Interactive Cultural Activities in Virtual Study Abroad during the Pandemic and Beyond

Some of the simplest affordances of study abroad became unavailable when students stayed stateside because of the pandemic-induced disruptions to international travel. These ranged from touring city and historical/cultural landmarks, having spontaneous and chance interactions with locals, participating in the performance of traditions and practices, visiting homes, engaging in "domestic" activities with host families and local peers, and developing a sense of community with other fellow students. This paper reports on three alternate, virtual cultural activities that were launched during the pandemic between a U.S. university and its study abroad partner institution in Morocco in order to help compensate for the health disruption. Survey responses, cultural products, and reflections from 118 participants were collected for this study over two Arabic summer intensive programs at the stateside university. The study explores the effectiveness of these activities in promoting intercultural competence and student engagement during this period and speculates on how they can be integrated into the regular programming post-pandemic in order to further enhance immersion.

Establishment of an infrastructure for rapid pandemic response at the Frederick National Laboratory

The sudden onset of the 2019 SARS-CoV-2 pandemic required agile development of standards and efficient validation of assays to assess prevalence of infection as well as immune responses to infection and vaccination. Leveraging their experience in HPV serology and standards, the Vaccine, Immunity and Cancer Directorate (VICD) at the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research (FNCLR) pivoted to address this unmet need in SARS-Co-V2 serology clinical testing and research. This standardization effort required the collection and processing of large volumes of blood from SARS-Co-V2 infected and uninfected individuals into serum and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Collaborations with specimen collection sites across the United States were established. Following qualification for anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG and IgM levels in independent laboratories, VICD assembled reference evaluation panels, which were used to assist the FDA's performance evaluation of commercial assays submitted for EUA approval. To date, 185 different shipments of the standard or validation panel have been sent to both domestic and international labs. These materials are also available to the SARS-CoV-2 serology community for assay calibration and performance evaluation which greatly facilitates assay data harmonization. In addition, the NCI Serological Sciences Network (SeroNet) was born from this initiative and expertise, resulting in the establishment of Capacity Building Centers (CBCs) for sample collection from different healthy, cancer and immunocompromised cohorts at Mount Sinai, Arizona State University, the University of Minnesota, and Northwell Feinstein. The NCI and FNLCR simultaneously collaborated to develop a network of investigators focused on advancing research on the immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination among diverse and vulnerable populations, including cancer patients. Their research has resulted in over 326 peer-reviewed publications. The CBC's have enrolled patients in longitudinal studies, resulting in a centralized collection of annotated, well characterized serum, PBMCs and clinical data. Numerous cancer cohorts, but predominantly Multiple Myeloma, are included. Furthermore, technology development was supported at the CBC's. Based upon this success, the VICD in collaboration with NCI is pursuing an even more innovative effort in pandemic preparedness to establish a Center for Serology and Data Emergency Preparedness (CESDEP);a global network able to activate and pivot to address pandemic-level threats, while continuing to expand the development of immunological assays that can inform clinical decisions for cancer and other immunocompromised patients.

The Impact of Remote Hearing Policies on Racial Equity in Criminal Case Outcomes During the Pandemic

The criminal justice system confronted unprecedented challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, court systems nationwide quickly instituted policies to enable criminal cases to proceed while protecting public health. The shift toward criminal hearings by videoconference or teleconference has persisted. All fifty states now conduct criminal hearings remotely. Yet evidence about how remote proceedings affect case outcomes remains sparse. Using data for all arrests and criminal case dispositions that occurred in California between 2018 and mid-2021, I characterize the impact the pandemic had on arrest and case resolution rates, estimate the impact of adopting policies to permit remote hearings on conviction and sentencing outcomes, and determine which factors contributed to racial differences in outcomes. Remote hearing policies contributed to racial inequalities in outcomes, which predated the pandemic and persisted amid it.

The impact of temporary COVID-19 legislative moves on the ability of food enterprises to pivot in Arizona. (Special Issue: The impact of the covid-19 pandemic and the foodservice industries.)

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted shortfalls in the U.S. food system, exposing how regulatory processes shape access to the market. This paper builds on ongoing research following the impact of shut-down orders on alcohol retail via small restaurants and breweries in Arizona and examines the impacts of regulatory shifts on the ability of these food enterprises to pivot. We highlight how the concept of the pivot creates expectations of individual businesses ability to be resilient to shocks. Responses within Arizona to COVID-19 induced systemic failures, demonstrate that bottom-up pivots from small businesses can creatively and quickly meet local community needs. However, those efforts were stymied by state government and top-down approaches that proved incapable of pivoting to meet local needs. Through this case study, we highlight the need and opportunity for further examination of the interplay between regulatory agencies and small businesses in times of crisis. We invite others into the work of creating guidelines for pivoting that facilitate bottom-up and top-down collaboration while ensuring the voice and agency of different players.

