Homeschooling

Homeschooling was occasionally a subject of popular interest pre-COVID, when media reported horrific cases of child abuse under the guise of homeschooling, or when controversies erupted over efforts in state legislatures or local school boards to introduce very modest oversight measures. COVID made homeschooling something nearly every parent considered as a long-term educational option for their children, and something arguably – depending on one’s definition of homeschooling – nearly all experienced. This article extracts from the societal experience of forced remote learning, challenging theoretical questions about the distinction between homeschooling and “regular schooling”;the wisdom of traditional brick-and-mortar, multi-service schooling;and the appropriateness of state officials passing judgement on any private form of schooling. © 2022, Canadian Philosophy Education Society. All rights reserved.

Impact of COVID-19 on the Trucking Industry

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in unprecedented changes in the trucking industry. 70% of all freight tonnage goes on trucks, including essential items such as food, medical supplies, and cleaning products. COVID-19 caused surges in demand for many of these products, impacting the trucking companies. Medical supplies, cleaning supplies, food, and even the COVID-19 vaccine itself rely on the trucking industry to be distributed across the nation, creating a new, increased demand for goods. The increase in demand caused a surge of trucks on the road, which is a good sign for the business, but at a cost to the drivers during these times. Closures due to the pandemic created problems for long-haul truckers who are on the road and need a place to rest, get gas, or buy food. Besides, truckers are now expected to work longer hours and make longer trips to meet the new demand. The limitations that the pandemic has created on the trucking industry have also affected the overall revenue. Trucking companies are reluctant to send trucks to highly impacted areas, even if those areas contribute most to the increased demand. This paper will explore the different ways that COVID-19 affected the trucking industry, how they responded, and how their response continues to affect the industry. © IEOM Society International.

Hierarchy of values in recovery of respiratory failure: Prospective study of patients and caregivers

BACKGROUND: Survivors of acute respiratory failure (ARF) face challenges that impact their quality of life across multiple domains. This prospective study aims to identify a hierarchy of preferred outcomes by ranking nine domains of recovery, over the period of six months post discharge among patients and their caregivers. METHODS: This is a single-center companion study to the multi-center APICS (Addressing Post Intensive Care Syndrome) study. This protocol has been expanded to enroll a maximum of 80 patient-caregiver dyads at BIDMC including a subset of COVID positive patients. Eligible patients are those who meet ARF criteria in the ICUs at BIDMC for at least 24 hours and are expected to be discharged home are recruited. Patients and caregivers participate in a survey in which they rank 9 aspects of recovery from critical illness from being most important (1) to least important (9). Patients also participate in the MOCA/MOCA-blind questionnaire at baseline and 6-month follow-up. RESULTS: This study is actively enrolling. To date, we have enrolled 21 patients and 5 caregivers. At discharge, 43% of patients ranked survival as most important, while 24% ranked cognitive function as most important. 80% of caregivers ranked survival as most important at discharge. Survival remained the highest priority for patients at 6 months followed by physical, cognitive and pulmonary recovery respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Both survivors and caregivers valued survival as the most important construct of recovery. Cognitive function followed survival as the second most important construct. Preliminary results indicate that these preferences may change over a period of time however small sample size limits broad generalizations. Final results are expected to help delineate a hierarchy of patient centered outcomes in this population.

Shifts in learning assistants' self-determination due to COVID-19 disruptions in Calculus II course delivery.

BACKGROUND: The Learning Assistant (LA) model with its subsequent support and training has evidenced significant gains for undergraduate STEM learning and persistence, especially in high-stakes courses like Calculus. Yet, when a swift and unexpected transition occurs from face-to-face to online, remote learning of the LA environment, it is unknown how LAs are able to maintain their motivation (competence, autonomy, and relatedness), adapt to these new challenges, and sustain their student-centered efforts. This study used Self-Determination Theory (SDT) to model theoretical aspects of LAs' motivations (persistence and performance) both before and after changes were made in delivery of a Calculus II course at Texas Tech University due to COVID-19 interruptions. RESULTS: Analysis of weekly written reflections, a focus group session, and a post-course questionnaire of 13 Calculus II LAs throughout Spring semester of 2020 showed that LAs' reports of competence proportionally decreased when they transitioned online, which was followed by a moderate proportional increase in reports of autonomy (actions they took to adapt to distance instruction) and a dramatic proportional increase in reports of relatedness (to build structures for maintaining communication and building community with undergraduate students). CONCLUSIONS: Relatedness emerged as the most salient factor from SDT to maintain LA self-determination due to the COVID-19 facilitated interruption to course delivery in a high-stakes undergraduate STEM course. Given that online learning continues during the pandemic and is likely to continue after, this research provides an understanding to how LAs responded to this event and the mounting importance of relatedness when LAs are working with undergraduate STEM learners. Programmatic recommendations are given for enhancing LA preparation including selecting LAs for autonomy and relatedness factors (in addition to competence), modeling mentoring for remote learners, and coaching in best practices for online instruction.

