Robotic Chef Versus Human Chef: The Effects of Anthropomorphism, Novel Cues, and Cooking Difficulty Level on Food Quality Prediction.

Robots have been increasingly common in hospitality and tourism, especially being favored under the threat of COVID-19. However, people generally do not think robots are appropriate for cooking food in hotels and restaurants, possibly because they hold low quality predictions for robot-cooked food. This study aimed to investigate the factors influencing people's quality prediction for robot-cooked food. In three experiments, participants viewed pictures of human and robotic chefs and dishes cooked by them, and then made food quality predictions and rated their perceptions of the chefs. The results showed that participants predicted the foods cooked by robotic chefs were above average quality; however, they consistently held lower food quality prediction for robotic chefs than human chefs, regardless of dishes' cooking difficulty level, novel cues in chefs and food, or the anthropomorphism level of robotic chefs. The results also showed that increasing the appearance of robotic chefs from low or medium to high anthropomorphism, or enabling robotic chefs to cook high cooking difficulty level food could promote food quality prediction. These results revealed the current acceptance of robot-cooked food, suggesting possible ways to improve food quality predictions.

Corona With Lyme: A Long COVID Case Study.

The longevity of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has necessitated continued discussion about the long-term impacts of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Many who develop an acute COVID-19 infection will later face a constellation of enduring symptoms of varying severity, otherwise known as long COVID. As the pandemic reaches its inevitable endemicity, the long COVID patient population will undoubtedly grow and require improved recognition and management. The case presented describes the three-year arc of a previously healthy 26-year-old female medical student from initial infection and induction of long COVID symptomology to near-total remission of the disease. In doing so, the course of this unique post-viral illness and the trials and errors of myriad treatment options will be chronologized, thereby contributing to the continued demand for understanding this mystifying disease.

The association between the number of symptoms and the severity of Post-COVID-Fatigue after SARS-CoV-2 infection treated in an outpatient setting.

BACKGROUND: Post-COVID-Fatigue (PCF) is one of the most reported symptoms following SARS-CoV-2 infection. Currently, research on persistent symptoms focuses mainly on severe infections, while outpatients are rarely included in observations. OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether the severity of PCF is related to the number of acute and persistent symptoms due to mild-to-moderate COVID-19 and to compare the most common symptoms during acute infection with the persistent symptoms in PCF patients. METHODS: A total of 425 participants were examined after COVID-19 treated as an outpatient (median 249 days [IQR: 135; 322] after acute disease) at the site of University Hospital Augsburg, Germany. The Fatigue Assessment Scale (FAS) was used to quantify the severity of PCF. The number of symptoms (maximum 41) during acute infection and persistent symptoms (during the last 14 days before examination) were added up to sum scores. Multivariable linear regression models were used to show the association between the number of symptoms and PCF. RESULTS: Of the 425 participants, 37% (n = 157) developed PCF; most were women (70%). The median number of symptoms was significantly higher in the PCF group than in the non-PCF group at both time points. In multivariable linear regression models, both sum scores were associated with PCF (acute symptoms: ß-estimate per additional symptom [95%-CI]: 0.48 [0.39; 0.57], p < 0.0001); persistent symptoms: ß-estimate per additional symptom [95%-CI]: 1.18 [1.02; 1.34], p < 0.0001). The acute symptoms strongest associated with PCF severity were difficulty concentrating, memory problems, dyspnea or shortness of breath on exertion, palpitations, and problems with movement coordination. CONCLUSION: Each additional symptom that occurs in COVID-19 increases the likelihood of suffering a higher severity of PCF. Further research is needed to identify the aetiology of PCF. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Nr. NCT04615026. Date of registration: November 4, 2020.

