Digital Commons Network^™

Leveraging Economic Growth: A Swot Analysis, Sudhanva V. Char

International Review of Business and Economics

India accounted for 30 percent or more of World GDP a little over a thousand years ago, a level no other country has attained anytime in history. Then came China’s rise, and the pillages and plunders of invaders who literally raided India. The European colonizers came soon thereafter, continuing the loot of India more systematically. Today China has made up for lost growth and has emerged as the second largest economy in the world. India, under a democratic political framework with some devious and corrupt political actors, is struggling to make progress. The last five years has witnessed much nationalistic …

The Covid-19 Safety And Health Accreditation Program: How Food Safety Inspectors And Building Inspectors Can Incentivize Osha Compliance To Protect Workers During The Coronavirus Pandemic, Lindsey Tanita

Center for Health Law Policy and Bioethics

The coronavirus pandemic exposed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) severe lack of commitment and resources to enforce standards aimed at providing a safe and healthful workplace for millions of workers who are at an increased risk of exposure to COVID-19 every time they step foot into the workplace. We’ve seen nurses treating COVID-19 patients pleading for personal protective equipment all across the county,1 a bus driver in Detroit dying of COVID-19 after complaining about lack of protections from a coughing passenger,2 and more than three hundred workers testing positive for COVID-19 in one Los Angeles factory, even after …

Empowering The Minority Healthcare Worker Amidst Racial Patient Bias & Covid-19, Rachel Tran

Center for Health Law Policy and Bioethics

While the discussion surrounding implicit physician bias has become more prevalent, patient bias is often overlooked. For decades, the United States’ healthcare system has normalized accommodation of patients’ racially biased requests, providing little to no support for minority healthcare workers. This paper presents social, ethical, and legal arguments for the creation of effective patient bias policies while challenging traditional barriers to implementation. It also advances a guideline of recommendations for healthcare institutions, civil rights organizations, and governments to draw from. These recommendations include the right to turn away patients who repeatedly discriminate against healthcare professionals.

Covid-19 Should Not Create A New Class Of Criminals, Alaina Lynch

Center for Health Law Policy and Bioethics

This paper offers a critique of the punitive response to COVID-19 in the United States and argues that punitive resources must be redistributed. Specifically, this paper suggests that no criminal charges be brought related to the novel disease transmission because policing and arrests related to COVID-19 exposure crimes are counterproductive. Defunding these punitive efforts and reallocating funds towards virus containment, the spread of factual information about disease transmission, vaccine research, the delivery of resources to communities in need, and support for victims of crimes in alternative ways is a more effective strategy to support public health and safety. To make …

Mail-Voting During Covid-19: Protecting Public Health And Expanding Voting Accessibility, Emily Kawahara

Center for Health Law Policy and Bioethics

The 2020 presidential election will be held during the COVID-19 public health crisis. In response to the COVID-19 situation, there is an immediate need to universalize mail-voting. However, President Donald Trump consistently downplays COVID-19 and asserts that mail- voting causes voter fraud and favors the Democratic Party. This Article examines modifications made in prior elections held during or in the wake of crises. Though these modifications are not applicable for the COVID-19 pandemic, they provide two important distinctions: crisis-specific measures should prioritize protecting public health and, if there is an opportunity to preserve the right to vote through election modification, …

Death By Virus: Why The Prison Litigation Reform Act Should Be Suspended, Divya Sriharan

Center for Health Law Policy and Bioethics

In order to save the lives of inmates, as well as redress some of the harms the prison system and the pandemic have caused them, Congress must pass a bill to temporarily suspend the Prison Litigation Reform Act. As of August 13, 2020, 95,398 inmates have contracted COVID-19. Prisons refuse to adapt or implement measures to save lives. Because of the Prison Litigation Reform Act, it is near impossible for inmates to take their cases to court. The Prison Litigation Reform Act’s requirements include: exhausting all internal administrative remedies before filing in court, not allowing suits based on mental or …

Humanity For Asylum Seekers: How Migrant Protection Protocols And The March 20th Cdc Order Violate The Constitutional Rights Of Asylum Seekers During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Madison Beck

Center for Health Law Policy and Bioethics

In late 2018, the Trump Administration introduced Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), also known as the Remain in Mexico Policy, to curb illegal immigration. The protocols allow the U.S. to remove immigrants, including asylum seekers, to Mexico while their claims are processed. This is problematic on its own, but even more so during the COVID-19 pandemic; makeshift asylum tent-camps are home to thousands of vulnerable individuals where viral spread would be devastating. Additionally, in March 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an “order suspending introduction of certain persons from countries where a communicable disease exists” further worsening …

The Right To Health In Immigration Detention During The Covid-19 Pandemic: An Examination Of Federal And International Law, Alaina Dye

