Assessing Brigada Digital de Salud Audience Reach and Engagement: A Digital Community Health Worker Model to Address COVID-19 Misinformation in Spanish on Social Media (preprint)

U.S. Spanish-speaking populations experienced gaps in timely COVID-19 information during the pandemic and disproportionate misinformation exposure. Brigada Digital de Salud was established to address these gaps with culturally-tailored, Spanish-language COVID-19 information on social media. From May 1, 2021-April 30, 2023, 495 Twitter, 275 Facebook, and 254 Instagram posts were published and amplified by 10 trained community health workers. A qualitative content analysis was performed to characterize topics and formats of 251 posts. To assess reach and engagement, page analytics and advertising metrics for 287 posts were examined. Posts predominantly addressed vaccination (49.45%), infection risks (19.12%), and COVID-related scientific concepts (12.84%). Posts were educational (48.14%), and aimed to engage audiences (23.67%), promote resources (12.76%), and debunk misinformation (9.04%). Formats included images/text (55.40%), carousels (27.50%), and videos (17.10%). By June 9, 2023, 394 Facebook, 419 Instagram, and 228 Twitter followers included mostly women aged 24-54. Brigada Digital reached 386,910 people with 552,037 impressions and 96,868 engagements, including 11,292 likes, 15,240 comments/replies, 9,718 shares/retweets, and 45,381 video play-throughs. The most engaging posts included videos, trending topics, and music or audio-narration. This community-based model to engage Spanish-speaking audiences on social media with culturally-aligned content to counter misinformation shows promise for addressing public health threats.

Evaluating a Questionnaire in Telephone Balance Consultations during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic.

INTRODUCTION: During the coronavirus disease 2019, pandemic clinical practice had to change, and this study trialled a diagnostic questionnaire to assess patients with dizziness over the telephone. METHODS: All 115 patients awaiting otorhinolaryngological assessment for balance were randomised to receive a dizziness questionnaire in the post prior to their telephone consultation or not. Consultation outcomes were recorded by the clinicians conducting the consultation. Follow-up data were collected in June 2022 for final outcomes. RESULTS: 82/115 patients had consultations with complete data collection: 35 in the questionnaire group (QG) and 47 in the no questionnaire group (NQG), with a 70% response rate in the QG. Clinicians made a diagnosis in 27/35 QG consultations versus 27/47 NQG consultations. Nine out of 35 QG patients required additional investigations compared to 34/47 in the NQG (p < 0.05). Only 6/35 QG patients needed additional telephone follow-up, compared to 20/47 NQG patients (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Using a diagnostic questionnaire increased clinicians' ability to come to a diagnosis in telephone consultations.

Multiscale Simulations of the Covalent Inhibition of the SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease: Four Compounds and Three Reaction Mechanisms.

We report the results of computational modeling of the reactions of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (MPro) with four potential covalent inhibitors. Two of them, carmofur and nirmatrelvir, have shown experimentally the ability to inhibit MPro. Two other compounds, X77A and X77C, were designed computationally in this work. They were derived from the structure of X77, a non-covalent inhibitor forming a tight surface complex with MPro. We modified the X77 structure by introducing warheads capable of reacting with the catalytic cysteine residue in the MPro active site. The reaction mechanisms of the four molecules with MPro were investigated by quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) simulations. The results show that all four compounds form covalent adducts with the catalytic cysteine Cys 145 of MPro. From the chemical perspective, the reactions of these four molecules with MPro follow three distinct mechanisms. The reactions are initiated by a nucleophilic attack of the thiolate group of the deprotonated cysteine residue from the catalytic dyad Cys145-His41 of MPro. In the case of carmofur and X77A, the covalent binding of the thiolate to the ligand is accompanied by the formation of the fluoro-uracil leaving group. The reaction with X77C follows the nucleophilic aromatic substitution SNAr mechanism. The reaction of MPro with nirmatrelvir (which has a reactive nitrile group) leads to the formation of a covalent thioimidate adduct with the thiolate of the Cys145 residue in the enzyme active site. Our results contribute to the ongoing search for efficient inhibitors of the SARS-CoV-2 enzymes.

Feasibility and Acceptability of Spanish-language Facebook Group on Latino Parents’ COVID-19 Vaccine Beliefs: Case study of the Brigada Digital de Salud (preprint)

Background COVID-19 vaccine uptake among U.S. Latino adults has been slower than other groups, and younger Latino children continue to be underrepresented among vaccinated populations. Parental vaccine hesitancy has been an important barrier, often stemming from concerns about safety, effectiveness, side effects, and exposure to social media misinformation. The Brigada Digital de Salud was established in May 2021 to address misinformation by disseminating credible, science-based, and culturally-appropriate COVID-19 information in Spanish on social media platforms.Methods We conducted a 5-week randomized controlled trial in August-September, 2022 using two private Facebook groups (n = 55 intervention and n = 65 control) to test intervention feasibility and acceptability of COVID-19 vaccine promotion among Spanish-speaking Latino parents. Also of interest were the effects of Brigada Digital content on vaccine beliefs, intentions, and uptake. Intervention participants received daily COVID-19 prevention and vaccination posts with prompts for interaction. All study participants completed baseline and follow-up surveys. Participant engagement was assessed using Facebook analytics.Results Feedback from intervention participants regarding content, moderators, and group experience was positive. Participants agreed that posts were informative (4.3/5), trustworthy (4.2/4), and addressed their COVID-19 vaccine concerns (4.2/5). Participants also agreed that moderators were well-informed (4.3/5) and helpful (4.2/5), and they would recommend the group to a friend (4.4/5). Participants remained engaged in the group for the 5-week period, and had, on average, 36.4 post views, 10.6 post reactions, and 3 post comments per participant. Both intervention and control group participants reported greater COVID-19 vaccine-supportive beliefs for adults and children at follow-up; these beliefs increased more among intervention participants, though differences were not statistically significant. When asked about why parent participants had not yet vaccinated their children across all ages, reasons mirrored those reported nationally, with principal concerns being related to potential side effects, safety, and that the vaccine was developed too quicklyConclusions This intervention approach shows considerable promise for Latino parents in terms of feasibility, appeal, and appropriateness, and preliminary evidence suggest potential to improve parent COVID-19 vaccine beliefs for adults and children. This intervention approach and content should be further tested with groups of parents who express less supportive COVID-19 vaccine views or have unvaccinated children.

