Food, energy, and water security in the era of COVID-19: preliminary evidence from Colorado, United States. (Special Issue: Disparities during times of a pandemic and epidemic.)

The current global pandemic threatens the food, energy, and water security of households given the economic fallout that it has caused. In this analysis, we present preliminary survey data from respondents in Colorado, United States. We asked how the pandemic and related lockdown orders have impacted the food, energy, and water security of their households. Results imply that, in the near term, households have avoided significant insecurities, yet many have serious concerns moving forward.

A framework for determining energy use in rural food delivery services: capturing system interdependencies through an agent-based discrete-event approach

Food e-commerce has seen significant growth over the past decade that accelerated after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Last-mile transportation and logistics are widely considered the most expensive and least efficient portion of the supply chain and have multiple important energy trade-offs such as cargo capacity and consumer density. Last-mile transportation energy use in rural areas is underrepresented in the literature. This study proposes a hybrid agent-based and discrete event model framework for evaluating the last-mile transportation energy use of van- and car-based food delivery services in a rural community, based on meal-kit and grocery delivery operations, respectively. This framework quantifies last-mile energy use in rural areas, and is demonstrated here using a neighborhood outside of Austin, TX as an analytical testbed. The study focuses on the effects of consumer density, cargo limitations, and vehicle speed. For the conditions examined with this framework, diesel delivery vans use more total energy than passenger cars for the same trip, though a van delivering four orders uses less energy per-order than a car delivering one order. However, there are trade-offs between vehicle type and mileage, cargo capacity, route density, and speed that are particularly important for delivery services operating in rural areas. This framework can be used by service providers to assess route-specific trade-offs for each vehicle and gauge which is preferable for given operating conditions or to evaluate the energy, and thus also cost, impact of expanding their services to rural areas.

Collegiate student-athlete psychological distress and counseling utilization during COVID-19

The onset of COVID-19 and cancellation of collegiate sports may have exacerbated student-athletes' psychological distress. Within a national sample of collegiate athletes (N = 5,755;66.7% women), we determined how gender and race related to rates of depression, stress, and counseling use at the beginning of the pandemic (April/May 2020). Overall, 26.5% (n = 1,526) and 10.6% (n = 612) endorsed clinical levels of depression and stress, respectively;25.1% (n = 1,443) and 69.7% (n = 4,014) reported subclinical levels. Few athletes (2.3%-17.1%) reported counseling use before or after the onset of COVID-19;those who did reported higher levels of depression and stress than those who never sought services. The female athletes reported higher rates of depression, stress, and counseling use than the male athletes. There were no race effects. Athletic departments must address their student-athletes' psychological distress by facilitating a higher use of mental health services.

Clinical spectrum of COVID-19 and plasma angiotensin II levels

Angiotensin II levels in COVID-19 are controversial. We studied 12 hospitalized patients, including their baseline levels of peripheral lymphocyte subsets (via flow cytometry) and plasma angiotensin II (via radioimmunoassay). Controls comprised radioimmunoassay's 124 healthy subjects. Angiotensin II levels (pg/ml) were elevated among patients versus controls (Mean +or- standard deviation: 98.8 +or- 146.9 versus 23.7 +or- 15.6, p < 0.0001;Median, interquartile range: 27, 20 to 116 versus 22, 14 to 28). Half the patients had lymphocytopenia (< 1000 cells/mm3), and the CD3+/CD4+ counts were negatively associated with body mass index, viral load, hospital stay and non-home discharge. Angiotensin II imbalance appears to be a biomarker for COVID-19 morbidity and merits further investigation.