A Creative Nonfiction Narrative Inquiry into an EFL online learning community during the COVID-19 Pandemic

University libraries globally launch coronavirus memory archival projects inviting the documentation of personal experience. Elicitations such as journal entries and oral history interviews fall under the category of life-writing. This Narrative Inquiry focuses on creative nonfiction stories produced by an online high school community and edited by the EFL teacher during the first full lockdown in Greece. The shift to distance education caused students to use ELF as a means of contrasting their local archival endeavors with global ones. The EFL teacher as researcher used mentor texts, collected the coronavirus stories on e-me online platform, engaged the online members in a peer-reviewing process and reauthored a collective narrative. Narrative writing analysis was employed to reflect the teacher's initiative to commemorate a student community's physical disconnectedness from onsite learning. The use of e-me for this collaborative venture offers practical implications for EFL practitioners such as going beyond the bounds of the traditional curriculum whilst identifying self-regulation as indication of resilience among students experiencing unprecedented circumstances.

Fatigue in Post-Acute Sequelae of Coronavirus Disease 2019.

Fatigue from post-acute sequelae of coronavirus disease 2019 is a complex constellation of symptoms that could be driven by a wide spectrum of underlying etiologies. Despite this, there seems to be hope for treatment plans that focus on addressing possible etiologies and creating a path to improving quality of life and a paced return to activity.

The impact of leader in me on elementary school culture: A quantitative study of the impact of leader in me on school culture during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

The purpose of this quantitative study is to understand the role that character education curriculum, specifically the Leader in Me, plays on overall elementary school culture. The primary question guiding this study is, has the implementation of Leader in Me provided any measurable impact on elementary school culture prior to and during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic? The review of the literature demonstrates a rich history of character education throughout the history of education and the impact that it plays on self-efficacy, school culture, and student achievement. This study intends to investigate the impact that the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has had on elementary school culture and determine whether the implementation of Leader in Me provided better conditions for positive school culture. In order to achieve this overall objective, the following research questions framed this quantitative study: 1. What is the relationship between the length of implementation of the Leader in Me character education curriculum on elementary school culture? 2. What impact did the implementation of the Leader in Me character education curriculum play on elementary school culture prior to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic? 3. What impact did the implementation of the Leader in Me character education curriculum play on elementary school culture during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic?A quantitative approach has been chosen for this study to examine the impact that the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has had on elementary school culture and determine if the implementation of Leader in Me provided any benefit. Archival data was utilized to provide a foundation for the analysis of the data through the utilization of the 5Essentials Survey and the Measurable Results Assessment. The study also utilized an independently created survey to measure the school culture of schools that have and have not implemented Leader in Me. The data included responses from staff and administrators at 817 elementary schools across Northern Illinois. Statistical tests were conducted to determine the impact that the implementation of Leader in Me may have on elementary school culture.While this study was unable to replicate the results of prior studies regarding the impact that Leader in Me plays on school culture, it did find a statistically significant difference in school culture during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Furthermore, the research concluded that regardless of the implementation of Leader in Me, school culture was negatively impacted during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.Recommendations from this study include the need to analyze school culture following the pandemic to understand the true impact of Leader in Me during the pandemic, utilize a greater population size in order to provide more generalized results, and consider the use of a mixed methods study to gain a greater understanding as to why respondents perceive their school culture to be the way that it is. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

A review of cytokine-based pathophysiology of Long COVID symptoms.

The Long COVID/Post Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC) group includes patients with initial mild-to-moderate symptoms during the acute phase of the illness, in whom recovery is prolonged, or new symptoms are developed over months. Here, we propose a description of the pathophysiology of the Long COVID presentation based on inflammatory cytokine cascades and the p38 MAP kinase signaling pathways that regulate cytokine production. In this model, the SARS-CoV-2 viral infection is hypothesized to trigger a dysregulated peripheral immune system activation with subsequent cytokine release. Chronic low-grade inflammation leads to dysregulated brain microglia with an exaggerated release of central cytokines, producing neuroinflammation. Immunothrombosis linked to chronic inflammation with microclot formation leads to decreased tissue perfusion and ischemia. Intermittent fatigue, Post Exertional Malaise (PEM), CNS symptoms with "brain fog," arthralgias, paresthesias, dysautonomia, and GI and ophthalmic problems can consequently arise as result of the elevated peripheral and central cytokines. There are abundant similarities between symptoms in Long COVID and myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). DNA polymorphisms and viral-induced epigenetic changes to cytokine gene expression may lead to chronic inflammation in Long COVID patients, predisposing some to develop autoimmunity, which may be the gateway to ME/CFS.