Center for Health Law Policy and Bioethics

This article examines the United States’ response to the severe impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in immigration detention centers and considers the United States’ obligations to the vulnerable population of immigrant detainees. This article argues that the COVID-19 pandemic further demonstrates the United States’ lack of guaranteed health care for immigrant detainees and deportees despite international recognition of the human rights to health and life. The United States violates international law when immigrant detainees’ human rights are disregarded by lack of appropriate access to health care during a global pandemic. This article recognizes that discrimination against immigrants under the Trump …

Not Everyone Is Safer At Home: The Harsh Reality That Many Domestic Violence Victims Face In Light Of Covid-19 “Stay At Home” Orders, Megan Divine

Center for Health Law Policy and Bioethics

Domestic violence victims are disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Home is not a safe place for everyone. Abuse thrives in silence and isolation. Isolation exacerbates the types of violence and abuse that victims experience. The coronavirus pandemic presents a perfect opportunity for abusers to exercise increased levels of coercive control. This includes not only physical abuse, but also emotional, financial, and psychological abuse. Survivors too, are impacted by many of these concerns. Limited finances and decreased access to housing, support, and affordable childcare increases the potential for survivors to return to their abusers. Many have considered the coronavirus crisis …

U.S. Border Expulsions Further Jeopardize Asylum Seekers And Unaccompanied Minors In The Time Of Covid-19, Evan Harris

Center for Health Law Policy and Bioethics

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a public health order on March 20, 2020, restricting people seeking asylum in the United States, as well as unaccompanied non-citizen children attempting to cross into the United States, from accessing legal protections guaranteed to them under U.S. and international law.1 Under the order, such individuals are instead immediately expelled from the country in an effort to protect border facilities and the citizenry of the United States from COVID-19.

2 As the order reasons, these immediate expulsions minimize the introduction of persons into “congregate settings” at border facilities and thereby reduce …

Housing The Homeless Population During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Governments’ Ethical Responsibility, Amy Holmes

Center for Health Law Policy and Bioethics

COVID-19 took the world by storm in late 2019. Governments acted to ensure that their populations were as protected as possible through stay-at-home orders and the closure of stores, restaurants, and public spaces around the world. Stay-at-home orders work well when citizens have somewhere to stay, but those experiencing homelessness face the almost insurmountable challenge of staying safe and healthy without access to a safe place to stay. COVID-19 has spread rapidly through the homeless population, and as such poses a risk to the population as a whole as the world begins to reopen. Without access to adequate sanitation supplies …

Reduced Frequency Monitoring Post-Stoke Treatment, Melissa Freese

Nursing Posters

In 2020, the nation was faced with a pandemic that quickly depleted health care resources. Standards of care were reviewed to identify opportunities to reduce the burden on healthcare resources. One of the standards of care that was reviewed nationally and locally at the St. Cloud Hospital (SCH), was the postalteplase/ thrombectomy patient placement and monitoring.

The standard of care for the placement and monitoring of post-alteplase patients was established during the 1996 NINDS trial and has not been studied since. Very minimal literature is available on the standard of care for patient placement and monitoring post-thrombectomy.

“A Slow-Moving Disaster:” Early Coverage Of The Coronavirus Pandemic At Us Local Newspapers, Beth Knobel

Covid-19 Digital Research

The outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic provides an opportunity to investigate several aspects of the work of local newspapers in the United States, including their ability to create original reporting, gatekeeping, the influence of chain ownership, and the possible effect of political polarization on hard news coverage. This study examines the early coverage of COVID-19 in a selection of American local newspapers in 28 states—15 Republican-dominated (“red”) and 13 Democrat-dominated (“blue”) —during January and February 2020. The local papers produced a fraction of the coverage of large, national newspapers, as their lower resource levels and local focus limited their …

Leveraging The Power Of Mutual Aid, Coalitions, Leadership, And Advocacy During Covid-19, Daniela Domínguez, Dellanira García, David A. Martínez, Belinda Hernandez-Arriaga

Psychology

The COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on the norms, patterns, and power structures in the United States that privilege certain groups of people over others. This manuscript describes COVID-19 as an unprecedented catalyst for social transformation that underscores the need for multi-level and cross-sectoral solutions to address systemic changes to improve health equity for all. The authors propose that the American Psychological Association and its membership can initiate systemic change, in part, by: (a) supporting mutual aid organizations that prioritize the needs of vulnerable communities; (b) leveraging the efforts and strides APA psychologists have already made within the association, in …

Adolescents And E-Cigarette Use: Long-Term Effects, Behaviors And Lung Injury, Sarah Congdon

PCOM Capstone Projects

The use of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS), commonly referred to as e-cigarettes, has become a deadly habit among adolescents across the nation. These devices are attractive with their sleek design, fun flavors, and youthful advertisements. E-Cigarettes entered the marketplace around 2007, and since 2014, they have been the most commonly used tobacco product among U.S. youth. In 2018, more than 3.6 million U.S. youth, including 1 in 5 high school students and 1 in 20 middle school students, currently use e-cigarettes. There have been increasing lung infections and chronic lung diseases rising in the younger community. The strong adolescent …

Overcoming Adversity As A Community, Donald Tobin

Maryland Carey Law

No abstract provided.