How Reproducible Are QM/MM Simulations? Lessons from Computational Studies of the Covalent Inhibition of the SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease by Carmofur.

This work explores the level of transparency in reporting the details of computational protocols that is required for practical reproducibility of quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) simulations. Using the reaction of an essential SARS-CoV-2 enzyme (the main protease) with a covalent inhibitor (carmofur) as a test case of chemical reactions in biomolecules, we carried out QM/MM calculations to determine the structures and energies of the reactants, the product, and the transition state/intermediate using analogous QM/MM models implemented in two software packages, NWChem and Q-Chem. Our main benchmarking goal was to reproduce the key energetics computed with the two packages. Our results indicate that quantitative agreement (within the numerical thresholds used in calculations) is difficult to achieve. We show that rather minor details of QM/MM simulations must be reported in order to ensure the reproducibility of the results and offer suggestions toward developing practical guidelines for reporting the results of biosimulations.

Solutions for Post-pandemic Economic Recovery: The Case of China

The global economy is now under extremely severe pressure from a great variety of political, economic, social, environmental, and public health challenges. The COVID-19 outbreak has rapidly transformed from a medical phenomenon to a threat of disruption to global supply chains and economic recession in most countries of the world. Despite the similarity of problems, the impact of the pandemic on individual countries has appeared to be different in terms of the severity of both human and economic losses. China is the first country that experienced the outbreak in early 2020 and now it is one of the first to recover from it. A set of effective and efficient health security, economic, and social measures allowed China to restart economic activities in the domestic market and restore foreign trade with its counterparts. This paper presents an assessment of major macroeconomic parameters of China in 2020 compared to previous periods, discusses the efficacy of economic, fiscal, and investment solutions made by China’s government during the pandemic, and assesses how these measures have affected China’s recovery in terms of GDP, investment in fixed assets, exports and imports, money supply, and the price index. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Small business in the Arctic: background for changing the management paradigm

The article is devoted to the analysis and justification of socio-economic background that initiates the need to change the paradigm of management for small and medium-sized businesses in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation. The key points of this analysis, in addition to the generally accepted estimates of demographic trends, were those indicators of the dynamics and structure of the standard of living which are the link between the population as a consumer of goods and services, and small businesses that create these goods and services. In the almost complete absence of a single content that allows full monitoring of small and medium-sized businesses, the state makes attempts to make adequate management decisions based on the project management methods. It is especially clearly reflected in the adopted and implemented system of national and federal projects and programs. At the same time, even in the current trends in the formation of information and analytical support for these projects and programs that directly or indirectly relate to small businesses, economic aspects often prevail over social ones, which is directly reflected in the formation of the management paradigm. At the same time, a systematic approach and appropriate tools, lead the authors to the conclusion that in the coordinate system of socio-economic development of the Arctic territories, the economic drivers are large corporate structures, while small businesses are assigned the role of a localized “social buffer”. It is one of the main backgrounds for changing the paradigm for small and medium-sized business management in the Arctic areas of Russia. The current economic situation caused by the COVID-2019 pandemic fully confirms our assumptions. Статья посвящена анализу и обоснованию социально-экономических предпосылок, инициирующих необходимость смены парадигмы управления сферой малого и среднего предпринимательства на территориях Арктической зоны Российской Федерации. Ключевыми моментами этого анализа, кроме общепринятых оценок демографических тенденций, стали те показатели динамики и структуры уровня жизни, которые являются связующим звеном между населением как потребителем товаров и услуг и малым бизнесом, эти товары и услуги создающим. В условиях практически полного отсутствия единого контента, позволяющего проводить полноценный мониторинг сферы малого и среднего предпринимательства, государство предпринимает попытки принятия адекватных управленческих решений в ней, основываясь на методах проектного управления, что особенно ярко нашло свое отражение в принятой и реализуемой системе национальных и федеральных проектов и программ. При этом даже в имеющихся сегодня тенденциях формирования информационно-аналитического обеспечения этих проектов и программ, прямо или опосредованно касающихся сферы малого бизнеса, экономические аспекты зачастую превалируют над социальными, что напрямую отражается в формировании управленческой парадигмы. Вместе с тем, с точки зрения системного подхода и с использованием соответствующего инструментария авторы приходят к выводу о том, что на арктических территориях в системе координат социально-экономического развития экономическими драйверами являются крупные корпоративные структуры, тогда как малому бизнесу отводится роль локализованного «социального буфера». Это и является одной из основных предпосылок для смены парадигмы управления сферой малого и среднего бизнеса в арктических регионах России. Сегодняшняя экономическая ситуация, вызванная пандемией коронавируса COVID-2019, в полной мере подтверждает наши предположения.