Exercise Pathophysiology in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2: More in Common Than Not?

TOPIC IMPORTANCE: Postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC) is a long-term consequence of acute infection from COVID-19. Clinical overlap between PASC and myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) has been observed, with shared symptoms, including intractable fatigue, postexertional malaise, and orthostatic intolerance. The mechanistic underpinnings of such symptoms are poorly understood. REVIEW FINDINGS: Early studies suggest deconditioning as the primary explanation for exertional intolerance in PASC. Cardiopulmonary exercise testing reveals perturbations related to systemic blood flow and ventilatory control associated with acute exercise intolerance in PASC, which are not typical of simple detraining. Hemodynamic and gas exchange derangements in PASC have substantial overlap with those observed with ME/CFS, suggestive of shared mechanisms. SUMMARY: This review illustrates exercise pathophysiological commonalities between PASC and ME/CFS that will help guide future diagnostics and treatment.

The Evaluation of Health Care Services for Children and Adolescents With Post-COVID-19 Condition: Protocol for a Prospective Longitudinal Study.

BACKGROUND: Some children and adolescents suffer from late effects of a SARS-CoV-2 infection despite a frequently mild course of the disease. Nevertheless, extensive care for post-COVID-19 condition, also known as post-COVID-19 syndrome, in children and young people is not yet available. A comprehensive care network, Post-COVID Kids Bavaria (PoCo), for children and adolescents with post-COVID-19 condition has been set up as a model project in Bavaria, Germany. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to evaluate the health care services provided within this network structure of care for children and adolescents with post-COVID-19 condition in a pre-post study design. METHODS: We have already recruited 117 children and adolescents aged up to 17 years with post-COVID-19 condition who were diagnosed and treated in 16 participating outpatient clinics. Health care use, treatment satisfaction, patient-reported outcomes related to health-related quality of life (the primary endpoint), fatigue, postexertional malaise, and mental health are being assessed at different time points (at baseline and after 4 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months) using routine data, interviews, and self-report questionnaires. RESULTS: The study recruitment process ran from April 2022 until December 2022. Interim analyses will be carried out. A full analysis of the data will be conducted after follow-up assessment is completed, and the results will be published. CONCLUSIONS: The results will contribute to the evaluation of therapeutic services provided for post-COVID-19 condition in children and adolescents, and avenues for optimizing care may be identified. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/41010.

Internet Access and Educational Backwardness in the Times of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Mexico's Rural Households

We evaluate the impact of Internet access on educational backwardness in rural Mexico, with a focus on gender differences. Based on data from Mexico's National Survey of Household Income and Expenditure in 2020 (Encuesta Nacional de Ingresos y Gastos de los Hogares, ENIGH 2020) and a treatment econometric model, our results indicate that in the total sample of the rural sector, Internet access decreases up to 3.28% points the probability that an individual will experience educational backwardness. With respect to gender differences, our results suggest that the effect of Internet access on educational backwardness is greater for women than for men, due to prevalent gender inequality in rural Mexico. Our findings point to the need for better policymaking to narrow the digital divide and educational gap that have expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico's rural sector. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Who Became Victims of Financial Frauds during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan?

