What Are COVID Toes? A Case Study.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 symptoms mimic many other common conditions, making it difficult to identify patients infected with COVID-19. Adult patients may exhibit what is called "COVID toes" later in their course of illness. Noteworthy is that COVID toes may be the only symptom in otherwise asymptomatic young adults and children. CASE: We present experience with an adult female patient residing in the United States with presumed COVID-19 infection who was self-isolating with illness not severe enough to require hospitalization. COVID toes were one symptom experienced as a part of her illness. Because COVID toes are usually seen in the recovery phase of COVID-19, and often in patients with less severe cases, many providers are unfamiliar with this new symptom. CONCLUSION: Familiarity with COVID toes will help foot care providers to identify patients who may not have been diagnosed with COVID-19 but could still be infectious and need to be isolated. COVID toe signs may be subtle and often mimic other conditions such as chilblains/pernio, thus a thorough history and physical examination are required.

Life Science Majors' Math-Biology Task Values Relate to Student Characteristics and Predict the Likelihood of Taking Quantitative Biology Courses.

Expectancy-value theory of achievement motivation predicts that students' task values, which include their interest in and enjoyment of a task, their perceptions of the usefulness of a task (utility value), and their perceptions of the costs of engaging in the task (e.g., extra effort, anxiety), influence their achievement and academic-related choices. Further, these task values are theorized to be informed by students' sociocultural background. Although biology students are often considered to be math-averse, there is little empirical evidence of students' values of mathematics in the context of biology (math-biology task values). To fill this gap in knowledge, we sought to determine 1) life science majors' math-biology task values, 2) how math-biology task values differ according to students' sociocultural background, and 3) whether math-biology task values predict students' likelihood of taking quantitative biology courses. We surveyed life science majors about their likelihood of choosing to take quantitative biology courses and their interest in using mathematics to understand biology, the utility value of mathematics for their life science career, and the cost of doing mathematics in biology courses. Students on average reported some cost associated with doing mathematics in biology; however, they also reported high utility value and were more interested in using mathematics to understand biology than previously believed. Women and first-generation students reported more negative math-biology task values than men and continuing-generation students. Finally, students' math-biology task values predicted their likelihood of taking biomodeling and biostatistics courses. Instructional strategies promoting positive math-biology task values could be particularly beneficial for women and first-generation students, increasing the likelihood that students would choose to take advanced quantitative biology courses.

The Math-Biology Values Instrument: Development of a Tool to Measure Life Science Majors' Task Values of Using Math in the Context of Biology.

In response to calls to improve the quantitative training of undergraduate biology students, there have been increased efforts to better integrate math into biology curricula. One challenge of such efforts is negative student attitudes toward math, which are thought to be particularly prevalent among biology students. According to theory, students' personal values toward using math in a biological context will influence their achievement and behavioral outcomes, but a validated instrument is needed to determine this empirically. We developed the Math-Biology Values Instrument (MBVI), an 11-item college-level self--report instrument grounded in expectancy-value theory, to measure life science students' interest in using math to understand biology, the perceived usefulness of math to their life science career, and the cost of using math in biology courses. We used a process that integrates multiple forms of validity evidence to show that scores from the MBVI can be used as a valid measure of a student's value of math in the context of biology. The MBVI can be used by instructors and researchers to help identify instructional strategies that influence math-biology values and understand how math-biology values are related to students' achievement and decisions to pursue more advanced quantitative-based courses.

Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome: literature review and proposed diagnosis and treatment algorithm.

Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS) is characterized by cyclic vomiting and compulsive bathing behaviors in chronic cannabis users. Patients are typically diagnosed with CHS only after multiple and extensive medical evaluations, consequently without a clear etiology of their symptoms or treatment plan leading to symptomatic improvement. Increased healthcare provider awareness of CHS as a cause of nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain coupled with an attentiveness to focused history taking-especially noting symptomatic improvement with prolonged exposure to hot showers or baths-can lead to effective treatment through cannabis cessation. We propose a diagnosis and treatment algorithm for physicians to follow when evaluating patients presenting with nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain who are suspected to suffer from CHS.