The impact of temporary COVID-19 legislative moves on the ability of food enterprises to pivot in Arizona

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted shortfalls in the U.S. food system, exposing how regulatory processes shape access to the market. This paper builds on ongoing research following the impact of shut-down orders on alcohol retail via small restaurants and breweries in Arizona and examines the impacts of regulatory shifts on the ability of these food enterprises to pivot. We highlight how the concept of the pivot creates expectations of individual businesses ability to be resilient to shocks. Responses within Arizona to COVID-19 induced systemic failures, demonstrate that bottom-up pivots from small businesses can creatively and quickly meet local community needs. However, those efforts were stymied by state government and top-down approaches that proved incapable of pivoting to meet local needs. Through this case study, we highlight the need and opportunity for further examination of the interplay between regulatory agencies and small businesses in times of crisis. We invite others into the work of creating guidelines for pivoting that facilitate bottom-up and top-down collaboration while ensuring the voice and agency of different players.

Special Issue: The impact of the covid-19 pandemic and the foodservice industries. (Special Issue: The impact of the covid-19 pandemic and the foodservice industries.)

This special issue contains 12 papers dealing with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the foodservice industries and the response of restaurateurs to the crisis. Specific topics covered include, among others: online food delivery app adoption behaviour during the pandemic;restaurant crowdfunding during the pandemic;the impact of temporary COVID-19 legislative moves on the ability of food enterprises to pivot;restaurant patronage during the pandemic;COVID-19 policies and recommendations for foodservice reopening;managerial decision-making during the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the sustainability initiatives of foodservice businesses;and consumer risk perception of online food delivery during the pandemic.

Food insecurity and disasters: predicting disparities in total and first-time food pantry visits during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the U.S. state of Arizona, nearly one-third of households experienced food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic, an increase from one-fourth of households before the pandemic. Previous research on food insecurity in the wake of natural and human-instigated disasters demonstrates that groups vulnerable to food insecurity before a disaster are more susceptible to food insecurity during and after that disaster; however, less is known about whether this relationship also holds true during health-related disasters, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. We explore how the COVID-19 pandemic influenced urban food insecurity patterns by analyzing the socio-demographic characteristics of food pantry clients in Maricopa County, Arizona. Using data from Phoenix Rescue Mission (PRM), a local non-profit food service provider, two binomial logistic regression models compare the socio-demographic composition of total and first-time food pantry users before and during the pandemic. In addition to an overall increase in food pantry usage during the pandemic, we find that, while certain socio-demographic groups historically vulnerable to food insecurity experienced the predicted uptick in insecurity during the pandemic, other socio-demographic disparities were attenuated. These somewhat disparate findings illustrate the complex relationship between disasters and food insecurity in an urban context, offering several avenues for future research. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12571-022-01336-2.

Urban Farming: The Reluctant Utopia

The old conceptual dichotomy between the city and the countryside has often been a historical stumbling block for architects and urban planners. Whilst there have been many attempts to bring the city closer to the natural environment, some on grand scales, more modest experiments have often gleaned better results. Daniele Belleri is a partner at design and innovation office CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati, where he is in charge of all editorial and curatorial projects. He and the practice's founder, architect and engineer Carlo Ratti – who is director of the Senseable City Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) – together explore our contemporary options. Copyright © 2023 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Through Time and Space: Placeknowing and Arts at Diné College

Tribal colleges and universities (TCUs) across North America are located in communities grappling with the economic devastation caused by the coronavirus outbreak. The pandemic has intensified the stress on many Native communities already struggling with issues of economic sustainability and public health. Yet COVID-19--or "Dikos Nitsaaígíí-19"--has hit the Navajo Nation especially hard. According to CNN, by the late fall of 2020 almost one in 12 people in the Navajo Nation had contracted the virus. This article describes how Diné College in Arizona has responded to the pandemic crisis by focusing on the role of Navajo art and artists in addressing issues of community health and sustainability. In 2018, the college took the step of expanding its arts curriculum to include a four-year Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. In inaugurating the BFA program, the college's School of Arts, Humanities, and English (SAHE) has sought to deepen involvement in documenting and encouraging the practice of both traditional and contemporary Native arts in the Navajo Nation. This goal is based on the value of perpetuating Navajo traditions through communal participation and absorption of the arts. [The article was written with assistance from Theodore Jojola, Michaela Paulette Shirley, Latoya Largo, Kayla Jackson, and Paul Willeto.]

