The psychology of vacationers' hotel brand choice in a post-pandemic world

The present study investigated patrons' intricate psychological process for hotel brand choice and preference. This research uncovered hotel selection attributes in shaping brand loyalty through customer experience, brand trust, brand attachment, age, and gender in the post-pandemic world. This paper categorized hotel selection attributes into that vacationers appreciate in the domestic tourism context. The findings indicated the significant effect of hotel selection attributes on customer experience, which in turn affect brand preference. Also, the moderating effect of age was identified in the relationship between hotel selection attributes and customer experience. This research is among the first to revisit hotel selection attributes for domestic tourism amid the pandemic and the way to cultivate the loyalty toward a hotel brand.

COVID-19 as a Magnifying Glass: Exploring the Importance of Relationships as Education Students Learn and Teach Robotics via Zoom

Ed+gineering, an NSF-funded program, adapted hands-on robotics instruction for online delivery in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This qualitative multiple case study shares the experiences of participating education students in spring 2021 as they collaborated virtually with engineering students and fifth graders to engineer bioinspired robots in an afterschool technology club adapted to be virtual. The online context reduced the education students' interactions with people other than the engineering students and fifth graders on their team and thus positioned COVID-19 as a metaphorical magnifying glass amplifying the critical role that these relationships played in influencing the project's outcomes. Through analyzing short-answer reflections, the researchers observed patterns in the ways the education students' interactions with their engineering and fifth-grade partners shaped their teaching self-efficacy and intention to integrate engineering and coding. Education students appeared to gain the most self-efficacy from feeling supported by, but not dependent upon, their engineering partners, and from adopting engineering-teaching roles. Satisfying interactions with fifth graders and successful production of functioning robots appeared to enhance education students' intention to integrate engineering and coding into their future instruction. Education students reported gaining self-efficacy for both engineering and coding during the experience, but were more likely to report feeling confident about teaching engineering than teaching coding at the project's end. Implications and lessons learned are shared, which may be particularly relevant for educators who prepare elementary education students to teach engineering in K-6 settings. © 2022, Purdue University Press. All rights reserved.

Treatment experience of regdanvimab for mild to moderate COVID-19 hospitalized patients in the Delta variant-predominant period in Korea

Background. Regdanvimab is the only monoclonal antibody available in Korea that targets the receptor-binding domain of SARS-CoV-2. Although the efficacy of regdanvimab against the original and beta variant viruses was demonstrated, it remains uncertain whether it has therapeutic effect on delta variant in the real world. Methods. We retrospectively evaluated the characteristics and clinical outcome of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 and treated with regdanvimab in two university-affiliated hospitals between September and December 2021, during the delta variant-predominant period in Korea. Results. A total of 374 mild to moderate COVID-19 patients treated with regdanvimab were included in this study. The median age was 65 (interquartile range, IQR 17-92) and 178 (47.6%) patients were male. A total of 322 (86.1%) patients had median 2 (IQR 1-3) risk factors for disease progression. The most common underlying disease was cardiovascular disease (198, 52.9%), followed by diabetes mellitus (95, 25.4%), cancer (40, 10.7%), chronic lung disease (34, 9.1%), immunosuppression (1 7, 4.5%), and chronic kidney disease (12, 3.2%). There were 43 (11.5%) patients with a body mass index >= 30. The median time to regdanvimab treatment from symptom onset was 4 (IQR 2-6) days. 226 (60.4%) patients were fully vaccinated, and 109 (29.1%) were not vaccinated at all. 185 (49.5%) patients had pneumonia. Most (342/374, 91.4%) patients improved without any other treatment for COVID-19 and were discharged. Only 32 (8.6%) patients required other therapeutic agents such as remdesivir, corticosteroids or oxygen therapy after regdanvimab administration. The time from regdanvimab infusion to addition of other therapeutic agents was median 5 days (IQR 3-6.5). When comparing the characteristics of 32 patients who needed other treatment with those who improved only with regdanvimab treatment, there was a significant difference in the presence of pneumonia (27/32, 84.4% vs. 158/ 342, 46.2%, P< 0.001) and there was no significant difference in vaccination status (15/ 32, 46.9% vs. 211/342 61.7% P=0.101). (Figure Presented) Conclusion. This study shows the potential clinical benefits of regdanvimab in mild to moderate COVID-19 patients in the real world during the delta variant predominant period in Korea.

