ABSTRACT
To highlight how we continued to carry out early phase clinical trials throughout the pandemic and found innovative ways to tackle a number of operational challenges we faced in the past year. The COVID-19 pandemic presented a unique set of challenges to continuing clinical research activity and providing quality care for our research patients. In order to keep essential research going the CRF adapted to new ways of working. The CRF implemented processes to deliver IMPs throughout the national lockdown methodologies to prioritise early phase clinical trials to remain open technological adaptations to our electronic patient record system to enable video appointments the introduction of remote monitoring visits via GOSHLink for secure off site access to study documentation, ensuring our young patients still had a high quality patient experience by introducing personalised play boxes as well as maintaining staff morale and a sense of team spirit. The CRF team also needed to introduce changes. Those staff not redeployed to the clinical service introduced a change to shift patterns incorporating long days to reduce exposure and to ensure adequate cover for the essential on-site visits. All staff trained to cross-cover all prioritised trials that needed on site dosing visits. We received positive feedback from families regarding remote visits as well as the changes within the unit which ensured a safe environment for our patients Despite the challenges faced our adapted way of working has had a number of benefits and will inform our process moving forward.
ABSTRACT
There is a need for college students to develop global perspectives and gain cultural awareness to become responsible global citizens. Innovative ways to create such experiences are known as Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL experiences). COIL is a voluntary partnership between professors in different countries collaborating on jointly constructed learning experiences to enhance international and intercultural understanding. The purpose of this article is to highlight a successful COIL partnership between students from SUNY Oswego in New York and The Hague University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands during the COVID-19 pandemic. 35 students participated in the experience that served as a platform to educate students through a health educator's unique cultural lens. Benefits from the experiences regarding global outcomes showed that both US students (n=70.6%) and Holland students (n=61.1%) felt they gained the appropriate skills and knowledge to use in their future careers. 70.6% of US and 61.2% of Holland students reported that the COIL experience introduced them to a new outlook and new ways of thinking about how they relate to the world. The current COVID-19 pandemic has created an opportunity to rethink education pathways and integrate global learning in our classrooms.
ABSTRACT
We present the first label-free detection and discrimination of SARS-CoV-2 variants having global spread (Wild-type, delta and omicron) by combining terahertz (THz) time-domain spectroscopy and a metamaterial-based sensing chip. THz spectra suggest sensitive discrimination between variants that have only one or two different amino-acid sequences for each virus type, respectively, within just few minutes. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
The effect of decreased human activity on the urban heat island intensity (UHII) was analyzed using the observed temperature data of six sites (including one reference area) in Daejeon Metropolitan City from February to May of 2019 to 2021. Depending on the observation site, UHII decreased by approximately 20% in 2020 and 2021 compared to 2019 before COVID-19. The decrease in human activity increased UHII at night and decreased it during the daytime. Consequently, UHII diurnal amplitude increased by approximately 20% in 2020 and 2021 compared to 2019, irrespective of location. The decrease in UHII did not appear to be significantly correlated with natural factors such as wind speed and social distancing steps. In contrast, UHII was correlated with social distancing and significantly reduced air pollutants after COVID-19, with the most significant correlation observed for NO2.
ABSTRACT
Typically, vaccination is perceived as self-interested act, but it is also a community-oriented action that benefits other members in society, as high vaccine uptake reduces disease transmission. Drawing on the notion of deservingness, the authors ran an online experiment (n = 516) to assess whose interests motivate people from across the political spectrum to engage in a community-oriented action: the intention to receive a coronavirus disease 2019 vaccine. Results show that liberals and conservatives resonate with self-oriented and community-oriented message frames differently. When a community-oriented message focuses on hard-hit groups such as racial minorities, this increases vaccine intent among liberals but decreases vaccine intent among conservatives. A message focusing on community in a generic sense is the only message frame that increases vaccine intent among moderates and the message that induces the least resistance among conservatives. The findings suggest that members of racial and ethnic minority groups are still excluded from boundaries of moral concern. © The Author(s) 2022.