Editors' Introduction: Teacher Candidates and Their Preparation: Inclusion, Care, and Critique

[...]the fourth article is a self-study of one teacher educator's ability to guide and support teacher candidates during the COVID-19 lockdown. Social emotional resiliency is no longer a nice aside but a central component to preventing future learning loss. [...]as the editorial team for Teacher Education Quarterly, we hope that these articles provide you with the opportunity to reflect, connect with the authors' ideas, and utilize their recommendations to support your own efforts to improve your teacher education program, teacher education courses, or to support the various other educator stakeholders that are in partnership with your schools of education. [...]the self-study article by Orit Schwarz-Franco and Oren Ergas, "Links in the Chain-A Self-Study ofEmotional Support in Teacher Education During COVID-19 Lockdown," reflects critically on a chain of emotional support by stakeholders linking a preservice philosophy teacher, a pedagogical instructor, a school counselor, and a high school student during the first COVID-19 lockdown.

THE PHILIPPINES 2021: POPULIST LEGACY AND LOOMING UNCERTAINTIES

The Philippines started 2021 with a temporary relief as the arrival of limited COVID-19 vaccine supplies ushered in the government’s launch of its national inoculation programme. However, the periodic surge of COVID-19 cases exposed the constant inadequacies of the Philippine pandemic response, straining once again the country’s struggling healthcare system and obstructing the path to economic recovery. With the Filipinos still enduring the pandemic, the government became embroiled in various allegations of corruption and cronyism over the utilization of pandemic funds, which sparked public outcry. President Rodrigo Duterte responded by attacking constitutionally independent agencies that scrutinized the executive branch’s alleged excesses, partiality, and incompetence. The national government’s policies that further eroded the fragile Philippine democracy were also apparent in how the state agents were increasingly cracking down on the country’s civic space, targeting left-leaning activists and the media. The year under review also captured the preparations and manoeuvring of the country’s dominant political forces for the 2022 presidential election. Moreover, it saw fresh trajectories and dilemmas in Philippine foreign relations. China’s maritime incursions tested Philippines-China relations despite the latter’s generous pandemic aid. Conversely, China’s increasing threat and the demand for COVID-19 vaccines prompted the Philippines to re-establish its ties with the United States. Finally, the International Criminal Court’s decision to investigate Duterte’s controversial drug war, albeit temporarily halted, might pave the way for a comprehensive international probe into the Philippines’ deteriorating human rights situation. These key intertwining developments in the year under review would cement the legacy of Duterte’s populist regime as he prepares to leave the presidency next year. © Viella s.r.l. & Associazione Asia Maior.

Editors' Introduction

[...]we ask ourselves once again as teacher educators, how can we continue to best prepare future teachers for the complexity that faces them as they work with students-locally, nationally, and in global contexts-utilizing a culturally and language diverse approach to general education classrooms as well as special needs students in inclusive settings? The authors are both from our Department of Learning and Teaching within the School of Leadership and Education Sciences at the University of San Diego. In "Critical, Project-Based Clinical Experiences as Sustainable 'Third Space' Reforms" Kristien Zenkov and Kristine E. Pytash-university faculty members working across college and school contexts in the U.S.-detail how teacher educators might address two challenges facing the teacher education field: (a) the long-standing critique of traditional teacher preparation in the United States as an isolated, questionably relevant ivory tower endeavor;and (b) the community and political concerns and tensions that teachers and students are facing outside of, and increasingly within, school. [...]aspects of professional practice that improve teaching and learning, for example, critical self-reflection, professional growth opportunities, collaborative relationships, and self-care, can quickly fall to the wayside as teachers are asked to take on new responsibilities related to managing COVID-19, increasing social emotional learning in light of the many challenges student are currently facing, and reacting to the current political climate pitting social and racial justice against traditional curriculum choices.

Seroprevalence against the SARS CoV-2 virus in health sciences undergraduate students from a public university

Introduction. On March 5 2020, the first case of COVID-19 was reported and on March 16, order of quarantine was issued which resulted in interruption of academic activities. Objective. Determine the seroprevalence and risk factors associated to SARS-CoV-2 infection in undergraduate students of the school of medicine in a public university. Methods. Descriptive cross-sectional study by means of a serology survey to a representative sample of the population of undergraduate students of a health sciences school using a rapid test to detect antibodies IgG, IGM or both in a total blood sample by digital punction. Results. On August 2021, 24,92% (IC95% 18,2-33,0) of students of health sciences tested positive for antibodies anti SARS-CoV-2, 21,2% for IgG, 2,3% for IGM and 0,8% for both;75,08% (IC95% 66,9-82,0) tested negative antibodies. Conclusions. The seroprevalence in students was not different from the seroprevalence in general population. Therefore, in order to restart presential academic activities this population must be vaccinated and other nonpharmacological requirements should be accomplished for prevention and control of the pandemics such as natural ventilation of classrooms, use of personal protection equipment – masks, hand washing and keeping physical distancing.

