scholarly journals A Retrospective Outbreak Investigation of a COVID-19 Case Cluster in a Berlin Kindergarten, November 2020

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 36
Author(s):  
Sebastian Ruf ◽  
Franziska Hommes ◽  
Welmoed van Loon ◽  
Joachim Seybold ◽  
Tobias Kurth ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Relevant Information ◽  
First Year ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Prevention Measures ◽  
Viral Spread ◽  
Hygiene Measures ◽  
Strict Compliance ◽  
Sources Of Infection ◽  
Frequent Testing ◽  
Household Members

While SARS-CoV-2 infection activity in German kindergartens during the first year of the pandemic appeared to be overall low, outbreaks did occur. We retrospectively investigated an outbreak in November and December 2020 in a Berlin kindergarten participating in the Berlin Corona School and Kindergarten Study (BECOSS). Interviews were conducted with affected families regarding symptomatology, contact persons and possible sources of infection, as well as relevant information on the conditions on-site and infection prevention measures. A chronology of the outbreak was elaborated, and based on data on contacts and symptoms, we mapped the most likely chains of infection. Overall, 24 individuals, including ten educators, seven children, and seven household members, were infected with SARS-CoV-2 in a four-week time interval. Courses of infection ranged from asymptomatic to severe, with children less affected by symptoms. Viral spread within the facility seemed to occur mainly through kindergarten staff, while children primarily transmitted infections within their families. Interviewees reported that hygiene measures were not always adhered to inside the facility. To prevent outbreaks in kindergartens, especially in the light of current and newly emerging viral variants of concern, strict compliance to hygiene rules, staff vaccinations against SARS-CoV-2, and immediate reaction to suspected cases by quarantining and frequent testing seem reasonable measures.

Time Interval Between Traumatic Brain Injury And Post Traumatic Epilepsy

2013 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 222-228
Author(s):  
Daniel Garbin Di Luca ◽  
Glenda Corrêa Borges de Lacerda
Keyword(s):  
Traumatic Brain Injury ◽  
Brain Injury ◽  
First Year ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Partial Seizures ◽  
Complex Partial Seizures ◽  
Post Traumatic ◽  
Faster Development ◽  
Post Traumatic Epilepsy ◽  
Traumatic Epilepsy

Introduction. The estimated time interval in which an individual can develop Post Traumatic Epilepsy (PTE) after a traumatic brain injury (TBI) is not clear. Objective. To assess the possible influence of the clinical features in the time interval between TBI and PTE develop­ment. Method. We analyzed retrospectively 400 medical records from a tertiary Brazilian hospital. We selected and reevaluated 50 patients and data was confronted with the time between TBI and PTE devel­opment by a Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. A Cox-hazard regression was also conducted to define the characteristics that could be involved in the latent period of the PTE development. Results. Patients devel­oped PTE especially in the first year (56%). We found a tendency of a faster development of PTE in patients older than 24 years (P<0.0001) and in men (P=0.03). Complex partial seizures evolving to generalized seizures were predominant in patients after moderate (37.7%) and severe (48.8%) TBIs, and simple partial seizures evolving to general­ized seizures in mild TBIs (45.5%). Conclusions. Our data suggest that the first year after a TBI is the most critical period for PTE de­velopment and those males older than 24 years could have a faster development of PTE.

scholarly journals Turning chemistry education on its head: Design, experience and evaluation of a learning-centred ‘Modern Chemistry’ subject

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 179-194
Author(s):  
Ingo Koeper ◽  
◽  
Joe Shapter ◽  
Vanessa North ◽  
Don Houston ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Flipped Classroom ◽  
Chemistry Education ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Analytical Techniques ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Initial Assessment ◽  
First Year ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Final Exam

