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With the unprecedented surge of severe COVID-19 cases in early 2020, researchers and medical professionals worked actively to identify effective viral infection treatments based on a scientific understanding of viruses. Over the past few years, an enormous amount of research has investigated the viral infection and replication processes following the first SARS-CoV-2 case. With this knowledge, many drugs have been explicitly created to inhibit viral replication or decrease the severity of the immune response. Additionally, scientists have utilized decades of research and techniques to expedite SARS-CoV-2 vaccine development. SARS-CoV-2, a positive-strand RNA virus, belongs to the Sarbecovirus subgroup of Betacoronaviruses. Its emergence is not unique; previous outbreaks like SARS and MERS have shaped our understanding of coronavirus-related diseases. Molecular clock analysis suggests that the ancestor of all current coronaviruses existed over 10,000 years ago, with subsequent evolution occurring around 3300–2400 BC. Researchers have explored synthetic and natural treatments alongside other antiviral therapies, corticosteroids, and immunotherapies. Additionally, using artificial intelligence and nano-based technologies enriched SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis and management. In this comprehensive review, we provide recent literature on COVID-19, exploring its evolving etiology, pathogenicity, and pathophysiology, alongside developments in synthetic and natural therapeutic strategies, vaccines, artificial intelligence in diagnosis, and nano-based technologies.

This research investigated the cognitive demands of reading curricula from 1910 to 2000. We considered both the nature of the text used and the comprehension tasks asked of students in determining the cognitive demands of the curricula. Contrary to the common assumption of a trend of simplification of the texts and comprehension tasks in third- and sixth-grade curricula, the results indicate that curricular complexity declined early in the century and leveled off over the middle decades but has notably increased since the 1970s, particularly for the third-grade curricula.

The story of the fallen angels recalled in the Book of the Watchers located in the first thirty-six chapters of the Jewish apocryphal text, 1 Enoch, develops an obscure text from Genesis 6:1-4. Composed circa the 3rd century B.C.E., the narrative tells of the lustful desires of a group of specialized angels known as the Watchers. Driven by their desire to unite sexually with human women, these once divine beings violate their divine status and fall to earth. The Watchers reveal illicit knowledge to humankind, but they hold responsibility for the birth of the Giants. The Giants, the offspring of the angels and their human wives, cause much misery upon earth. God must intervene with a great flood to address humankind’s pleas for aid, yet several traditions maintain that the legacy of the Watchers continued even after their condemnation. The Christian concept of the demon and even its development of the Devil draw on themes present in the Enochic narrative.Several early Christian Fathers of the second and third centuries C.E. still drew on the fallen angels’ story as an explanation for their sufferings. Among the most prominent theologians include Justin Martyr, Tatian, and Tertullian. Each of these individuals accepted the authority of 1 Enoch and the Watchers narrative. Christians not only faced a consistent threat of persecution, but each individual Christian theologian displayed a concern for theological predicaments facing their communities. I emphasize that Justin, for instance, applied the angelic fall to enter a dialogue over theodicy and to express his ideas concerning the role of the Logos in the perception of evil. Tatian, however, drew on the angelic fall so he could condemn magical practices on a theological basis. Tertullian, known for his tirades against women, applied the Watchers’ story to justify his positions for virgins to veil and for Christian women to wear modest attire.I argue that the versatility in application and relevancy of the angelic fall found in 1 Enoch’s Book of the Watchers enabled its endurance through the early Christian era. The key texts under study include Justin’s 1st and 2nd Apologies, Tatian’s Oratio ad Graecos, and Tertullian’s De Virginibus Velandis along with his De Cultu Feminarum. I apply an exegetical approach to each of the works to address the larger question of why the Enochic fall would soon be replaced by another myth from the Book of Genesis. By the end of the early Christian era, 1 Enoch fell into the crevices of history. The story of Adam and Eve endured as Christianity’s explanation for the sin of the world.The problem investigated in the following study represents the first phase of research attempting to address this question. Despite its non-canonical status, I demonstrate why 1 Enoch did continue as an authoritative text among certain early Christian writers. Thus, the text functioned on two levels. First, the theologians drawing on the story’s subject chose to do so with intent in reaction to the world around them. This is because an aspect of the angelic fall resonated with that individual’s own time and experience. Second, the author determined that the text spoke comfort to their immediate communities. The story of the Watchers provided a reason for early Christians to endure in this new faith. Based on this, I conclude that all three theologians surveyed viewed the fallen angels as characters easily connectable to the perceived fallacies of Greco-Roman culture. The narrative further provided early Christians with a model of what it meant to act against God. In other words, the Enochic story addressed issues of Christian identity as a minority culture. The story, for the authors surveyed, might be compared to a divinely authorized set of guidelines that define anti-Christian behavior. Christians saw this story as a reflection of their own fight against the Romans and the influx of illicit practices.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of using structured reflection via the critical incident analysis method to develop multicultural awareness and intercultural empathy in undergraduate-level pre-service teachers. This research is important, given the striking demographic mismatch between students and teachers in US schools. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts a convergent parallel mixed methods research design that combines both qualitative analysis of completed written critical incident analysis assignments and quantitative analysis of responses from a brief survey. Findings In most cases, engaging with the critical incident analysis method did lead participants reexamine their own experiences and develop a better understanding of their own biases and actions. While students followed different pathways with the assignment, participants were able to better understand the crucial role that teachers play in creating a space that values and welcomes diversity for the benefit of all students. Originality/value This study diverges from future research on the critical incident analysis method by asking students to examine specific moments from their past in the process of deep, targeted self-reflection.

