Global representations of international students in a time of crisis: A qualitative analysis of Twitter data during COVID-19

International students have been historically valued by universities for their contributions to their host countries. Yet, representations of international students in the general public have become increasingly mixed, an issue likely exacerbated by COVID-19, which has shown increased hostility towards international students. Given the increased reports of discrimination during this period, there is ongoing need to understand how international students have been represented in this specific time of crisis. Our study analysed public representations of international students through Twitter data and qualitative analysis of 6,501 posts made during the immediate COVID-19 crisis (January-April 2020). Our findings confirm competing public representations of international students that changed over time: initially through stereotyping and depictions as assumed disease carriers, shifting to empathy and support after university campus closures. We also outline themes of racism and discrimination, which are of importance for the global higher education sector as we move into a post-COVID world.

Marxismo e Serviço Social: palestra do Professor José Paulo Netto

Os manuscritos ora apresentados constituem a transcrição — ainda que com algumas adaptações — da palestra proferida pelo Professor José Paulo Netto, em 29 de setembro de 2020. Desde logo, informamos ao leitor que o presente texto passou pelo crivo do palestrante que, depois de atenta leitura, aprovou-o para publicação. A atividade supracitada foi organizada pelo Programa de Pós-Graduação em Serviço Social, da Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Como já estávamos enfrentando a crise sanitária decorrente da pandemia da Covid-19, a palestra foi realizada na forma de um Webinário, com a minha mediação. Na ocasião, o Professor José Paulo Netto abordou o tema Marxismo e Serviço Social: elementos para pensar a pesquisa, a produção do conhecimento e os desafios do trabalho dos assistentes sociais. Como destacamos já à época, o professor José Paulo Netto tem um carisma inquestionável e uma competência intelectual amplamente reconhecida. Trata-se de uma exposição sobre o tema feita por um dos mais importantes marxistas da atualidade no Brasil. Suas contribuições ultrapassam as fronteiras do Serviço Social, tanto brasileiro como latino-americano, caribenho e europeu. José Paulo Netto tem contribuído para o debate da teoria social marxista e, por isso, tem também reconhecimento em outras áreas do conhecimento, o que acaba por fortalecer o próprio Serviço Social brasileiro, haja vista que é um agente desta categoria. Quem o conhece sabe que a sua produção intelectual é acompanhada pela militância política, no contexto das lutas anticapitalistas. Não por acaso, José Paulo Netto recebeu a insígnia de ser um marxista sem repouso, não só pela sua contribuição no âmbito da academia, mas também pela sua capacidade de problematizar e colocar luzes sobre as pautas e as lutas da classe trabalhadora. A exposição de José Paulo Netto que agora chega ao público também em forma de uma publicação escrita por esta edição da Revista Katálysis foi realizada num período imediatamente precedente à publicação daquela que já tem sido reconhecida como uma de suas mais importantes produções intelectuais. Trata-se do seu livro Marx: uma biografia, que foi lançado no final de 2020 e que deu forma a um sonho que perseguia o autor desde a sua adolescência. Este sonho, talvez mais do que poderia ele imaginar, tem ganhado força social na medida em que tem suscitado nos estudiosos do marxismo, principiantes ou não, questionamentos importantes sobre o nosso tempo histórico a partir da obra e da vida de Karl Marx, o que evidencia a atualidade do seu pensamento para orientar as lutas pela emancipação humana.Alternate :The following manuscript results from the transcription — albeit with some adaptations — of the lecture given by Professor José Paulo Netto, on September 29, 2020. The text was reviewed by the speaker himself, who, after careful reading, approved it for publication. The aforementioned event was organized by the Postgraduate Program in Social Work, at the Federal University of Santa Catarina. Since we were already facing the global health crisis resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, the lecture was held in a Webinar format and coordinated by me. During the occasion, Professor José Paulo Netto addressed the theme entitled Marxism and Social Work: reflections on research, knowledge production, and the challenges of social workers' practice. As we pointed out at the time, Professor José Paulo Netto has undeniable charisma and widely acknowledged intellectual competence. The theme was tackled by one of the most important Marxists in Brazil today. His contributions surpass the boundaries of Social Work, both Brazilian and Latin American, Caribbean and European. José Paulo Netto has enriched Marxist social theory in general and, therefore, he also has an impact on other areas of knowledge, which further strengthens the Brazilian Social Work, since he is a representative of this category. Those who know him are aware that his intellectual career is accomp nied by a life of political militancy, in the context of anti-capitalist struggles. Not by chance, José Paulo Netto has received the title of being a restless Marxist, not only for his efforts in the academic field, but also for his capacity to challenge and shed light on the agendas and struggles of the working class. This lecture by José Paulo Netto which now is brought to the general public in the form of a written piece, published in this issue of Katálysis Journal, was held right before the release of what has already been recognized as one of his most important intellectual works. His book Marx: a biography, which was released in late 2020 and fulfilled one the author's teenage dream. This dream come true, perhaps more than he could have imagined, has gained social force to the extent that it has raised in scholars of Marxism, beginners or not, relevant questions about our historical time from the work and life of Karl Marx, which highlights the relevance of his thought to guide the struggles for human emancipation.