In science courses in general, but especially in first year chemistry classes, the amount of content that is delivered is often overwhelming and too complex for the student to easily cope with. Students not only have to gain knowledge in a variety of different field, they also have to learn new laboratory skills and analytical techniques. Additionally, there is an issue with more and more information being available to everybody through the internet, while our education often still focusses on delivering that knowledge, rather than exploring ways how students can be guided to understanding and using the knowledge provided. There have been different approaches on how to make ‘dry’ scientific concepts more interesting and how enhance student engagement, ranging from problem-based learning approaches, case studies or flipped classroom models. We have recently turned a fairly classic first year chemistry course on its head. In the new structure, students are gaining knowledge and understanding purely through the completion of a range of challenges. We have removed all lectures, tutorials and the final exam, and all interaction with the student happens in the laboratory. Throughout the semester, students attempt to complete a range of challenges, both theoretical and practical, find relevant information, propose approaches to solving the challenges, and discuss these and subsequent outcomes with academic staff. In order to analyse the design, we have conducted structured interviews with students from 2016-2018. Initial assessment of the data suggests a high level of engagement of the students, paired with a better preparation of students for their subsequent studies. Students enjoyed having the freedom to choose and design their own experiments. Additionally, students improved significantly in non-content related aspects such as timemanagement, organisation, planning and self-learning, with notable impact on their learning in higher years.

Strategies for Research

1990 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Kim
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Development ◽  
Research Effort ◽  
Planning Horizon ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
First Year ◽  
New Horizons ◽  
Graduate Research ◽  
Government Laboratory ◽  
Mind Set ◽  
Tacit Belief

The purpose of research is to acquire knowledge. In pure fields such as philosophy or science, the pursuit of knowledge is ideally an open-minded affair engaged in for its own sake. In other activities such as applied research or industrial development, the inquiring mind seeks out new knowledge to support specific objectives. The open-ended nature of research endeavors and their lack of obvious solutions and promising avenues usually qualify them as difficult problems. This chapter explores a number of domain-independent issues and techniques for pursuing research in various disciplines. For the sake of concreteness, much of our discussion in this chapter focuses on the academic environment of graduate research. However, most of the topics and approaches pertain as well to research in other settings, whether a government laboratory or a corporate marketing office. The newcomer to the research enterprise tends to have a simple view of what research entails. He initially believes that following a few suggestions from the advisor will lead to demonstrable results, a series of advances that can be measured by the hour or week. He has a tacit belief that progress will ensue automatically over time, much like attending a hamburger stand, raking autumn leaves, or solving homework problems. How could he believe otherwise? He has little or no prior experience with difficult problems of the magnitude that now face him. Perhaps the most important thing he will learn in the first year or so is the environment of research. Addressing difficult problems requires a new mind-set, a willingness to explore new horizons, maintain an open mind, appreciate small insights, and even enjoy the steady stream of failures as well as successes. Learning to conduct research systematically will be the most important aspect of his education in the first year. If the research effort spans a planning horizon of about two years, the indoctrination will occur in conjunction with an orientation phase during the first half-year, a period for defining the problem and gathering relevant information.

Web-Based Survey of Depression, Anxiety and Stress in First-Year Tertiary Education Students in Hong Kong

2006 ◽  
Vol 40 (9) ◽  
pp. 777-782 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josephine G.W.S. Wong ◽  
Erik P.T. Cheung ◽  
Kitty K.C. Chan ◽  
Kamela K.M. Ma ◽  
Siu Wa Tang
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Survey Methodology ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
First Year ◽  
Prevention Measures ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Web Based ◽  
College Life ◽  
Prevalence Of Depression ◽  
The Web

Objective: The mental health of tertiary education students is an area of increasing concern worldwide. The objective of this study is to examine the prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress in first-year tertiary education students in Hong Kong. Method: Depression, anxiety and stress were measured by the 42-item Depression Anxiety Stress Scales, completed on the web by participating students anonymously. Results: A total of 7915 students completed the survey, yielding a response rate of 27.5%. Depression, anxiety and stress levels of moderate severity or above were found in 21%, 41% and 27% of our respondents, respectively. Conclusions: The web-based survey methodology was well accepted by our sample group of tertiary education students. We found high rates of psychological morbidity in first-year tertiary education students in Hong Kong. The high prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress symptoms in the first year of college life is alarming. It illustrates the need for primary and secondary prevention measures, with development of adequate and appropriate support services for this group.

