Lessons Learned From Community Workers Beat the Virus, a Multimedia Campaign Cocreated With Trusted Community Leaders

[...]per recommendation from community leaders, we designed 52 Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram posts in Spanish and English;2 print ads published in multiple local newspapers;and 27 thirty-second radio spots (Selected videos from the campaign are posted here: https://tinyurl.com/ 4wb48yxr;Social media posts are here: https://tinyurl.com/2x8awty9). LESSONS LEARNED FOR FUTURE PUBLIC HEALTH CAMPAIGNS The academic-community partnership to codevelop COVID-19 public health communication serves as a model for responding to information needs in public health crises. Engaging community health workers and leaders took a considerable amount of coordinated effort but showed significant potential to reach diverse groups (via media monitoring of impression), aid in debunking myths, and address misinformation to respond to the impact of COVID-19 in underresourced communities. Capitalizing on the community health workers' lived experiences and working knowledge of their communities offers a sustainable resource for the development of public health communication strategies that resonate with underresourced groups.

SEEING BEYOND THE PLEXIGLASS: Enacting a Vision of Caring During COVID

This chapter examines teacher candidates’ visions and enactments of care while student teaching during COVID-19. The authors draw from a qualitative study examining early childhood and elementary teacher candidates’ understandings of care, enacted ways of caring, and barriers to that enactment. Data from the study indicate that building relationships with students is an important aspect of teacher candidates’ vision for teaching, yet something with which they struggled due to social distancing and safety protocols during the pandemic. The authors examine the barriers the teacher candidates encountered and the strategies they relied on to show care for their students despite these barriers. The authors conclude with suggestions for ways in which teacher educators can support teacher candidates as they negotiate new classroom norms related to care and safety. © 2023 selection and editorial matter, Melanie Shoffner and Angela W. Webb;individual chapters, the contributors.

Incidence and management of axillary lymphadenopathy post COVID-19 vaccination in a symptomatic breast unit

Introduction: Following The mass rollout of COVID-19 vaccination, regional lymphadenopathy presents as a diagnostic dilemma for clinicians. The aim of this study explores The incidence and management of unilateral axillary lymphadenopathy following vaccination at a symptomatic tertiary breast unit. Method(s): This is a retrospective review of a prospectively maintained database of all patients who underwent axillary imaging for symptomatic or incidental axillary lymphadenopathy detected On imaging following COVID-19 vaccination between January 2021-December 2021. Radiological and histological information were obtained from The hospital s NIMIS radiology and PIPE histology system. Additional patient and clinical information was obtained from patient's clinical notes. Result(s): A total of 253 patients underwent axillary ultrasounds during The twelve-month interval. Of these 24 (9.4%) of patients underwent investigation for axillary lymphadenopathy related to recent COVID vaccination. Of these, 21 patients had image consistent reactive nodes while The remaining 3 patients had normal radiological investigation. Only 6 patients underwent ultrasound guided biopsy of these nodes which confirmed reactive notes. Conclusion(s): Patient and clinician educationisrequiredtoraiseawareness in COVID-19 related axillary lymphadenopathy. Standardization in The management including The timing of breast screening and radiological investigation in relation to COVID vaccination is required, in order to minimize over investigation in this patient cohort. Take-home message: COVID-19 vaccine related axillary lymphadenopathy is being seen in tertiary symptomatic breast clinic. Patient and clinician education is necessary to raise awareness of this and contribute to a standardised approach of investigation and management of this phenomenon.

Intranasal virus-particle mimicking vaccine enhances SARS-CoV-2 clearance in the Syrian hamster model (preprint)

