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No. 25: Responses to COVID-19 by Internal Migrants in South African Cities
No full textThis paper explores the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on internal migrants in the urban centres of Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa. Focusing on the socio-economic and livelihood challenges faced by this population, the research utilizes a survey conducted in 2023 to investigate how the pandemic exacerbated existing vulnerabilities. Results highlight significant disruptions in employment, increased economic hardship, and heightened health risks among migrants, particularly those living in low-income neighbourhoods. Despite the hardships, very few migrants intended to permanently return to their rural origins, indicating a complex interplay between economic necessity and pandemic-induced constraints. The findings underscore the unique challenges faced by internal migrants during health crises and suggest the need for targeted policy interventions to address the specific needs of this group within urban pandemic responses
No. 23: Enforcement and Exclusion: COVID-19 Policies, Urban Migrants, and Food Insecurity in Pandemic South Africa
No full textOn March 5th, 2020, South Africa recorded its first official case of COVID-19 when a South African tourist returning from a holiday in northern Italy tested positive. The number of excess deaths is now over 300,000. The policy response to the pandemic is widely regarded as amongst the most draconian in Africa. In 2020, the government imposed a stay-at-home lockdown for 100 days, which was strictly enforced by armed police and the army. Breach of lockdown was a criminal offence and arrests were widespread. By April 2021, over 400,000 had been apprehended, more than in any other country globally. In his 2021 book, One Virus, Two Countries, Steven Friedman suggests that government containment and punishment measures had a particularly negative impact on the country’s urban poor, a population that includes many internal migrants as well as several million international migrants and refugees. This MiFOOD paper provides an overview of the South Africa’s militaristic policy and policing response to the advent of COVID-19 and how this impacted on migrants in the urban formal and informal economy
No. 02: Impacts of COVID-19 Policy Measures on Migration and Food Security in Ecuador
No full textThe COVID-19 pandemic had profound effects on Ecuador, exacerbated by pre-existing weaknesses in the public health system, economic austerity policies, and social inequalities. The reliance on containment measures, combined with insufficient social support, resulted in severe economic and social decline. Migrants, already a vulnerable group, were further marginalized during the pandemic, facing exclusion from social protection programs and increased food insecurity. This report examines the impacts of COVID-19 policy measures on migration and food security in Ecuador, focusing on urban contexts, particularly the capital city of Quito. The findings underscore the need for more integrated research and policy approaches that address the specific conditions of migrants and other vulnerable groups. Future policy efforts should focus on improving social protections, enhancing access to healthcare and vaccines for all populations, and addressing the underlying inequalities that exacerbated the impacts of the pandemic in Ecuador
No. 05: Pandemic Precarity and Food Insecurity Among Zimbabwean Migrants in South Africa
No full textThis policy brief highlights the profound impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Zimbabwean migrants living in South Africa, with a particular focus on food insecurity and economic precarity. The pandemic exacerbated existing vulnerabilities within the migrant community, many of whom rely on informal, low-wage labour sectors for their livelihoods. The survey conducted in 2021 among Zimbabwean migrants revealed widespread unemployment, drastic income reductions, and severe food insecurity, primarily driven by pandemic-related restrictions and the resultant economic contraction. Zimbabwean migrants, a significant proportion of whom work in South Africa’s informal economy, were disproportionately affected by the lockdowns and mobility restrictions. The informal sector, comprising occupations such as domestic work, informal trading, and casual labour, was among the hardest hit by the pandemic. Migrants in these sectors faced mass unemployment, with 72% of the surveyed households reporting job loss. Furthermore, the informal nature of their employment meant that most Zimbabwean migrants were excluded from the South African government’s COVID-19 relief measures, leaving them with little to no financial support during the crisis
Investigating how Acute Low Back Pain Influences Path Selection and Aperture Crossing Behaviours
No full textBackground: Actions emerge from the interaction between a person and their environment. Low back pain (LBP) is a change within a person that can alter subsequent actions. While chronic LBP is known to affect motor behaviours, the influence of acute LBP (aLBP) is less clear. This study aimed to determine if aLBP induced by prolonged standing (PS) would affect behaviours during aperture crossing.
