Evaluation on College Students' Anxiety and Social Media Usage during Shanghai Closure

As COVID-19 mutates, the highly infectious omicron mutants (BA. 5.2., BF. 7) tension shrouded China. Given the internet information explosion and youth social media addiction, observing the mental impact on college students during the 2022 Shanghai closure is worthwhile. A pilot survey study was conducted to explore the anxiety levels of college students during the closure. The sample size was limited to 101 second-year college students. In addition to demographics, the survey involved the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale, self-perceived COVID-19 anxiety, frequency of COVID-19 information reception, number of social media accounts, and number of electronic devices. Though 68.4% of students equipped with two electronic devices (N = 95) exceeded the students with only one electronic device, a Chi-square test showed that students with only one electronic device had the highest anxiety index (mean = 50). Further, the Kruskal-Wallis test indicated that the number of electronic devices affected the students' anxiety level (p = 0.027) while social media membership did not (p = 0.565). As a result, it was suggested that social media usage and pandemic information inputs among college students were significant concerns that required special attention from the government, schools, teachers, and families.

How Trust in Authority and Trust in Networks Relates to Verification and Sharing Behaviours: COVID-19 Health Information Sharing on WhatsApp

Messaging platforms like WhatsApp are some of the largest contributors to the spread of Covid-19 health misinformation but they also play a critical role in disseminating credible information and reaching populations at scale. This study explores the relationships between verification behaviours and intention to share information to users that report high trust in their personal network and users that report high trust in authoritative sources. The study was conducted as a survey delivered through WhatsApp to users of the WHO HealthAlert chatbot service. An adapted theoretical model from news verification behaviours was used to determine the correlation between the constructs. Due to an excellent response, 5477 usable responses were obtained, so the adapted research model could be tested by means of a Structural Equation Model (SEM) using the partial least squares algorithm on SmartPLS4. The findings suggest significant correlations between the constructs and suggest that participants that have reported high levels of trust in authoritative sources are less likely to share information due to their increased behaviours to verify information. © 2023 IEEE.

Physical exercise and COVID-19: a bibliometric analysis

INTRODUCTION: To carry out a retrospective bibliometric analysis of articles, published since the beginning of the pandemic, which addressed the topic of physical exercise and COVID-19, in order to provide a reference of origin for research on the topic. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: This is a bibliometric study, which addressed the production / dissemination, through information recorded in the PubMed database, about physical exercise and COVID-19, published since the beginning of the pandemic. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: 111 publications in total were retrieved from PubMed in the first round of research and 93 publications were identified after reviewing the study titles and s. Eligibility was assessed for these 93 publications throughout the text and 76 were entered after removing duplicates and irrelevant records. According to Bradford's Law, we identified 76 publications in 53 journals from seven different countries. The countries of the journals that published the most were the United States (20, 37.7%) and the United Kingdom (15, 28.3%). The journals that most published on the subject were: European Journal of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, Obesity, Encephale and Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases, each with 03 studies. According to Lotka's Law, the most productive authors: Lavie CJ Smith I, with 4 articles published. When evaluating the word frequencies by Zipf's Law, it was observed that 16 words had at least 10 occurrences, with the words Covid-19, Exercise and Pandemic with 80, 39 and 38 occurrences respectively. CONCLUSION(S): According to our analysis, this research provides a current scenario of how studies related to physical exercise and COVID-19 are going on in the world, serving as a reference for researchers on this topic.Copyright © 2020 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA.

Depression and generalized anxiety disorder in older adults by the COVID-19 infodemic / Depressão e transtorno de ansiedade generalizada em idosos pela infodemia de COVID-19 / Depresión y trastorno de ansiedad generalizada en adultos mayores por la infodemia de COVID-19