Simple Symptom-Based Prediction of COVID-19: A Single-Center Study of Outpatient Fever Clinic in Japan.

INTRODUCTION: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) symptoms are not fully understood in non-hospitalized individuals in Japan, and COVID-19 differentiation by symptoms alone remained challenging. Therefore, this study aimed to examine COVID-19 prediction from symptoms using real-world data in an outpatient fever clinic. METHODS: We compared the symptoms of COVID-19-positive and negative patients who visited the outpatient fever clinic at Imabari City Medical Association General Hospital and tested for COVID-19 from April 2021 to May 2022. This retrospective single-center study enrolled 2,693 consecutive patients. RESULTS: COVID-19-positive patients had a higher frequency of close contact with COVID-19-infected patients compared with COVID-19-negative patients. Moreover, patients with COVID-19 had high-grade fever at the clinic compared with patients without COVID-19. Additionally, the most common symptom in patients with COVID-19 was sore throat (67.3%), followed by cough (62.0%), which was approximately twice as common in patients without COVID-19. COVID-19 was more frequently identified in patients having a fever (≥37.5℃) with a sore throat, a cough, or both. The positive COVID-19 rate reached approximately half (45%) when three symptoms were present. CONCLUSION: These results suggested that COVID-19 prediction by combinations of simple symptoms and close contact with COVID-19-infected patients might be useful and lead to recommendations for testing of COVID-19 in symptomatic individuals.

Effective Usage of Social Media Platforms as a Communication Tool Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic around the world completely changed how one thought about communication and engaged with one another. Hence, there is a need to critically explore the effective use of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and YouTube as communication tools for information sharing amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which has become necessary for many different organisations. In the quest to avoid the spread of incorrect information and bad news that may cause panic from the general public, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, bloggers and news agencies call for proper and effective use of social media platforms as communication tools. This paper analyses the effects of the development of social media messaging platforms, alongside its inferences to the general society.

Instrumental Analysis Experience-Based Teaching before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Challenges and Opportunities

The COVID-19 outbreak represented a remarkable challenge in universities and colleges since it forced the transition from a face-to-face model in classrooms and laboratories to a remote, online model using computers, tablets, and cell phones. In Mexico and other Latin American countries, the return to educational activities was a slow-paced process. The lack of presential activities had a deep impact on education, particularly in under- and graduate Chemistry courses, where laboratory work allows students to develop skills and abilities by applying their knowledge to solve experimental problems. As a consequence, institutional and personal efforts were put together to overcome this situation. These efforts led to remarkable experiences and outcomes with high educational value. This work presents experiences and outcomes of the Instrumental Analysis course offered in the Chemistry Clinical Biologist bachelor program throughout three nonconsecutive semesters, each time on different contexts, to describe the challenges faced, and the emerging opportunities from the experience throughout the pandemic. Each experience is described in a case study. Case 1 exemplifies a regular, pre-COVID-19 semester, in 2019, in a fully face-to-face teaching modality. Case 2 describes a semester in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis in 2020, in a 100% online teaching modality. Finally, Case 3 presents a semester with low prevalence of COVID-19 cases, using a hybrid modality, in 2021. Our observations suggest significant differences related to the knowledge integration process when laboratory work was interrupted, and provide evidence about how online activities impacted the learning process in experimental chemistry courses. © 2023 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.