The Advocacy Efforts for School Library Staffing during the Pandemic

Amid the ongoing pandemic, school librarians across the country have been facing a different kind of battle, one that has been going on for years in some cases: the fight for every student to benefit from the instruction and carefully curated resources a certified school librarian can provide. Several states are working to introduce or retain legislation that requires a certified school librarian in every school building. States across the country have seen a decrease in certified school librarian staffing. In some districts, positions have been reduced dramatically or cut entirely despite research showing the benefits students, staff, and the entire school community receive from these specifically trained educators. State school library associations are working diligently with lawmakers, fellow state-level education organizations, and national-level partners to advocate on behalf of their students. This article are the stories from Arizona, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania about their states' fights for the right of every student to receive the services provided by a certified school librarian.

Using an Instructional Team during Pandemic Remote Teaching Enhanced Student Outcomes in a Large STEM Course

The unplanned shift to online instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic challenged many instructors teaching large-enrollment courses to design learning environments that actively engaged all students. We looked at how one instructor used her instructional team--a group of student assistants with diverse, structured responsibilities--to adapt her large-enrollment (>500 students) introductory chemistry course to a live-remote format, as well as the impact the team's involvement had on students' reported experiences of online learning. We found that the instructional team's involvement was instrumental in adapting the course to the live-remote online format. The integration of the instructional team had a significant positive impact on students' experiences in the course, including their perceptions of social and cognitive engagement and teacher presence. Students in the section with the integrated instructional team also outperformed students in other sections of the same course on standardized course exams and final course grade. These results suggest that a structured instructional team composed of students can be a mechanism for promoting positive student experiences and learning in large-enrollment, remote STEM courses.

Reimagining Expectations and Rigor in the College Classroom amid the Global Pandemic: Lessons from the Field

The prolonged COVID-19 pandemic has placed postsecondary institutions in unfamiliar territory. Undoubtedly, postsecondary education must adapt to the realities of the pandemic, finding new ways to define academic expectations and rigor. Currently, COVID-19-related conversations among educators often default to focusing on students' race and economic and psychological vulnerabilities. While students' contexts must be taken into account, these dominant default discourses can also signal a dangerous lowering of faculty's expectations for some students, creating inequitable opportunities and outcomes that have unintended impacts on student learning. The purpose of this paper is to encourage faculty to reimagine rigor in the college classroom without compromising student learning. The authors intend to highlight some of the lessons learned in their own efforts to enact high expectations for students during these difficult times as they taught online synchronously and asynchronously in a non-certificated teacher education program in a community college in California and an educational doctorate program in America's southwest.

EEG Characteristics in Hospitalized Patients With Acute COVID-19 Symptoms

Objective Our objective was to evaluate the incidence of seizures, pattern of EEG abnormalities, and localization of abnormal discharges in hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Background The COVID-19 epidemic has revealed significant neurological manifestations including de novo seizures in patients who do not have a prior history of epilepsy or clear epilepsy risk factors. Our center is located in Arizona, which in the early part of January 2021 had more cases per capita than any other place in the world. Design/Methods We performed a retrospective review to observe the electroencephalogram (EEG) patterns of hospitalized adult patients with COVID-19 between March 2020 and February 2021. Results We identified 99 patients who were COVID-19 positive and had EEG testing during the same hospitalization. The most common EEG abnormality was diffuse background slowing, which was seen in 63.6% of patients (n = 63/99), compare to 15.1% of focal background slowing. Epileptiform discharges were seen in 11.1% of patients and seizures were found in 5.1% of patients, as newly diagnosed seizures. When combining all focal abnormalities, the most common location for these abnormalities was in the frontal regions 36.4% (n = 8/22). Even though 21 patients had acute focal neuroradiologic findings, only 5 had correlated EEG abnormalities within the same region. When EEG was obtained with suspected seizures (n = 33), 4 cases (12.1%, n = 4/33) indeed showed ictal pattern compared to 1.6% when seizures was not suspected (p = 0.087). Conclusions Abnormal EEG findings are most commonly found in the frontal lobe among hospitalized patients with acute COVID-19 symptoms. De novo seizures may be seen with COVID-19 infection. Suspicion of seizures should be raised in patients with COVID-19 encephalopathy. The utility of an EEG may help allow us better insight into how and where the COVID infection affects our central nervous system.

