A Portrait of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Patients Undergoing Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation: A Systematic Review of the Literature

The management of COVID-19 in hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients represents a special challenge given the variable states of immune dysregulation and altered vaccine efficacy in this population. A systematic search (Ovid Medline and Embase on 1 June 2021) was needed to better understand the presenting features, prognostic factors, and treatment options. Of 897 records, 29 studies were identified in our search. Most studies reporting on adults and pediatric recipients described signs and symptoms that were typical of COVID-19. Overall, the mortality rates were high, with 21% of adults and 6% of pediatric HCT recipients succumbing to COVID-19. The factors reported to be associated with increased mortality included age (HR = 1.21, 95% CI 1.03–1.43, p = 0.02), ICU admission (HR = 4.42, 95% CI 2.25–8.65, p < 0.001 and HR = 2.26, 95% CI 1.22–4.20, p = 0.01 for allogeneic and autologous HCT recipients), and low platelet count (OR = 21.37, 95% CI 1.71–267.11, p = 0.01). Performance status was associated with decreased mortality (HR = 0.83, 95% CI 0.74–0.93, p = 0.001). A broad range of treatments was described, although no controlled studies were identified. The risk of bias, using the Newcastle–Ottawa scale, was low. Patients undergoing HCT are at a high risk of severe morbidity and mortality associated with COVID-19. Controlled studies investigating potential treatments are required to determine the efficacy and safety in this population.

Creating Educational Robots

After more than 30 years of development, the designing, constructing, and programming of educational robots is still enjoying increasing popularity in formal, non-formal, and informal educational settings. Although building instructions and required technical components are easily available and accessible, the realization of own teaching projects is a special challenge and is subject to decisive influences. This includes the content-related training of teachers as well as their attitudes and ways of thinking and acting. Therefore, the first section of this chapter spans an arc from the didactic concept of the extracurricular project technikcamps related to robotics. The experiences gained from it and the consequences for teacher training to the philosophical roots of technical education follows. In connection with this, the main part deals with the technological basics of creating educational robots in general. It leads from manufacturing single parts through the creation of a support structure and automation to the application of the engineering design process.

The Piggy in the Middle

Researchers are becoming cognizant of the value of conducting predictive analysis using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) for both the evaluation of overfit and to illustrate the practical value of models. Mediators are a popular mechanism for adding nuance and greater explanatory power to causal models. However, mediators pose a special challenge to generating predictions as they serve a dual role of antecedent and outcome. Solutions for generating predictions from mediated PLS-SEM models have not been suitably explored or documented, nor has there been exploration of whether the added model complexity of such mediators is justified in the light of predictive performance. We address that gap by evaluating methods for generating predictions from mediated models, and propose a simple metric that quantifies the predictive contribution of the mediator (PCM). We conduct Monte Carlo simulations and then apply the methods in an empirical demonstration. We find that there is no simple best solution, but that all three approaches have strengths and weaknesses. Further, the PCM metric performs well to quantify the predictive qualities of the mediator over-and-above the non-mediated alternative. We present guidelines on selecting the most appropriate method and applying PCM for additional evidence to support research conclusions.

Rehabilitation after Allogeneic Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation: A Special Challenge

The general population is getting older and suffer more haematological malignancies despite being physically fit. These malignancies are mainly only curable via an alloHCT, and they are now carried out more frequently. Patients benefit from intensive rehabilitation earlier and may need it repeatedly in cases of severe side effects (e.g., graft-versus-host disease). They can suffer many problems that other cancer patients do not experience, such as severe infections, continued immunosuppression, nutritional restrictions, acute or chronic GvHD, or organ impairments (e.g., lung, eyes). They may also encounter various associated psychological problems, e.g., feeling like a chimera. Rehabilitation centres willing to care for patients after alloHCT should have an experienced multidisciplinary team and should work in close co-operation with the primary transplant centre.

Public Relations Principles for the Digital Communication in a Local Crisis

In dealing with the crisis, all institutions must react and urgently solve the problem, but a special challenge is to communicate with key publics, especially those publics that have suffered damage., What is imperative for public relations is fast and two-way communication. That is why digital platforms are indispensable in crisis communication because they enable almost simultaneous reaction and enable institutions to communicate directly with the affected public, without the mediation of information media. This paper aims to analyse the crisis communication of the City of Slavonski Brod through its official website and Facebook page during water pollution in March and April 2018. The analysis was performed by methods of qualitative content analysis and a case study analysis. During the environmental incident, the City of Slavonski Brod did not communicate following the PR principles of crisis communication nor took advantage of digital communication. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

