1. How the volume of traffic affected air quality during the extreme event of COVID-19 lockdown in a small cityBranka Trček, Rok Kamnik, 2022, original scientific article Abstract: The extreme traffic measures during the COVID-19 lockdown provided a unique opportunity to gain better insight into the relationship between traffic characteris-tics and NO2 concentrations in Maribor, a small Slove-nian city. NO2, traffic and meteorological data were sta-tistically processed in detail for March and April 2018, 2019 and 2020 to get a historical insight and to exclude the specifics of the lockdown period. The extreme event resulted in an average reduction of road traffic of 42%. The decrease in the number of passenger cars ranged from 33.9 to 60.3% per day with the largest decrease on the motorway. Daily averages of heavy goods traffic de-clined on the motorway and the expressway by 24.6% and 7%, respectively. Traffic characteristics were reflect-ed in a 24–27% decrease in NO2 concentrations at the urban station. The change is smaller than the change in traffic volume, which could be explained by the change in the composition of the vehicle fleet due to the increase in NO2-dominant traffic sources, e.g. diesel heavy goods vehicles. The presented results are relevant for improv-ing air quality and sustainable mobility management in small cities. They highlight the important role of reor-ganisation of heavy goods traffic in urban logistics.
Keywords: road traffic, extreme event, COVID-19 lockdown, NO2 emissions, meteorological conditions, air pollution
Published in DKUM: 13.03.2025; Views: 0; Downloads: 1
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2. Lower-limb muscle contractile properties, explosive power and the subjective response of elite soccer players to the Covid-19 lockdownArmin Paravlić, Boštjan Šimunič, Saša Pišot, Matej Kleva, Kaja Teraž, Matjaž Vogrin, Uroš Marušič, Rado Pišot, 2022, original scientific article Abstract: The present study examined the effects of the lockdown period on basic anthropometric measures, countermovement jumping performance, skeletal muscle contractile properties derived from tensiomyography (TMG), injury incidence, and self-assessed general well-being in elite soccer players. A total of 266 players were assessed before (PRE) and 32 players were reassessed 11 days after (POST) the COVID-19 period. Significant changes in the TMG parameters were observed POST compared to PRE: contraction time (Tc) increased from 6% to 50% in vastus lateralis [VL] (p = 0.009) and biceps femoris [BF] (p < 0.001), respectively; whereas radial displacement (Dm) increased for 19% in BF (p = 0.036) and 17% in VL (p < 0.001), respectively. Jumping performance remained unchanged from PRE to POST In addition, athletes rated the lockdown period as a positive event and felt psychologically better during the lockdown, primarily because they spent more time with family members and friends. Although there were no differences in any of the variables describing lower limb muscle power following the two-month lockdown, the altered contractile properties of the assessed muscles suggest suboptimal conditioning of the football players.
Keywords: football, male football, power, explosive power, CMJ, tensiomyography, SJ, coronavirus, pandemics, lockdown
Published in DKUM: 11.07.2024; Views: 80; Downloads: 12
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3. How personal values follow the societal lockdown due to COVID-19 : case of business students in SloveniaVojko Potočan, Zlatko Nedelko, 2023, original scientific article Abstract: We examined patterns of change and stability in four individual-level higher-order groups of Schwartz personal values among individuals during societal lockdown caused by COVID-19 epidemic. The study involves comparison of personal values of 85 business students during societal lockdown, with their personal values in pre- and post-pandemic periods. Sampled group of individuals includes undergraduate and graduate students from University of Maribor, Faculty of Economics and Business, Maribor, Slovenia. Contrary to previous publications, our results indicate a decrease of mean-level for all four higher-order groups of individuals’ values during societal lockdown of COVID-19. In the value hierarchy, self-transcendence values remain first, followed by conservation, openness to change, and self-enhancement values. In the period after the COVID-19, personal values again approached their pre-pandemic levels. Self-transcendence and conservation returned close to baseline levels, while openness to change and self-enhancement values exceeded initial pre-epidemic levels. In the value hierarchy, lead openness to change values, followed by the self-transcendence, self-enhancement, and conservation values. We discuss perceived changes in business students’ values due to the COVID-19 pandemic and present their capacities for dealing with potential unfavorable and threatening circumstances in the future.
Keywords: personal values, COVID-19, societal lockdown, young adults, changing values
Published in DKUM: 27.05.2024; Views: 191; Downloads: 12
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4. Travel-related humour and COVID-19 : insights from memesAnja Pabel, Maja Turnšek, 2022, original scientific article Abstract: This study aims to provide an overview of humorous travel-related memes shared during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 80 Internet memes were content analysed for emergent themes. The findings reveal three major themes: playful aggression, making fun of one’s longing for travel, and making fun of new travel realities. The identified themes were linked to the existing literature to better understand the memes being studied. The analysis of memes provides a methodologically agile way to study conditions that may otherwise be overlooked, e.g., peoples’ travel-related desires and concerns while in lockdown.
Keywords: memes, COVID-19, travel restrictions, lockdown
Published in DKUM: 16.01.2024; Views: 283; Downloads: 23
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