Australian International Border Closures: Impact on International Student Well-Being

This chapter is an exploration of some of the issues that interface international students studying in Australian institutions. From the advent of COVID-19, the corresponding author raised concerns and responded to the critical issues that overwhelmed the international student community that entered a week before the Australian international border closures. The chapter also utilises the debate that ensued amongst the academic commentators around the impacts of border closure restrictions and the response of the Australian universities, the federal and the state governments, and the larger Australian society. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in major issues not only for academic institutions but also for international students who needed to adapt to border closures, loss of jobs and income to pay bills, lockdown rules and for many an overnight shift to distance education, something for which they need not have to come into Australia. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022.

Electromechanical Assisted Gait Training (EMGT) enables early mobilisation and improves mobility in people with acute stroke (preliminary findings)

Introduction: EMGT is an effective, evidence based intervention for improving mobility outcomes in people with stroke. It enables highly repetitive stepping practice, in patients who are unable to stand/step. Despite being recommended in national guidance, adoption within the UK is extremely limited. We report preliminary data from its implementation in an NHS stroke service. Method(s): We initiated use of EMGT in our Acute Stroke Unit in November 2021 - implementation has been phased, and use was limited at times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Patient demographics, clinical outcome measures and discharge information are recorded pre- and post-treatment. Result(s): To date, 38 patients have used EMGT, accumulating 232 sessions of walking. 74% of patients were male. . Mean age was 73.5 years (range 51 - 91). 19 patients used EMGT for >=3 sessions;of those, 14 completed > 6 sessions. Median Functional Ambulatory Category (FAC) at baseline was 0 (range 0-1), rising post treatment to 2 (range 0-4). Mean modified Rivermead Mobility Index rose from 13.5 to 24.3. 57% of patients who used EMGT as part of their rehabilitation programme were able to mobilise at least 10 metres post intervention. Initially, only 1 patient could manage a step transfer and following treatment this increased to 8. Conclusion(s): Early results indicate that EMGT is feasible in an acute NHS setting, alongside conventional care. It enables early and highly intensive mobilisation, resulting in improved function. Further work is required to develop clinical protocols, establishing recommended dose, time after stroke for EMGT initiation, and recommended duration of treatment.

#WeWill Fight COVID-19: A Campus Social Norms Campaign Case Study

This survey-based study examined a social norms campaign promoting mask-wearing among college students during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. More positive face mask perceptions, greater motivation to wear masks, and greater likelihood to wear masks in public were associated with respondents having seen the campaign messages and believing they were effective. Findings suggest targeting subpopulations of college students to increase message effectiveness. Practical implications include the development of campaigns that go beyond the traditional norms correcting approach. © 2022 NASPA—Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education.

A fractal scaling analysis of the SARS-CoV-2 genome sequence.

An approach based on fractal scaling analysis to characterize the organization of the SARS-CoV-2 genome sequence was used. The method is based on the detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) implemented on a sliding window scheme to detect variations of long-range correlations over the genome sequence regions. The nucleotides sequence is mapped in a numerical sequence by using four different assignation rules: amino-keto, purine-pyrimidine, hydrogen-bond and hydrophobicity patterns. The originally reported sequence from Wuhan isolates (Wuhan Hu-1) was considered as a reference to contrast the structure of the 2002-2004 SARS-CoV-1 strain. Long-range correlations, quantified in terms of a scaling exponent, depended on both the mapping rule and the sequence region. Deviations from randomness were attributed to serial correlations or anti-correlations, which can be ascribed to ordered regions of the genome sequence. It was found that the Wuhan Hu-1 sequence was more random than the SARS-CoV-1 sequence, which suggests that the SARS-CoV-2 possesses a more efficient genomic structure for replication and infection. In general, the virus isolated in the early 2020 months showed slight correlation differences with the Wuhan Hu-1 sequence. However, early isolates from India and Italy presented visible differences that led to a more ordered sequence organization. It is apparent that the increased sequence order, particularly in the spike region, endowed some early variants with a more efficient mechanism to spreading, replicating and infecting. Overall, the results showed that the DFA provides a suitable framework to assess long-term correlations hidden in the internal organization of the SARS-CoV-2 genome sequence.

Preexisting autoantibodies to type I IFNs underlie critical COVID-19 pneumonia in patients with APS-1

Patients with biallelic loss-of-function variants of AIRE suffer from autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type-1 (APS-1) and produce a broad range of autoantibodies (auto-Abs), including circulating auto-Abs neutralizing most type I interferons (IFNs). These auto-Abs were recently reported to account for at least 10% of cases of life-threatening COVID-19 pneumonia in the general population. We report 22 APS-1 patients from 21 kindreds in seven countries, aged between 8 and 48 yr and infected with SARS-CoV-2 since February 2020. The 21 patients tested had auto-Abs neutralizing IFN-a subtypes and/or IFN-;one had anti-IFN-beta and another anti-IFN-T, but none had anti-IFN-. Strikingly, 19 patients (86%) were hospitalized for COVID-19 pneumonia, including 15 (68%) admitted to an intensive care unit, 11 (50%) who required mechanical ventilation, and four (18%) who died. Ambulatory disease in three patients (14%) was possibly accounted for by prior or early specific interventions. Preexisting auto-Abs neutralizing type I IFNs in APS-1 patients confer a very high risk of life-threatening COVID-19 pneumonia at any age.

