Psycholinguistic Markers of COVID-19 Conspiracy Tweets and Predictors of Tweet Dissemination.

The adoption of conspiracy theories about COVID-19 has been fairly widespread among the general public and associated with the rejection of self-protective behaviors. Despite their significance, however, a gap remains in our understanding of the underlying characteristics of messages used to disseminate COVID-19 conspiracies. We used the construct of resonance as a framework to examine a sample of more than 1.8 million posts to Twitter about COVID-19 made between April and June 2020. Our analyses focused on the psycholinguistic properties that distinguish conspiracy theory tweets from other COVID-19 topics and predict their spread. COVID-19 conspiracy tweets were distinct and most likely to resonate when they provided explanations and expressed negative emotions. The results highlight the sensemaking functions served by conspiracy tweets in response to the profound upheaval caused by the pandemic.

Health effects of filtering facepiece respirators: Systematic review of pulmonary and cardiovascular effects.

Filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) were introduced to protect the wearer by removing small particles from inspired air. FFRs are now also used to reduce spread of transmissible agents from the wearer and used outside traditional healthcare and other workplaces. The COVID-19 pandemic increased concerns about potential adverse effects on wearers. METHOD: A PUBMED query retrieved papers through June 2022. Abstracts and selected full text papers were systematically reviewed by the authors. This paper focuses upon cardiopulmonary physiologic effects (e.g., ventilation, CO2 elimination, oxygen uptake, and respiratory control) with emphasis upon current and potential research methods as well as summarizing results. RESULTS: 1985 records were identified, of which only 26% were published prior to 2020. CONCLUSIONS: Effects on CO2 elimination appear more likely to be potentially significant than effects on oxygenation or cardiovascular function. While FFRs appear well tolerated by healthy persons, more research is needed for those with pulmonary or cardiac disorders and for children. Many traditional pulmonary exercise study methods require special care when applied to filtering facepiece respirators. Studying additional parameters may explain the paradox of many subjective discomfort reports despite very limited physiologic effects. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Public responses to COVID-19 mask mandates: examining pro and anti-Mask anger in tweets before and after state-level mandates

Governmental mandates requiring mask wearing in public spaces to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus have been controversial in the United States. We test theory related to anger and anger expression in the context of posts about masks appearing on Twitter during a 12-week period in which mask mandates were adopted in 18 states. The results were consistent with an appraisal of mandates as providing protection from harm. Pro-mask anger directed at others for not wearing masks increased following the imposition of mandates among tweets originating from states with a mandate. In states without a mandate, pro-mask anger similarly increased over time as additional state mandates were adopted across the country. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Communication Monographs is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Informatics Approaches for Recognition, Management, and Prevention of Occupational Respiratory Disease.

Computer and information systems can improve occupational respiratory disease prevention and surveillance by providing efficient resources for patients, workers, clinicians, and public health practitioners. Advances include interlinking electronic health records, autocoding surveillance data, clinical decision support systems, and social media applications for acquiring and disseminating information. Obstacles to advances include inflexible hierarchical coding schemes, inadequate occupational health electronic health record systems, and inadequate public focus on occupational respiratory disease. Potentially transformative approaches include machine learning, natural language processing, and improved ontologies.

Website Survey Method for Assessing Higher Education Employee Health and Safety Programs.

OBJECTIVE: The higher education industry in the United States is large (almost four million employees and 19 million students) with diverse hazards. METHODS: We apply a novel health services research approach to systematically assess a sample of 55 institutional websites. The accessibility, content, and coverage of occupational health/safety program information were systematically coded for several domains (eg, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)-related, specific hazards, clinical, person-oriented, COVID-19, and coverage). RESULTS: Information was more available for programs related to OSHA mandates (eg, chemical hygiene) and specific hazards than for person-oriented programs (eg, counseling). Larger institutions provide better information and more comprehensive programs than smaller institutions. CONCLUSIONS: Higher education institutions warrant increasing attention to occupational health and safety, particularly as COVID-19 increased attention to workplace health issues.

Respiratory protection for health care workers: A 2020 COVID-19 perspective.

As the US health care system began to respond to the coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic, demand for respiratory personal protective equipment (PPE) increased precipitously, as did the number of users. This commentary discusses ensuing deviations from accepted respiratory PPE program practices, which potentially increased risk to health care workers. Such lapses included omitting user training and fit testing, provision of unapproved devices, and application of devices in settings and ways for which they were not intended. The temporary compromise of professionally accepted standards due to exigencies must not become the new normal. Rather, the current attention to PPE should be leveraged to enhance practice, motivate vital research, and strengthen professional, governmental, and institutional capabilities to control health care worker exposures to infectious hazards.