Official Information on Twitter during the Pandemic in Spain

This article shows the use of Twitter that the main official spokespersons of the Spanish government made during the first weeks of the pandemic, with the aim of analyzing how government health campaigns were managed during the exceptional period of the state of alarm to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and whether the instructions in terms of institutional management of communication to combat the infodemic set by the World Health Organization (WHO) were followed. This research considers the diffusion of official information in different phases of the first three months of the government's action (102 days) from the outbreak of COVID-19 in Spain (March 2020) and how it developed its approach to crisis communication using the Twitter accounts of the President of the Spanish government (@sanchezcastejon), front-line leaders and the Ministry of Health (@sanidadgob), the main public institution responsible for health crisis management with the hashtags #EsteVirusLoParamosUnidos and #COVID-19. The results of a sample of 750 tweets reveal how the official sources used a model of online communication with a particular emphasis on informative and motivational tweets from leaders aimed at audiences (media and the general public). At the same time, there is also an instructive function about the pandemic towards audiences (general public and companies), with the Ministry and health authorities playing a key, proactive role in an attempt to achieve informative transparency to mitigate the pandemic and infodemic.

Large Interactive Touchscreens as an Opportunity for Synchronous Hybrid Teaching during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond

The year 2020 will be remembered as the year of COVID-19 and its subsequent lockdowns. The time to return to face-to-face teaching has arrived, but the shadow of the disease still hangs over teachers, students, and society. Disruption in teaching can still occur for students, or even teachers, if they are either diagnosed as COVID-19 positive or as a contact case and forced to self-isolate. In order to limit the impact of self-isolation on learning, synchronous hybrid teaching (i.e., teaching face to face to students in a classroom and to students online at the same time) was successfully implemented owing to the combination of video conference software and a large interactive touchscreen. The setup presented in this paper allows courses to be broadcast to students at home (i.e., voice, visual pedagogic support, and, more interestingly, indications handwritten by the teacher) as well as simultaneously teaching to students in the classroom face-to-face. It also allows self-isolated teachers to teach tutorials from their home to students in the classroom. This paper focuses on the use of large interactive touchscreens for synchronous hybrid teaching and its evaluation by students using a questionnaire. The key findings of this study are that students prefer synchronous hybrid teaching rather than missing a course and that synchronous hybrid teaching should only be used in case of absolute necessity. © 2023 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.

Exploratory Analysis of Twitter Data to Support Decision-Making in Law Enforcement: An Analytical Study of COVID-19 Using the NodeXL Tool

The COVID-19 epidemic constituted a crisis for health facilities in 2020. This was due to less medical staff available, degrading employment conditions, and higher death rates. These conditions led to tweets (messages posted on Twitter) launching hashtags titled #ln_solidarity_with_the_Egyptian_doctors (#Solidarity_with_doctors_Egypt) to urge medical staff in Egypt to strike for better working conditions. This resulted in less medical care being provided and threats to public security. This study addresses the exploratory analysis of "Twitter Platform" data during the COVID-19 pandemic in Egypt in April 2020 to test documented mechanisms to process mass data and identify accounts that lead the public opinion-gathering processes on Twitter. It analyzes the hierarchical structure and their ideological belonging. The study uses the URL Decoder/Encoder tool to transfer Arabic hashtags into codec symbols. The study deduced that dialogue clusters on Twitter formed Community Cluster Networks in the study sample. Findings proved significant in determining the accounts leading the public opinion-gathering process. They were recognized through the coordination and arrangement function, as well as the hierarchical structure of the group and their intellectual and ideological tendencies. Finally, the study confirmed the increase of decision makers' opportunities in gathering accurate information and producing high-quality inferences when using multiple open-source analytical tools, especially information exploratory analysis tools.