Challenges of nuclear medicine in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction: In December 2019, a new disease emerged, COVID-19, until it was declared by the World Health Organization as a pandemic. Articles and useful guides have been published internationally for the protection of personnel and guidelines for action in the Nuclear Medicine Services for the practice of examinations or treatments for patients who are positive for SARS CoV-2 or highly suspicious. Objective: To analyze the experiences and recommendations for the Nuclear Medicine Services of different working groups in the face of the challenges posed by maintaining medical care in times of COVID-19 and to identify which ones could be applied in our country. Methods: A bibliographic review was carried out, in Spanish and English, of publications in the course of this year. The search engines Google, Google Scholar and Pubmed were used. All the information on the recommendations and guidelines for the work of the Nuclear Medicine Services in the pandemic stage of COVID-19 and the findings found in nuclear medicine studies in asymptomatic patients, showing morphological and functional images characteristic of the pneumonia caused by COVID-19, was collected and organized. Analysis and synthesis of the information: The different measures proposed by working groups in Asia, Europe and North America were analyzed, the most relevant were identified and it was shown that they are also the ones that coincide in almost all the recommendations. Conclusions: It is proposed what general measures could be adopted in Cuban Nuclear Medicine Services in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lithium salts as a treatment for COVID-19: Pre-clinical outcomes.

INTRODUCTION: Identifying effective drugs for Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is urgently needed. An efficient approach is to evaluate whether existing approved drugs have anti-SARS-CoV-2 effects. The antiviral properties of lithium salts have been studied for many years. Their anti-inflammatory and immune-potentiating effects result from the inhibition of glycogen synthase kinase-3. AIMS: To obtain pre-clinical evidence on the safety and therapeutic effects of lithium salts in the treatment of COVID-19. RESULTS: Six different concentrations of lithium, ranging 2-12 mmol/L, were evaluated. Lithium inhibited the replication of SARS-CoV-2 virus in a dose-dependent manner with an IC50 value of 4 mmol/L. Lithium-treated wells showed a significantly higher percentage of monolayer conservation than viral control, particularly at concentrations higher than 6 mmol/L, verified through microscopic observation, the neutral red assay, and the determination of N protein in the supernatants of treated wells. Hamsters treated with lithium showed less intense disease with fewer signs. No lithium-related mortality or overt signs of toxicity were observed during the experiment. A trend of decreasing viral load in nasopharyngeal swabs and lungs was observed in treated hamsters compared to controls. CONCLUSIONS: These results provide pre-clinical evidence of the antiviral and immunotherapeutic effects of lithium against SARS-CoV-2, which supports an advance to clinical trials on COVID-19's patients.

E-Learning y empoderamiento de las trabajadoras del hogar centroamericanas en Barcelona en tiempos de COVID-19: el caso del CITE

This article focuses on the case of Central American female domestic and care workers in Barcelona, many of whom live and work as undocumented migrants and are unaware of their rights and the mechanisms to exercise them. The Trade Union Confederation of Workers’ Commissions, from its CITE association, has vast experience in training foreigners through the delivery of face-to-face workshops on labor rights that have enabled their empowerment. With the COVID-19 emergency, the face-to-face workshop format switched to virtual for the first time, through the use of Google Meet (formerly Hangouts Meet) application, allowing mobile learning (m-learning). The results presented show how this new training modality, despite the challenges it poses to organizers in terms of technological and human resources, not only achieves the empowerment of the benefitted migrant women, but also improves the accessibility of this vulnerable group to training. © 2022 Association of Iberian and Latin American Studies of Australasia (AILASA).

Editors' Introduction

Medina's summary article offers continued probes into who should be allowed to teach our nation's children and our most enduring priorities of attracting, preparing, cultivating, and retaining teachers. [...]utilizing the s submitted by the authors, descriptions of the four articles offer different perspectives from multiple settings. [...]these findings have implications for special education teacher preparation for edTPA and therefore future research is proposed. In closing, we quote from Dr. Medina's response article in this ussue that summarizes our current state of teacher education: "In these times we are living and teaching (eg., school closures, global pandemic, racial injustice, environmental collapse, etc.), our most enduring priority continues to be about attracting, preparing, cultivating, and retaining teachers appropriately.

