Building online facilitating skills in the new normal

The sudden shift to remote teaching caused by COVID-19 pandemic has created a stressful and demanding context for teachers, specifically on the aspect of delivering remote instruction.This ascertainedthe challenges and opportunities encountered by 311 public basic educationteachers attending different onlinetraining platforms and utilizedthe mixed method design in analyzing the data ofthe teachers’ online facilitationskills and usedthe scanning method in the data collection process.The challenges and opportunities they encountered wasconducted throughan unstructured interview via Zoom.The researcher-made questionnaires were sent to the teachers via email. Results revealed that teachers already had prerequisite ICT skills so the use of technology during the online training was not so much a threat in the enhancement of their ICTknowledge and skills except of the issues regardingvery slow internet access and the lack of necessary and proper equipment and gadgets. In conclusion, teachers easily adoptedto the shift from in-person to remote teaching; enhanced their ICT skills; and becameprepared for remote teaching. Despite the sudden shift, these teachers remained positive in pursuing the direction for digital literacy to build aneffective and efficient skills in remote teaching in the new normal

Rare Influenza A (H3N2) Variants with Reduced Sensitivity to Antiviral Drugs

In 2007 and 2008 in Myanmar, we detected influenza viruses A (H3N2) that exhibited reduced sensitivity to both zanamivir and amantadine. These rare and naturally occurring viruses harbored a novel Q136K mutation in neuraminidase and S31N mutation in M2

Indigenizing and contextualizing the use of cooperative learning strategies

Exploring the indigenous Cebuano cultural practices contextualizeda culture-based Cooperative Learning (CL) strategy. The study explored the socio-cultural background of Cebuano cooperation as reflected in the communal practices of the tagay, alayon, yayong, tambayayong, and unong (TAYTU); the process of localized cooperative learning strategies contextualized in the TAYTU; designing lesson exemplars in the TAYTU way. This qualitative study used a directive content analysis design using relevant research findings and initial codes that serve as bases of future projections, as a form of trend studies in CL strategies. The exploratory design was used to provide visualization of TAYTU exemplars. FGDs were conducted among the 60 research participants: alayon farmers (20), tambayayong fishermen (20) and male-drinkers (20), using enumeration sampling and inclusion criteria to establish the socio-cultural background of the study. The indigenous identities of the Cebuano cultural practices bridgeda potential exploration of the localized and contextualized CL strategies in realizing the noble aim of malasakit in the Philippines’ AmBisyon Natin 2040. Catharsis in tagay; togetherness and unity of command in alayon; sensibility and sensitivity in yayong; sharing of extreme emotions in tambayayong; and intimacy and solidarity in unong featured a socio-cultural background necessitated in the crafting of the TAYTU Models of CL Teaching exemplars

Environmental Predictors of Seasonal Influenza Epidemics across Temperate and Tropical Climates

Human influenza infections exhibit a strong seasonal cycle in temperate regions. Recent laboratory and epidemiological evidence suggests that low specific humidity conditions facilitate the airborne survival and transmission of the influenza virus in temperate regions, resulting in annual winter epidemics. However, this relationship is unlikely to account for the epidemiology of influenza in tropical and subtropical regions where epidemics often occur during the rainy season or transmit year-round without a well-defined season. We assessed the role of specific humidity and other local climatic variables on influenza virus seasonality by modeling epidemiological and climatic information from 78 study sites sampled globally. We substantiated that there are two types of environmental conditions associated with seasonal influenza epidemics: “cold-dry” and “humid-rainy”. For sites where monthly average specific humidity or temperature decreases below thresholds of approximately 11–12 g/kg and 18–21°C during the year, influenza activity peaks during the cold-dry season (i.e., winter) when specific humidity and temperature are at minimal levels. For sites where specific humidity and temperature do not decrease below these thresholds, seasonal influenza activity is more likely to peak in months when average precipitation totals are maximal and greater than 150 mm per month. These findings provide a simple climate-based model rooted in empirical data that accounts for the diversity of seasonal influenza patterns observed across temperate, subtropical and tropical climates

Accumulation of human-adapting mutations during circulation of A(H1N1)pdm09 influenza virus in humans in the United Kingdom

The influenza pandemic that emerged in 2009 provided an unprecedented opportunity to study adaptation of a virus recently acquired from an animal source during human transmission. In the United Kingdom, the novel virus spread in three temporally distinct waves between 2009 and 2011. Phylogenetic analysis of complete viral genomes showed that mutations accumulated over time. Second- and third-wave viruses replicated more rapidly in human airway epithelial (HAE) cells than did the first-wave virus. In infected mice, weight loss varied between viral isolates from the same wave but showed no distinct pattern with wave and did not correlate with viral load in the mouse lungs or severity of disease in the human donor. However, second- and third-wave viruses induced less alpha interferon in the infected mouse lungs. NS1 protein, an interferon antagonist, had accumulated several mutations in second- and third-wave viruses. Recombinant viruses with the third-wave NS gene induced less interferon in human cells, but this alone did not account for increased virus fitness in HAE cells. Mutations in HA and NA genes in third-wave viruses caused increased binding to alpha-2,6-sialic acid and enhanced infectivity in human mucus. A recombinant virus with these two segments replicated more efficiently in HAE cells. A mutation in PA (N321K) enhanced polymerase activity of third-wave viruses and also provided a replicative advantage in HAE cells. Therefore, multiple mutations allowed incremental changes in viral fitness, which together may have contributed to the apparent increase in severity of A(H1N1)pdm09 influenza virus during successive waves. IMPORTANCE: Although most people infected with the 2009 pandemic influenza virus had mild or unapparent symptoms, some suffered severe and devastating disease. The reasons for this variability were unknown, but the numbers of severe cases increased during successive waves of human infection in the United Kingdom. To determine the causes of this variation, we studied genetic changes in virus isolates from individual hospitalized patients. There were no consistent differences between these viruses and those circulating in the community, but we found multiple evolutionary changes that in combination over time increased the virus's ability to infect human cells. These adaptations may explain the remarkable ability of A(H1N1)pdm09 virus to continue to circulate despite widespread immunity and the apparent increase in severity of influenza over successive waves of infection

Phylogenetic analysis of an off-seasonal influenza virus A (H3N2) in

SUMMARY: The objective of this study was to characterize the off-seasonal influenza virus A subtype H3N2, which caused an outbreak in an elderly hospital in Niigata, Japan. Virus isolates were subtyped by the hemagglutination-inhibition test and screened for antiviral drug sensitivity by real-time PCR using cycling probe technology and the 50z inhibitory concentration (IC 50 ) method. Whole genome sequencing was performed in order to determine the phylogeny of the outbreak virus. Seven virus isolates were analyzed in this study, and the results showed that all belonged to the influenza virus A (H3N2). These viruses exhibited the S31N mutation in M2, which confers resistance to amantadine. The results of the IC 50 analysis showed that these viruses were sensitive to both oseltamivir and zanamivir. Whole genome analysis revealed that the virus was similar to the A/Perth/16/2009 strain and that it is a triple reassortant virus with a 3 ＋ 3 ＋ 2 pattern of segment recombination

Phylogenetic analysis of the A) HA1 fragment of hemagglutinin, HA gene (885nt) and B) neuraminidase, NA gene (1,404nt) of influenza B viruses.

<p>Trees were constructed using the Neighbor-Joining method. Numbers at the nodes indicate confidence levels of bootstrap analysis with 1,000 replicates as percentage value. Amino acid substitutions that characterized a particular branch are indicated on the left side node. Vaccine strains are italicized and in red. Reference strains are boldfaced.</p