Resumo Objetivo Analisar os impactos da infodemia de COVID-19 nos sintomas sugestivos de depressão e transtorno de ansiedade generalizada (TAG) em idosos que utilizam as mídias digitais. Método Dados coletados por web-based survey, de julho a dezembro de 2020, na população acima de 60 anos (n=103.636) residente no município de Juiz de Fora, interior de Minas Gerais, Brasil. Foram analisadas variáveis sociodemográficas, de exposição a informações sobre COVID-19 e a associação a sintomas de depressão e TAG . Para o rastreio de depressão e de TAG foram utilizados a Escala de Depressão Geriátrica (EDG) e o Inventário de Ansiedade Geriátrica (GAI-BR), respectivamente. Para análise bivariada utilizou-se o teste do qui-quadrado e, posteriormente, a regressão de Poisson, controlada por possíveis fatores de confusão (RP ajustada) na análise múltipla, com intervalo de confiança de 95%. Resultados Dos 470 idosos respondentes, 26,1% apresentou sintomas de depressão e 18,4% TAG. Mostraram-se associados a sintomas de depressão: tempo de exposição nas redes sociais, sentir-se afetado pelas informações sobre COVID-19 veiculadas nas redes sociais e na televisão, e apresentar rastreio positivo para sofrimento psíquico causado e/ou agravado pela exposição às informações sobre COVID-19. Já para TAG, além do rastreio positivo para sofrimento psíquico, as variáveis que permaneceram associadas foram: respostas geradas pela divulgação de notícias falsas nas redes sociais e de medo relacionado à COVID-19 veiculadas no rádio. Conclusão Todas as variáveis associadas aos desfechos se referiam à exposição às informações sobre COVID-19, indicando o evidente impacto da infodemia nos sintomas de depressão e TAG em idosos.

Resumen Objetivo Analizar los impactos de la infodemia de COVID-19 en los síntomas sugestivos de depresión y trastorno de ansiedad generalizada (TAG) en adultos mayores que utilizan los medios digitales. Métodos Datos recopilados por web-based survey, de julio a diciembre de 2020, en la población de más de 60 años (n=103.636) domiciliados en el municipio de Juiz de Fora, interior de Minas Gerais, Brasil. Se analizaron variables sociodemográficas, de exposición a información sobre COVID-19 y su relación con síntomas de depresión y TAG. Para el rastreo de depresión y de TAG se utilizó la Escala de Depresión Geriátrica (EDG) y el Inventario de Ansiedad Geriátrica (GAI-BR), respectivamente. Para el análisis bivariado se utilizó la prueba de Ji cuadrado y, posteriormente, la regresión de Poisson, controlada por posibles factores de confusión (RP ajustada) en el análisis múltiple, con intervalo de confianza del 95 %. Resultados De los 470 adultos mayores que lo respondieron, el 26,1 % presentó síntomas de depresión y el 18,4 % TAG. Se mostraron asociados a síntomas de depresión los factores: tiempo de exposición en las redes sociales, sentirse afectado por la información sobre COVID-19 difundida en redes sociales y televisión, y presentar un rastreo positivo de sufrimiento psíquico causado o agravado por la exposición a la información sobre COVID-19. Por otro lado, las variables que permanecieron asociadas al TAG, además del rastreo positivo de sufrimiento psíquico, fueron: respuestas generadas por la divulgación de noticias falsas en las redes sociales y del miedo relacionado con el COVID-19 difundidas en la radio. Conclusión Todas las variables asociadas a los desenlaces mencionaron la exposición a información sobre COVID-19, lo que indica el evidente impacto de la infodemia en los síntomas de depresión y TAG en adultos mayores.

Abstract Objective To analyze the impacts of the COVID-19 infodemic on symptoms suggestive of depression and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in older adults who use digital media. Method Data collected by web-based survey, from July to December 2020, in the population over 60 years old (n=103,636) residing in the municipality of Juiz de Fora, in the countryside of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Sociodemographic variables, exposure to information about COVID-19 and the association with symptoms of depression and GAD were analyzed. The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI-BR) were used to screen for depression and GAD, respectively. For bivariate analysis, the chi-square test was used and, later, Poisson regression, controlled for possible confounding factors (adjusted PR) in the multiple analysis, with a 95% confidence interval. Results Of the 470 older adults who responded, 26.1% had symptoms of depression, and 18.4%, GAD. They were associated with symptoms of depression: time of exposure on social media; feeling affected by information about COVID-19 transmitted on social media and TV; and presenting positive screening for psychological distress caused and/or aggravated by exposure to information about COVID-19. For GAD, in addition to the positive screening for psychological distress, the variables that remained associated were: responses generated by dissemination of fake news on social media; and fear COVID-19-related fear published on the radio. Conclusion All variables associated with outcomes referred to exposure to information on COVID-19, indicating the evident infodemic impact on symptoms of depression and GAD in older adults.