The General Public Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices Regarding COVID-19 During the Lockdown in Asian Developing Countries.

The recent outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is the worst global crisis. Since no successful treatment and vaccine have been reported, efforts to improve the public's knowledge, attitudes, and practices are critical to reducing the spread of COVID-19. This study aims to investigate the general public knowledge, attitude, and practices regarding COVID-19. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted in three developing countries (China, India, and Pakistan). The reason for choosing only three countries is to identify the cross-border effect statistically and data collection constraints. The IBM SPSS version 23.0 was used for descriptive, univariate, and multivariate analysis of the study. One thousand one hundred and sixty participants completed the study, one-quarter of them were female, and three-quarters were male. The study's findings evidenced that the knowledge and attitude correlation was 58.4% and between knowledge and practices 18.2%. Furthermore, the knowledge was found lower in females, among India and Pakistan, and people aged less and equivalent to 30 years. The attitudes among respondents were found poorer among unmarried females and India and Pakistan residents. While the practices found lower among employed, unemployed and, respondents had a bachelor's degree, and females reside in India. And future studies should focus on factors that influence the government regarding the imposition of lockdown, boost the economy in the pandemic, and motivate the general public to follow the health institution's instructions.

The Impact of Event Scale-Revised: Examining Its Cutoff Scores among Arab Psychiatric Patients and Healthy Adults within the Context of COVID-19 as a Collective Traumatic Event.

The Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) is the most popular measure of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It has been recently validated in Arabic. This instrumental study aimed to determine optimal cutoff scores of the IES-R and its determined six subscales in Arab samples of psychiatric patients (N = 168, 70.8% females) and healthy adults (N = 992, 62.7% females) from Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 pandemic as a probable ongoing collective traumatic event. Based on a cutoff score of 14 of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 8-items (DASS-8), receiver operator curve (ROC) analysis revealed two optimal points of 39.5 and 30.5 for the IES-R in the samples (area under the curve (AUC) = 0.86 & 0.91, p values = 0.001, 95% CI: 0.80-0.92 & 0.87-0.94, sensitivity = 0.85 & 0.87, specificity = 0.73 & 0.83, Youden index = 0.58 & 0.70, respectively). Different cutoffs were detected for the six subscales of the IES-R, with numbing and avoidance expressing the lowest predictivity for distress. Meanwhile, hyperarousal followed by pandemic-related irritability expressed a stronger predictive capacity for distress than all subscales in both samples. In path analysis, pandemic-related irritability/dysphoric mood evolved as a direct and indirect effect of key PTSD symptoms (intrusion, hyperarousal, and numbing). The irritability dimension of the IES-R directly predicted the traumatic symptoms of sleep disturbance in both samples while sleep disturbance did not predict irritability. The findings suggest the usefulness of the IES-R at a score of 30.5 for detecting adults prone to trauma related distress, with higher scores needed for screening in psychiatric patients. Various PTSD symptoms may induce dysphoric mood, which represents a considerable burden that may induce circadian misalignment and more noxious psychiatric problems/co-morbidities (e.g., sleep disturbance) in both healthy and diseased groups.

Assessment of COVID-19 Information Overload Among the General Public.

BACKGROUND: A relentless flood of information accompanied the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. False news, conspiracy theories, and magical cures were shared with the general public at an alarming rate, which may lead to increased anxiety and stress levels and associated debilitating consequences. OBJECTIVES: To measure the level of COVID-19 information overload (COVIO) and assess the association between COVIO and sociodemographic characteristics among the general public. METHODS: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted between April and May 2020 using a modified Cancer Information Overload scale. The survey was developed and posted on four social media platforms. The data were only collected from those who consented to participate. COVIO score was classified into high vs. low using the asymmetrical distribution as a guide and conducted a binary logistic regression to examine the factors associated with COVIO. RESULTS: A total number of 584 respondents participated in this study. The mean COVIO score of the respondents was 19.4 (± 4.0). Sources and frequency of receiving COVID-19 information were found to be significant predictors of COVIO. Participants who received information via the broadcast media were more likely to have high COVIO than those who received information via the social media (adjusted odds ratio ([aOR],14.599; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.608-132.559; p = 0.017). Also, participants who received COVID-19 information every minute (aOR, 3.892; 95% CI, 1.124-13.480; p = 0.032) were more likely to have high COVIO than those who received information every week. CONCLUSION: The source of information and the frequency of receiving COVID-19 information were significantly associated with COVIO. The COVID-19 information is often conflicting, leading to confusion and overload of information in the general population. This can have unfavorable effects on the measures taken to control the transmission and management of COVID-19 infection.