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused a pandemic and multiple vaccines have been developed and authorized for human use. While these vaccines reduce disease severity, they do not prevent infection allowing SARS-CoV-2 to continue to spread and evolve. To confer protection against infection and limit transmission, vaccines must be developed that induce mucosal immunity in the respiratory tract. Therefore, we performed proof-of-principle pre-clinical vaccine and challenge studies with a virus-particle mimicking intranasal vaccine against SARS-CoV-2. The vaccine candidate consisted of the self-assembling 60-subunit I3-01 protein scaffold covalently decorated with the SARS-CoV-2 receptor binding domain (RBD) using the SpyCatcher-SpyTag system. We verified the intended antigen display features by reconstructing the I3-01 scaffold to 3.4A using cryo-EM, and established RBD decoration through both SDS-PAGE and negative stain TEM. Using this RBD grafted SpyCage scaffold (RBD+SpyCage), we performed two vaccination studies in Syrian hamsters using an intranasal prime and boost vaccine regiment followed by SARS-CoV-2 challenge. The initial study focused on assessing the immunogenicity of RBD+SpyCage, which indicated that vaccination of hamsters induced a non-neutralizing antibody response that enhanced viral clearance but did not prevent infection. In an expanded study, we demonstrated that covalent bonding of RBD to the scaffold was required to induce an antibody response. Consistent with the initial study, animals vaccinated with RBD+SpyCage more rapidly cleared SARS-CoV-2 from both the upper and lower respiratory tract, whereas admixtures of SpyCage and RBD, or either component alone did not. These findings demonstrate the intranasal SpyCage vaccine platform can induce protection against SARS-CoV-2 and, with additional modifications to improve immunogenicity, is a versatile and adaptable system for the development of intranasal vaccines targeting respiratory pathogens.

Special Issue on Social Work in the Time of COVID-19: Focus on Impacts on Clients and Consequences for Practice and Profession

We are pleased to present the second volume of the special issue on social work in the time of COVID-19. The two volumes are a result of the collaboration within the University of the Arctic (UArctic) Thematic Network on Social Work (TNSWK) and the Journal of Comparative Social Work (see also Allen, Gonzalez, & Sauer 2021). © This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Understanding the Excitation Wavelength Dependence and Thermal Stability of the SARS-CoV-2 Receptor-Binding Domain Using Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering and Machine Learning

COVID-19 has cost millions of lives worldwide. The constant mutation of SARS-CoV-2 calls for thorough research to facilitate the development of variant surveillance. In this work, we studied the fundamental properties related to the optical identification of the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of SARSCoV-2 spike protein, a key component of viral infection. The Raman modes of the SARS-CoV-2 RBD were captured by surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) using gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). The observed Raman enhancement strongly depends on the excitation wavelength as a result of the aggregation of AuNPs. The characteristic Raman spectra of RBDs from SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV were analyzed by principal component analysis that reveals the role of secondary structures in the SERS process, which is corroborated with the thermal stability under laser heating. We can easily distinguish the Raman spectra of two RBDs using machine learning algorithms with accuracy, precision, recall, and F1 scores all over 95%. Our work provides an in-depth understanding of the SARS-CoV-2 RBD and paves the way toward rapid analysis and discrimination of complex proteins of infectious viruses and other biomolecules.

School Connectedness and e-cigarette Susceptibility and Use in a Diverse Urban Adolescent Sample

Purpose: Adolescent school connectedness, particularly positive relationships with teachers, generally protects from health risk behaviors such as tobacco use, yet how this relates to adolescent e-cigarette use has not yet been described. This study examines the relationship between school connectedness and e-cigarette susceptibility and use in a diverse adolescent longitudinal sample. Methods: This is a secondary analysis of a school-based intervention including ten public schools in one urban school district. We surveyed 661 middle (66.6% eighth grade) and high school (33.4% eleventh grade) student participants at three time points between spring 2019 and spring 2020. The 2020 surveys were completed early in the COVID-19 pandemic, prior to the transition to remote learning. Respondents had a mean age of 14.1 years, were 53% female, and 28% identified as non-Hispanic white,15.6% as Hispanic, 23.8% as Black, 29.8% as Asian, and 2.9% as American Indian/Alaska Native. Ordinal logistic regression models examined unadjusted and adjusted associations between school connectedness (both baseline and concurrent) and an ordinal measure of e-cigarette susceptibility (any vs. none) and use (any vs. no past 30-day use) at all three time points. Covariates in the adjusted models included grade, intervention condition, English language learner status, gender, race/ethnicity, baseline use of any tobacco, and baseline weighted grade point average. Results: Levels of any tobacco use were low in the spring of 2019 (3.8%), e-cigarettes represented the predominant form of tobacco use (2.4%), and most respondents reported no e-cigarette susceptibility (69%). E-cigarette susceptibility and use remained relatively stable during the follow-up period. Higher levels of baseline school connectedness were consistently associated with lower odds of e-cigarette susceptibility/use in spring 2019 (OR: 0.37, 95% CI: 0.26, 0.53), fall 2019 (OR: 0.51, 95% CI: 0.35, 0.74), and spring 2020 (OR: 0.47, 95% CI: 0.30, 0.73). Higher levels of concurrent school connectedness were also associated with lower odds of e-cigarette susceptibility/use over time: spring 2019 (OR: 0.36, 95% CI: 0.25, 0.51), fall 2019 (OR: 0.48, 95% CI: 0.34, 0.66), and spring 2020 (OR: 0.65, 95% CI: 0.42, 0.99). Findings were similar for eighth and eleventh graders and did not differ significantly both before and after adjusting for other covariates. Conclusions: Both adolescents’ baseline levels of connection to their schools and their connectedness over time appear to serve as protective factors for e-cigarette susceptibility and use. These findings highlight the importance of promoting positive school experiences and strong teacher-student relationships as a mechanism of reducing adolescent risk behaviors such as e-cigarette use among diverse adolescent populations. Sources of Support: This project was funded by a grant from the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) grant number R01MD010586 (PI: Allen).

