Perspectives towards hotel stay amidst the COVID-19 pandemic recovery stage: a research from Calamba city, Philippines

After the global tourism industry has experienced the impact of the pandemic, it is critical that people gain confidence in traveling and have the impression that staying in hotels is now safe, because only in this way tourism businesses such as hotels can be fully successful in recovering. For this reason, the researchers guided by a descriptive research design and quantitative research approach, aimed to determine what people think about staying in a hotel, particularly in terms of safety and security, price, location, and service quality, in the time of COVID-19 pandemic recovery stage, focused on the local community of Calamba City, Laguna, Philippines, being one of richest cities in the country and the place where the researchers reside. Moreover, a comparative analysis of the perspective of the respondents has been performed in terms of their age, sex, and educational attainment, identifying which age, sex and educational attainment groups have more positive or negative attitude, and a higher or lower level of hotel stay intention compared with other groups. Being the first study that has assessed the tourism market particularly in terms of their perspective on hotel stay as the hospitality industry attempts to recover from the impact of the pandemic, this is expected to provide a clear picture of the need for management of hotels to continuously work on marketing efforts highlighting the information that it is now safe to practice tourism and stay in their establishments, hence, serving as a guide in coming up with promotional strategies and an action plan, as well as a motivation for researchers who wish to determine the same in their locality or country.

STRESS IN THE ELDERLY IN THE CONTEXT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND ITS ASSOCIATED FACTORS

Objective: To identify stress in the elderly living in the city of Lima and its association with demographic factors, infodemics, the presence of physical and psychological symptoms, and the use of illicit substances in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. Method: Quantitative, transversal, and analytical study through the web-based survey with 384 elderly from the city of Lima-Peru between April and August 2021. The instruments of demographic profile, Perceived Stress Scale, and self-reported symptoms were used for the study. The Multiple logistic regression was used, considering the significance level of 5%. Results: 62% were women, and the age ranged between 60 and 95 years with a mean of 70.5. The stress average was 26.8 points. Stress was associated with fear of relatives dying and concern for the elderly. Conclusions: it is important for health professionals trained to identify changes in mood in the elderly and to create individualized care plans. © 2023, Universidade Federal do Parana. All rights reserved.

Mathematical competencies required to interpret the communications from the Mexican health authority on Covid-19

This article aims to identify the mathematical competencies required by a citizen to interpret the information reported by the Mexican health authority on the evolution of the Covid-19 pandemic. Fifty-nine health reports in video format that were broadcast between February and April of 2020 were selected. For the analysis, a methodology integrated by the categories of the health arithmetic and the mathematical competencies was formulated. The dimensions of coverage, radius of action, and technical level were considered. This allowed for describing the type and the degree of proficiency in the receptive modality for reading and interpreting the information presented in the reports. In order to interpret pandemic-related information, the results show that competencies, mostly advanced, in modeling, representation, symbols, and mathematical calculation are required in the areas of information processing, arithmetic, and functions. Considering the low performance of Mexican students and adult population in standardized tests, it is estimated that only a low percentage of the population could follow the mathematical argumentation and make consequent decisions based on the information reported in the press conferences on Covid-19.

Comprehensive risk management of hydrometeorological disaster: A participatory approach in the metropolitan area of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Nowadays, the reduction of disasters demands a multi-hazard and multi-agent approach. For this reason, in this work, participatory action research is carried out to construct a comprehensive risk management agenda. For this research, we studied the case of the metropolitan area of Puerto Vallarta, which repeatedly faces disasters associated with hydrometeorological phenomena. We performed a network and vulnerability progression analysis;and constructed the pressure and release model. The root causes were the scarce incentives to invest in risk prevention, the lack of verification of compliance with environmental regulations, and the elimination of the Fund for Natural Disasters. The central dynamic pressures were the accelerated demographic growth associated with the touristic development, the absence of a metropolitan territory ordering program, the lack of knowledge on the subject among the population, the scarce resources, and the incipient alliances. These pressures cause unsafe conditions characterized by physical, economic, and social fragilities, which interact with hazards like tropical cyclones, strong winds, floods, dengue, and COVID-19, causing disasters. Afterward, we elaborated the agenda for the comprehensive management of hydrometeorological risks;it included 21 main actions distributed in six axes. This agenda incorporates the stages of comprehensive risk management and the four priorities of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. Stakeholders' participation in elaborating the agenda could contribute to its appropriation and implementation in the current regulatory framework. © 2023