Unprecedented West Nile Virus Outbreak - Maricopa County, Arizona, 2021

Background. West Nile virus (WNV) causes a mosquito-borne disease that can lead to permanent paralysis or death. WNV became endemic in Maricopa County in 2003. The Maricopa County Department of Public Health (MCDPH) and Environmental Services Department Vector Control (MCESD VC) and Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) collaborated to monitor and respond to mosquito surveillance and human WNV cases. We describe an unprecedented WNV outbreak in 2021. Methods. MCESD VC monitored vector complaints, mosquito vector positive traps, and vector index (VI) data. Reported human cases (using the CSTE/CDC case definition) were interviewed by MCDPH. MCDPH and ADHS sent surveillance alerts to healthcare providers regarding WNV symptomology and clinical testing guidance. MCDPH consulted with providers and/or Infection Preventionists during case investigations. Results. The first WNV-positive mosquito trap occurred the week of May 1 (VI=0.235);VI peaked the week of September 11 at 53.608;the last positive trap was the week of November 20. MCESD VC fogged >400,000 acres (~2x the 10-year average) with adulticide, applied larvicide to ~25,000 sites, and received ~9,500 mosquito complaints (40% more than prior season). During the 2021 WNV season, 1,487 cases were reported, of which 960 (64.6%) had neuroinvasive illnesses (WNND) and 101 (6.8%) died (all were WNND cases). Median case age was 66 (IQR=53-75) years;for deaths, it was 79 (IQR=71-83) years. In total, 1,017 (68.4%) cases were hospitalized with a median length of stay (LOS) of 7 (IQR=4-10) days. WNND cases accounted for 91.2% of hospitalizations. Median LOS for hospitalized WNND cases was 7 (IQR=4-11) days, compared to 4 (IQR=2-6) days for nonneuroinvasive cases. Despite 3 surveillance alerts sent to providers and media coverage, providers were not consistently aware of the WNV outbreak or that serum can be tested for WNV. Conclusion. This was the largestWNVoutbreak in Maricopa County. It taxed an already stressed healthcare system during the COVID-19 pandemic with over 1,000 hospitalized cases, including nearly 100 in people without WNND. During WNV season, clinicians should consider WNV testing of both serum and CSF in severely ill patients with and without evidence of neuroinvasive disease.

Urban Farming: The Reluctant Utopia

The old conceptual dichotomy between the city and the countryside has often been a historical stumbling block for architects and urban planners. Whilst there have been many attempts to bring the city closer to the natural environment, some on grand scales, more modest experiments have often gleaned better results. Daniele Belleri is a partner at design and innovation office CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati, where he is in charge of all editorial and curatorial projects. He and the practice's founder, architect and engineer Carlo Ratti – who is director of the Senseable City Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) – together explore our contemporary options. Copyright © 2023 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

An Interview with Jeffrey Selingo

For the graduating class of 2023, more than two years of high school has been impacted by the COViD-19 pandemic and the accompanying virtual learning, uncertainty, anxiety, and concerns about their own health or the health of family members. According to the college admissions consulting firm College Transitions, there are 31 colleges and universities listed as the "most selective," institutions that accept fewer than 15 percent of all applicants. There were eleven million applications filed the year Steinberg wrote his book even though there were essentially the same number of high school graduates. DeHaemers: When I was reading your book, I was thinking about how many institutions in the country are not the top-flight, elite, or selective institutions upon which you focus in the book.

Racial/ethnic disparities in influenza risk perception and vaccination intention among Pima County residents in Arizona.

While influenza cases in Arizona have nearly tripled since 2018, vaccination rates continue to lag. Statewide, Hispanics and African Americans had the lowest vaccination rates despite having higher influenza infection rates than Whites. Given Arizona's racial influenza vaccination disparity and the general increase in vaccination hesitancy due to COVID-19, the purpose of this study was to better understand the influences of seasonal influenza vaccination in Arizona during the COVID-19 pandemic using qualitative methods. Findings from this study revealed that many participants were motivated to get the influenza vaccine to protect their family and close friends. The heightened concern for COVID-19 prompted some Hispanic/Latino focus group discussion participants to consider getting vaccinated. However, many Hispanic/Latino participants also expressed that they stopped getting influenza vaccine due to negative vaccination experiences or concern about sickness following immunization. African American participants primarily discussed receiving the vaccine as part of their routine health visit. Compared to other races, more White participants believed that vaccination was unimportant because they were healthy, and the people they interacted with never got sick. Distinct factors influence risk perception and vaccination intention across different racial/ethnic groups. Effective interventions can account for these factors and be tailored to the target population to maximize vaccination uptake.