Crisis response to COVID-19: Elements for a successful virtual event transition

Rapid onset of the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a crisis response among academic institutions to provide continuity of learning, in an alternate structure, as on-ground campuses across the country closed. This led to a myriad of virtual and online learning formats for collegiate programs. Ironically, it also altered plans among existing online programs scheduled for in-person, on-campus residency requirements. Complying with newly imposed institution regulations, a small private university in southwestern Pennsylvania was required to move their traditional on-ground Doctor of Nursing Practice residency to a virtual platform. Leveraging online tools and creating a new format was needed to effectively meet program requirements. Success of the residency was dependent upon a straightforward information technology program with adequate support and detailed student resources. Residency structure from the existing on-ground program was combined with online tools to successfully adapt the event into a virtual format. Feedback provided by students and faculty was reviewed to streamline and improve future transitions. The advent of COVID-19 created an opportunity for the nursing program to learn how to transition a key educational on-ground event to a successful virtual one. Although crisis response is common in the clinical setting, adapting to meet critical needs is also essential to the academic environment. Rapid response with forming a virtual residency has provided a foundation for continued growth and refinement of on-ground events being moved to an online platform during a time of crisis. Critical elements for transitioning to the virtual environment are summarized.

More Gas Wells Linked to More Symptoms in Pennsylvania Residents

Natural gas production has been booming in southwestern Pennsylvania, but it may also yield multiple health complaints, especially for residents surrounded by oil and gas facilities.

Genome Sequence of Vibrio cholerae Strain RFB16, Isolated from North Park Lake in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania

Vibrio cholerae is an aquatic organism and facultative human pathogen that typically resides in coastal areas and brackish water. Here, we report the complete genome sequence of V. cholerae strain RFB16, which was isolated from a freshwater lake in southwestern Pennsylvania.

Virtual induction ceremonies: Upholding time-honored tradition

An induction ceremony is a time-honored tradition among honor societies. Designed to recognize new members and denote transition into the society, induction signifies an important step in formal membership. However, with the growth of online education programs, there is a need for honor societies to adapt from traditional on-ground communities to virtual ones. This adaptation includes conducting an induction ceremony virtually to further create a sense of membership belonging and value. Recognizing the importance of upholding a time-honored tradition, a small private liberal arts university in Southwestern Pennsylvania sought to digitally record their international honor society chapter induction ceremony and share it with their distance inductees via their chapter website. Use of the virtual induction began prior to becoming an international chapter and has continued annually for the past 10 years. Therefore, this experience exchange shares strategies for planning and conducting a successful virtual induction ceremony, thus emphasizing the importance of membership induction for all students especially those online.

The transition from planar to en echelon morphology in a single vein in shale: Insights from X-ray computed tomography scanning

En echelon fractures and veins are among the most common and distinctive geological structures, yet their three-dimensional forms and relationships to surrounding structures are commonly unclear. X-ray computed tomography (CT) offers an unrivaled ability to examine structures within rocks in three dimensions, and it is applied here to a sample of drill core from the Marcellus Shale of southwestern Pennsylvania (USA). CT images yield qualitative and quantitative data on the transition from a pyrite-rich planar vein to an en echelon veinlet array, and on the heterogeneity of veinlets within the array. Using a combination of three- and two-dimensional images, geometric data, and traditional petrography, we identify a range of veinlet shapes consistent with deformation during formation of an antitaxial graphite-calcite-pyrite vein system. Each of the veinlets is rooted in the underlying planar vein where it is narrowest. The transition from planar vein to en echelon array coincides with a change in bedding, suggesting that competency contrasts between adjacent beds controlled the fracture morphology. Veinlets initiated as short, lenticular fractures at ∼45° to the planar vein before lengthening, dilating, and rotating. None of the veinlets are strongly sigmoidal, nor is there measurable offset across the margins of the planar vein; therefore, finite non-shear strain was very limited, and fluid overpressure–induced fracturing during burial and diagenesis is probably the most likely process for fracturing and vein formation.