Comparison of factors associated with seasonal influenza and COVID-19 booster vaccination coverage among healthcare personnel working at acute care hospitals during 2021-2022 influenza season, National Healthcare Safety Network, United States.

The simultaneous circulation of seasonal influenza virus and SARS-CoV-2 variants will likely pose unique challenges to public health during the future influenza seasons. Persons who are undergoing treatment in healthcare facilities may be particularly at risk. It is important for healthcare personnel to protect themselves and patients by receiving vaccines. The purpose of this study is to assess coverage of the seasonal influenza vaccine and COVID-19 monovalent booster among healthcare personnel working at acute care hospitals in the United States during the 2021-22 influenza season and to examine the demographic and facility characteristics associated with coverage. A total of 3260 acute care hospitals with over 7 million healthcare personnel reported vaccination data to National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) during the 2021-22 influenza season. Two separate negative binomial mixed models were developed to explore the factors associated with seasonal influenza coverage and COVID-19 monovalent booster coverage. At the end of the 2021-2022 influenza season, the overall pooled mean seasonal influenza coverage was 80.3%, and the pooled mean COVID-19 booster coverage was 39.5%. Several demographic and facility-level factors, such as employee type, facility ownership, and geographic region, were significantly associated with vaccination against influenza and COVID-19 among healthcare personnel working in acute care hospitals. Our findings highlight the need to increase the uptake of vaccination among healthcare personnel, particularly non-employees, those working in for-profit and non-medical school-affiliated facilities, and those residing in the South.

Root contraction helps protect the "living rock" cactus Ariocarpus fissuratus from lethal high temperatures when growing in rocky soil.

PREMISE OF THE STUDY: We investigated how the "living rock" cactus Ariocarpus fissuratus, like other low-growing desert plants, can endure potentially lethal high temperatures at the soil surface. Specifically, we examined how shoot descent by root contraction in the presence or absence of soil rocks influences shoot temperatures and transpiration. • METHODS: Root contraction was identified by measuring shoot descent and anatomical analysis. Temperatures and transpiration were measured for plants at two heights in sandy and rocky soil, and temperature tolerances were determined by vital staining. • KEY RESULTS: Plants embedded in rocky soil survived an extreme heat episode, unlike plants in sandy soil, though rocks did not moderate low temperatures. Root contraction occurred regardless of season and soil moisture. Xylem conduits (wide-band tracheids) formed a compressible lattice that decreased root length as rays enlarged the root base radially. Plant position in the soil did not affect transpiration. • CONCLUSIONS: Contractile roots pulled plants of A. fissuratus into the soil at rates of 6-30 mm yr(-1). Maintaining shoots level with the soil surface kept plant temperatures below the high lethal temperature and improved survivorship in soil shaded by surface rocks.

Psychology through international congresses: differences between regions, countries, and congresses.

A published database of presentations from the seven most recent International Congresses of Applied Psychology (ICAPs) was compared to a similar but unpublished database (Adair, Anguas-Plata, Unik, & Radons, 2009) on the International Congresses of Psychology (ICPs) for the years 1996-2004. Analyses revealed phenomena characteristic of attendance at both international congresses: Participation rates spike dramatically for host countries; less dramatic regional surges in participation occur when the congress is held in a neighbouring country. Psychologists from 117 different countries participated in the seven recent congresses (ICAP and ICP) from 1994 to 2006. Overall ICP was double the size of ICAP, and represented a larger set of countries at each of its congresses. Regardless of location, most participants at both congresses came from the same 11 economically advantaged and seven majority-world countries. Congress presentations are dispersed across a much larger number of countries than are journal publications. The USA, for example, had modest 14.4% (ICAP) and 11.6% (ICP) presentation rates, much smaller than its majority share of publications (Adair, 2009 ). By contrast, the USA had the greater share of invited addresses at both ICAP (33.7%) and ICP (28.9%) congresses. Nonetheless, the majority-world countries contributing to both ICAP and ICP are clearly indicative of where the discipline is gaining strength and importance to international psychology. The emergence of Iran as a new leading national contributor to the two most recent international congresses, and the rise in the proportion of presentations by majority-world psychologists at ICAPs from only about one in five to more than one of every three presentations in recent congresses are findings consistent with Zakaria's (2008) analysis of changes taking place in the world. Within international congresses, certainly, the "rise of the rest" is changing the face of international psychology.