Effective Usage of Social Media Platforms as a Communication Tool Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic around the world completely changed how one thought about communication and engaged with one another. Hence, there is a need to critically explore the effective use of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and YouTube as communication tools for information sharing amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which has become necessary for many different organisations. In the quest to avoid the spread of incorrect information and bad news that may cause panic from the general public, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, bloggers and news agencies call for proper and effective use of social media platforms as communication tools. This paper analyses the effects of the development of social media messaging platforms, alongside its inferences to the general society.

COVID-19 Infodemic and Impacts on the Mental Health of Older People: Cross-sectional Multicenter Survey Study.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic received widespread media coverage due to its novelty, an early lack of data, and the rapid rise in deaths and cases. This excessive coverage created a secondary "infodemic" that was considered to be a serious public and mental health problem by the World Health Organization and the international scientific community. The infodemic particularly affected older individuals, specifically those who are vulnerable to misinformation due to political positions, low interpretive and critical analysis capacity, and limited technical-scientific knowledge. Thus, it is important to understand older people's reaction to COVID-19 information disseminated by the media and the effect on their lives and mental health. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to describe the profile of exposure to COVID-19 information among older Brazilian individuals and the impact on their mental health, perceived stress, and the presence of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). METHODS: This cross-sectional, exploratory study surveyed 3307 older Brazilians via the web, social networks, and email between July 2020 and March 2021. Descriptive analysis and bivariate analysis were performed to estimate associations of interest. RESULTS: Major proportions of the 3307 participants were aged 60 to 64 years (n=1285, 38.9%), female (n=2250, 68.4%), and married (n=1835, 55.5%) and self-identified as White (n=2364, 71.5%). Only 295 (8.9%) had never started or completed a basic education. COVID-19 information was mainly accessed on television (n=2680, 81.1%) and social networks (n=1943, 58.8%). Television exposure was ≥3 hours in 1301 (39.3%) participants, social network use was 2 to 5 hours in 1084 (32.8%) participants, and radio exposure was ≥1 hour in 1223 (37%) participants. Frequency of exposure to social networks was significantly associated with perceived stress (P=.04) and GAD (P=.01). A Bonferroni post hoc test revealed significantly different perceived stress in participants who were exposed to social networks for 1 hour (P=.04) and those who had no exposure (P=.04). A crude linear regression showed that "some" social media use (P=.02) and 1 hour of exposure to social media (P<.001) were associated with perceived stress. Adjusting for sociodemographic variables revealed no associations with this outcome variable. In a crude logistic regression, some social media use (P<.001) and 2 to 5 hours of exposure to social media (P=.03) were associated with GAD. Adjusting for the indicated variables showed that some social network use (P<.001) and 1 hour (P=.04) and 2 to 5 hours (P=.03) of exposure to social media were associated with GAD. CONCLUSIONS: Older people, especially women, were often exposed to COVID-19-related information through television and social networks; this affected their mental health, specifically GAD and stress. Thus, the impact of the infodemic should be considered during anamnesis for older people, so that they can share their feelings about it and receive appropriate psychosocial care.

