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The COVID-19 pandemic required adaptation to a new learning environment creating challenges for students and instructors. A reduction in student-teacher contact and the lack of supervision should have led to a decline in students' academic performance. Nonetheless, studies report increases in grades during the pandemic. Yet, limited information is available regarding the persistence of this impact. This study utilizes a hierarchical mixed effect model to estimate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on university grades. Using unique class-level data containing chronological variables and institutional, instructor, and student characteristics, spanning Fall 2010 to Spring 2021 of 7,852 undergraduate classes, it is shown class average grade point averages (GPAs) in the College of Agriculture at Texas A&M University increased for the three semesters most impacted by COVID-19. Average class GPAs increased by 0.22 points in Spring 2020 because of COVID-19 and then approximately 0.18 points in the subsequent next two semesters. The negative effect of class size decreased during COVID-19, implying online classes have different size effects than traditional classes. Additionally, the positive effect of SAT scores on grades decreased. One implication of this study is that COVID-19 may not only have a direct, significant, impact on GPAs but may also indirectly affect GPAs through altering the effects of variables on GPAs. The causal mechanisms by which the changes occurred are an area for further research.

There is a growing trend in higher education to explore the various benefits of Open Educational Resources. This applies not only to the cost benefits, but also to potential pedagogical benefits as well. This study explores the process of developing and implementing an Open Educational Resource for an undergraduate course and experimenting with OER-enabled pedagogy. Interview data provide an account of this process, outlining challenges and highlighting insights, which might prove useful for other professionals contemplating the move toward developing Open Educational Resources. Interview data are also organized using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology constructs pertaining to attitude, performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, technology self-efficacy, and facilitating conditions. A qualitative interpretive approach was then used to analyze the data. Analysis indicates that most of the constructs can strongly influence faculty to adopt Open Educational Resources but that "social influence" has no effect on adoption. Findings also include reflections on OER-enabled pedagogy as it was applied in the course. These findings indicate that OER-enabled pedagogy has the potential for increasing student engagement, though this potential has not yet been realized. Finally, findings provide an outline of recommendations that might guide others when considering developing and implementing Open Educational Resources.

BackgroundAscorbic acid is involved in collagen biosynthesis and upregulates alkaline phosphatase, potentially alleviating cell senescence and stimulating mesenchymal stem cell proliferation and differentiation into osteoblasts. We hypothesized locally delivered ascorbic acid and β-glycerophosphate act as a bone graft extender to increase the volume of new bone formed in a murine model of posterior lumbar fusion.MethodsCollagen sponges were used as delivery vehicles. Sponges were prepared with primary media alone or with the addition of ascorbic acid and β-glycerophosphate. Fresh morselized bone graft from 12 donor mice was used. Twenty-four healthy male C57BL/6 mice underwent an uninstrumented posterior L3-L5 lumbar fusion. One control group received morselized bone only. A second "sponge control" group received morselized bone with the control collagen sponge. The third group received morselized bone and a collagen sponge with ascorbic acid and β-glycerophosphate. Three months postoperatively, the lumbar spine underwent high-resolution micro-computed tomography for analysis of bone formation, density, and bridging fusion.ResultsAnimals receiving ascorbic acid and β-glycerophosphate had a statistically significant increase in corrected bone volume compared with control and sponge groups, with a 56.3% and 25.4% increase, respectively. Mineralized bone fraction was statistically significantly decreased for animals in the ascorbic acid group compared with control and sponge groups. There was no significant difference in fusion rate between test groups.ConclusionsLocally delivered ascorbic acid and β-glycerophosphate in a murine model of posterior spinal fusion yielded statistically significant increases in new bone formation in the lumbar spine but statistically significant decreases in mineralized bone fraction. Differences in fusion rate were not statistically significant.Clinical relevanceThis study provides early data suggesting that delivery of ascorbic acid to a spinal fusion site may be beneficial but does not yet establish an indication for clinical use. Further studies are needed to determine optimal dose and delivery of ascorbic acid.

ObjectiveHepatic steatosis is common in HIV-infected individuals. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) is the preferred noninvasive method for hepatic steatosis measurement but is expensive. Controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) also assesses hepatic steatosis and is conveniently performed concomitantly with transient elastography. We aimed to assess the accuracy of CAP in the setting of HIV infection.DesignCross-sectional study.MethodsCAP and MRS were performed in 82 study participants (39 HIV monoinfected; seven hepatitis C virus (HCV) monoinfected; 21 HIV/HCV coinfected; 15 with neither infection). We used concordance correlation coefficients to compare log-transformed and standardized CAP and MRS values and linear regression to examine factors associated with CAP and MRS-measured hepatic steatosis (MRS-HS). The accuracy of CAP to detect at least mild hepatic steatosis, defined as MRS-liver fat fraction more than 0.05, and the factors associated with discordance between CAP and MRS were evaluated.ResultsOverall, CAP-measured hepatic steatosis and MRS-HS correlated moderately well (rc = 0.63; P

The Gardener The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there. --L. P. Hartley While drums pounded and cymbals Drove men mad and bronze siege cannon Pulverized walls [...]

The Ends of the Earth The wind shears through hardwoods, then rain brings down the leaves here, eight thousand miles east of their archipelago of service, maplike now in its [...]