Undergraduate Engineering and Education Students Reflect on Their Interdisciplinary Teamwork Experiences Following Transition to Virtual Instruction Caused by COVID-19

This study explores undergraduate engineering and education students’ perspectives on their interdisciplinary teams throughout the rapid transition to online learning and instruction from a face-to-face to a virtual format. In this qualitative study, students’ reflections and focus groups from three interdisciplinary collaborations were analyzed using the lens of Social Cognitive Theory. COVID-19 created a dramatic change in the environment such that the most immediate and direct impact on students’ experiences was on the environmental aspects of Bandura’s triadic reciprocal determinism model, which then triggered behavioral and personal responses to adapt to the new environment. Subsequent evidence of reciprocal effects between environmental, behavioral, and personal factors took place as students continued to adapt. Results suggest that the modifications made to transition the project fully online were meaningful experiences for students’ learning and teaching of engineering through teams. This interdisciplinary partnership provided both pre-service teachers and undergraduate engineering students with the opportunity to learn and practice content and professional skills that will be essential for success in future work environments. © 2022 by the authors.

Can We Make Our Robot Play Soccer? Influence of Collaborating with Preservice Teachers and Fifth Graders on Undergraduate Engineering Students' Learning during a Robotic Design Process (Work in Progress)

This work-in-progress paper describes engineering students' experiences in an NSF-funded project that partnered undergraduate engineering students with pre-service teachers to plan and deliver robotics lessons to fifth graders at a local school. This project aims to address an apparent gap between what is taught in academia and industry's expectations of engineers to integrate perspectives from outside their field to solve modern societal problems requiring a multidisciplinary approach. Working in small teams over Zoom, participating engineering, education, and fifth grade students designed, built, and coded bio-inspired COVID companion robots. The goal for the engineering students was to build new interprofessional skills, while reinforcing technical skills. The collaborative activities included: (1) training with Hummingbird BitTM hardware (e.g. sensors, servo motors) and coding platform, (2) preparing robotics lessons for fifth graders that explained the engineering design process (EDP), and (3) guiding the fifth graders in the design of their robots. Additionally, each undergraduate engineering student designed a robot following the theme developed with their preservice teacher and fifth grade partners. The intervention took place in Spring 2021 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, necessitating the investigators to make critical decisions to address challenges of implementing the intervention in an online setting. This paper describes those decisions as it investigates how the cross-disciplinary, mixed-aged collaboration with preservice teachers and fifth graders impacted undergraduate engineering students' learning and investment during the design process of their robots. Preliminary results of a regression analysis revealed a relationship between the engineering students' robot rankings and post-scores on the design process knowledge survey (r = 0.92). Consistencies and a few anomalies in this pattern were explained using qualitative reflections which were analyzed to determine students' level of investment in the project, overall perceptions, and the extent to which they focused on the fifth graders' ideas in their designs. In general, robot quality was linked to both undergraduate engineering students' level of investment and whether they focused on the fifth graders' ideas in their designs. Engineering students' overall perceptions of the project were generally positive, appreciating the role of cross-disciplinary and mixed-aged collaborations in their learning to brainstorm innovative solutions and interact effectively with professionals outside of engineering as they embark on tackling societal problems in the real world. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2022.