Modelling COVID-19 severity in the Republic of Ireland using patient co-morbidities, socioeconomic profile and geographic location, February to November 2020.

Understanding patient progression from symptomatic COVID-19 infection to a severe outcome represents an important tool for improved diagnoses, surveillance, and triage. A series of models have been developed and validated to elucidate hospitalization, admission to an intensive care unit (ICU) and mortality in patients from the Republic of Ireland. This retrospective cohort study of patients with laboratory-confirmed symptomatic COVID-19 infection included data extracted from national COVID-19 surveillance forms (i.e., age, gender, underlying health conditions, occupation) and geographically-referenced potential predictors (i.e., urban/rural classification, socio-economic profile). Generalised linear models and recursive partitioning and regression trees were used to elucidate COVID-19 progression. The incidence of symptomatic infection over the study-period was 0.96% (n = 47,265), of whom 3781 (8%) required hospitalisation, 615 (1.3%) were admitted to ICU and 1326 (2.8%) died. Models demonstrated an increasingly efficacious fit for predicting hospitalization [AUC 0.816 (95% CI 0.809, 0.822)], admission to ICU [AUC 0.885 (95% CI 0.88 0.89)] and death [AUC of 0.955 (95% CI 0.951 0.959)]. Severe obesity (BMI ≥ 40) was identified as a risk factor across all prognostic models; severely obese patients were substantially more likely to receive ICU treatment [OR 19.630] or die [OR 10.802]. Rural living was associated with an increased risk of hospitalization (OR 1.200 (95% CI 1.143-1.261)]. Urban living was associated with ICU admission [OR 1.533 (95% CI 1.606-1.682)]. Models provide approaches for predicting COVID-19 prognoses, allowing for evidence-based decision-making pertaining to targeted non-pharmaceutical interventions, risk-based vaccination priorities and improved patient triage.

Are you prepared for the decade of healthy aging 2020-2030? A panel summary from the academy of nutrition and dietetics 2020 food & nutrition conference & expo virtual event

The World Health Organization's Decade of Healthy Aging began in 2020. This article focuses on nutrition's role in healthy aging with examples of older adult nutrition programs in Canada, the European Union, and the United States, including work of the Canadian Malnutrition Task Force, the European Malnutrition in the Elderly Knowledge Hub, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs. These programs have integrated screening for frailty and malnutrition into older adult care across the spectrum of settings, which has become increasingly important during the global COVID-19 pandemic. This article demonstrates the important role of nutrition in promoting healthy aging.

M&A Report 2021: Japan

J Ryan Dwyer III, Kyle Jackson and Tsuguhito Omagari, K&L Gates

Designing for virtual touch: A real-time co-created online art experience

"[i miss your touch]"is a web platform that allows people who are in separate locations to co-create a real-time artwork within a shared virtual environment. This platform enables a live collaboration to occur between two participants and PluginHUMAN (the artists). [i miss your touch] responds to participants? movements. PluginHUMAN affect, in real-time, live video streams from participants? webcams. Their affected movements are combined and displayed together, allowing participants to play, dance and make art in a shared virtual environment. This project launched as a rapid response to COVID-19 lockdown and physical distancing rules. Our approach to designing a novel, real-time interactive virtual art experience may benefit game designers and researchers who seek to: provide players with the experience of virtual touch;those exploring embodied play;designers who are providing co-creation opportunities for players;and those interested in the intersection of technology, art and play. © 2020 ACM.