D-dimer as an ICU Admission Risk Predictor in COVID-19 Patients, A Prospective Study

Background. Since the onset of the 2019 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the rapid increase in community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) cases has led to an excessive rate of intensive care units (ICU) admissions, a rate varying between 5-18%, depending on the country. Consequently, the study of serum biomarkers, such as D-dimer, have been utilized to identify patient with severe disease. However, further data is needed to confirm the association between this serum concentration of D-dimer and the risk of ICU admission. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine if serum concentration of D-dimer predict the risk of ICU admission in patients with COVID-19 and CAP. Methods. A prospective observational study was carried out at the Clinica Universidad de La Sabana, Colombia. Patients older than 18 years old, hospitalized for COVID-19 or CAP were included. Then, patients were stratified into ICU and non-ICU patients. Plasma samples were collected within the first 24 hours of hospital admission to quantify D-dimer using the PATHFAST system. Concentrations were compared among groups and to assess the biomarker capacity to predict ICU admission risk, ROC curves were used. Finally, a DeLong test was applied to compare their differences. Results. A total of 240 patients diagnosed with lower respiratory tract infection were included in the study. 88 patients were COVID-19 negative (CAP) and 152 were positive. Plasma concentrations of D-dimer (μg/ml) were significantly higher in COVID-19 patients admitted to the ICU when compared with non-ICU COVID-19 admitted patients (Median [IQR];1.54 [0.9-3.25] Vs. 1.13 [0.69-1.69], p=0.005). The area under curve (AUC) ROC to predict ICU admission was 0.62 among COVID-19 patients. DeLong's test p value was 0.24. Serum D-dimer an ICU admission Conclusion. D-dimer seems to be a promising tool to identify COVID-19 patients with disease. However, this predicting capacity was not observed in CAP patients. Further studies are needed to identify the mechanisms underling the elevation of D-dimer in COVID-19 patients.

Presepsin as a Prognostic Biomarker for Mortality in COVID-19 Patients vs Community-Adquired Pneumonia (CAP) Patients

Background. Lower respiratory tract infections such as community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are the main current causes of mortality worldwide. Several scores and biomarkers have been proposed to identify patients at risk of dying, with unclear results. Presepsin is a glycoprotein expressed on the surface of the membrane of monocytes and macrophages and its utility has been proven in sepsis as a predictor of severity and treatment response. However, it is unknown the utility of this biomarker as a mortality predictor among COVID-19 and CAP patients. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the utility of serum presepsin to identify patients at risk of dying due to COVID-19 and CAP. Methods. A prospective observational study was conducted at Clinica Universidad de La Sabana, Colombia. We included 240 patients who required hospital admission due to CAP or COVID-19. Plasma samples were collected within 24 hours of admission. The presepsin concentration was quantified using the PATHFAST system. Afterwards, a two-tailed test was used to compare mortality rates among patients and their presepsin plasma concentration. Lastly, the ROC was calculated to determine presepsin's sensibility as a mortality predictor. Results. A total of 88 patients with CAP and 152 patients with COVID-19 were included in the study. The median [with IQR] in Presepsin plasma concentration was higher in all patients who died (920 [573 - 2340] vs 573 [307,5 - 1052,5], p-value< 0.0001). Furthermore, comparing to the study group, the median concentration of presepsin was higher in patients deceased by COVID-19 than those who survived. (1358 [642,8 - 2976,8] vs 570 [333,2 - 1007,5], p-value< 0.0001). In addition, the area under the curve (AUC) ROC of presepsin to predict risk of mortality was 0.769. DeLong's test comparing ROC curves in COVID-19 and CAP patients had a p-value=0.073. Conclusion. Plasma concentrations of presepsin plasma were higher among COVID-19 patients who died. Moreover, serum concentration of presepsin were not useful to identify CAP patients at risk of dying. However, practical use of Presepsin as a prognostic biomarker of severity is yet to be assessed as further studies are needed.