Impact of COVID-19 on foodservice operations within urban Kansas childcare centers

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to identify the ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic affected foodservice operations within urban Kansas childcare centers. METHODS: Three COVID-19-related questions were added to an online survey of Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) participating childcare centers located throughout Kansas. Responses were collected from July through August, 2020. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis of open-ended responses were used to identify common concerns. RESULTS: Seventy-nine of the 138 childcare centers invited to complete the COVID-19-related questions responded (57.2% participation rate). The majority (n=56, 70.1%) reported decreased enrollment, whereas a small number (n=9, 11.4%) reported an increase. Approximately twothirds of the centers (n=49, 62.0%) reported foodservice operation modifications owing to COVID-19-related challenges. Three overarching themes were discovered within the centers' responses: (a) procurement challenges including decreased availability and increased cost of foods, (b) changes in meal service including shifting to disposable tableware and ceasing familystyle meal service, and (c) menu and production changes in response to enrollment changes and product availability issues. APPLICATION TO CHILD NUTRITION PROFESSIONALS: Future consideration for CACFP participants include shifting to more shelf-stable foods when faced with food availability issues and utilizing more cost-effective food purchasing options, which might be attained through group purchasing organizations. Well-developed emergency plans such as emergency menus should include plans for procurement challenges. Resources and training to increase understanding and knowledge of CACFP meal pattern guidelines may make menu changes based on availability easier or less challenging. Best practice guidelines, such as family-style meals, may have to take health and safety measures into consideration. As centers continue to experience COVID-19-related issues and plan for a "return to normal", child nutrition professionals can fulfill an important role in helping centers adapt their foodservice operations to meet the challenge.

Rural parent's experiences of stress and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic and school closure

The COVID-19 pandemic has generated social and economic disruptions, resulting in cascading e ects on the health and well- being of global citizens. However, little research has focused on how COVID-19 has a ected rural regions, despite rurality being a critical factor for understanding community impact and response to the pandemic. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the experiences of rural Nebraskan parents with young children during the COVID-19 pandemic and school shutdown, and the strategies they used to support their families during that time. We conducted individual and group interviews with 22 white, non-Hispanic mothers living in rural towns, villages, and farms in the Great Plains region of the United States. Thematic analysis was used to generate the following themes related to pandemic challenges: Impacts on Children's Education and Development, Impact on Parent's Work, and Social-Emotional Impacts. Additionally, we generated themes related to the ways that rural parents responded to those challenges: Successful Parenting Strategies, Children's Strategies, Using Community Provided Resources, Finding Unexpected Bene ts, and Hope. This study is meaningful because it documented the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and school shutdown on rural families with young children, and their responses to pandemic-related stressors. Our ndings provide further insights into families' experiences of how COVID-19 a ected their lives. Limitations and future directions are also discussed.

Tourists and tour operators as citizen scientists: potential and challenges

Wildlife tour operators often visit natural habitats regularly and remote ones less often. Academic researchers and their students often do not have the budget to do so, or to send research assistants. Keepers in wildlife parks and zoos and ecolodge managers often have the opportunity to observe animals almost daily, but may lack the time to sit and watch for many hours. There would appear to be much scope for tour operations and their tourists to participate in citizen science. There are already numerous examples, from day-trippers photographing whale tails on cruises to help monitor migratory individuals, to experiences such as 'Wildlife of the Mongolian Steppes', a two-week citizen science excursion run by the Earthwatch Institute and Denver Zoo to collect data on Mongolian wildlife in cooperation with local researchers. Potential and actual problems of using tourists and tour operators as citizen scientists have been voiced, but there are ways of overcoming at least some of them. Tour operators looking for ways of engaging domestic tourists now that Covid-19 lockdown prevents many international visits may consider the potential for incorporating citizen science activities that offer their guests a food learning experience, a sense of achievement and perhaps a closer look at some species than would normally be possible.

COVID-19 rural health inequities: insights from a real-world scenario. (Special Issue: COVID-19 and health inequities: insights from communication research and practice.)

Background: During the pandemic, Mount Pleasant, Texas became a hotspot for Covid-19 cases in the Hispanic community employed by a local meat packing plant and many other industries. An important consideration for rural communities is the language barrier and lack of easily accessible Spanish information explaining Covid-19. In addition, rapidly changing discoveries about the virus and subsequent vaccines creates a sense of confusion within this population already burdened with difficulty understanding health information leading to even more confusion about prevention, treatment and vaccine acceptance.