The COVID-19 Pandemic as a driver of education 5.0 at UAH Faculty of Pharmacy

Introduction: In March 2020, the outbreak of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Madrid province, Spain, forced changes in the teaching and organisational methodologies of University educational centres in order to continue delivering knowledge contents that allowed students to acquire the competences and skills required by current regulations. Method(s): Different surveys were carried out on possible alternative teaching methodologies and strategies to be used by the teachers responsible for the different courses in the face of the pandemic situation. They explained to students how the teaching was going to proceed using different remote channels. Result(s): Different strategies such as the heuristic, discovery or playful method facilitated the teaching-learning process allowing students for the acquisition of useful knowledge, competences and skills for job placement. Innovative teaching methods were used, such as the inverted classroom or flipped classroom, cooperative learning, project-based learning or gamification, depending on the characteristics of the different disciplines. The results achieved so far have been, despite initial concerns and doubts, satisfactory, achieving the objectives and skills set at the beginning of the courses. The students have worked on specific, individual or cooperative projects, in which they have faced real problems in the context of service-learning, stimulating their critical thinking, communication, problem solving abilities, with a more practical and tangible dimension. Conclusion(s): The pandemic has accelerated the implementation of an Education 5.0 project, making teachers use resources that some but not all had used previously to promote effective and quality teaching. Combining the new technological tools with traditional educational methodologies helps teachers to achieve their teaching outcomes in a more effective way without losing sight to prepare students for lifelong learning far beyond the digital.

Evaluation of learning at UAH School of Pharmacy during the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction: The problem caused by the COVID-19 pandemic led teachers to use different tools to measure the learning process of students in a socially distanced context. For this reason, during the 2019-20 academic year, the teachers at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Alcal, Spain, had to come up against the challenge of establishing a consistent, systematic and rigorous online evaluation system to screen which students had the competences and skills demanded by current regulations. Method(s): A survey was designed using Google forms and addressed, from the Dean's office, to professors and lecturers of the five undergraduate courses, concerning the type of evaluation tools that they were going to use with the students in order to proceed with a sound evaluation, taking into account that data protection regulations had to be respected, rigorously. Result(s): Doubts were raised about integrity and ethics when carrying out the different online evaluation tests. News appeared in the media and social networks about how to know the correct answers in a questionnaire through its source code, by hiring experts who solve the exams, or doing the activities together using the versatility of social networks that allow simultaneous collective interaction, etc. In this survey, in addition to indicating the number of tests to be performed, the teachers informed the authors about the tools available for use: short answer questions, multiple choice tests, essay or interrelated concepts questions with clear evaluation rubrics, reflection on practical cases, open-book exams. Conclusion(s): All teachers learned and adapted quickly to the different assessment tools available on the Blackboard platform according to the characteristics of the course and considered that the pandemic has opened a critical window for innovative technology based-assessment methodologies.

Clinical characteristics, comorbidity, and laboratory variables associated with hospitalization and mortality in older people with Covid-19: A systematic review

Objective: To characterize clinical indicators, comorbidity and laboratory variables associated with hospitalization and mortality in older people with Covid-19. Materials and methods: A systematic review was carried out in accordance with the PRIS-MA statement, in the Medline/Pubmed, Science databases. Direct and WOS, in which specific search strategies were applied to articles and studies that were published from the period of time between January 1, 2020 and November 26, 2020. Results: 28 articles were identified that met the the selection criteria, with a sum of the sample size of the included studies of 581,319 subjects (55.1% women). Of the factors analyzed, optimal functional status, female gender, lymphocyte count, curative use of anti-coagulants, and serum albumin levels have been associated with a better clinical prognosis in adults older than 65 years. Conclusions: Clinical characteristics, comorbidity and laboratory variables associated with hospitalization and morbidity were found. © 2022, Universidad del Norte. All rights reserved.

The company in operation with audit reports the going business hypothesis based on audit reports

The going concern hypothesis assumes the financial sustainability of the company in the future, being important the professional judgment of the auditor who affirms the reasonableness of the financial information in all its material aspects and promotes credibility in the global market. The audit report of 51 companies for the 2010-2020, period was analyzed, a logit regression and the Mann Whitney U test were applied with financial indicators. It is observed that ROA has a positive impact on the going concern assumption. The financial indicators analyzed are not that different before and during COVID. © GKA Ediciones, authors.