High Levels of Serum Troponin i Indicate Higher Mortality Risk in Patients with COVID-19

Background. Up until this day, over 3.5 million fatalities related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have been registered worldwide by the World Health Organization. Healthcare professionals require prognostic tools for COVID-19 patients in order to guide treatment strategies. Elevated troponin levels, a biomarker of cardiac injury, have been detected among patients with COVID-19, hence associating it with cardiac injury. Although several studies have mentioned it, the role of troponin as a prognosis biomarker is unclear. Elevation in troponin levels has been observed in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). However, its association with mortality is scarcely mentioned in literature. Thus, we sought to determine the utility of serum troponin I levels as a mortality predictor for patients with COVID-19 and CAP. Methods. A prospective observational study was carried out at Clinica Universidad de La Sabana, Colombia, with patients hospitalized due to CAP and COVID-19. Troponin biomarker was quantified in serum samples using the PATHFAST system within the first 24 hours of hospital admission. Serum concentrations of troponin were compared among study groups. To assess the biomarkeŕs capacity to predict mortality, ROC curves were used, quantifying their differences through the DeLonǵs test. Results. A total of 88 patients with CAP and 152 with COVID-19 were included in the study. In all cohort the median [IQR] serum concentration of troponin (ng/ml) was higher in those who died (34.2, [9.74-384] vs 5.89, [2.44-27.9] p< 0.001). Furthermore, troponin was higher in deceased patients with COVID-19 vs those who survived (77.35 [11.9-346.5] vs. 4.88 [2.10-13.02], p< 0.001). However, there was no significant difference between CAP deceased and not deceased patients (18.1 [8.52-398] vs 15.7 [3.75-62.8], p=0.16). Although sample size might be a limitation when analyzing these results, the AUC ROC of troponin I to predict mortality was 0.799 for COVID-19 and 0.615 for CAP, the DeLongs test for compared ROC curves was a p= 0.0351. A. Serum troponin I and mortality due to lower respiratory tract infections B. Serum troponin I to predict mortality in patients with lower tract infections C. ROC curve for serum troponin I to predict risk of mortality Conclusion. Overall, troponin levels were higher among deceased patients. Our findings suggest that high troponin levels are a mortality predictor for patients with COVID-19.

Comparative Evaluation of Phenotypic Synergy Tests vs. Resist-4 O.K.N.V® and NG Test Carba 5® Lateral Flow Immunoassays for the Detection and Differentiation of Carbapenemases in Enterobacterales and Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Background. The spread of carbapenem resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa and carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) has had a great impact on morbidity and mortality. COVID-19 pandemic has favoured the selection of these microorganisms because of the excessive and prolonged use of broad-spectrum antibiotics and the outbreaks related to patient transfer between hospitals and inadequate use of personal protective equipment. Therefore, detection is considered essential for their control. Our aim was to compare conventional phenotypic synergy tests and two lateral flow immunoassays for detecting carbapenemases in Enterobacterales and P. aeruginosa. Methods. We analysed 100 carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacilli isolates, 80 Enterobacterales and 20 Pseudomonas aeruginosa, (86 isolates producing KPC, NDM, OXA-48, IMP and VIM carbapenemases and 14 non-carbapenemase-producing isolates). We performed a modified Hodge test, boronic acid and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) synergy tests, and two lateral flow immunoassays: RESIST-4 O.K.N.V (Coris BioconceptR) and NG Test Carba 5R (NG BiotechR). Results. In total, 76 KPC, 7 VIM, 1 NDM, 1 OXA-48 and 1 isolate coproducing KPC + NDM enzymes were included. The concordance of different methods estimated by Kappa index was 0.432 (Standard error: 0.117), thus showing a high variability with the synergy tests with boronic acid and EDTA and reporting 16 false negatives that were detected by the two immunochromatographic methods. Co-production was only detected using immunoassays. Conclusion. Conventional phenotypic synergy tests with boronic acid and EDTA used for detecting carbapenemases are suboptimal and their routine use should be reconsidered. They depend on the degree of enzyme expression and the distance between disks. Lateral flow immunoassay tests are a rapid and cost-effective tool to detect and differentiate carbapenemases, improving clinical outcomes through targeted therapy and promoting infection prevention measures.