Council of Schools for the Blind Learning Outcomes Project

2000 ◽  
Vol 94 (5) ◽  
pp. 267-274
Author(s):  
Eugene McMahon
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
First Year

This article describes the Council of Schools for the Blind Learning Outcomes Project, which is developing a data collection infrastructure that will create relevant information based on current knowledge-management principles. The results of the first year of data collection are presented to illustrate the process.

scholarly journals Precision Timing with α–β Oscillatory Coupling: Stopwatch or Motor Control?

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (9) ◽  
pp. 1624-1636
Author(s):  
Tadeusz W. Kononowicz ◽  
Tilmann Sander ◽  
Hedderik Van Rijn ◽  
Virginie van Wassenhove
Keyword(s):  
Motor Control ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Beta Activity ◽  
Motor Timing ◽  
Reproduction Task ◽  
Temporal Precision ◽  
Time Reproduction ◽  
Timing Precision ◽  
Oscillatory Coupling

Precise timing is crucial for many behaviors ranging from conversational speech to athletic performance. The precision of motor timing has been suggested to result from the strength of phase–amplitude coupling (PAC) between the phase of alpha oscillations (α, 8–12 Hz) and the power of beta activity (β, 14–30 Hz), herein referred to as α–β PAC. The amplitude of β oscillations has been proposed to code for temporally relevant information and the locking of β power to the phase of α oscillations to maintain timing precision. Motor timing precision has at least two sources of variability: variability of timekeeping mechanism and variability of motor control. It is ambiguous to which of these two factors α–β PAC should be ascribed: α–β PAC could index precision of stopwatch-like internal timekeeping mechanisms, or α–β PAC could index motor control precision. To disentangle these two hypotheses, we tested how oscillatory coupling at different stages of a time reproduction task related to temporal precision. Human participants encoded and subsequently reproduced a time interval while magnetoencephalography was recorded. The data show a robust α–β PAC during both the encoding and reproduction of a temporal interval, a pattern that cannot be predicted by motor control accounts. Specifically, we found that timing precision resulted from the trade-off between the strength of α–β PAC during the encoding and during the reproduction of intervals. These results support the hypothesis that α–β PAC codes for the precision of temporal representations in the human brain.

AWARENESS PROVISIONING IN COLLABORATION MANAGEMENT

2002 ◽  
Vol 11 (01n02) ◽  
pp. 145-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
DONALD BAKER ◽  
DIMITRIOS GEORGAKOPOULOS ◽  
HANS SCHUSTER ◽  
ANDRZEJ CICHOCKI
Keyword(s):  
Process Management ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
External Information ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Advanced Level ◽  
Collaboration Management ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Collaboration Process ◽  
Execution Semantics ◽  
Process Participant

Collaboration management involves capturing the collaboration process, coordinating the activities of the participating applications and humans, and/or providing awareness, i.e. information that is highly relevant to a specific role and situation of a process participant. In this paper, we propose an awareness provisioning solution that allows focusing, customizing, and temporally constraining the awareness delivered to each process participant. Unlike existing collaboration management technologies (such as workflow and groupware) that provide only a few built-in awareness choices, the proposed awareness solution allows the specification of what information is to be given to what users and at what time. To support this advanced level of awareness, we require the definition of awareness roles and the specification of corresponding awareness descriptions. Awareness roles can be dynamically created and associated with any process scope. Awareness descriptions define what information is to be given to users in an awareness role. Since awareness roles are created or become visible when they are needed, the existence of an awareness role also determines the appropriate time interval during which the information specified in the awareness description can be delivered. This awareness provisioning approach minimizes information overloading and allows the combination of process-relevant information with external information as needed by the process participants. The proposed awareness provisioning solution is employed by the Collaboration Management Infrastructure (CMI), a federated system for collaboration process management. In this paper, we introduce an Awareness Model (AM) for creating awareness specifications and defining related execution semantics. Awareness specifications in AM are specialized composite event specifications that define patterns of process-related events and external events, as well as how information should be digested from them. We also describe the implementation of CMI's awareness provisioning engine and related tools.