[Comment on article "Enoxaparin dose associated with decreased risk of death in COVID-19"]

In this letter to the editor, apropos of the article "Enoxaparin dose associated with decreased risk of death in COVID-19", it is discussed the role of the current thromboprophylactic strategies, as well as the potential role of heparins in the management of COVID-19.

Engineering students’ judgments on the favorable effect that the class context has on their academic learning

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted human life, including educational settings. In Mexico, teachers and students found it necessary to adopt the online modality at all levels. As a result, both students and teachers face new demands and a re-conceptualization of their everyday academic lives. This study explored the engineering students' perception of the favorable effect level that the class context has on their learning. There were 551 participants took a cognitive algebra study. The experimental task involved reading 12 scenarios that described hypothetical online or face-to-face learning situations;then, each participant judged the degree to which these types of situations favor their learning, using an 11-point scale. The results indicated three cognitive styles when judging the degree to which each class context favors the learning. These styles share a similar cognitive mechanism in terms of information integration;however, the selection process and valuation of the factors differed across the groups. The students' perception on the class context influences their involvement and motivation level for courses on which they are enrolled. The present study's findings suggest that the cognitive algebra approach helps diagnose students' cognitive and emotional approach styles for different class contexts and provides information about the nature of their cognitive processes in terms of how students' judgments and attitudes towards classes are generated. © 2022, Institute of Advanced Engineering and Science. All rights reserved.

Level of Depression of College Students with Binary Logistic Regression Model Approximation in Covid-19 times

The objective of this research is to detect the level of depression that university students have because of Covid-19 using the binary logistic regression model and comparing with the linear model, it is of non-experimental design, cross-sectional descriptive type, with quantitative approach, The 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) was used with a population of 2185 respondents carried out during the month of May, the population is made up of university students from the Piura region chosen randomly, voluntarily and anonymously, resulting that the PHQ-9 measurement instrument is very good with a Cronbach's Alpha = 0. 885 and McDonald's W = 0.886, with 69.9% depression in university students, concentrated in 4 levels of depression, mild 39.7%, moderate 17.8%, severe 7% and very severe 5.3%. It was concluded that the PHQ-9 depression measurement instrument is adequate to measure depression in university students. In the discussion, it was possible to model the equation with the binomial logistic regression model, which results in better approximations than the linear model;this model is adequate to measure the level of depression in university students in the Piura region. © 2021 IEEE.

DISCOVERING THE RESILIENCE OF WORKING WOMEN FROM ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC CRISIS

The unprecedented challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic tested people’s resilience. The abrupt change in the conventional delivery of teaching and other services of educational institutions caused a lot of adjustments that schools and their employees need to manage. Drawing from their own experiences as motivation, the authors investigated the resilience of Filipino working women from the academe during this extraordinary time. Using a mixed-method approach, open-ended questions to explore the participants' experiences and a resilience scale to assess their resilience were utilized. Three hundred twenty-six women employed in educational institutions served as participants. Results revealed individual and community resiliency characteristics that enabled the participants to deal with the challenges. The findings pointed out some implications for practitioners to foster the value of resilience in developing mental health programs for this population, especially during a pandemic outbreak. © 2021, Southeast Asian Association for Institutional Research. All rights reserved.

‘Nenhum passo atrás’ (Not a step back): Brazilian Black women’s resistance in the era of Bolsonaro’s far-right government

Since 2010, the far-right in Brazil has led the backlash to feminism, sexual and gender diversity, racial equality, and other human rights agendas. In this article, we shed light on the devastating impact of the comeback of conservatism and Jair Bolsonaro’s presidency on the lives of Black women. Next, we draw from the interviews conducted with a wide range of activists to unveil how Black women have been energised to resist the backlash. We argue that the Black women’s movement has employed grassroots organising, institutional politics, counter narratives, and the Black culture, in complementary and interconnected ways, to resist the resurgence of the far-right. Moreover, we suggest that the ability to engage with different forms of activism and strategies of resistance is a key strength of the Black women’s movement in Brazil and has placed it at the forefront of the resistance against the far-right. © 2021 Oxfam GB.