Strategies for Prevention of COVID-19 Transmission in Hospitals

Background. Infection control measures against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) within a hospital often rely on expert experience and intuition due to the lack of clear guidelines. This study surveyed current strategies for the prevention of the spread of COVID-19 in medical institutions. Methods. Upon systematic review of the guidelines at the national level, 14 key topics were selected. Six hospitals were provided an open survey that assessed their responses to these topics between August 11 and 25, 2020. Using these data, an online questionnaire was developed and sent to the infection control teams of 46 hospitals in South Korea. The survey was conducted between January 31, 2021, and February 20, 2021. Results. All 46 hospitals responded to the survey, and 24 hospitals (52.2%) had treated 100 or more cases of COVID-19. All hospitals operated screening clinics, and the criteria were respiratory symptoms (100%), fever (97.8%), and epidemiological association (93.5%). It was found that 89.1% (41/46) of hospitals allowed symptomatic patients to visit their general outpatient clinics if fever or respiratory symptoms were not associated with COVID-19. Most hospitals (87.2%;34/39) conducted polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for all hospitalized patients. Moreover, 76.1% (35/46) of hospitals implemented preemptive isolation policies for hospitalized patients, of which 97.1% (34/35) were released from isolation after a single negative PCR test. A little over half of the hospitals (58.7%;27/46) treated patients that met the national criteria for release from isolation but consistently had positive PCR results. Of these hospitals, 63% (17/27) used N95/KF94 masks, and 40.7% (11/27) used surgical masks without other personal protective equipment for treating them. Most hospitals (76.9%;20/26) accommodated them in shared rooms when the cycle threshold value of the PCR test was more than a certain value (34.6%;9/26), or after a certain period that satisfied the national criteria (26.9%;7/26). Finally, 76.1% (35/46) of hospitals performed emergency procedures or operations on suspected patients. Conclusion. Various guidelines were being applied by each medical institution, but there was a lack of an explicit set of national guidelines to support them.

New Distribution Strategies of Korean SMEs in Post COVID-19 Pandemic Era: Focusing on the Innovation of Official Distribution Channels

Purpose - In this study, we aim to explore new distribution strategies for sustainable growth in the era of the 4th industrial revolution, focusing on SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) in Korea, and suggest ways to upgrade the government's official distribution channel to the next level. Design/methodology - First of all, this paper explored the prior research, the current status of sales support for SMEs, and the changes in the distribution industry due to COVID-19 pandemic. Based on Moon (2016)'s ABCD strategic model - Agility, Benchmarking, Convergence, and Dedication, the study then derived directions in which official distribution channels should move and the new distribution strategy for Korean SMEs to secure competitive advantage. Findings - First, in terms of 'Agility', in order to upgrade official distribution channels, which are currently at some competitive disadvantages compared to private distribution companies, we must quickly introduce technologies for the 4th industrial revolution, such as AI, Big Data, etc., and establish precise strategies to strengthen the capabilities of SMEs. Second, in terms of `Benchmarking', the use of "Chamelezones" has been increasing to enhance the competitiveness of offline stores in line with recent ontact trends. Therefore, official distribution channels should also benchmark such cases, strengthening their competitiveness by utilizing offline spaces more efficiently and effectively. Third, in terms of 'Convergence', in line with the rapidly changing trend of the times, official distribution channels should also promote active partnerships with media commerce, e-commerce and ICT platforms, as well as cooperation with private retailers, and focus on creating synergy effects through them. Finally, from the perspective of 'Dedication', digitalization should be promoted step by step, finding the sector that can accelerate digital among the value chains of official distribution channels, and continuing to discuss how to digitize it realistically. Originality/value - Based on this analysis, we have presented strategies and implications for innovating official distribution channels for SMEs, which will contribute to enhancing the competitive advantage of official distribution channels in the post COVID-19 pandemic era.

HIV and COVID-19 inpatient outcomes: A matched retrospective multicentre analysis