How Partial Anonymity May Reduce Students' Anxiety During Remote Active Learning─A Case Study Using Clubhouse

Active learning, a common practice in higher education, has been shown to promote higher order thinking and skills. Class discussions have been chosen to be the medium to incorporate active learning in schools‘ curriculum. However, the rate of class participation could be low for certain courses. Literature has shown that the fear of negative evaluation from peers is the most common reason as to why students choose not to partake in class discussions. Anonymity via clickers or applications such as Kahoot! has shown to be useful in reducing students' anxiety and increasing class participations. However, this is not a viable method to employ if vocal discussion is required for the course. Here, partial anonymity (voice only), Speak Your Mind, was applied into an environmental chemistry course with 20 students in the National University of Singapore (NUS) to study its correlation with students‘ anxiety and class participation. Participants survey results suggested that a reason for not participating in class discussions was the fear of being judged by their peers. Remote learning was conducted due to COVID-19 and partial anonymity was obtained by a proxy application: Clubhouse. This application allowed students to partake in a podium discussion while maintaining psychological safety via partial anonymity. Participants survey responses indicated that partial anonymity reduced their anxiety (Cohen's d = 0.58) and slightly increased their self-reported class participation rate (Cohen's d = 0.21);it was noted that partial anonymity did not have much effect on their fears of being judged if they provided the wrong answer (Cohen's d = 0.11). © 2023 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.

An Assessment of the Knowledge, Perception, and Willingness to Use Telepharmacy Services Among the General Public in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Background and objective At the height of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, numerous strategies were introduced by the authorities to contain the spread of the virus, which significantly affected people's lives and impeded their mobility. As the general public was unable to leave their dwellings, many digitalized pharmacist-led services were initiated to meet the public's needs for pharmaceutical care. The aim of this study was to ascertain the knowledge, perception, and willingness to utilize telepharmacy services and the determinants associated with these services among the general public in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Methodology A cross-sectional survey involving participants recruited from the Saudi general public was conducted by using a validated questionnaire. We collected information regarding participants' demographics, as well as knowledge, perception, and willingness toward telepharmacy. The results were analyzed via descriptive statistics. The Mann-Whitney U Test was applied to assess the associations between knowledge, perception, willingness, and demographic variables regarding the utilization of telepharmacy services. Results A total of 273 Saudi citizens participated in the study; 71% (n=193) of them were aware of telepharmacy services. Many respondents showed a positive perception towards telepharmacy services and 83% (n=227) of the total participants showed their willingness to use telepharmacy services in the future. A significant association was identified between education, gender, and the knowledge of the participants regarding telepharmacy services. The demographic characteristics such as age, gender, and education, were not associated with the participants' perception regarding telepharmacy services. However, gender was significantly associated with the willingness to use telepharmacy services in the future. Conclusions Many participants had a fair knowledge and positive perception of telepharmacy services. More than two-thirds of the participants showed their willingness to utilize telepharmacy services in the future. However, further measures should be implemented involving strategies to increase the knowledge about telepharmacy by targeting the less educated among the Saudi population and those with limited access to technology.