A National Strategy For Ventilator And Icu Resource Allocation During The Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic, P. Ramachandran, L. Swamy, V. Kaul, A. Agrawal

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Utility Of D-Dimer In Predicting Venous Thromboembolism In Non-Mechanically Ventilated Covid-19 Survivors., P. C. Nauka, S. W. Baron, A. Assa, L. Mohrmann, S. Jindal, E. Oran, G. Glazman-Kuczaj, W. N. Southern, S. Chekuri

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Sé Un Héroe Tú También, Samantha S. Rohe, Sophie Cemaj

Books: Pediatrics

This children's book explains COVID-19 and how to decrease the incidence of transmissions.

Phylogenetic Analysis Of Sars-Cov-2 Genomes In Turkey, Ogün Adebali̇, Ayli̇n Bi̇rcan, Defne Çi̇rci̇, Burak İşlek, Zeynep Kilinç, Berkay Selçuk, Berk Turhan

Turkish Journal of Biology

COVID-19 has effectively spread worldwide. As of May 2020, Turkey is among the top ten countries with the most cases. A comprehensive genomic characterization of the virus isolates in Turkey is yet to be carried out. Here, we built a phylogenetic tree with globally obtained 15,277 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) genomes. We identified the subtypes based on the phylogenetic clustering in comparison with the previously annotated classifications. We performed a phylogenetic analysis of the first 30 SARS-CoV-2 genomes isolated and sequenced in Turkey. We suggest that the first introduction of the virus to the country is earlier …

An Updated Analysis Of Variations In Sars-Cov-2 Genome, Osman Mutluhan Uğurel, Oğuz Ata, Di̇lek Balik

Turkish Journal of Biology

A novel pathogen, named SARS-CoV-2, has caused an unprecedented worldwide pandemic in the first half of 2020. As the SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences have become available, one of the important focus of scientists has become tracking variations in the viral genome. In this study, 30366 SARS-CoV-2 isolate genomes were aligned using the software developed by our group (ODOTool) and 11 variations in SARS-CoV-2 genome over 10% of whole isolates were discussed. Results indicated that, frequency rates of these 11 variations change between 3.56%-88.44 % and these rates differ greatly depending on the continents they have been reported. Despite some variations being …

Identification Of The Nucleotide Substitutions In 62 Sars-Cov-2 Sequences From Turkey, Ayşe Banu Demi̇r, Domenico Benvenuto, Yusuf Hakan Abacioğlu, Silvia Angeletti, Massimo Ciccozzi

Turkish Journal of Biology

A previously unknown coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has been shown to cause coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The first case of COVID-19 in Turkey has been declared in March 11th, 2020 and from there on, more than 150,000 people in the country have been diagnosed with the disease. In this study, 62 viral sequences from Turkey, which have been uploaded to GISAID database, were analyzed by means of their nucleotide substitutions in comparison to the reference SARS-CoV-2 genome from Wuhan. Our results indicate that the viral isolates from Turkey harbor some common mutations with the viral …

An Insight Into The Epitope-Based Peptide Vaccine Design Strategy And Studies Against Covid-19, Murat Topuzoğullari, Tayfun Acar, Peli̇n Peli̇t Arayici, Burcu Uçar, Erennur Uğurel, Emrah Şefi̇k Abamor, Tüli̇n Arasoğlu, Di̇lek Balik, Serap Derman

Turkish Journal of Biology

SARS-CoV-2 is a new member of the coronavirus family and caused the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in 2020. It is crucial to design and produce an effective vaccine for the prevention of rapid transmission and possible deaths wcaused by the disease. Although intensive work and research are being carried out all over the world to develop a vaccine, an effective and approved formulation that can prevent the infection and limit the outbreak has not been announced yet. Among all types of vaccines, epitope-based peptide vaccines outshine with their low-cost production, easy modification in the structure, and safety. In …

Sars-Cov-2 Neutralizing Antibody Development Strategies, Bertan Koray Balcioğlu, Meli̇s Deni̇zci̇ Öncü, Hasan Ümi̇t Öztürk, Fatima Yücel, Fi̇li̇z Kaya, Müge Serhatli, Hi̇vda Ülbeği̇ Polat, Şaban Teki̇n, Ayli̇n Özdemi̇r Bahadir