Development and Validation of Indirect Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays for Detecting Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in Cattle, Swine, and Chicken.

Multiple domestic and wild animal species are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Cattle and swine are susceptible to experimental SARS-CoV-2 infection. The unchecked transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in animal hosts could lead to virus adaptation and the emergence of novel variants. In addition, the spillover and subsequent adaptation of SARS-CoV-2 in livestock could significantly impact food security as well as animal and public health. Therefore, it is essential to monitor livestock species for SARS-CoV-2 spillover. We developed and optimized species-specific indirect ELISAs (iELISAs) to detect anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in cattle, swine, and chickens using the spike protein receptor-binding domain (RBD) antigen. Serum samples collected prior to the COVID-19 pandemic were used to determine the cut-off threshold. RBD hyperimmunized sera from cattle (n = 3), swine (n = 6), and chicken (n = 3) were used as the positive controls. The iELISAs were evaluated compared to a live virus neutralization test using cattle (n = 150), swine (n = 150), and chicken (n = 150) serum samples collected during the COVID-19 pandemic. The iELISAs for cattle, swine, and chicken were found to have 100% sensitivity and specificity. These tools facilitate the surveillance that is necessary to quickly identify spillovers into the three most important agricultural species worldwide.

Prevalence of Anxiety and Depression Among the General Population in Africa During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: Medical and socio-economic uncertainties surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic have had a substantial impact on mental health. This study aimed to systematically review the existing literature reporting the prevalence of anxiety and depression among the general populace in Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic and examine associated risk factors. Methods: A systematic search of the following databases African Journal Online, CINAHL, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science was conducted from database inception until 30th September 2021. Studies reporting the prevalence of anxiety and/or depression among the general populace in African settings were considered for inclusion. The methodological quality of included studies was assessed using the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Meta-analyses on prevalence rates were conducted using Comprehensive Meta-analysis software. Results: Seventy-eight primary studies (62,380 participants) were identified from 2,325 studies via electronic and manual searches. Pooled prevalence rates for anxiety (47%, 95% CI: 40-54%, I2 = 99.19%) and depression (48%, 95% CI: 39-57%, I2 = 99.45%) were reported across Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sex (female) and history of existing medical/chronic conditions were identified as major risk factors for anxiety and depression. Conclusions: The evidence put forth in this synthesis demonstrates the substantial impact of the pandemic on the pervasiveness of these psychological symptoms among the general population. Governments and stakeholders across continental Africa should therefore prioritize the allocation of available resources to institute educational programs and other intervention strategies for preventing and ameliorating universal distress and promoting psychological wellbeing. Systematic Review Registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42021228023, PROSPERO CRD42021228023.

COVID-19 Pandemic and Overall Mental Health of Healthcare Professionals Globally: A Meta-Review of Systematic Reviews.