[Factors associated to death in patients hospitalized due to COVID-19]

Background: SARS-CoV-2 virus was notified by the World Health Organization in January 2020 as a global emergency, due to its intense transmission, and clinical picture, that is aggravated in susceptible people. Objective: To describe the factors associated with death in COVID-19 and pneumonia patients hospitalized in a thirdlevel center. Material and methods: An undivided case-control study was carried out. It was conducted an interview to obtain general information;from the medical record were collected hospitalization data, radiological images, laboratory parameters, and treatments used. It was used descriptive statistics. Student's t, Mann-Whitney U, and chi-squared were used to identify variables associated with death, and models of adjusted binary logistic regression to propose which variables of the patient's history, clinical parameters and treatments explained the death. Results: We treated 5339 patients with suspicion of COVID-19: 3117 positive (59%), 1029 hospitalized due to pneumonia, and 513 deaths (16.46%). For the analysis, 1110 patients were taken, 399 death cases were selected and 357 controls discharged due to improvement. The average age was 57.8 years;59% were male. Conclusions: The variables associated with mortality were: patients older than 40 years, chest radiography image > 50% involvement, intubation, lactic dehydrogenase > 500, C-reactive protein > 10, and organ failure;variables associated with improvement were: stay in the intensive care unit, use of broad spectrum parenteral antibiotics, steroids, and use of the anticoagulant enoxyheparin. Sex, diabetes, and comorbidities did not show significant association.

Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in COVID-19: A case report

Background : Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is an antibody-mediated reaction against the heparin-platelet factor 4 complex (H-PF4). Incidence in patients with extracorporeal circulation membrane (ECMO) is unknown. Aims : We describe a case of HIT confirmed during ECMO support in a COVID-19 patient. Methods : N/A A 48 year-old man with severe COVID-19 confirmed by RT-PCR for SARS-CoV2, was admitted to intensive care unit (ICU). After 21 days of the diagnosis he required mechanical ventilation support and V-V ECMO. Since his admission he received anticoagulation with enoxaparin 80 mg SC every 12 h, when ECMO started, he continued anticoagulation with intravenous infusion of 700 U/hour of unfractionated heparin (UFH). On the third day of infusion, there was a decrease in platelets > 50% (nadir 25,000/mm3 ), it was documented 6 points in a 4T HIT score having a probability 64% for HIT. It was confirmed by functional test with platelet aggregometry induced by UFH using the Born method. UFH was suspended and fondaparinux 7.5 mg SC every 24 h. We made serial measurements of anti-Xa (Stago ® ). Therapeutic response to HIT was documented at day 9 from the start of fondaparinux, without requiring an ECMO membrane change. Conclusions : The diagnosis of HIT was made by clinical suspicion, using the 4T HIT score and later confirmation platelet aggregometryUFH induced. The usual pharmacological treatment is based on argatroban, bivalirudin, and lepirudin. To our knowledge, there is only one case reported with fondaparinux as treatment in ECMO. Determination of plasma levels by antiXa activity was used to guide dosing because previous studies have reported bleeding rates between 10 to 22% with fondaparinux. This is a success case of fondaparinux as treatment for HIT in an ICU patient with ECMO support, and the first one in the clinical context of severe COVID -19 infection.

An azole-resistant C. parapsilosis outbreak in a Spanish hospital: An emerging challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction: Candida parapsilosis is the second leading cause of candidemia and fluconazole is the treatment of choice. In July 2020, an outbreak caused by azole-resistant C. parapsilosis (ARCP) strains was detected in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a tertiary-care center in Spain. Objectives: This study aims to describe an ongoing ARCP outbreak that started during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We implemented a package of interventions: 1) collection of surveillance cultures (throat, axilla, and groin) on patient admission and weekly thereafter;2) daily chlorhexidine bathing of patients;3) change of daily routine cleaning from 1% sodium hypochlorite to hydrogen peroxide. The presence of ERG11 mutations and the genotyping of 17 random ARCP isolates were performed by microsatellite analysis. Changes in annual defined daily doses (DDD) of antifungals/ 100 patient-days from 2019 to 2020 were reported to assess antifungal overuse. Cultures from the environment and gowns were obtained with a sterile gauze soaked in saline solution. Results: Between April 2020-May 2021, 239 patients (2 retrospectively identified) were found to be colonized or infected with an ARCP. Patients were initially identified in a COVID-19 ICU ward, but other units were affected after transferring colonized patients. Microbiological analysis: 15/17 (88.2%) strains had the Y132F mutation in the ERG11 gene, 1 had the K143R mutation, and 1 did not have any mutations. Most ARCP isolates belonged to the same genotype III. The use of antifungals increased 1.4-fold from 2019 to 2020 (2.7 to 3.7 DDD/100 patient-days). Environmental cultures obtained before daily routine cleaning were positive for ARCP strains in 34/88 (38.6%). Patient care equipment, surfaces in close contact to the patient, and high-touch surfaces were frequently contaminated. Two out of 3 reusable gowns (99% polyester), cultured after patient care, and 1 sink were contaminated with ARCP. Conclusion: The frequent contamination of the environment coupled with suboptimal infection prevention practices during the COVID-19 pandemic (shared gowns between patients) have been important challenges to control an ARCP outbreak.