Turkish Journal of Biology

In December 2019 a novel coronavirus was detected in Wuhan City of Hubei Province-China. Owing to a high rate of transmission from human to human, the new virus called SARS-CoV-2 differed from others by its unexpectedly rapid spread. The World Health Organization (WHO) described the most recent coronavirus epidemic as a global pandemic in March 2020. The virus spread triggered a health crisis (the COVID-19 disease) within three months, with socioeconomic implications. No approved targeted-therapies are available for COVID-19, yet. However, it is foreseen that antibody-based treatments may provide an immediate cure for patients. Current neutralizing antibody development studies primarily …

Covid-19: Current Knowledge, Disease Potential, Prevention And Clinical Advances, Aftab Alam, Mohd Faizan Siddiqui, Nikhat Imam, Rafat Ali, Mushtaque Mushtaque, Romana Ishrat

Turkish Journal of Biology

The top priority of any nation is to lead the nation towards prosperity, progress, and economic growth, confronting several challenges and concerns arisen from global situations. The sudden outbreak of any disease defies the health care systems and economy of nations. COVID-19 is one of the viral diseases which broke out in Wuhan city of China in 2019. COVID-19 outbreak intermittently prevailed all over the world. It exposes the fragility of the established health care systems across the world in spite of comprising modern science and technology. Unfortunately, there is no chemotherapeutic agent in the regimen of antiviral drugs or …

Sars-Cov-2 Isolation And Propagation From Turkish Covid-19 Patients, Ci̇han Taştan, Bulut Yurtsever, Gözde Karakuş, Derya Di̇lek Kançaği, Sevda Demi̇r, Selen Abanuz, Utku Seyi̇s, Mülazi̇m Yildirim, Recai̇ Kuzay, Ömer Eli̇bol, Serap Arbak, Merve Açikel Elmas, Selçuk Bi̇rdoğan, Osman Uğur Sezerman, Ayşe Sesi̇n Kocagöz

Turkish Journal of Biology

The novel coronavirus pneumonia, which was named later as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, namely SARS-CoV-2. It is a positive-strand RNA virus that is the seventh coronavirus known to infect humans. The COVID-19 outbreak presents enormous challenges for global health behind the pandemic outbreak. The first diagnosed patient in Turkey has been reported by the Republic of Turkey Ministry of Health on March 11, 2020. In May, over 150,000 cases in Turkey, and 5.5 million cases around the world have been declared. Due to the urgent need for a vaccine and …

Gut-Lung Axis And Dysbiosis In Covid-19, Büşra Aktaş, Belma Aslim

Turkish Journal of Biology

COVID-19, a novel infectious disease, caused by SARS-CoV-2, affected millions of people around the world with a high mortality rate. Although SARS-CoV-2 mainly causes lung infection, gastrointestinal symptoms described in COVID-19 patients and detection of the viral RNA in feces of infected patients drove attentions to a possible fecal-oral transmission route of SARS-CoV-2. However, not only the viral RNA but also the infectious viral particles are required for the viral infection and no proof has been demonstrated the transmission of the infectious virus particles via the fecal-oral route yet. Growing evidence indicates the crosstalk between gut microbiota and lung, that …

Mesenchymal Stem Cell Derived Extracellular Vesicles: Promising Immunomodulators Against Autoimmune, Autoinflammatory Disorders And Sars-Cov-2 Infection, Ozlem Bulut, İhsan Gürsel

Turkish Journal of Biology

Discovery of novel and broad-acting immunomodulators is of critical importance for the prevention and treatment of disorders occurring due to overexuberant immune responseincluding SARS-CoV-2 triggered cytokine storm leading to lung pathology and mortality during the ongoing viral pandemic. Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs), highly regarded for their regenerative capacities, also possessesremarkable immunoregulatory functions affecting all types of innate and adaptive immune cells. Owing to that, MSCs have been heavily investigated in clinic for the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases along with transplant rejection. Extensive research in the last decaderevealed that MSCs carry out most of their functions through paracrine factors …

Creating Covid-19 Work-Arounds For Vulnerable Older Adults, Edward F. Ansello

Director's Editorials from Age in Action

In response to disruptions in care due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) has decided to focus energies on vulnerable populations, specifically: low income older adults in the Richmond Health and Wellness Program (RHWP), which delivers healthcare coordination at rental assistance housing complexes in Richmond, who had been receiving regular in-person help from interprofessional teams of faculty and students; residents with dementia and staffs of long-term care facilities who’d been intended to participate on-site in a non-pharmacological dementia care intervention called TimeSlips, as well as family caregivers of individuals in the community with dementia; and older …

Ageism In The Age Of Covid-19, Edward F. Ansello

Director's Editorials from Age in Action

Greater awareness of biases in health care and protective services are needed. Ageism is not going away but at least COVID-19 has unveiled some of its manifestations.