COVID IMPACT STATEMENT

COVID IMPACT STATEMENT May 30, 2022 Because of the pandemic, the decision was made by the University to switch to remote teaching for the Spring, Summer & Fall Semesters of 2020 and Spring (as well as Summer) Semester of 2021. Starting early in September (2020) and throughout the Fall 2020 semester, steps had to be taken to convert the massive amount of course information & exams for SPH (CSD)-485 (Sp. & Hearing Science) to an on-line format for its anticipated delivery during the Fall Semester of 2020. Hence, SPH (CSD)-485 (Sp. & Hearing Science) in its entirety, was rewritten and reformatted (tables, figures and illustrations) on power points for/during the Fall semester (2020) and delivered by Panopto. This labor-intensive process also included the reformatting, submitting and editing of new on-line exams. As indicated in the workload report of 2020, this was essentially equivalent to creating a new preparation, especially with the labor intensive editing of on-line exams, which were often not uploaded properly (by e-learning) in a font that could easily be read by students. SPH (CSD)-485 (Sp. & Hearing Science) had to be additionally edited, modified/refined during the Spring Semester of 2021. Currently, all course material for SPH (CSD)-485 (Sp. & Hearing Science) is on power-point slides. In terms of SPH (CSD)-482 (Audiometry), the conversion process to an on-line teaching format that began (in haste) during the second half of the Spring Semester (2020), had to be revisited. As anticipated in the last workload report (2020), the first half of the course had to now be converted to an on-line format (rewritten, edited, modified and reformatted with tables, figures, audiograms and illustrations). This process began during the 2020-2021 winter break and continued well into the Spring Semester of 2021. Also, a large amount of the second half of the course, which had been converted in haste during the Spring semester of 2020, had to be re-edited and modified to improve the quality of the on-line course content and delivery (Panopto) for the Spring Semester of 2021. Course material for HSC-476/577 (Neuroscience) for the Spring Semesters of 2020 and 2021 were already in a power-point format. The Neuroscience exams, however, required the labor-intensive process of reformatting, submitting and editing exams for on-line deliveries. This labor-intensive process of reformatting, submitting and editing exams needed to be implemented as well, for the HSC-422/520 (Physiology) course, during the Summer & Fall Semesters of 2020. Ultimately, the enormous amount of time spent to “retool” and redesign the teaching curriculum into a virtual format, impacted significantly, but not entirely, on efforts to obtain laboratory data. The pandemic, however, had a greater impact on efforts to compose publication manuscripts. As indicated in the annual workload of 2020, my work in the lab (experiments/my additional training with mice) that was scheduled to begin during March 2020, was delayed, but was eventually initiated (August 22, 2020). Joint efforts: to trouble shoot instrumentation noise levels, to conduct stereotaxic & surgical procedures in the mouse, and to become acclimated/acquainted with the handling/administration of the Urethane anesthesia, the electrode stimulation/recording procedures, the cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) extraction from the cisterna magna, the exsanguination/transcardial perfusion, and the animal waste disposal, were all largely successful but had to be carried out for the most part, singularly, by Dr. Hammonds. This is because time spent in the laboratory had again, to be cut short after only several weeks in order to divert time/energy to the conversion of course information/exams (SPH (CSD)-485 (Sp. &Hearing Science) in preparation for remote teaching in the Fall 2020. Notwithstanding, in the Fall (06/2021) I began composing a comprehensive review of the “autonomic-endocrine stress system”, covering the relevant anatomy/physiology of the central neural/peripheral endocrine response to stress (including adrenal glucocorticoids), as well as a relevant, comprehensive review of the anatomy/physiology of the brainstem locus coeruleus (LC), and it’s direct connection to stress. This exhaustive but relevant review will serve as the written background and foundation for any/all manuscripts that we (Hammonds, Sahley & Anderson) plan to submit for publication. The comprehensive review is relevant to, and is based upon all of the neurophysiological/biochemical data that Dr. Hammonds has acquired in the laboratory, over the past 5 years (2018 to 2022) with the consecutive internal funds provided by the Undergraduate Summer Research Awards (USRA). With respect to a manuscript which is still currently in progress: K. Chandu, T.L. Sahley, M.D. Hammonds, M. Miyagi, D.J. Anderson (2022). Determination of Dynorphin Opioid Peptides in Serum Matrix by LC-MS/MS (MRM) slated for Analytical Biochemistry, as indicated in the previous (2020) annual workload report, edits were made to this manuscript in preparation for submission, back in March of 2020. However, the pandemic, greatly deterred its completion and submission as planned. Since then, the decision was made to include additional data to the original manuscript, in an effort to improve its overall chance for publication. These added steps were implemented by Drs. Anderson/Hammonds Fall 2021. Preparation/publication of this manuscript, together with manuscript(s) currently in preparation (as discussed above), will include procedures for implementing brainstem LC stimulation and cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) extraction from the cisterna magna in mice. The intent is to demonstrate experimental feasibility for all of these procedures, and to provide the adequate pilot data/manuscript publication history needed to generate a joint-departmental external grant proposal, as originally projected in the 2019 workload goals. Tony L. Sahley, Ph.D., CCC-A Professor, Audiology & Auditory Neuroscience Room 116: Center for Innovation In Medical Professions 2112 Euclid Avenue School of Health Sciences & BGES Cleveland State University Cleveland OH, 44115