Background: Clinical outcomes for people living with HIV (PLWH) hospitalized with COVID-19 infections have shown mixed outcomes. We conducted a multicentre, UK retrospective matched cohorts' analysis. Methods: Index cases were HIV+ COVID-19 PCR+ patients hospitalized between dates 1st February - 31st May 2020. HIV-negative patients were matched to PLWH up to a 3:1 ratio across 6 sites in England, by hospital site, test date +/- 7 days, age +/- 5 years, gender, index of multiple deprivation decile (IMDD) +/- 1. The primary outcome was patients achieving ≥2-point improvement on a 7-point ordinal scale or discharge from hospital by day 28, whichever was earlier. Follow up was right-censored at day 28 for patients still in hospital. Baseline characteristics and outcomes were analysed by Coxproportional hazards regression stratified by matching clusters using multiple imputation for missing data. The model adjusted for ethnicity, clinical frailty score, body mass index, baseline hypoxia, duration of symptoms, hypertension, diabetes, malignancy, cardiac, lung and renal disease. Results: 68 PLWH and 181 HIV-negative patients were included. PLWH had an HR of 0.57 (95%CI 0.39, 0.85;p=0.005) of achieving 2-point improvement or discharge compared to HIV-negative patients. The effect size of HIV-status was attenuated (aHR 0.70;0.43, 1.17;P=0.18) after adjustment in the multivariable model (Table 1), with baseline frailty (aHR=0.79;95%CI 0.65, 0.95;p=0.011 ), malignancy (aHR=0.37;95%CI 0.17, 0.82;p=0.014) having a greater impact on the primary outcome. Proportion of deaths (19.1% vs 19.3%, p=0.266) and patients requiring ventilation (23.5% vs 17.1%, p=0.25) were similar between PLWH and HIV-negative patients. Sensitivity analyses adjusting for age and excluding missing data, remained consistent with main findings. PLWH were frailer (median clinical frailty score 3 vs 2, p=0.0069), and had higher proportion of malignancies (14.7% vs 9.9%, p=0.29) although not statistically significant. Number of non-HIV co-morbidities (2 vs 2, p=0.16) and median BMI (27.7 vs 29.4, p=0.19) were similar. The median CD4 count of PLWH was 352cells/ μL (IQR 235, 619), and 63/68 (92.3%) were taking antiretroviral therapy. Conclusion: Although PLWH were less likely to achieve improvement or discharge, after adjustment the effect of HIV-status was attenuated. Increased baseline frailty and active malignancies remain associated with poorer COVID-19 outcomes.

A possible conceptualization of the information systems (IS) artifact: A general systems theory perspective1

This opinion paper addresses and contributes to the discourse on whether there is a central artifact that captures the essence of the information systems (IS) discipline. It argues that the IS discipline can, and should be, faithfully captured by an IS artifact. We offer a theoretical conception of the IS artifact by drawing upon General Systems Theory (GST). Key concepts of GST are distilled as meta-principles which inform our formulation of the IS artifact. We use the meta-principles of the IS artifact to develop salient assertions that theorize what an ‘IS’ is. To demonstrate the appropriateness of our conception, we illustrate how the assertions we developed are consistent with patterns related to emerging topics in IS research, notably, healthcare and IT, and Fintech. We formulate a research agenda on these emerging topics—based upon the conceptions developed in the paper—to guide future research. We conclude with the contributions and implications of our study, including the relevance for IT-enabled work in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

External validations of multimodal existing Termination of Resuscitation (TOR) rules for patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in COVID-19 era

Aim: Futile resuscitation can lead to transmission risk of infection and unnecessary transports for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in COVID-19 era. The various existing termination of resuscitation (TOR) rules have been derivate and validated in North America and Asian countries. This study aimed to evaluate the external validation of these rules in predicting survival outcomes for OHCA patients in COVID era. Methods: A multicenter observational study was carried out using WinCOVID-19 Daegu registry data, collected between February 18 and March 31, 2020. The outcomes of each rule were compared to actual patient survival outcomes. The sensitivity, specificity, false positive ratio (FPR) and positive predictive value (PPV) of each TOR rule was evaluated. Results: Of total 184 OHCAs, overall 170 patients were enrolled and had cardiac arrest of presumed cardiac etiology. TOR was recommended for 122 patients with the international BLS-TOR rule, with a specificity of 85% for predicting unfavorable survival outcomes, sensitivity 74%, FPR 0.8%, and PPV 99%. When the traditional BLS-TOR and KoCARC TOR rule II were applied to our registry, one patient met TOR criteria but survived at hospital discharge. With regard to criteria of FPR (upper limit of 95% CI < 5%) and PPV (>99%), only KoCARC BLS-TOR rule I, combining the factors of not being witnessed by EMT, an asystole at the scene, and no prehospital shock delivery or ROSC, was found to be the most superior of all the other TOR rules. Conclusion: Among the previous nine BLS and ALS TOR rules, KoCARC BLS-TOR rule I was most suitable for predicting poor survival outcomes and showed improvement of diagnostic performances. Further research into variations in resources and treatment protocols (e.g., CPR quality, and post-cardiac arrest care) between facilities, regions and cultures will be useful for determining the feasibility of BLS-TOR rules for COVID-19 patients worldwide.