Optimizing pediatric asthma education using virtual platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: We compared patient and caregiver knowledge and confidence for managing asthma, and participant experiences when comprehensive asthma education was delivered in person versus in the virtual setting. METHODS: We performed a multi-methods study using structured surveys and qualitative interviews to solicit feedback from patients and caregivers following participation in a comprehensive asthma education session between April 2018 and October 2021. We compared participant knowledge and confidence for managing asthma as well as user experience when the education was attended in-person or virtually. Quantitative responses were summarized descriptively, and qualitative feedback was analyzed for major themes. RESULTS: Of 100 caregivers/patients who completed post education satisfaction surveys and interviews, 52 attended in person and 48 virtually, with the mean age of patients being 6.7 years (range: 1.2-17.0). Participant reported gains in knowledge and confidence for asthma management were not different between groups and 65.2% preferred attending virtual asthma education. The majority of participants described virtual education as a safer modality that was more convenient and accessible. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated the successful implementation of a novel, virtual asthma education program for patients and caregivers of children with asthma. Both virtual and in-person delivered asthma education were equally effective for improving perceived knowledge and confidence for asthma self-management and virtual education was considered safer, more convenient and accessible. Virtual asthma education offers an attractive and effective option for improving the reach of quality asthma education programs and may allow more children/patients to benefit.

Genetic costructure in a meta-community under threat of habitat fragmentation.

Habitat fragmentation increasingly threatens the services provided by natural communities and ecosystem worldwide. An understanding of the eco-evolutionary processes underlying fragmentation-compromised communities in natural settings is lacking, yet critical to realistic and sustainable conservation. Through integrating the multivariate genetic, biotic and abiotic facets of a natural community module experiencing various degrees of habitat fragmentation, we provide unique insights into the processes underlying community functioning in real, natural conditions. The focal community module comprises a parasitic butterfly of conservation concern and its two obligatory host species, a plant and an ant. We show that both historical dispersal and ongoing habitat fragmentation shape population genetic diversity of the butterfly Phengaris alcon and its most limited host species (the plant Gentiana pneumonanthe). Genetic structure of each species was strongly driven by geographical structure, altitude and landscape connectivity. Strikingly, however, was the strong degree of genetic costructure among the three species that could not be explained by the spatial variables under study. This finding suggests that factors other than spatial configuration, including co-evolutionary dynamics and shared dispersal pathways, cause parallel genetic structure among interacting species. While the exact contribution of co-evolution and shared dispersal routes on the genetic variation within and among communities deserves further attention, our findings demonstrate a considerable degree of genetic parallelism in natural meta-communities. The significant effect of landscape connectivity on the genetic diversity and structure of the butterfly also suggests that habitat fragmentation may threaten the functioning of the community module on the long run.

Sheep grazing as management tool in western European saltmarshes.

The effects of sheep grazing on plant community structure and diversity were studied in saltmarshes of the Mont-Saint-Michel bay. This study took place at two scales: (1) at the scale of the entire bay to explore the changes in plant community over a ten year period; and (2) locally with the use of experimental exclosure set up to mimic the abandonment of grazing. Moderate grazing generally enhanced plant richness and diversity, while the absence of grazing and overgrazing lead to a decrease in diversity and richness. The development of management strategies is becoming critical to preserve the diversity of saltmarshes functions.