Psychological impact on healthcare workers, general population and affected individuals of SARS and COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Any infectious disease outbreak may lead to a negative detrimental psychological impact on individuals and the community at large, however; there was no systematic review nor meta-analysis that examined the relationship between the psychological/mental health impact of SARS and COVID-19 outbreak in Asia. Methods and design: A systematic search was conducted using PubMed, EMBASE, Medline, PsycINFO, and CINAHL databases from 1/1/2000 to 1/6/2020. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we analyzed the psychological impact on confirmed/suspected cases, healthcare workers and the general public during the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak and Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemics. Primary outcomes included prevalence of depression, anxiety, stress, post-traumatic stress disorder, aggression, sleeping problems and psychological symptoms. Result: Twenty-three eligible studies (N = 27,325) were included. Random effect model was used to analyze the data using STATA. Of these studies, 11 were related to the SARS outbreak and 12 related to COVID-19 outbreaks. The overall prevalence rate of anxiety during SARS and COVID-19 was 37.8% (95% CI: 21.1-54.5, P < 0.001, I2 = 96.9%) and 34.8% (95% CI: 29.1-40.4), respectively. For depression, the overall prevalence rate during SARS and COVID-19 was 30.9% (95% CI: 18.6-43.1, P < 0.001, I2 = 97.3%) and 32.4% (95% CI: 19.8-45.0, P < 0.001, I2 = 99.8%), respectively. The overall prevalence rate of stress was 9.4% (95% CI: -0.4 -19.2, P = 0.015, I2 = 83.3%) and 54.1% (95% CI: 35.7-72.6, P < 0.001, I2 = 98.8%) during SARS and COVID-19, respectively. The overall prevalence of PTSD was 15.1% (95% CI: 8.2-22.0, P < 0.001) during SARS epidemic, calculated by random-effects model (P < 0.05), with significant between-study heterogeneity (I2 = 93.5%). Conclusion: The SARS and COVID-19 epidemics have brought about high levels of psychological distress to individuals. Psychological interventions and contingent digital mental health platform should be promptly established nationwide for continuous surveillance of the increasing prevalence of negative psychological symptoms. Health policymakers and mental health experts should jointly collaborate to provide timely, contingent mental health treatment and psychological support to those in need to reduce the global disease burden. Systematic review registration: CRD42020182787, identifier PROSPER.

The Development and Preliminary Application of the Chinese Version of the COVID-19 Vaccine Literacy Scale.

(1) Background: Vaccine literacy (VL) of the public is crucial to deal with anti-vaccination rhetoric. This study aims to (1) develop a Chinese COVID-19 Vaccine Literacy Scale and examine the factor structure and psychometric characteristics, and (2) explore the association between COVID-19 VL and sociodemographic characteristics and other variables; (2) Methods: An online cross-sectional survey was conducted among 362 Chinese residents from 23 May 2022 to 31 May 2022 using snowball sampling; (3) Results: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the scale of 15 items, consisting of three factors, functional, interactive and critical vaccine literacy, explained 63.3% of the total variance. Cronbach's α coefficient was 0.885 for the overall scale: 0.838, 0.891, and 0.857 for three subscales, respectively. The results showed a medium level of vaccine literacy (M = 3.71, SD = 0.72) and significant differences among functional, interactive, and critical vaccine literacy (p < 0.001). The level of vaccine literacy grew with the level of education (p < 0.001) and age (p = 0.049). Men, participants who were single, or those living in rural areas had a lower level of vaccine literacy; (4) Conclusions: The Chinese COVID-19 VL Scale has adequate validity and reliability for assessing vaccine literacy among Chinese residents. A deep understanding of the factors that affect vaccine literacy is needed.