Vulnerability to COVID-19-Related Disability: The Impact of Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms on Psychosocial Impairment During the Pandemic.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many individuals have experienced disruptions in social, occupational, and daily life activities. Individuals with mental health difficulties, particularly those with elevated posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), may be especially vulnerable to increased impairment as a result of COVID-19. Additionally, demographic factors, such as age, gender, and race/ethnicity, may impact individual difficulties related to the pandemic. The current study examined the concurrent and prospective associations between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, broader anxiety and depression symptoms, and COVID-19-related disability. Participants recruited through Amazon's Mechanical Turk (N = 136) completed questionnaire batteries approximately 1 month apart during the COVID-19 pandemic (i.e., Wave 1 and Wave 2). The results indicated that PTSD, anxiety, and depressive symptoms were all associated with increased COVID-19-related disability across assessment points, rs = .44-.68. PTSD symptoms, specifically negative alterations in cognition and mood, significantly predicted COVID-19-related disability after accounting for anxiety and depressive symptoms as well as demographic factors, ßs = .31-.38. Overall, these findings suggest that individuals experiencing elevated PTSS are particularly vulnerable to increased functional impairment as a result of COVID-19 and suggest a need for additional outreach and clinical care among individuals with elevated PTSD symptoms during the pandemic.

Allowances for loan losses under the transition to CECL during the pandemic

This article delineates the timelines for banks to implement the current expected credit loss ("CECL") model and examines the impact of the model on the timeliness of the financial information provided by banks about their loan loss allowances. Further, the article examines how the combination of CECL and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic dramatically increase the estimation uncertainly of banks' loan loss allowances, and thus the potential for the Securities and Exchange Commission, bank regulators, and shareholders to question banks' CECL estimates in hindsight as the effects of the pandemic are observed. © 2020 Sheshunoff Information Services. All rights reserved.

Outpatient hemodialysis unit preparedness during COVID-19 pandemic in several dialysis units in New York State

Background: HD units are clustered close contact environments where prolonged and repeated exposure to blood borne pathogens occurs. Weeks into the CoVID-19 pandemic, wide disparities in rates of death and exposure of staff and patients amongst HD units in the same zip code of an epicenter in New York regions emerged. Methods: Random HD units surveyed as to when and what infection control measures they implemented. Direct input into RedCap and SAS 9.0 analysis of the data conducted. Results: 15 HD units (average census 18-240) responded. Survey compiled exposure rates from 3/1/20 - 4/30/20. The 1st reported case of CoVID-19 by a facility was 3/2/20. Most facilities reported outbreaks (4-30 cases per facility) by 3/21/20. Missed HD sessions due to CoVID varied from 2-100, hospital stays for such patients varied from 2-20 days and death rates from 0-15 per facility. 4 of 15 facilities reported deaths of family members of exposed patients and impediments in logistics of single person transportation forcing carpooling. Home dialysis programs reported minimal deaths and exposures. 20% of facilities had no infection preventionist and 26% no patient educator. Reported waiting area cleaning and hand sanitizer refill rates ranged from 1-5 times per day. 20% of the facilities have < 6 feet distance between patients. Implementation of infection control practices such as wearing of masks by patients varied widely amongst units. Some started March 1st-March 16th, some later due to mixed messages of its importance. Lack of personal protective equipment (PPE)(in 13% of facilities), staff, and housekeeping shortages (6.7-13.3%) compounded the problems. Positive CoVID results had 1-10 staff members infected per facility with sick call rates from 7-30 days, and no staff death. 46% of the HD units don't belong to the CDC coalition. Conclusions: Maintenance of strict hand hygiene, proper air flow, repeated environmental surface cleansing, availability of PPE, and patient and staff education remain the corner stone in preventing infections from spreading. Lack of leadership support and failing to share best practices between dialysis units in the US remains prohibitive but must be encouraged and standardized.

Disability and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Using Twitter to Understand Accessibility during Rapid Societal Transition

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced institutions to rapidly alter their behavior, which typically has disproportionate negative effects on people with disabilities as accessibility is overlooked. To investigate these issues, we analyzed Twitter data to examine accessibility problems surfaced by the crisis. We identified three key domains at the intersection of accessibility and technology: (i) the allocation of product delivery services, (ii) the transition to remote education, and (iii) the dissemination of public health information. We found that essential retailers expanded their high-risk customer shopping hours and pick-up and delivery services, but individuals with disabilities still lacked necessary access to goods and services. Long-experienced access barriers to online education were exacerbated by the abrupt transition of in-person to remote instruction. Finally, public health messaging has been inconsistent and inaccessible, which is unacceptable during a rapidly-evolving crisis. We argue that organizations should create flexible, accessible technology and policies in calm times to be adaptable in times of crisis to serve individuals with diverse needs. © 2020 Owner/Author.

[The pandemic: Donald Trump's last act?]

This article examines President Donald Trump's handling of the covid-19 pandemic in the United States.