The COVID-19 pandemic has provided a unique opportunity for fraudsters to innovatively swindle money through the trade of necessary goods and services. Although several incidents of financial fraud were reported during the pandemic, there is a lack of studies comparing financial frauds before and during the pandemic and the risk factors associated with frauds. This study uses two waves of a panel survey conducted before and during the pandemic and applies mean comparison tests and logit regressions to investigate financial frauds at the aggregate and specific levels. The comparative analysis shows no significant change in financial frauds at the aggregate level between before and during the pandemic. However, refund frauds for men have increased, while loan guarantee frauds for women have decreased significantly during the pandemic. The regression results show that being male, younger in age, living with family, having employment status, having a household income, household assets, having financial literacy, having a myopic view of the future, and having careful buying habits are associated with the probability of being victims of financial frauds during the pandemic. The study reveals differences in risk factors associated with victims of financial frauds at the aggregate and specific levels. The results further imply that risk factors differ across the types of fraud, which authorities should consider while combating financial frauds. © 2023 by the authors.

Emotion and Sentiment Recognition using Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning Techniques during Disaster Situation

Detecting emotions of the residents during disaster scenario is important for the government agencies to properly take care of its constituents. COVID-19 is a global disaster scenario that has caused unprecedented shutdowns, unemployment, death, and isolation. The behavioral and emotional health impact of COVID-19 is investigated in this study through the use of sentiment analysis and emotion recognition. The dataset is formed by collecting tweets from the seven months before COVID-19 became prevalent in March 2020 and the following seven months after. VADER sentiment analysis method was used to determine if a tweet was positive, negative, or neutral. For emotion recognition, several machine learning algorithms were evaluated and Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) Long-Short Term Memory (LSTM) performed better than the other models. Hence, CNN-LSTM was used to classify the emotion of each tweet as either anger, fear, joy, or sadness. Each tweet has a longitude and latitude stored with it that was geocoded to give the exact location, which was used to compare the states within the USA, and finally compare the USA as a whole with Canada, and Mexico. Sentiment analysis shows that all countries have experienced an increase in negative tweets. Emotion recognition shows that compared to Canada and Mexico, USA has experienced a steep drop in emotional health. © 2022 IEEE.

Evaluation-Self-regulated Learning in Higher Education in a Digital Environment Under Vulnerable Conditions and Confinement Due to Covid-19

Education is one of the areas in which the trend toward using digital tools in educational processes and methodologies is increasingly unavoidable. In Mexico, the first internet connection occurred just over three decades ago. Since then, internet access has enabled the gradual advancement of education into the digital age. The Covid-19 pandemic has forcibly and massively challenged us to digitalize educational work. The present research is an experimental study of self-regulated learning in a higher-education digital environment with a group of first-year university students attending a private institution in northern Mexico. A study recommendation is that before implementing any strategy to develop self-regulated learning using digital tools and virtual environments, all significant contextual aspects that could affect the effectiveness of the intervention strategy must be considered. © 2022 Copyright held by the owner/author(s).

Architecture Proposal under a Virtual Reality Ecosystem to Support the Teaching of Basic Mathematics in Elementary Education

One of the big problems facing Latin America in education is undoubtedly the educational backwardness that is present and worsens over time, México is no stranger to this problem, in recent years and especially in times of pandemic COVID-19 brought important educational challenges that aggravated the problems. To this is added the difficulty faced by students in learning mathematics, due to the teaching methods used that do not motivate or arouse the interest of students. The objective of this research is to design digital environments focused on virtual reality as a support in the learning of basic mathematics for elementary school students. It is proposed to build a software architecture based on an ecosystem for virtual reality applications, the proposed ecosystem is composed of providers and consumers of educational content (children), elementary school teachers who will generate and design basic mathematics activities and elementary school students will consume the applications through the activities within different virtual environments and with different interaction dynamics making use of virtual reality viewers. It is expected that the architecture can establish the basis for the design and production of Virtual Reality applications that allow the conformation of learning communities in mathematics through the virtual reality learning ecosystem. © 2022 Copyright for this paper by its authors. Use permitted under Creative Commons License Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).

THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO HIGHLIGHT THE MIGRATION OF AGRICULTURAL WORKERS THROUGH MEDIA COVERAGE

In recent years, the interest in media representations of migrants and the media as a space for participation has increased within the field of migration studies. Yet, most scholars' attention is focused on immigrants and the media in destination countries, while less attention is paid to origin countries and emigrants' representation. Taking advantage of the increased attention paid to migrants and migration during the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, we investigated the media representations of Romanian migrants in agriculture who work in other European countries and interpreted how their voices could be heard through media accounts. Through content analysis, we investigated a sample of 297 articles published between 1st April and 31st May 2020 on the websites of the six most visible Romanian media outlets. This study contributes to the existing knowledge on media representations of Romanian migrants by documenting a series of tendencies, including an event-oriented approach, oversimplified representations of migration, massification and schematisation of migrant representations, and the high sensitivity to reports from destination countries' media on Romanian migrants. Our analysis reveals that the approach taken to reporting on migration during the COVID-19 pandemic, at least during its first phase, highly depended on the existing, institutionalised modes of media reporting on migration. Copyright © 2022 CSIC.

Towards a Better Understanding of the Complexities of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Long COVID.

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a complex condition arising in susceptible people, predominantly following viral infection, but also other stressful events. The susceptibility factors discussed here are both genetic and environmental although not well understood. While the dysfunctional physiology in ME/CFS is becoming clearer, understanding has been hampered by different combinations of symptoms in each affected person. A common core set of mainly neurological symptoms forms the modern clinical case definition, in the absence of an accessible molecular diagnostic test. This landscape has prompted interest in whether ME/CFS patients can be classified into a particular phenotype/subtype that might assist better management of their illness and suggest preferred therapeutic options. Currently, the same promising drugs, nutraceuticals, or behavioral therapies available can be beneficial, have no effect, or be detrimental to each individual patient. We have shown that individuals with the same disease profile exhibit unique molecular changes and physiological responses to stress, exercise and even vaccination. Key features of ME/CFS discussed here are the possible mechanisms determining the shift of an immune/inflammatory response from transient to chronic in ME/CFS, and how the brain and CNS manifests the neurological symptoms, likely with activation of its specific immune system and resulting neuroinflammation. The many cases of the post viral ME/CFS-like condition, Long COVID, following SARS-CoV-2 infection, and the intense research interest and investment in understanding this condition, provide exciting opportunities for the development of new therapeutics that will benefit ME/CFS patients.

Cardiovascular and haematological pathology in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS): A role for viruses.

ME/CFS is a debilitating chronic condition that often develops after viral or bacterial infection. Insight from the study of Long COVID/Post Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC), the post-viral syndrome associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection, might prove to be useful for understanding pathophysiological mechanisms of ME/CFS. Disease presentation is similar between the two conditions, and a subset of Long COVID patients meet the diagnostic criteria for ME/CFS. Since Long COVID is characterized by significant vascular pathology - including endothelial dysfunction, coagulopathy, and vascular dysregulation - the question of whether or not the same biological abnormalities are of significance in ME/CFS arises. Cardiac abnormalities have for a while now been documented in ME/CFS cohorts, with recent studies demonstrating major deficits in cerebral blood flow, and hence vascular dysregulation. A growing body of research is demonstrating that ME/CFS is accompanied by platelet hyperactivation, anomalous clotting, a procoagulant phenotype, and endothelial dysfunction. Endothelial damage and dysregulated clotting can impair substance exchange between blood and tissues, and result in hypoperfusion, which may contribute to the manifestation of certain ME/CFS symptoms. Here we review the ME/CFS literature to summarize cardiovascular and haematological findings documented in patients with the condition, and, in this context, briefly discuss the potential role of previously-implicated pathogens. Overall, cardiac and haematological abnormalities are present within ME/CFS cohorts. While atherosclerotic heart disease is not significantly associated with ME/CFS, suboptimal cardiovascular function defined by reduced cardiac output, impaired cerebral blood flow, and vascular dysregulation are, and these abnormalities do not appear to be influenced by deconditioning. Rather, these cardiac abnormalities may result from dysfunction in the (autonomic) nervous system. Plenty of recently published studies are demonstrating significant platelet hyperactivity and endothelial dysfunction in ME/CFS, as well as anomalous clotting processes. It is of particular importance to determine to what extent these cardiovascular and haematological abnormalities contribute to symptom severity, and if these two systems can be targeted for therapeutic purposes. Viral reservoirs of herpesviruses exist in ME/CFS, and most likely contribute to cardiovascular and haematological dysfunction directly or indirectly. This review highlights the potential of studying cardiac functioning, the vasculature, and coagulation system in ME/CFS.