How we learned to question everything. (Special Issue: Snapshot: documenting museum education during intersecting pandemics.)

With the onset of the pandemic, Philbrook Museum of Art's education department grappled with loss of staff, suspension of long-standing programs, and an unclear sense of identity and purpose. As the larger institution sought to continue a transformation towards more equitable and culturally resonant practices, we undertook a process of self-reflection that revealed how much previous program commitments had hindered the pace of change. Through choosing to leave behind inherited departmental structures and committing more time to relationships with colleagues and partners, we found a more sustainable, equitable, and impactful trajectory for our work.

Analyzing the impact of COVID-19 on Texas high plains agriculture. (Special Issue: Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on agriculture and natural resources in the Western U.S.)

This study looks at the farm-level impacts of COVID-19 on six case study model operations created by local Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Risk Management Specialists. Texas High Plains producers faced many new uncertainties with the arrival of COVID19. Significant supply chain disruptions, reductions in consumer demand and decreases in travel negatively affected agricultural operations. In addition, efforts taken to stem contagion lessened the amount of food consumed away from home, and restrictions on movement sharply reduced gasoline usage, and with it demand for grain ethanol. Elevated cases among livestock processing facilities disrupted normal business practices and increased costs. In fact, early in the pandemic the Texas High Plains region was considered a COVID-19 "hot spot" as many area processing plants faced reduced workforces and slower production times due to high numbers of positive cases.

Gis-based vulnerability analysis of the United States to COVID-19 occurrence. (Special Issue: COVID-19 one year on.)

The outbreak of COVID-19 in the United States has resulted in over 11.2 million cases and over 240 thousand deaths. COVID-19 has affected the society in unprecedented way with its socioeconomic impact yet to be determined. This study aimed at assessing the vulnerability of the US at the county-level to COVID-19 using the pandemic data from January to June of the year 2020. The study considered the following critical factors: population density, elderly population, racial/ethnic minority population, diabetics, income, and smoking adults. Pearson's correlation analysis was performed to validate the independence of the factors. Spatial correlations between the COVID-19 occurrence and the factors were examined using Jaccard similarity analysis, which revealed relatively high correlation. A vulnerability to COVID-19 map with a five-level Likert scale was created using Logistic Regression Analysis in ArcGIS. The map showed close agreement in seven representative states, which were selected based on COVID-19 cases including NY, CA, FL, TX, OH, NC, and MT with R2 values between 0.684 and 0.731 with Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) values between ..0.033 and ..0.057. Furthermore, vulnerability levels from 'High' to 'Very High' were obtained for the top ten counties with the highest COVID-19 cases with residual values less than or equal to 0.04. The method and resulted vulnerability map can aid in COVID-19 response planning, prevention programs and devising strategies for controlling COVID-19 and similar pandemics in the future.

A hospital's collaborative arts in health approach to COVID-19. (Special Issue: Art-based research in health and well-being during the pandemic.)

This note from the field outlines how an integrated arts in health department within a hospital created clinical and non-clinical art experiences for patients and providers during COVID-19. Working with a multi-disciplinary team, the Center for Performing Arts Medicine at Houston Methodist established creative arts therapy and arts integration programmes targeting patient and provider experiences during COVID-19. Emphasis is placed on how programmes respond to both physical health and emotional well-being through accessible, appropriate art experiences. This article outlines those strategies and highlights various entry points for arts experiences in a hospital experience during a pandemic.

The impact of COVID-19 on meat processing, and the renewed interest in local processing capabilities. (Special Issue: Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on agriculture and natural resources in the Western U.S.)

COVID-19 caused meat processing plant shutdowns, increasing public concern regarding the current processing system. We identify numerous issues and limitations to provide the basis for a discussion about the challenges of increasing local and smallscale processing. These include labor, inspection availability, rendering services, capital, waste management/environmental, water, liability and throughput consistency issues. The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry received $10 million in grants for the Food Supply Stability Plan for Oklahoma meat processors. This work examines the potential impact of an increased number of local meat processors, and the incentives created by Oklahoma to encourage such actions.