Circular medicine. a paradigm of sustainability and resilience in education and professional development

Circular economy is a model of economic, social and environmental production and consumption, aimed to build a sustainable society in tune with the available resources. In the Brundtland Report, (1987, United Nations) sustainability it is defined as an approach focused on "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." The European Medical Association (EMA), that has currently more than 50 000 members, is involved in the advancement of health, pursuing educational and professional goals addressed to the quality of environment, lifestyle and civil society through a circular medicine approach. This is a comprehensive strategy, integrating best medical practice, bioinformatics and molecular biology with economy, artificial intelligence and machine learning. Circular Medicine is the resilient framework linking all these topics with circular economy methods. Innovative possibilities of circular medicine are many: it is a comprehensive paradigm shift, countering a non-medicine based on simplistic algorithms with guidelines of insufficient effectiveness, reliability and generalizability, often passed off as innovative Artificial-Intelligence approaches. We launched in 2020 a still ongoing survey aimed at the dissemination of information and at a greater sensitivity of all our members and followers on these topics, striving to build circular medicine in the real-world. This position document is based on its preliminary results: 1. Studying and investigating the links among health, climate change, biodiversity, circular economy, robust Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning support are goals and needed practice suitable to be pursued by EMA and other medical and scientific associations. Circular economy will be fruitfully used in health facilities, including hospitals, with health professionals and life science researchers acting also in the role of influencers and opinion leaders. 2. The interventions based on epidemiology, environmental sciences, best practice in medicine, sustainable technologies and molecular biology, the pillars of a potential framework of circular medicine, need a robust bioinformatics and Artificial Intelligence support. 3. Academic curricula and health professionals CME courses should provide stronger digital knowledge, reliable procedures trainings and expertise along these lines. Daily routine of clinical observation and participatory dialogue are key elements for the progress toward a culture, practice and accomplishments of circular economy and medicine. 4. Molecular biology, still the most innovative field of medical and life science, has a role for strengthening the pathways of the circular economy, as a reliable and resilient basis of "circular medicine." 5. The lessons of COVID19, the ongoing battles for healthier lifestyles dealing with nutrition, exercise and against alcohol and cigarette smoking, and the concept of smart cities are some of the cornerstones of the proposed strategy for a real-world circular medicine. Debunking interventions against the misuse of scientific and medical are means for the development of circular economy and medicine. Effective roadmaps, guidelines and grids for recognizing and counteracting the overlap of bullying, imposter's fear, insufficient expertise and knowledge, fake assertions and evaluations are actively developed by EMA's ad-hoc workshops. AI knowledge and skills should be implemented within innovative molecular biology and medical best-practice academic-CME curricula.Copyright © 2023 The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Effect of Multimedia E-Book Use on the Information Literacy of Nursing Students and Health Communication in Student-Led Large- and Small-Group Community Health Education Sessions

The integration of digital technology into healthcare is critical for health communication. This study analyzed a group of nursing students who applied multimedia health education e-books to different groups of varying sizes to explore the efficiency of implementing health communication and nursing information literacy in the nursing industry. If medical personnel can make appropriate use of technology, combine medical operations with information systems, and disseminate the purpose of health to groups of different sizes properly, the quality of patient care will improve. Thirty-two junior nursing students at the college level were divided into three groups, each subject to a 3-week internship. After the internship, a questionnaire survey was conducted. Additionally, nine nursing students were interviewed in a 45-min semistructured format. Regarding the effectiveness of nursing students using multimedia e-books to implement health communication and the development of nursing information literacy, the statistical analysis results demonstrated no significant differences between large groups and small groups. However, their 5-point Likert scale average values were all greater than 4, indicating that regardless of group size, their feedback on using e-books was positive. This means multimedia e-books can effectively help nursing students practice health communication application effectiveness and develop nursing information literacy.

Understanding social media users' engagement intention toward emergency information: the role of experience and information usefulness in a reciprocity framework

PurposeThe aim of this study is to investigate how social media users' experience of seeking emergency information affects their engagement intention toward emergency information with a reciprocity framework integrated with information adoption model.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on reciprocity theory, indebtedness theory, and information adoption model, an integrative research model is developed. This study employs a questionnaire survey to collect data of 325 social media users in China. Structural equation modeling analyses are conducted to test the proposed theoretical model.FindingsSocial media users' experience of seeking emergency information has a strong effect on their perceived information usefulness and indebtedness, while perceived information usefulness further influences community norm, indebtedness, and engagement intention. The authors also found that perceived information usefulness mediates the relationships between experience of seeking emergency information and community norm/indebtedness.Originality/valueThis study offers a new perspective to explain social media users' engagement intention in the diffusion of emergency information. This study contributes to the literature by extending the theoretical framework of reciprocity and applying it to the context of emergency information diffusion. The findings of this study could benefit the practitioners who wish to leverage social media tools for emergency response purposes.

