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Introduction: The annual National Diabetes Inpatient Audit (NaDIA and NaDIA-Harms) in the UK continues to show significant problems with patient care. During the COVID pandemic patient care has been even more difficult. New initiatives are urgently required to improve inpatient safety for people with diabetes. Method: The Joint British Diabetes Societies for Inpatient Care (JBDS-IP) organised the seventh national Rowan Hillson In-patient Safety Award on the theme of "the best interventions: redesigning, rebuilding and maintaining safe inpatient diabetes care during COVID". Result: The winner was the DEKODE team, led by Dr Punith Kempegowda from University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, for their innovative quality improvement project across hospitals during COVID to improve diabetes-related ketoacidosis (DKA) management and study DKA in people with COVID. Adherence to national guidance improved in some hospitals, with falls in hypoglycaemia, and overall there was a significant improvement in awareness about DKA amongst junior doctors. The King's College NHS Foundation Trust team, led by Adrian Li and colleagues, received the highly commended award for their innovative project of remote blood glucose (BG) monitoring across healthcare boundaries. This improved diabetes control and tackled health inequalities. Summary and conclusion: These and similar schemes need to be developed, promoted and shared to improve safety for people with diabetes admitted in hospital during COVID times.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has spurred extensive vaccine research worldwide. One crucial part of vaccine development is the phase III clinical trial that assesses the vaccine for safety and efficacy in the prevention of COVID-19. In this work, we enumerate the first successful implementation of using machine learning models to accelerate phase III vaccine trials, working with the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine to predictively select trial sites with naturally high incidence rates ("hotspots"). We develop DELPHI, a novel, accurate, policy-driven machine learning model that serves as the basis of our predictions. During the second half of 2020, the DELPHI-driven site selection identified hotspots with more than 90% accuracy, shortened trial duration by six to eight weeks (approximately 33%), and reduced enrollment by 15,000 (approximately 25%). In turn, this accelerated time to market enabled Janssen's vaccine to receive its emergency use authorization and realize its public health impact earlier than expected. Several geographies identified by DELPHI have since been the first areas to report variants of concern (e.g., Omicron in South Africa), and thus DELPHI's choice of these areas also produced early data on how the vaccine responds to new threats. Johnson & Johnson has also implemented a similar approach across its business including supporting trial site selection for other vaccine programs, modeling surgical procedure demand for its Medical Device unit, and providing guidance on return-to-work programs for its 130,000 employees. Continued application of this methodology can help shorten clinical development and change the economics of drug development by reducing the level of risk and cost associated with investing in novel therapies. This will allow Johnson & Johnson and others to enable more effective delivery of medicines to patients.
ABSTRACT
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the routines of face-to-face news gathering and newsroom interaction were severely disrupted by the new normal of physical distancing and remote work. So far, journalism scholars have addressed news production, performance, employment and mental health, among other topics, but not the mobilities and immobilities of journalists during this period. Taking this into account, this article studies the perceptions and experiences on the new normal of the award-winning news workers employed by digital-born or digital-only news organizations in the country that ranks fourth in the world in deaths of journalists from COVID-19, Mexico. Drawing on sociological perspectives on mobility and risk, as well as on semi-structured interviews, its emphasis is on their physical and virtual mobilities and immobilities. The analysis exhibits how different forms of capital enabled and disabled the movement of this population, and how this was mediated by risk. Its objective is not only to examine how did these news workers coped with the new normal, but to analyze how they exerted their journalistic and mobility capitals to alter their working conditions, professional practices and personal lives during the pandemic and beyond. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
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In celebration of the twentieth anniversary of the inception of the CCN society, and of the first post-Covid-19 live meeting, the executive board of the ICCNS had chosen Nice as the venue for the 11th International workshop on the CCN family of genes. On this occasion participation in the meeting was extended to colleagues from other cell signaling fields who were invited to present both an overview of their work and the future directions of their laboratory. Also, for the first time, the members of the JCCS Editorial Board were invited to participate in a JCCS special session during which all aspects of the journal « life ¼ were addressed and opened to free critical discussion. The scientific presentations and the discussions that followed showed once more that an expansion of the session topics was beneficial to the quality of the meeting and confirmed that the ARBIOCOM project discussed last April in Nice was now on track to be launched in 2023. The participants unanimously welcomed Professor Attramadal's proposition to organize the 2024, 12th International CCN workshop in Oslo, Norway.
ABSTRACT
COVID-19 reinforced the need for effective leadership and administration within Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program hubs in response to a public health crisis. The speed, scale, and persistent evolution of the pandemic forced CTSA hubs to act quickly and remain nimble. The switch to virtual environments paired with supporting program operations, while ensuring the safety and well-being of their team, highlight the critical support role provided by leadership and administration. The pandemic also illustrated the value of emergency planning in supporting organizations' ability to quickly pivot and adapt. Lessons learned from the pandemic and from other cases of adaptive capacity and preparedness can aid program hubs in promoting and sustaining the overall capabilities of their organizations to prepare for future events.
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The ability of research networks and individual institutions to effectively and efficiently prepare, respond, and adapt to emergent challenges is essential for the biomedical research enterprise. At the beginning of 2021, a special Working Group was formed by individuals in the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) consortium and approved by the CTSA Steering Committee to explore "Adaptive Capacity and Preparedness (AC&P) of CTSA Hubs." The AC&P Working Group took a pragmatic Environmental Scan (E-Scan) approach of utilizing the diverse data that had been collected through existing mechanisms. The Local Adaptive Capacity framework was adapted to illustrate the interconnectedness of CTSA programs and services, while exposing how the demands of the pandemic forced them to quickly pivot and adapt. This paper presents a synopsis of the themes and lessons learned that emerged from individual sections of the E-Scan. Lessons learned from this study may improve our understanding of adaptive capacity and preparedness at different levels, as well as help strengthen the core service models, strategies, and foster innovation in clinical and translational science research.