OBJECTIVE: This meta-review aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of overall mental health of healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHOD: We conducted a comprehensive literature search on Academic Search Premier, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, and MEDLINE. A predefined eligibility criterion was used to screen the articles. The methodology quality of eligible studies was assessed using Joanna Briggs Institute checklist for systematic reviews. The data were narratively synthesised in line with the meta-review aim. RESULT: Forty systematic reviews (represented as K = 40), which reported data from 1,828 primary studies (N) and 3,245,768 participants, met the inclusion criteria. The findings from a pooled prevalence indicate that anxiety (16-41%, K = 30, N = 701), depression (14-37%, K = 28, N = 584), and stress/post-traumatic stress disorder (18.6-56.5%, K = 24, N = 327) were the most prevailing COVID-19 pandemic-related mental health conditions affecting healthcare workers. Other reported concerns included insomnia, burnout, fear, obsessive-compulsive disorder, somatization symptoms, phobia, substance abuse, and suicidal thoughts. Considering regions/countries, the highest anxiety was reported in the United-Kingdom [22.3, 95% Confidence Interval (CI):7-38, N = 4] compared to other countries, while the highest depression was in the Middle-East, (41, 95% CI:16-60, N = 5) and stress in the Eastern Mediterranean region (61.6, 95% CI:56.4-66.8, N = 2) compared to other regions. The most significant risk factors include female gender, younger age, being a nurse, and frontline professional. The most-reported coping strategies include individual/group psychological support, family/relative support, training/orientation, and the adequacy of personal protective equipment. CONCLUSION: It was concluded that healthcare professionals (nurses, doctors, allied health) have experienced various mental health issues during COVID-19 pandemic. The meta-review, therefore, recommends targeted interventions and health policies that address specific mental health issues to support health professionals worldwide during the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and similar future health crises. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD4202126200, identifier: CRD42021262001.

'No one was clapping for us': care, social justice and family carer wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic in Wales

The inequalities laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic have had particular implications for the wellbeing of family carers. This article considers these impacts from a social justice perspective, drawing on elements of the ethics of care and the capabilities approach, as well as findings from interviews with 30 family carers in Wales, UK, during the initial months of 'lockdown' in 2020. In the interviews, key themes emerged around the sense of loss, poorer outcomes, 'caring solidarity' and its absence, and concerns about the dominant discourse on care. Although rooted in the specifics of the pandemic experience, all have wider implications for how we understand wellbeing itself, and, in particular, its application to questions of social justice. We argue for the value of an extended conception of wellbeing - one that avoids the individualistic tendencies of some accounts and incorporates the importance of relationality and extrinsic material factors.

A cross sectional survey on the effect of COVID-19 related restrictions on undergraduate and postgraduate medical education in Qatar.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 pandemic has affected all dimensions of day to day life across the world and medical education was no exception. With this study, we aimed to understand the effect of nationwide restrictions on medical education in Qatar, the models of education adopted during this period and perceptions of participants to the same. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study utilizing an online questionnaire distributed via convenience sampling between April-October 2020. Study participants were faculty and trainees in governmental undergraduate and postgraduate medical education institutes. Two sets of questionnaires were designed for each group. They were asked a series of questions to assess pre- and post-COVID pandemic educational practices, their preferred teaching methods, and their familiarity with electronic teaching platforms. Faculty respondents were asked about their perceived barriers to delivery of medical education during the pandemic and their agreement on a 5-point Likert scale on specific elements. Trainees were asked a series of multiple-choice questions to characterize their pre- and post-COVID pandemic educational experiences. Both groups were asked open-ended questions to provide qualitative insights into their answers. Data were analysed using STATA software version 12.0. RESULTS: Majority of trainees (58.5%) responded that the pandemic has adversely affected medical education at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Trainees (58.5%) and faculty (35.7%) reported an increased reliance on e-learning. Trainees preferred face-to-face education, while faculty preferred a combination of models of education delivery (33.5% versus 37.1%, p = 0.38). Although 52.5% of the faculty had no previous experience of delivering education through e-learning modalities, 58.9% however felt confident in using e-learning software. CONCLUSIONS: Faculty and trainees agree that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the provision of medical education and training in Qatar, with an increased dependence on e-learning. As trainee's prefer face-to-face models of education, we may have to consider restructuring of medical curricula in order to ensure that optimum learning is achieved via e-learning, while at the same time enhancing our use, knowledge and understanding of the e -learning methods. Further research is warranted to assess if these changes have influenced objective educational outcomes like graduation rates or board scores.

Mass Spectrometric Assays Reveal Discrepancies in Inhibition Profiles for the SARS-CoV-2 Papain-Like Protease.