Research question: Do people with aLBP have altered gait and trunk kinematics, and are they less likely to choose routes that require body rotation?
Methods: Participants (n=24, 21±2.27) completed 30 walking trials before and after two hours of PS. Participants chose either a path through a large (1.8*shoulder width, SW) or small (1*SW) aperture while walking towards a goal placed 10m from the start in one of five locations. Perceived LBP was rated on a visual analog scale (VAS) every 30 minutes during PS and every 10 trials post-PS. A VAS increase greater than 10mm from baseline defined aLBP developers. Kinematic data during the walking trails was collected at 100Hz using an Optotrak system. ANOVAs assessed pain ratings, gait kinematics, and route choices, mixed models examined trunk kinematics, and a logistic regression identified predictors of path selection.
Results: 54% of participants developed aLBP. Individuals with aLBP rotated their shoulders and lower back significantly less than non-pain developers through the small aperture. There were no group or time differences in gait parameters. Goal-position, pre-standing route selection, and pain score were all significant predictors of route selection post-standing.
Significance: Results revealed that those with aLBP prefer routes that avoid body reconfiguration. Route selection was significantly influenced by goal location, experience, and pain level. In summary, an immediate change to a person (i.e., aLBP) can cause different action outputs
Developing a Transformer-Based Sleep Apnea Diagnostic Model: Addressing Multi-Dimensional Time Series Challenges in Polysomnography
Get PDFSleep apnea is a prevalent and potentially serious sleep disorder, affecting 1% to 6% of children and adolescents [1]. Early and accurate diagnosis is critical, as untreated sleep apnea can lead to severe health complications, including cardiovascular problems and developmental issues. Traditional diagnostic methods often rely on manual analysis of polysomnography (PSG) data, which can be time-consuming and require specialized expertise. This thesis explores the use of Fourier transforms, differencing, and other phys- iological signal processing techniques to develop a transformer-based diagnostic model from scratch, utilizing multi-dimensional time series data from PSG. Our research distin- guishes itself by not only comparing conventional diagnostic methods with cutting-edge transformer architectures but also by aiming to automate the diagnostic process. The focus is on creating a model that can accurately diagnose obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) with- out extensive domain knowledge, thus making the diagnostic process more accessible and efficient. The findings underscore the significance of robust data processing and model selection in enhancing diagnostic accuracy, potentially revolutionizing the field of sleep medicine
Freedom of Emotional Expression: Exploring the Effects of Emotional Expression Restriction on Marginalized Identities
No full textAcross two studies we examined the relation between emotional expression restriction – perceiving that others restrict one’s freedom to determine how they express their authentic emotions– on people’s emotion regulation strategies and their well-being. In cross-sectional Study 1 (N = 438), people of colour felt significantly greater collective and personal emotional expression restriction relative to White people suggesting that feelings of emotional expression restriction are more prevalent among members of marginalized versus dominant groups. However, among both groups, perceiving collective emotional expression restriction was significantly associated with greater feelings of personal emotional restriction, which in turn, was related to the use of less reappraising emotion regulation strategies and lower psychological well-being. In longitudinal Study 2 (N = 254), we found that among members of the LGBTQ2S+ community, perceptions of collective emotional restriction were also associated with personally feeling more emotional expression restriction as an individual, which in turn related to greater expressive suppression, less cognitive reappraisal, and ultimately, less psychological well-being. Importantly, the effects of perceived emotional expression restriction were robust across studies when controlling general perceptions of discrimination against one’s group, and for perceptions of autonomy versus restriction in terms of one’s identity express and behaviour (at both the personal and collective level). Taken together, our work suggests that perceptions of emotional restriction may be especially prevalent among members of marginalized groups and may have important implications for the way people from both marginalized and dominant backgrounds regulate their emotions and experience well-being. Implications for theories of social identity, basic psychological needs theory, and theories of emotion are discussed