scholarly journals Disease-modifying therapies modulate retinal atrophy in multiple sclerosis

Neurology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 88 (6) ◽  
pp. 525-532 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Button ◽  
Omar Al-Louzi ◽  
Andrew Lang ◽  
Pavan Bhargava ◽  
Scott D. Newsome ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
First Year ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Inclusion Criteria ◽  
Disease Modifying Therapies ◽  
Relapsing Remitting ◽  
Retinal Atrophy ◽  
Disease Modifying ◽  
Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis

Objective:To retrospectively investigate whether disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) exert differential effects on rates of retinal atrophy in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), as assessed using optical coherence tomography (OCT).Methods:A total of 402 patients with RRMS followed at the Johns Hopkins MS Center who underwent Cirrus-HD OCT were assessed for eligibility. Inclusion criteria included at least 1 year of OCT follow-up and adherence to a single DMT during the period of follow-up. Combined thickness of the ganglion cell + inner plexiform (GCIP) and other retinal layers was computed utilizing automated macular segmentation. Retinal thickness changes were analyzed using mixed-effects linear regression.Results:The effects of glatiramer acetate (GA; n = 48), natalizumab (NAT; n = 46), and interferon-β-1a subcutaneously (IFNSC; n = 35) and intramuscularly (IFNIM; n = 28) were assessed. Baseline analyses revealed no significant differences between groups in terms of age, sex, optic neuritis history, or follow-up duration. During follow-up, relative to NAT-treated patients, IFNSC- and GA-treated patients exhibited 0.37 μm/y (p < 0.001) and 0.14 μm/y (p = 0.035) faster rates of GCIP thinning, respectively, adjusting for the interval between initiation of DMT and OCT monitoring (gap time), age, sex, relapses, and disease duration. In the IFNSC group, GCIP thinning was 1.53 μm/y faster during the first year of therapy vs during the time interval afterwards (p < 0.001).Conclusions:Rates of GCIP atrophy in patients with RRMS vary according to DMT utilization. Our findings support OCT for monitoring neurodegenerative treatment effects in the retina, an easily accessible tissue, and as a practical outcome measure in RRMS clinical trials.

Brain response during the M170 time interval is sensitive to socially relevant information

2015 ◽  
Vol 78 ◽  
pp. 18-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oshrit Arviv ◽  
Abraham Goldstein ◽  
Janine C. Weeting ◽  
Eni S. Becker ◽  
Wolf-Gero Lange ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Relevant Information ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Brain Response ◽  
Socially Relevant

scholarly journals WHotLAMP: A simple, inexpensive, and sensitive molecular test for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in saliva

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Ng ◽  
Ana Pinharanda ◽  
Merly C Vogt ◽  
Ashok Litwin-Kumar ◽  
Kyle N Stearns ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Point Of Care ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Molecular Test ◽  
Vaccine Protection ◽  
Diagnostic Assays ◽  
Viral Spread ◽  
Resource Limited ◽  
Highly Sensitive ◽  
Specialized Equipment ◽  
Frequent Testing

Despite the development of effective vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, epidemiological control of the virus is still challenging due to slow vaccine rollouts, incomplete vaccine protection to current and emerging variants, and unwillingness to get vaccinated. Therefore, frequent testing of individuals to identify early SARS-CoV-2 infections, contact-tracing and isolation strategies remain crucial to mitigate viral spread. Here, we describe WHotLAMP, a rapid molecular test to detect SARS-CoV-2 in saliva. WHotLAMP is simple to use, highly sensitive (3.6 viral RNA copies per microliter of saliva) and specific, as well as inexpensive, making it ideal for frequent screening. Moreover, WHotLAMP does not require harsh chemicals or specialized equipment and thus can be performed in point-of-care settings, and may also be adapted for resource-limited environments or home use. While applied here to SARS-CoV-2, WHotLAMP can be easily modified to detect other pathogens, making it adaptable for other diagnostic assays, including for use in future outbreaks.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document