SARS-CoV-2 genetic diversity in Venezuela: predominance of D614G variants and analysis of one outbreak

SARS-CoV-2 is the new coronavirus responsible for COVID-19 disease. The first two cases of COVID-19 were detected in Venezuela on March 13, 2020. The aim of this study was the genetic characterization of Venezuelan SARS-CoV-2 isolates. A total of 7 full SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences were obtained by Sanger sequencing, from patients of different regions of Venezuela, mainly from the beginning of the epidemic. Ten out of 11 isolates (6 complete genomes and 4 partial spike genomic regions) belonged to lineage B, bearing the D614G mutation in the Spike protein. Isolates from the first outbreak that occurred in the Margarita Island harbored an in-frame deletion in its sequence, without amino acids 83-85 of the NSP1 of the ORF1. The search for deletions in 48,635 sequences showed that the NSP1 gene exhibit the highest frequency of deletions along the whole genome. Structural analysis suggests a change in the N-terminal domain with the presence of this deletion. In contrast, isolates circulating later in this island lacked the deletion, suggesting new introductions to the island after this first outbreak. In conclusion, a high diversity of SARS-CoV-2 isolates were found circulating in Venezuela, with predominance of the D614G mutation. The first small outbreak in Margarita Island seemed to be associated with a strain carrying a small deletion in the NSP1 protein, but these isolates do not seem to be responsible for the larger outbreak which started in July.

Sex and gender health: A pilot study of a sex and gender specific medical curriculum for high school students interested in STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine) careers

Objective: Increase education/awareness of sex/gender (SG) differences in biology, and medicine in high school biology students through an interdisciplinary course on gender-based medicine. Background: Sex and Gender Based Education (SGBE) is a topic many students in medicine and allied health are interested in. Introducing these concepts early in their education pipeline may encourage students to engage in science, technology, engineering, math, and medicine (STEMM) careers. Design/Methods: Academic faculty, a second-year medical student, and pre-medical summer interns partnered with the Center for Health Care Innovation to develop and implement a SGBE program to introduce under-represented minorities and high school students career opportunities in STEMM topics. The five-week summer program ( https://www.ttuhsc.edu/medicine/sex-gender-specific-health/default.aspx) was delivered through Zoom, and consisted of three, 1-hour meetings per week. Activities included group sessions with faculty focusing on sex differences in Cerebrovascular, Cardiovascular and Alzheimer's Disease, and Pain, with an emphasis on the impact of COVID infection and racial/ethnic considerations. Participants also studied online case-based SG Specific Health modules, and group mentoring with career mentors in STEMM. Students completed: a) pre-survey covering educational background and current understanding of SG considerations in medicine b) research presentation and c) post-survey assessing perceptions of SGBM impact on clinical outcomes with curriculum feasibility/feedback. Results: Seven students (4 females, 3 males, average age 16, average grade 11th) participated in this program. Two students completed all five online modules. No significant differences in course preference were noted between female and male students. Generally, all students strongly disagreed/disagreed that their institution taught SG differences, and 6/7 strongly agreed/agreed and 1 student neither agreed nor disagreed that "knowing SG differences would improve one's ability to manage patients." Conclusions: This study showed that SG considerations as they relate to biology and medicine, in combination with high school education program, was well received, and that incorporating this programming with online curricula is feasible.