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is common in post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC): Results from a post-COVID-19 multidisciplinary clinic.

Background: The global prevalence of PASC is estimated to be present in 0·43 and based on the WHO estimation of 470 million worldwide COVID-19 infections, corresponds to around 200 million people experiencing long COVID symptoms. Despite this, its clinical features are not well-defined. Methods: We collected retrospective data from 140 patients with PASC in a post-COVID-19 clinic on demographics, risk factors, illness severity (graded as one-mild to five-severe), functional status, and 29 symptoms and principal component symptoms cluster analysis. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) 2015 criteria were used to determine the Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) phenotype. Findings: The median age was 47 years, 59.0% were female; 49.3% White, 17.2% Hispanic, 14.9% Asian, and 6.7% Black. Only 12.7% required hospitalization. Seventy-two (53.5%) patients had no known comorbid conditions. Forty-five (33.9%) were significantly debilitated. The median duration of symptoms was 285.5 days, and the number of symptoms was 12. The most common symptoms were fatigue (86.5%), post-exertional malaise (82.8%), brain fog (81.2%), unrefreshing sleep (76.7%), and lethargy (74.6%). Forty-three percent fit the criteria for ME/CFS, majority were female, and obesity (BMI > 30 Kg/m2) (P = 0.00377895) and worse functional status (P = 0.0110474) were significantly associated with ME/CFS. Interpretations: Most PASC patients evaluated at our clinic had no comorbid condition and were not hospitalized for acute COVID-19. One-third of patients experienced a severe decline in their functional status. About 43% had the ME/CFS subtype.

A patient who recovered from post-COVID myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Some patients infected with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) complain of persistent fatigue, dyspnea, pain, and cognitive dysfunction. These symptoms are often described as "long COVID". Whether a patient with long COVID might develop myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is of interest, as is the treatment and management of ME/CFS in a post-COVID patient. Here I report a patient, who, after an infection with SARS-CoV-2, developed ME/CFS and recovered after treatment. CASE PRESENTATION: The patient was a previously healthy 55-year-old woman who worked as a nurse and became ill with COVID-19 pneumonia. She then presented with severe fatigue, post-exertional malaise, dyspnea, pain, cognitive dysfunction, tachycardia, and exacerbation of fatigue on physical exertion, which persisted for more than 6 months after her recovery from COVID-19 pneumonia. She was bedridden for more than half of each day. The patient was treated from multiple perspectives, which included (1) instructions on eating habits and supplements; (2) cognitive and behavioral modifications for coping with physical, emotional, and cognitive fatigue; (3) instructions on conditioning exercises to improve deconditioning due to fatigue and dyspnea; and (4) pharmacotherapy with amitriptyline and hochuekkito, a Japanese herbal (Kampo) medicine. The patient made a complete recovery after completing the prescribed regimen and was able to return to work as a nurse. CONCLUSIONS: To the best of my knowledge, this is the first detailed report on a patient infected with SARS-CoV-2 followed by long COVID with the signs/symptoms of ME/CFS who recovered after treatment. I hope this case report will be helpful to health care practitioners by its presentation of some of the therapeutic options for alleviating disabling signs/symptoms in patients with post-COVID ME/CFS.