High Serum Levels of Interleukin-10 as a Predictor Factor of In-Hospital Mortality in COVID-19 Patients

Background. Since the spread of SARS-CoV-2 worldwide, there has been the need for scores and biomarkers to identify patients at risk of died or requiring admission to the intensive care units (ICU) admission. Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is released as a response to the infection, stimulating inflammatory pathways in the acute phase response. Thus, previous studies have shown that high serum concentrations IL-10 can be identify patients with severe community acquired pneumonia (CAP). Nevertheless, there is a lack of information regarding the capacity of IL-10 to identify severe COVID-19. Thus, the aim of this study was to determine the capacity of IL-10 as a prediction factor for mortality in hospital admitted patients with COVID-19 compared with CAP patients. Methods. A prospective observational study was carried out at the Clinica Universidad de La Sabana, Colombia. Patients older than 18 years and old, hospitalized due to COVID 19 or CAP, were included. Patients were stratified into COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients. IL-10 levels were quantified in serum samples using the LUMINEX technology. Serum samples were collected within the first 24 hours of hospital admission. Afterward, concentrations of interleukinwere statistically compared among groups. ROC curves were calculated. Results. A total of 88 patients with CAP and 152 patients with COVID-19 were enrolled in the study. The median [with IQR] serum concentration of IL-10 were higher in those patients who died (81.1 [30.7-148.9] vs 18.8 [8.3-48.4] p-value < 0.0001). Then, comparing the study group, the median concentration of IL-10 levels among patients deceased by COVID-19 were higher than patients those who survived (85.1 [40-149.8] vs 32.4 [13.9-56.7] p-value < 0.001). In addition, IL-10 levels were higher in patients who survived COVID-19 compared with those who survived CAP (32.4 [13.9-56.7] vs 10.6 [4.9-18] p-value < 0.0001). The area under curve (AUC) ROC of IL-10 to predict mortality risk was 0.754 for all cohort. DeLonǵs test comparing ROC curves in COVID-19 and CAP patients had a p= 0.744. Conclusion. High serum levels of IL-10 are a good predictor of in-hospital mortality among COVID-19 patients. However, this risk association was not observed in CAP patients. Further studies are needed.

Implications of intestinal infection by SARS-CoV-2 and its correlation with dysbiosis and the gut-lung axis

Background: SARS-CoV-2 is a respiratoryvirus, and we would expect the symptoms to bedirectly associated with the respiratory system.Nevertheless, within recent investigations, scientists have observed that most of the patients withCOVID-19 have had gastrointestinal manifestations such as: gastroenteritis, diarrhea, vomit,nausea, and stomachache.Objectives: The main objective is the understanding, through the physiopathology, of SARSCoV-2 and the lung-gut axis, also the relationthat exists between the level of gastrointestinaldysbiosis in patients infected with SARS-CoV-2and the influence of microbiota.Methods: Through the PubMed platform andGoogle Scholar, we found the reviewed articles.The key words used were: gut-lung axis, dysbiosis, ACE2 and RAAS.Results: It's been demonstrated the relationbetween SARS-CoV-2 and dysbiosis of gastrointestinal microbiota, being this the responsible ofthe severity of the COVID-19. Also the ACE2acts as a receptor for de SARS-CoV-2 to decreaseits presence in the gut giving as a result inflammation process, vasoconstriction and fibrosis thanksto the reduction of the protective barrier increasing the ACE levels that change RAAS generatingsymptoms like: gastroenteritis, diarrhea, vomit,nausea, and stomachache. Discussion: The lung-gut axis has a big influence in the severity of the symptoms caused bythe SARS-CoV-2, both the respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms. This is because this axisacts in a bidirectional way, involving directly thegastrointestinal and the respiratory systems. Thisis the reason we conclude that if a patient has ahealthy microbiota, the disease is more likely tobe light or medium light, but if the patient doesn'thave a healthy microbiota, the disease is morelikely to be severe.

Philippine private sector response, strategies, and state-business relations toward economic recovery and growth post-COVID-19

The Philippines was among the fastest-growing economies averaging within the 6.5 percent GDP growth in the past five years. However, the COVID-19 crisis brought major disruptions to the Philippine economy as growth, employment, and overall productivity fell into recession levels along with the declaration of a nationwide lockdown. As the pandemic resulted in a series of business closures, supply chain breakdowns, and massive job cuts, the private sector was forced to confront the challenges brought by the pandemic including its threat to business continuity and survival. This article presents the private sector's assessment of the pandemic's impact on the Philippine economy along with their views on the national pandemic response and the extent of public-private collaborations in countering the effects of COVID-19. Following the insights and experiences shared by industry leaders and other corporate executives, this article also discusses pivots in corporate strategy along with a significant shift in corporate mindset toward new ways of doing business and fulfilling their responsibilities in society. © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of V.K. Aggarwal.