ABSTRACT
The Covid-19 pandemic, which has swept around the world since the beginning of 2020, has had a significant impact on education. Overnight, there has been a transition from traditional to distance learning. Both teachers and students of all types and levels of education had to face a new, unknown reality for which, in the vast majority, they were not properly prepared. The paper attempts to comprehensively identified the determinants of geographic education online at the level of primary and secondary schools, and analyzed selected conditions that have the greatest impact on its implementation. Qualitative and quantitative data was provided by literature research and the results of a survey conducted among 123 geography teachers. The model of the determinants of the geographic education process in the distance form adopted in the study indicates the extraordinary complexity of the online education process. Three groups of determinants were subjected to in-depth analysis: technological, law, and the teacher’s capacity, considering them necessary for the implementation of the distance learning process. © 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
ABSTRACT
Purpose: The majority of kidney transplant recipients (KTR) is able to develop SARS-CoV-2 antibodies (Abs). Little is known about the virus neutralizing capacity of these Abs. Methods: KTR were systematically screened for SARS-CoV-2 at the Antwerp University Hospital by nasopharyngeal swab and serum sampling for the detection of respectively SARS-CoV-2 RNA and SARS-CoV-2 IgG Abs using an in-house Luminex assay. Results of Abs against the nucleocapsid protein (NP) and Receptor- Binding Domain (RBD) of the spike protein were expressed as Median Fluorescence Intensities (MFI). Virus neutralisation assays were performed on serum samples of patients with SARS-CoV-2 Abs or a positive RT-PCR test and on samples of an age and sex matched control group of 23 COVID-19 positive immunocompetent patients. Results: 135 KTR were included;13 were known to be RT-PCR positive. Of these 13, 10 (77%) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 Abs. Antibody screening revealed two (2%) additional KTR with detectable Abs. Virus neutralizing capacity was observed in 11/12 (92%) antibody positive KTR vs. 22/23 (96%) immunocompetent antibody positive controls (p = 0.63). In patients who showed virus neutralizing capacity (expressed as sample dilution reducing the number of infected wells by 50% (NT50)), significantly higher neutralizing antibody capacity was observed in immunocompetent controls vs. KTR (median NT50 1027 (IQR 395-1601) vs. 217 (IQR 108-534);p=0.01). There was no difference in IgG-NP MFI and IgG-RBD MFI values between both groups (median IgG NP MFI 24554 (IQR 11218-27017) vs. 11387 (IQR 3062-24825);p = 0.13);median IgG RBD MFI 20302 (IQR 13464- 24251) vs. 21736 (6288-24993);p = 0.85). Conclusions: Our results suggest that KTR have lower neutralizing antibody capacity compared to immunocompetent subjects. The latter might be of high importance for future COVID-19 vaccine trials.