A Study to Assess the Effect of Planned Teaching on Knowledge and Beginning Skill Regarding "Hands Only-Cpr" among the General Public from Selected Area of Kankavli

Cardiac arrest is a condition where heart suddenly stops, and the person just dies. About 10% of the deaths in India is due to sudden cardiac arrest which is also the most common factor of death in the world. In this unusual time of the Covid-19 pandemic, there is concern about the risk of a public responder contracting Covid-19 from a person when providing CPR. The vast majority of cardiac arrests (over 80%) will be in the home setting and responders are likely to be friends or family. Knowing how to perform "hands-only CPR" can save a life. A cardiac patient's chance of becoming a long-term survivor are more than doubled if someone on the scene administers prompt CPR. Healthcare workers already are at the highest risk of acquiring SARS-CoV-2, According to the AHA, and administering CPR creates additional risks, CPR can involve a number of aerosol-generating procedures that include performing chest compressions, providing positive-pressure ventilation, and establishing an advanced airway through intubation. Resuscitation can require providers to work in close proximity to one another and the patient;and the urgency to resuscitate a patient in cardiac arrest can result in lapses in infection-controlprotocols. Copyright © 2022, Anka Publishers. All rights reserved.

The Impact of Covid-19 On State-Religion Relations: A Study On Israel And Iran

Regulations, measures and restrictions implemented by state authorities on public events and mass gatherings due to fear, anxiety, and panic caused by COVID-19 pandemic have made religious field more open to state intervention since the global pandemic started and religious practices underwent radical changes. Governments’ public health measures concerning the places of mass worship and religious gatherings to stop the spread of the pandemic and the reactions of religious groups against their orders and imposed restrictions emerged as a new dimension of the debates on state-religion and state-individual relations. In this regard, the main purpose of the study is to discuss the new global religious trends that emerged with the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, which reshapes state-religion relations through the regulations and measure for containing the virus, in light of the experiences in different regions and religious traditions, and to analyze the relationship between the religion and the state in the Middle East, specifically the cases of Israel and Iran as religious character is dominant and orthodox religious groups play a significant role within the social and political structure in both countries.

Evaluating and Improving Questions on an Unproctored Online General Chemistry Exam

Administering exams in large enrollment courses is challenging and systems in place for accomplishing this task were upended in the spring of 2020 when a sudden transformation to online instruction and testing occurred due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the following year, when courses remained online, approaches to improve exam security included measures like using test banks and reducing the allotted time for completing exams to reduce the sharing of information. A psychometric comparison using classical test theory of an unproctored online exam with one delivered in-person indicates both have comparable reliability. However, item-level analysis demonstrates some questions performed higher in the unproctored setting, with an important variable being the item's searchability online. Revising questions to increase generalizability and reduce searchability mitigate these performance differences. Further, changing the format for questions involving calculations from multiple-choice to open response with random number generation was found to increase difficulty and item discrimination and is a viable approach for improving exam security. © 2022 Authors.

Development of Bioderived Alternatives to N95 Face Masks in a Remote Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience

The high demand for N95 and surgical masks made of nonbiodegradable petroleum-based materials due to SARS-CoV-2 challenges the recycling industry and is proving to be unsustainable. Although woven fabric masks present a longer lifetime, they are less effective in protecting against viral particulates. Here, through an at-home course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE), we demonstrate that alginate and soy-based materials are attractive alternatives for mask fabrication: stacking calcium ion-cross-linked alginate films with soy protein isolate sheets enables electrostatic and size-exclusion filtration. State-of-the-art aerosol testing confirmed this conclusion. Furthermore, because our synthetic and at-home analytical approach relies on cheap, abundant, and food-grade materials, and requires no equipment beyond kitchenware, it has the potential to be broadly adopted for practical and educational purposes. © 2022 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.

Remote Supergroup for Chemistry Undergraduates: An Inclusive Scientific Community for Primarily Undergraduate Institutions

The Remote Supergroup for Chemistry Undergraduates (RSCU) is a community of students and faculty from primarily undergraduate institutions that aims to (1) engage students in discussions of chemical research, (2) inform students of further educational and career pathways, (3) increase awareness and discourse of equity issues in science, and (4) foster scientific community across institutions. RSCU engaged participants in impactful virtual activities during the summer of 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic precluded in-person undergraduate research experiences, and the program continued in 2021 as in-person research resumed. Results from self-reported surveys show that RSCU successfully achieved its aims both years, and both students and faculty research mentors benefited from participation. The diverse activities and scientific network cultivated by RSCU complement undergraduate research experiences and could be adapted to other disciplines. © 2022 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.