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This study explored teacher experience in leading Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) in K-12 and conducting blended synchronous and asynchronous instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study's purpose was to understand the pedagogical, technological, and organizational challenges and benefits of computing-enhanced digital learning environments, and to explore teachers' pedagogical strategies. This study employed a qualitative research paradigm using nation-wide, online samples, which included 133 elementary and secondary school teachers from Hebrew-speaking and Arabic-speaking schools in Israel. Participants were asked to share their perspectives and experiences of ERT through open-ended questions in an online questionnaire. The bottom-up analysis of the data, based on the Grounded Theory approach, yielded 1,822 statements reflecting teachers' perceptions of pedagogical, technological, and organizational challenges (N = 580) and benefits of ERT (N = 827). The analysis also revealed a variety of pedagogical distance learning strategies used by teachers (N = 415). The study raises the need to turn a curse into a blessing by incorporating the experience of remote technology-enhanced learning and online activities into the school agenda on a regular basis. Thus, teachers and students would develop important digital competencies and be prepared for the next emergency event. The implications of our findings for educational theory and practice of educational computing are discussed.

The study of language acquisition has a long and contentious history: researchers disagree on what drives this process, the relevant data, and the interesting questions. Here, I outline the Starting Big approach to language learning, which emphasizes the role of multiword units in language, and of coarse-to-fine processes in learning. I outline core predictions and supporting evidence. In short, the approach argues that multiword units are integral building blocks in language; that such units can facilitate mastery of semantically opaque relations between words; and that adults rely on them less than children, which can explain (some of) their difficulty in learning a second language. The Starting Big approach is a theory of how children learn language, how language is represented, and how to explain differences between first and second language learning. I discuss the learning and processing models at the heart of the approach and their cross-linguistic implications.

Abstract Background Patient-reported interstitial lung disease (ILD) questionnaires are commonly used for the evaluation of ILD patients. However, research to test their performance is scarce. Methods This study aimed to assess the performance of the Chest Questionnaire in consecutive ILD patients presenting to a tertiary ILD center. The results of Chest Questionnaires routinely filled by patients were analyzed together with clinical and demographic data retrieved from the patients’ medical records. The ability of each questionnaire item to detect positive findings, such as environmental and occupational exposures, was examined relative to any additional findings detected by physician-acquired history. History was obtained by an experienced ILD pulmonologist who had access to the results of the questionnaire during the clinic visit. Results The final cohort for analysis included 62 patients. Shortness of breath frequency and duration were the questionnaire items with the lowest probability of being filled out by patients. The questionnaire performed well in identifying 96.2% of patients with a positive family history and 90.9% of patients with occupational exposures. However, exposures to mold or birds were frequently missed, self-reported by only 53.1% of exposed patients. Questionnaire’s performance was also lower for other exposures associated with ILD (48.3%). An ILD-related exposure was less likely to be identified by the questionnaire in males (p = 0.03), while age had no such effect. Conclusions The Chest Questionnaire performed well in several domains, while failing to detect some relevant exposures. Therefore, its use should be accompanied by careful history taking by the physician.

Crop calendars provide valuable information on the timing of important stages of crop development such as the planting or Start of Season (SOS) and harvesting dates or End of Season (EOS). This information is critical for many crop monitoring applications such as crop-type mapping, crop condition monitoring, and crop yield estimation and forecasting. Spatially detailed information on the crop calendars provides an important asset in this respect, as it allows the algorithms to account for specific local circumstances while also maximizing their robustness and global applicability. Existing global crop calendar products, as produced by the Group on Earth Observations’ Global Agricultural Monitoring (GEOGLAM) Crop Monitor, the United States Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA-FAS), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the European Commission Joint Research Center’s Anomaly hot Spots of Agricultural Production (ASAP), generally provide this information only at national or subnational level. In this work, we present gridded SOS and EOS maps for wheat and maize that represent the crop calendars’ spatial variability at 0.5° spatial resolution. These maps are generated in the framework of WorldCereal, which is a European Space Agency (ESA) funded project whose cropland and crop-type wheat and maize algorithms at global scale and at 10 m spatial resolution require this information. The proposed maps are built leveraging the above noted global products (Crop Monitor, USDA-FAS, FAO, ASAP) whose datasets are combined into a baseline map and sampled to train a Random Forest algorithm based on climatic and geographic data. Their evaluation against test data from the baseline maps set aside for validation purposes show a good performance with SOS (EOS) R2 of 0.87 (0.92) and a root mean square error (RMSE) of 27 (26) days for wheat, showing the lowest errors (RMSE

BackgroundAs COVID-19 vaccines became available, understanding their potential benefits in vulnerable populations has gained significance. This study explored the advantages of COVID-19 vaccination in individuals with cognitive disorders by analyzing health-related variables and outcomes.MethodsA prospective cohort study analyzed electronic medical records of 25,733 older adults with cognitive disorders and 65,544 older adults without cognitive disorders from March 2020 to February 2022. COVID-19 vaccination status was the primary exposure variable, categorized as fully vaccinated or unvaccinated. The primary outcomes measured were all-cause mortality and hospitalization rates within 14 and 400 days post-vaccination. Data on vaccination status, demographics, comorbidities, testing history, and clinical outcomes were collected from electronic health records. The study was ethically approved by the relevant medical facility’s Institutional Review Board (0075-22-MHS).ResultsVaccinated individuals had significantly lower mortality rates in both groups. In the research group, the mortality rate was 52% (n = 1852) for unvaccinated individuals and 7% (n = 1,241) for vaccinated individuals (p