The widely adopted Common Core State Standards (CCSS) call for raising the level of text complexity in textbooks and reading materials used by students across all grade levels in the United States; the authors of the English Language Arts component of the CCSS build their case for higher complexity in part upon a research base they say shows a steady decline in the difficulty of student reading textbooks over the past half century. In this interdisciplinary study, we offer our own independent analysis of third- and sixth-grade reading textbooks used throughout the past century. Our data set consists of books from 117 textbook series issued by 30 publishers between 1905 and 2004, resulting in a linguistic corpus of roughly 10 million words. Contrary to previous reports, we find that text complexity has either risen or stabilized over the past half century; these findings have significant implications for the justification of the CCSS as well as for our understanding of a \"decline\" within American schooling more generally.

Since the beginning of U.S. public school systems, educators and policy makers have debated what kinds of knowledge and skills that all schoolchildren should acquire. And those debates touch every aspect of a curriculum, its assessment, and its instructional materials. David A. Gamson, Sarah Anne Eckert, and Jeremy Anderson trace the history of standards and objectives in U.S. education, noting areas of controversy and debate related to the uses and possible abuses of curricular standards. Their survey raises questions and cautions for today’s reformers to consider when rethinking curricula.

This study investigated how novice teachers in urban schools manage the transition from preparation to practice. Through the lens of teacher efficacy, the research presented herein was built around two groups of guiding questions: (1) Do novice teachers in at-risk urban schools feel adequately prepared to effectively perform the task of teaching? Does this impact retention and commitment to teaching? (2) If teachers in at-risk urban schools feel less prepared than others do, why do they feel this way and how do they explain how it impact their teaching? These questions were addressed using a two-phase explanatory sequential mixed-methods design. The first, quantitative, phase involved the analysis of nationally representative data from the 2007–2008 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), 2007–2008 Common Core of Data (CCD) and the 2008–2009 Teacher Follow-Up Survey (TFS) (All NCES data sets). The second, qualitative, phase consisted of interviews with novice teachers working in urban schools. Analysis reveals that, when compared with novice teachers in other school, novice teachers in urban schools are less prepared for teaching (based on measurable qualifications). What is more, when compared with teachers holding similar qualifications, novice teachers in urban schools also feel less prepared (as measured by teacher efficacy). Novice teachers who feel underprepared for teaching, furthermore, tend to have significantly lower levels of commitment to teaching and first-year teachers who feel underprepared are significantly more likely to leave teaching or switch schools. Teachers explain that feeling underprepared is most likely the result of a collection of urban-specific stressors that they were not exposed or prepared for to during teacher training. This study finds support for teacher-training programs focused on increased exposure to urban students and schools, direct guidance regarding several of the urban-specific stressors and an explicit philosophy of education. These findings, by uncovering the knowledge and experiences that novice urban teachers often lack during the first year, also support the need for high quality, district-specific induction programs.

Purpose: Insomnia symptoms and sleep apnea frequently co-occur and are associated with worse sleep, daytime function, mental health and quality of life, compared to either insomnia or obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) alone. This study aimed to investigate the association of symptoms of co-morbid insomnia and sleep apnea (COMISA) with all-cause mortality. Patients and Methods: Wisconsin Sleep Cohort data were analysed to assess potential associations between COMISA symptoms and all-cause mortality. Nocturnal insomnia symptoms were defined as difficulties initiating sleep, maintaining sleep, and/or early morning awakenings \"often\" or \"almost always\", and/or regular sedative-hypnotic medicine use. OSA was defined as an apneahypopnea index [greater than or equal to]5/hr sleep. Participants were classified as having neither insomnia symptoms nor OSA, insomnia symptoms alone, OSA alone, or COMISA symptoms. Associations between the four groups and all-cause mortality over 20 years of follow-up were examined via multivariable adjusted Cox regression models. Results: Among 1115 adult participants (mean[+ or -] SD age 55 [+ or -] 8 years, 53% males), 19.1% had COMISA symptoms. After controlling for sociodemographic and behavioral factors, COMISA symptoms were associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality compared to no insomnia symptoms or OSA (HR [95% CI]; 1.71 [1.00-2.93]). OSA alone (0.91 [0.53, 1.57]) and insomnia symptoms alone (1.04 [0.55, 1.97]) were not associated with increased mortality risk. Conclusion: Co-morbid insomnia symptoms and sleep apnea is associated with increased all-cause mortality risk. Future research should investigate mechanisms underpinning COMISA and the effectiveness of different treatment approaches to reduce mortality risk for this common condition. Keywords: sleep disordered breathing, Wisconsin Sleep Cohort, COMISA, obstructive, sleep apnea, insomnia, respiratory

Sleep is ubiquitous in animals and humans, but its function remains to be further determined. The synaptic homeostasis hypothesis of sleep–wake regulation proposes a homeostatic increase in net synaptic strength and cortical excitability along with decreased inducibility of associative synaptic long-term potentiation (LTP) due to saturation after sleep deprivation. Here we use electrophysiological, behavioural and molecular indices to non-invasively study net synaptic strength and LTP-like plasticity in humans after sleep and sleep deprivation. We demonstrate indices of increased net synaptic strength (TMS intensity to elicit a predefined amplitude of motor-evoked potential and EEG theta activity) and decreased LTP-like plasticity (paired associative stimulation induced change in motor-evoked potential and memory formation) after sleep deprivation. Changes in plasma BDNF are identified as a potential mechanism. Our study indicates that sleep recalibrates homeostatic and associative synaptic plasticity, believed to be the neural basis for adaptive behaviour, in humans. Sleep deprivation is believed to lead to homeostatic increases in synaptic strength and reduced inducibility of associative LTP, based mainly on findings from animal studies. Here, Kuhn et al . demonstrate similar sleep-dependent synaptic plasticity changes in humans along with altered plasma BDNF levels.