CRISIS & EMERGENCY RISK COMMUNICATION: Six Principles for OSH Professionals

[...]as of this writing, the last complete revision to the CDC's CERC framework took place in 2014, and the last update to the web page where it is housed was in 2018 (CDC, 2018a). While OSH professionals may not find themselves as the face of a response effort, their subject matter expertise is essential to helping their organizations identify potential hazards and implement appropriate controls using effective communication (CDC, 2018b;Loon, 2020). [...]it is critical for OSH professionals to apply these six principles of CERC to remain accurate, credible and timely in their risk communication. In situations such as serious injuries and fatalities, extreme weather events, environmental or property damage, or even infectious disease outbreaks, OSH professionals are well positioned to be the source of immediate subject matter expertise even if the situation is not fully understood. [...]while establishing their position as the first to present the information relevant to their subject matter expertise, OSH professionals must accurately present what is known, what is not known and the processes in place to fill any knowledge gaps (CDC, 2018b).

Website Transparency and Information Dissemination among Urology Residency Programs

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, urology residency programs have had to adjust their typical practices, including the adoption of virtual recruiting and interviewing. Such efforts have included utilizing social media and improving program websites, which are often the starting point for potential applicants to obtain information about a program. We sought to evaluate the transparency and quality of information dissemination among urology residency program websites. METHOD(S): The websites of all 143 non-military, accredited United States urology residency programs were evaluated for various measures grouped into distinct categories including program priorities, program curriculum, program profiles, program quality of life, medical student opportunities, interview process, selection/exclusion criteria, and social media. Programs that have yet to graduate residents were excluded. Programs were separated based on American Urological Association (AUA) section. Percentage values were determined by the number of programs reporting information on a particular measure. RESULT(S): The most reported category was program profiles (84%), with many programs providing details such as resident hometowns, faculty research interests, and alumni fellowship matches. The least reported category was selection/exclusion criteria (32%), with 8% of programs discussing a minimum/preferred Step 1 score and 23% discussing osteopathic applicants. Program mission/objective statements, training site locations, and current resident and faculty profiles were subcategories reported by greater than 90% of programs. DEI and wellness initiatives/statements were discussed by 45% and 36% of programs, respectively. For virtual opportunities, 21% of programs provided online open house information, and 85% had an active Twitter account with 34% providing direct links. Average AUA overall transparency was 53.7%, with the Northeastern Section highest at 62.4%. CONCLUSION(S): The importance of transparency and quality of information dissemination is greater than ever with the increasing utilization of virtual formats in the residency application process. Our results indicate several areas of improvement that urology residency programs can amend to provide improved transparency for applicants during the application process. (Figure Presented).

Using Two Theories in Exploration of the Health Information Diffusion on Social Media During a Global Health Crisis

As the possibility of sharing inaccurate information on social media increases markedly during the health crisis, there is a need to develop an understanding of social media users' motivations for online sharing of information related to major public health challenges such as COVID-19. This study utilised an online survey based on Theory of Planned Behaviour and Diffusion of Innovation Theory to examine how the behavioural intention to share COVID-19-related content on social media is impacted and to develop a model of health information sharing. Results indicate that opinion leadership, beliefs held towards the source of the information, and peers' influence serve as determinants of the intention to share COVID-19-related information on social media, while the opinion-seeking attitude does not, which could be explained by opinion seekers' inherent tendency to seek more sources to verify new information obtained. The study contributes to the Information Science field by addressing the previously under-researched area and proposing a new model that explains the impact of the factors on behavioural intention to share health-related information during the health crisis in the online network environment.

Protecting public's wellbeing against COVID-19 infodemic: The role of trust in information sources and rapid dissemination and transparency of information over time.