BackgroundAlthough pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) could substantially mitigate HIV risk, sexual minority men who use stimulants commonly experience difficulties with engaging in PrEP clinical services. Motivational interviewing (MI) and contingency management (CM) reduce substance use and condomless anal sex (CAS) in this population, but these motivational enhancement interventions require modifications to promote engagement along the PrEP care continuum. ObjectivePrEP Readiness Interventions for Supporting Motivation (PRISM) is a pilot sequential multiple assignment randomized trial testing the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness of distinct combinations of telehealth MI and CM in 70 cisgender sexual minority men who use stimulants that are not currently taking PrEP. MethodsA national sample was recruited via social networking applications to complete a baseline assessment and mail-in HIV testing. Those with nonreactive HIV results were randomized to receive either (1) a 2-session MI intervention focusing on PrEP use (session 1) and concomitant stimulant use or CAS (session 2) or (2) a CM intervention with financial incentives for documented evidence of PrEP clinical evaluation by a medical provider (US $50) and filling a PrEP prescription (US $50). At the 3-month follow-up assessment, participants who reported they had not filled a prescription for PrEP were randomized a second time to either (1) switch to a second-stage intervention (ie, MI+CM or CM+MI) or (2) continue with assessments only. Outcomes for both responders and nonresponders were reassessed at a 6-month follow-up. The primary outcome is documented evidence of filling a PrEP prescription over 6 months. Self-reported secondary outcomes include PrEP clinical evaluation by a medical provider, stimulant use, and CAS. Qualitative exit interviews were conducted with a subgroup of responders and nonresponders to characterize their experiences with the MI and CM interventions. ResultsImplementation of PRISM underscores challenges in reaching sexual minority men who use stimulants to optimize HIV prevention efforts. Approximately 1 in 10 (104/1060) eligible participants have enrolled. Of the 104 who enrolled, 87 (84%) completed mail-in HIV testing. We delivered 5 preliminary HIV-positive results, including posttest counseling with referrals to confirmatory testing. ConclusionsLessons learned from PRISM underscore the central importance of a flexible, participant-centered approach to support the engagement of sexual minority men who use stimulants. Leveraging telehealth platforms to deliver motivational enhancement interventions also expanded their reach and potential public health impact with this high-priority population. Further research is needed to determine the effectiveness of telehealth MI and CM for supporting PrEP use in sexual minority men who use stimulants. Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT04205487; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04205487 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)DERR1-10.2196/48459

BackgroundPediatricians daily see large numbers of patients with skin disorders. However, they encounter limited guidance as a result of a marked deficiency in pediatric dermatologists. Hence, reevaluation of training opportunities during pediatric residency has become essential. Our aim was to evaluate the confidence level of pediatric residents and specialists in diagnosing and treating skin disorders in children and to determine career and training-related characteristics that influence it.MethodsConducted as a cross-sectional study, we administered a questionnaire to 171 pediatricians across Israel. We assessed respondents’ self-efficacy about their ability to diagnose and treat skin disorders and collected data regarding their previous dermatology training and preferred training methods.Results77.8% of respondents reported below or average self-efficacy scores in diagnosing and managing children with skin disorders. Older age (>40 years old; OR = 5.51, p = 0.019), treating a higher number of patients with skin disorders (OR = 2.96, p = 0.032), and having any training in dermatology, either during medical school or residency (OR = 7.16, p = 0.031, OR = 11.14, p = 0.003 respectively), were all significant parameters involved in pediatricians reporting high self-efficacy in skin disorder management.ConclusionMost pediatric residents and pediatricians have average or below-average confidence in managing pediatric skin disorders. We suggest incorporating dermatology rotations during pediatric residency to improve young pediatricians’ self-efficacy in managing skin disorders and ultimately help pediatricians provide better care for patients presenting with dermatological conditions. These findings can ultimately help refine a pilot program in dermatology that might be implemented during pediatric residency.

Dendritic spines are highly dynamic structures whose structural and functional fluctuations depend on multiple factors. Changes in synaptic strength are not limited to synapses directly involved in specific activity patterns. Unstimulated clusters of neighboring spines in and around the site of stimulation can also undergo alterations in strength. Usually, when plasticity is induced at single dendritic spines with glutamate uncaging, neighboring spines do not show any significant structural fluctuations. Here, using two-photon imaging and glutamate uncaging at single dendritic spines of hippocampal pyramidal neurons, we show that structural modifications at unstimulated neighboring spines occur and are a function of the temporal pattern of the plasticity-inducing stimulus. Further, the relative location of the unstimulated neighbors within the local dendritic segment correlates with the extent of heterosynaptic plasticity that is observed. These findings indicate that naturalistic patterns of activity at single spines can shape plasticity at nearby clusters of synapses, and may play a role in priming local inputs for further modifications.