ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has had vast effects on the concept of education as a whole. During the pandemic, students had no access to physical teaching practices, which had been adapted worldwide as the principal way of education since the 1800's. Due to the restrictions imposed to garner safety from the spread of the virus, this methodology had to be modified based on the situation at hand. Alternatives through the usage of Virtual Learning Platforms (VLP), Online Tutoring Platforms (OTP), Web Conferencing Platforms (WCP) and multiple assessment tools like plagiarism checker, poll sites, quiz platforms, online proctored examinations (OPE) started gaining popularity among all institutes to cope with the limitations levied. The technologies molded a path for student-teacher interaction, performance assessments, document sharing and online tutoring. This research highlights the lack of online tutoring equipment, educators' limited expertise with online learning, the knowledge gap, a inimical atmosphere for independent study, equity, and academic success in postsecondary learning. The goal of this review is to present an overview of available technologies for online teaching that can be used to improve the quality of education during COVID-19. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
Women* and other minoritized groups experience an unwelcoming environment in higher education [1-5]. This is particularly acute in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields, where students have reported experiencing both explicit and subtle biased behaviors by faculty, administrators and fellow students [6-12]. The behaviors include stereotypical comments about women and other minoritized students' abilities, microaggressions, sexist humor, etc. Studies have shown that such behavior can lead to negative cognitive effects which in turn can affect student retention and graduation rates [13-15]. The aim of this paper is to document the progression and results of efforts undertaken at The Ohio State University to make the climate more welcoming for minoritized students in the College of Engineering (COE) by offering a course that encourages ally development. Ally development involves training people in the dominant social group and helping them understand the inequities placed on those in the minority [16-17]. This is especially crucial to have in engineering, where on average, the percentage of women receiving a bachelor's degree in the United States is 20.9%. Similarly, the percentage of Hispanic students receiving a bachelor's degree in the United States is 11.4%, Black/African American students is 4.2%, Native American students is.3%, and Hawaiian/Pacific Islander students is.2% [18]. Ally development, based on the framework created by Broido [19] hypothesizes that engaging students from the dominant group as allies to promote equity in engineering is an innovative strategy for creating a positive climate for minoritized students - and, in turn, ALL students - a factor that influences their retention and graduation rates [20-21]. This initiative started as an informal cohort in 2015-2016 -training students, who identify as men, to be allies for other students. The primary focus of the cohort was on gender. This cohort met weekly to learn about power, privilege, bias, and microaggressions. The participants then developed and implemented outreach activities in the university community. Taking the positive aspects of the cohort, a semester-long course was developed and offered every semester for undergraduate men students around the cohort concepts. Shortly thereafter a complementary class, for students who identify as women, was developed with similar topics as well as additions including confidence and empowerment. In Autumn 2018 the men and women's courses were rebranded as “Inclusive Leadership” courses with topics including personal brand, strengths, values, identity, power, privilege, bias, and microaggressions. The focus extended beyond gender to include race, sexual orientation, physical ability, and other categories of social identity. Gender non-binary students had the opportunity to choose between either of the two courses. In Autumn 2019, the courses' enrolled students were limited to new first year engineering students who self-selected to take part in a pilot “Inclusive Leadership Cohort”. Students in this cohort took the Inclusive Leadership Course concurrently with the first two required engineering courses in their first two semesters at The Ohio State University. Due to COVID, in Autumn 2020, the courses went back to being open to all undergraduate engineering students. Finally, for the Spring of 2021, a single non-gender specific course was offered for the first time. This paper documents the perceived impact on the students who took the courses, lessons learned in each stage of the initiative, and the initial progress on the first non-gender specific Inclusive Leadership Course offered in Spring 2021. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2021
ABSTRACT
Background : Infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the Covid-19 global pandemic, causes a respiratory illness and can severely impact other organ systems, possibly precipitated by cytokine storm, septic shock, thrombosis and oxidative/nitrative stress. SARSCoV-2 infected individuals may be asymptomatic or may experience mild, moderate, or severe symptoms with or without pneumonia. Aims : The mechanisms by which SARS-CoV-2 infect humans is largely unknown. Methods : Murine Hepatitis Virus 1 infusion in mice was used in this study which is a highly relevant and surrogate animal model for SARS-CoV-2. Results : We found that MHV-1-induced animal death (60%), as well as weight loss. MHV-1-infected mice at day 7-8 showed thrombi of pulmonary vessels, arterial endothelial swelling, inflammation and granular degeneration of vascular endothelial cells, and margination of leukocytes into the interstitium. Furthermore, peribronchiolar interstitial infiltration, bronchiolar epithelial cell necrosis and intra-alveolar necrotic debris, alveolar exudation (surrounding alveolar walls have capillaries that are dilated and filled with RBCs), mononuclear cell infiltration, hyaline membrane formation and interstitial edema were also observed in these mice. When compared to those uninfected, infected mice showed severe liver vascular congestion, luminal thrombosis of portal and sinusoidal vessels, hepatocytes degeneration, cells necrosis and hemorrhagic changes. Acute tubular necrosis and thrombosis were observed in the kidney. The heart also showed thrombosis, severe interstitial edema, vascular congestion and dilation, and red blood cells extravasation into interstitium. Conclusions : Our findings suggest that the widespread thrombosis seen in highly relevant and surrogate animal model for SARS-CoV-2 mimics the reported findings in SARS-CoV-2-infected humans and represents an attractive, safer, animal model to study SARS-CoV-2 infection, pathophysiologic mechanisms and potential therapeutic interventions.
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Axillary sentinel node biopsy for melanoma is routinely performed under general anaesthesia. Emerging evidence has shown general anaesthetics are associated with increased mortality in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the interest of patient safety, we have designed a series of bespoke axillary regional blocks enabling surgeons to remove nodes up to and including level III without the need for a general anaesthetic. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of performing axillary sentinel node biopsy under such blocks. METHODS: Approval was granted by the Joint Study Review Committee on behalf of the Research and Ethics Department. Ten consecutive patients having axillary sentinel node biopsy for melanoma were included in this prospective study. Patients completed a Quality of Recovery-15 (QoR15) questionnaire preoperatively and 24 h postoperatively. DISCUSSION: One patient had a positive sentinel node, the remining were negative. A significant reduction in time spent in hospital post-operatively (p = 0.0008) was observed. QoR15 patient reported outcome measures demonstrated high levels of satisfaction evidenced by lack of statistical difference between pre and post-operative scores (p = 0.0118). 80% of patients were happy to have a regional block and 90% were happy to attend hospital during the pandemic. CONCLUSION: ASNB under regional block is safe, negates risks associated with performing GAs during the COVID-19 pandemic and facilitates quicker theatre turnover and discharge from hospital. Collaboration between anaesthetic and surgical teams has enabled this change in practice. There is a learning curve with both patient selection, education and development of technique.