BAKTI SOSIAL SEBAGAI UPAYA PENCEGAHAN PENYEBARAN VIRUS COVID-19 DALAM MEMASUKI FASE NEW NORMAL DI KELURAHAN LOA BUAH

ABSTRAK Penyebaran virus covid 19 pada tahun 2020 menjadi tantangan khusus bagi seluruh Negara dan berbagai aspek kehidupan. Peningkatan jumlah kasus yang terkofirmasi memberikan perhatian khusus bagi persiapan dan pencegahan meluas di dalam Masyarakat. Partisipasi dan kesadaran masyarakat sangat dibutuhkan untuk menurunkan jumlah kasus di wilayah Samarinda, khususnya Kelurahan Loa Buah. Kegiatan Bakti Sosial dilakukan kepada masyarakat kelurahan loa buah dan beberapa pedagang. Kegiatan pengabdian ini bertujuan untuk memotivasi masyarakat dalam penggunaan masker dalam kehidupan bermasyarakat. Bakti sosial dilakukan kepada masyarakat kelurahan Loa Buah dengan mensosialisasikan penggunaan masker kain dan kebiasaaan penggunaan masker. Setelah dilakukan bakti sosial dan penggunaan masker maka diharapkan dapat menjadi kebiasaan dalam kehidupan dimasa Pandemi Covid 19. Kata Kunci: Covid 19, Bakti Sosial, Penggunaan Masker ABSTRACT COVID-19 Pandemic virus in 2020 is a special challenge for all countries and various aspects of life. The increasing number of confirmed cases pays special attention to preparation and widespread prevention within the Society. Community participation and awareness is urgently needed to reduce the number of cases in the Samarinda area, especially Loa Buah Village. Social Service activities were carried out for the people of the Loa Buah sub-district and several traders. This service activity aims to motivate the community to use masks in social life. Social services were carried out to the people of the Loa Buah sub-district by socializing the use of cloth masks and the habit of using masks. After doing social services and using masks, it is hoped that they can become a habit in life during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Key Words: Covid 19, Social Service, Use of Masks

Time for Space and the Stability of Prospective Control: Reaching-to-Grasp Gibson

Gibson formulated an approach to goal-directed behavior using prospective information in the context of visually guided locomotion and manual behavior. The former was Gibson's paradigm case, but it is the rapidity of targeted reaching that has provided the special challenge for stable control. Recent treatments of visually guided reaching assume that internal forward models are required to generate stable behavior given delays caused by neural transmission times. Internal models are representations of the sort eschewed by Gibson in favor of prospective information. Reaching is usually described as guided using relative distances of hand and target, but prospective information is usually temporal rather than spatial. We describe proportional rate control models that incorporate time dimensioned prospective information and show they remain stable in the face of delays. The use of time-dimensioned prospective information removes the need for internal models for stable behavior despite neural transmission delays and allows Gibson's approach to prevail.

The “new-normal” OSCE examination: Executing in the COVID-19 era

In this unprecedented situation of COVID-19 era, the educational institutions have to attune not only the teaching strategies but also the assessment. Similarly, just as COVID precautions have become the “new normal” practice, hence implementation changes during face-to-face examinations may become standard practice in the Post- COVID era. The Objective structured clinical exams (OSCEs) which usually require a face-to-face assessment of skills, posed a special challenge to health professionals in COVID-19. This commentary paper is written on shared experiences of the examination cell principal resource faculty for OSCE and exam coordinators. It addresses how to plan and implement objective, valid, feasible and reliable clinical skills examinations (OSCEs) keeping in place COVID precautions to ensure the utmost wellbeing of all stakeholders involved. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.7.4568 How to cite this:Babar S, Afzal A. The “new-normal” OSCE examination: Executing in the COVID-19 era. Pak J Med Sci. 2021;37(7):---------. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.7.4568 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Buddhaghosa, James, and Thompson on Conscious Flow

This paper is about whether consciousness flows. Evan Thompson (2014) has recently claimed that the study of binocular rivalry shows that there are some moments where consciousness does not flow, contra William James (1890). Moreover, he has claimed that Abhidharma philosophers reject James's claim that consciousness flows. I argue that binocular rivalry poses no special challenge to James. Second, I argue that because Thompson did not take up the question of how James and Abhidharma philosophers analyze or define flow, he underdescribed their disagreement in a way that obscures an important conceptual contribution that Abhidharma philosophers make to the study of flow. They reject James's claim that there are only two conceivable ways for consciousness to fail to flow and suggest that there is a third way for consciousness to fail to flow—a way that James's imagination did not reveal to be possible.

Diagnosis and Workup of Intellectual Disability in Adults: Suggested Strategies for the Adult Neurologist

ABSTRACT:Purposeof Review: Etiological investigations for adults with intellectual disability (ID) pose a special challenge to many adult neurologists. The adaptability of pediatric guidelines for workup of ID to adult populations has not been clearly established. We review the current recommendations on etiological workup of ID in children and adults and provide initial guidance for adult neurologists who care for people with ID of unknown etiology.Recent Findings:Etiological workup, including genetic testing, is recommended in people with ID of unknown origin. Workup should be guided by a thoughtful history and physical exam, which can help identify certain causes of ID.Summary:Specific diagnoses may help guide management and surveillance of comorbid conditions in people with ID. Etiological investigations of adults with ID include genetic and metabolic testing, and brain imaging in the appropriate clinical setting.