Booster vaccination protection against SARS-CoV-2 infections in young adults during an Omicron BA.1-predominant period: A retrospective cohort study.

BackgroundWhile booster vaccinations clearly reduce the risk of severe Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and death, the impact of boosters on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections has not been fully characterized: Doing so requires understanding their impact on asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic infections that often go unreported but nevertheless play an important role in spreading SARS-CoV-2. We sought to estimate the impact of COVID-19 booster doses on SARS-CoV-2 infections in a vaccinated population of young adults during an Omicron BA.1-predominant period.Methods and findingsWe implemented a cohort study of young adults in a college environment (Cornell University's Ithaca campus) from a period when Omicron BA.1 was the predominant SARS-CoV-2 variant on campus (December 5 to December 31, 2021). Participants included 15,800 university students who completed initial vaccination series with vaccines approved by the World Health Organization for emergency use, were enrolled in mandatory at-least-weekly surveillance polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing, and had no positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR test within 90 days before the start of the study period. Robust multivariable Poisson regression with the main outcome of a positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR test was performed to compare those who completed their initial vaccination series and a booster dose to those without a booster dose. A total of 1,926 unique SARS-CoV-2 infections were identified in the study population. Controlling for sex, student group membership, date of completion of initial vaccination series, initial vaccine type, and temporal effect during the study period, our analysis estimates that receiving a booster dose further reduces the rate of having a PCR-detected SARS-CoV-2 infection relative to an initial vaccination series by 56% (95% confidence interval [42%, 67%], P ConclusionsWe observed that boosters are effective, relative to completion of initial vaccination series, in further reducing the rate of SARS-CoV-2 infections in a college student population during a period when Omicron BA.1 was predominant; booster vaccinations for this age group may play an important role in reducing incidence of COVID-19

Eliminating Racial Disparities in College Completion and Achievement: Current Initiatives, New Ideas, and Assessment

In order to close racial and ethnic gaps in educational attainment, it is necessary to focus on closing gaps in both college enrollment, and college achievement and graduation. Recent court cases and volumes of research have focused on preparing, recruiting, and admitting diverse cohorts. In this report, we focus on what colleges and universities can do to ensure that among the students they admit, achievement and graduation rates are comparable across racial and ethnic groups.With generous support from the Teagle Foundation, faculty, staff, and students from Cornell University, Colgate University, Hamilton College, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and Wells College have worked together to: Use existing literature to review the key determinants of racial and ethnic disparities in college completion and achievement; Inventory our existing diversity initiatives, and those of our peers; Identify particularly promising diversity initiatives; and Consider assessment options for diversity initiatives. We believe that this report will be a critical resource for administrators, faculty, staff, and students who are committed to the difficult work of implementing effective strategies for closing racial and ethnic gaps on campus. As our nation and our campuses grow ever more diverse, this is a need that we cannot afford to ignore.https://digitalcommons.hamilton.edu/books/1108/thumbnail.jp

Post-Fordist work: a man's world? Gender and working overtime in the Netherlands

There is debate about whether the post-Fordist or high-performance work organization can overcome the disadvantages women encounter in traditional gendered organizations. Some authors argue that substituting a performance logic for control by the clock offers opportunities for combining work and family life in a more natural way. Critics respond that these organizational reforms do not address the nonresponsibility of firms for caring duties at a more fundamental level. The authors address this debate through an analysis of overtime work, using data from a survey of 1,114 employees in 30 Dutch organizations. The findings reveal that post-Fordist work is associated with more overtime hours than traditional forms of work and that far from challenging gendered organization, it reproduces and exacerbates the traditional male model of work.