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Online or virtual arbitration hearings are those wherein participants conduct the hearing via a digital platform. Virtual hearings are not a new concept for arbitration proceedings. Due to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the global pandemic announcement on March 11, 2020, arbitration institutions took appropriate measures. Many arbitration centers issued a joint declaration seeking to avoid delays in arbitration proceedings themselves and any other related delays. With this declaration, they invited parties and arbitral tribunals to use existing arbitration rules and case management techniques appropriately to ensure the consistent and predictable continuity of international arbitration during the pandemic, to continue to hear pending cases, and to avoid unnecessary delays in arbitration processes. There is an undeniable connection between virtual hearings and the right to a fair trial. Under Turkish law, within the right to a fair trial, the right to be heard and the principle of equality of the parties are guaranteed by Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights and by Article 36 of the Turkish Constitution. In this context, virtual hearings should be considered in terms of the right to a fair trial. Arbitrators must conduct the proceedings in accordance with the parties' and concerned others' right to attend the hearing, the principle of equality, and the parties' right to be heard. Within this framework, this paper first explains virtual hearings in general regarding practices of arbitration institutions and then evaluates the effect of virtual hearings on the arbitral award regarding the right to be heard and the principle of equality.
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Retrospective case studies of initiatives supported by the National Institutes of Health's Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) hubs can be used to identify facilitators and barriers of translational science. This case study investigates how a CTSA Expanded Access program adapted to changing FDA guidance issued in 2020 to support clinicians' treatment of COVID-19 patients in Michigan. We studied how this program changed throughout the pandemic to support physicians' requests for remdesivir, convalescent plasma, and other uses of unapproved drugs and novel medical devices. A protocol for retrospective translational science case studies of health interventions developed by CTSA evaluators was used for this case study. Data collection methods included seven interviews and a review of institutional data, peer-reviewed publications, news stories, and other public records. The barriers identified include evolving guidance, misalignment of organizational operations, and the complexity of the research infrastructure. The facilitators of translation include collaboration between research and care teams, increasing engagement with a broad network of supporters, and ongoing professional development for research staff. The findings of this case study can be used to inform future investigations of the principles underlying the translational process.
ABSTRACT
As the USA and the rest of the world raced to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, years of investments from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences allowed for informatics services and resources at CTSA hubs to play a significant role in addressing the crisis. CTSA hubs partnered with local and regional partners to collect data on the pandemic, provide access to relevant patient data, and produce data dashboards to support decision-making. Coordinated efforts, like the National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C), helped to aggregate and harmonize clinical data nationwide. Even with significant informatics investments, some CTSA hubs felt unprepared in their ability to respond to the fast-moving public health crisis. Many hubs were forced to quickly evolve to meet local needs. Informatics teams expanded critical support at their institutions which included an engagement platform for clinical research, COVID-19 awareness and education activities in the community, and COVID-19 data dashboards. Continued investments in informatics resources will aid in ensuring that tools, resources, practices, and policies are aligned to meet local and national public health needs.
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WELCOME ADDITIONS TO THE JEE EDITORIAL BOARD We are pleased to welcome three new members to the I JEE i EDITORIAL BOARD: B Dr. Geoffrey Herman and Dr. James Huff b as Associate Editors and B Dr. Angela Minichiello b as an Assistant Editor. He has a BS in Computer Engineering from Harding University and an MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering and a PhD in Engineering Education, both from Purdue University. This issue of I JEE i provides some guidance for establishing a "new normal" in engineering education as it includes the first in a series of special themed sections on the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Engineering Education Community. [Extracted from the article] Copyright of Journal of Engineering Education is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)
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Compared with large organizations, small businesses have been slower to adopt quality management practices. This study combined the context-free perspective with the contingency theory of quality management to investigate the association between quality management and the quality and operational outcomes of a sample of 231 small businesses that applied for the Baldrige quality excellence award program. Using a pooled cross-sectional design and structural equation modeling, we examined the validity and reliability of the Baldrige model for measuring the quality management practices of small businesses, to determine the relationship between the Baldrige criteria and their impact on quality outcomes. Our analysis confirms the validity and reliability of the Baldrige quality excellence model when used as an assessment tool for improving the performance outcomes and competitiveness of small businesses. Based on the results, leadership was found to be the key determinant of quality outcomes during the application year, with leadership practice scores increasing by 40% over 16 years. This study found that Information analysis and knowledge management only influences Customer focus and satisfaction, but Strategic planning for quality and Management of process quality significantly and positively influence both Customer focus and satisfaction and Quality and operational results. However, the score for Quality and operational results diminishes over time for small businesses. This study provides some effective insights and recommendations for small businesses as well as policymakers looking to support small businesses’ quality and competitiveness, because quality improvements will enhance the stability, profitability, and survivability of small businesses when facing crises like the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. © 2022 Elsevier B.V.
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This is a literature review where we acknowledge Richard Allen Williams, the first African American physician to win the John P. McGovern Compleat Physician Award, and recognize his achievements in race and ethnicity in healthcare. There have been significant advances in the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease; however, racial disparities continue to create inequity in the medical community especially for African Americans. Dr. Williams founded the Association of Black Cardiologists (ABC) in 1974 to address the misperception about, and the misdiagnosis and maltreatment of African American patients. He emphasized the importance of diversity and the non-biased approach to the treatment of all communities. This literary review further explores current racial disparities African Americans face during the COVID-19 pandemic. Granted that Dr. Williams' win is a step towards progress and change, there is much to be done to conquer the cultural divide in healthcare.