The two SARS-CoV-2 proteases, i. e. the main protease (Mpro ) and the papain-like protease (PLpro ), which hydrolyze the viral polypeptide chain giving functional non-structural proteins, are essential for viral replication and are medicinal chemistry targets. We report a high-throughput mass spectrometry (MS)-based assay which directly monitors PLpro catalysis in vitro. The assay was applied to investigate the effect of reported small-molecule PLpro inhibitors and selected Mpro inhibitors on PLpro catalysis. The results reveal that some, but not all, PLpro inhibitor potencies differ substantially from those obtained using fluorescence-based assays. Some substrate-competing Mpro inhibitors, notably PF-07321332 (nirmatrelvir) which is in clinical development, do not inhibit PLpro . Less selective Mpro inhibitors, e. g. auranofin, inhibit PLpro , highlighting the potential for dual PLpro /Mpro inhibition. MS-based PLpro assays, which are orthogonal to widely employed fluorescence-based assays, are of utility in validating inhibitor potencies, especially for inhibitors operating by non-covalent mechanisms.

Real world integration of the neurologic assessment in neuro-oncology (NANO) scale in clinical practice in patients with IDH-WT GBM

BACKGROUND: The neurologic assessment in neuro-oncology (NANO) scale was developed as a standardized metric to objectively measure neurologic function in patients with brain tumors and complement radiographic assessment in defining overall outcome. The scale has been incorporated in clinical trials. Early data is suggestive of feasibility and that NANO contributes to overall outcome assessment. However, real-world use of the NANO scale to drive clinical-decision making and the predictive value of the NANO scale to determine overall survival remains unclear in IDH-wt GBM. METHODS: We report on an ongoing study using the NANO scale to evaluate neurologic function in patients with IDH-wt GBM, seen at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI). Patient demographics, tumor histology and molecular status, treatment history and progression dates are being captured. NANO score, as collected by a built-in scale in our institutional electronic medical record (EMR), functional status (Karnofsky performance status) and corticosteroid dose are collected at prespecified time points (prior to start of therapy, and during each subsequent MRI visit). Changes in the NANO score will be correlated to overall survival. Statistical analyses including descriptive data analysis and generalized linear models will be performed using R (version 3.4.3). RESULTS: Since June 2020, 50 patients have been enrolled in this study, including 42 (84%) with ≥2 follow up visits. Study accrual was initially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but adaptation to a virtual platform for NANO allowed for improved recruitment and follow up of patients. Study results will be available for discussion at the 2021 SNO conference. CONCLUSIONS: Evaluation of neurologic function by NANO is feasible in a virtual framework in a prospective study in patients with GBM, aided by integration of the scale in our institutional EMR. NANO is able to objectively track neurologic function throughout disease course in IDH-wt GBM.

The efficacy of online office hours: An experience report

To facilitate assisting students while online during the COVID 19 pandemic, we transitioned to online office hours. These were managed by an automated queue which kept track of who was waiting in office hours, and for how long. We combined data about office hour usage with students' project commit and grade history. These data afforded us a unique look at the efficacy of office hours that the usual, casual drop-in style office hours, did not allow. Amongst other findings, we saw that while individual office hours visits did increase student grades, more visits during the term was negatively correlated with the final project outcome. © 2021 ACM.

Quantifying aviation’s contribution to global warming

Growth in aviation contributes more to global warming than is generally appreciated because of the mix of climate pollutants it generates. Here, we model the CO2 and non-CO2 effects like nitrogen oxide emissions and contrail formation to analyse aviation’s total warming footprint. Aviation contributed approximately 4% to observed human-induced global warming to date, despite being responsible for only 2.4% of global annual emissions of CO2. Aviation is projected to cause a total of about 0.1 °C of warming by 2050, half of it to date and the other half over the next three decades, should aviation’s pre-COVID growth resume. The industry would then contribute a 6%–17% share to the remaining 0.3 °C–0.8 °C to not exceed 1.5 °C–2 °C of global warming. Under this scenario, the reduction due to COVID-19 to date is small and is projected to only delay aviation’s warming contribution by about five years. But the leveraging impact of growth also represents an opportunity: aviation’s contribution to further warming would be immediately halted by either a sustained annual 2.5% decrease in air traffic under the existing fuel mix, or a transition to a 90% carbon-neutral fuel mix by 2050.