number of different perspectives, both biomedical and social, and encompasses well-being, capacity for independent activity, meaningful involvement, supportive environments and positive attitudes. There is a general consensus that technology can reduce the decline of functions in elderly persons and support their rehabilitation activity, helping them to cope with daily life in a way more similar to their original lifestyles. On this purpose, we report on a literature review (from January 1998 to June 2016), which is part of the Latvian national science program VPP INOSOCTEREHI, a new three-year multidisciplinary project in the field of social telerehabilitation focused on social inclusion. The review was conducted in the Medline database that contains over 22 million records and is a subset both of PubMed and Embase databases. We decided to limit our review to Medline since its records are from about 5600 mainly from US journals and this would provide a certain homogeneity. However, in the near future, we plan to improve our investigation including others databases, such as Embase, that contains over 29 million records from journals from at least 90 countries, and SAGE that encloses a wide range of records about computer-based applications.
    Scopus© Citations 8