Objectives: This study examined how trust in the information about COVID-19 from social media and official media as well as how the information was disseminated affect public's wellbeing directly and indirectly through perceived safety over time. Methods: Two online surveys were conducted in China, with the first survey (Time1, N = 22,718) being at the early stage of the pandemic outbreak and the second one (Time 2, N = 2,901) two and a half years later during the zero-COVID policy lockdown period. Key measured variables include trust in official media and social media, perceived rapid dissemination and transparency of COVID-19-related information, perceived safety, and emotional responses toward the pandemic. Data analysis includes descriptive statistical analysis, independent samples t-test, Pearson correlations, and structural equation modeling. Results: Trust in official media, perceived rapid dissemination and transparency of COVID-19-related information, perceived safety, as well as positive emotional response toward COVID-19 increased over time, while trust in social media and depressive response decreased over time. Trust in social media and official media played different roles in affecting public's wellbeing over time. Trust in social media was positively associated with depressive emotions and negatively associated with positive emotion directly and indirectly through decreased perceived safety at Time 1. However, the negative effect of trust in social media on public's wellbeing was largely decreased at Time 2. In contrast, trust in official media was linked to reduced depressive response and increased positive response directly and indirectly through perceived safety at both times. Rapid dissemination and transparency of COVID-19 information contributed to enhanced trust in official media at both times. Conclusion: The findings highlight the important role of fostering public trust in official media through rapid dissemination and transparency of information in mitigating the negative impact of COVID-19 infodemic on public's wellbeing over time.

The COVID-19 pandemic: How important is face-to-face interaction for information dissemination?

Does face-to-face interaction still facilitate information transfer despite proliferating communication technologies? We use the COVID-19 collapse in such interactions to examine their influence on information flow in the stock market around earnings announcements. Using daily, county-level abnormal mobility of U.S. residents to proxy for face-to-face interaction, we find that firms located in counties with lower abnormal mobility experience a weaker immediate price reaction to earnings announcements and a larger post-announcement drift. Our findings suggest that lower face-to-face interactions dampen price discovery in financial markets, and that investor attention is a potential mechanism of this effect.

A Study on Predicting Crisis Information Dissemination in Epidemic-level Public Health Events

Crisis information dissemination plays a key role in the development of emergency responses to epidemic-level public health events. Therefore, clarifying the causes of crisis information dissemination and making accurate predictions to effectively control such situations have attracted extensive attention. Based on media richness theory and persuasion theory, this study constructs an index system of crisis information dissemination impact factors from two aspects: the crisis information publisher and the published crisis information content. A multi-layer perceptron is used to analyze the weight of the index system, and the prediction is transformed into a pattern classification problem to test crisis information dissemination. In this study, COVID-19 is considered a representative event. An experiment is conducted to predict the crisis information dissemination of COVID-19 in two megacities. Data related to COVID-19 from these two megacities are acquired from the well-known Chinese social media platform Weibo. The experimental results show that not only the identity but also the social influence of the information publisher has a significant impact on crisis information dissemination in epidemic-level public health events. Furthermore, the proposed model achieves more than 95% test accuracy, precision rate, recall value and f1-score in the prediction task. The study provides decision-making support for government departments and a guide for correctly disseminating crisis information and public opinion during future epidemic-level public health events.

Be in the Digital Room Where it Happens, Part II: Social Media for Neurology Educators.

Social media has changed the way we communicate and interact. Unsurprisingly, it has also changed how we teach and learn. Younger generations of learners have transitioned from traditional educational sources to digital ones. Medical educators need to adapt to trends in medical education and develop fluency in the digital methods used by medical learners today. This is part two of a two-part series on social media and digital education in neurology. This article provides an overview of how social media can be used as a teaching tool in medical education and provides an overview in which it is grounded. We offer practical strategies on how social media can promote lifelong learning, educator development, educator support, and foster educator identity with accompanying neurology-specific examples. We also review considerations for incorporating social media into teaching and learning practices and future directions for integrating these tools in neurology education.

Regional spread of Candida auris.

The geographical routes and time schedule of spread of C. auris - the fungus first identified in 2009 are discussed. Data on the increasing frequency of C. auris infections and rapid dissemination of the fungus from the regions of origin - southern Asia, eastern Asia, southern Africa and southern America - towards different regions of all continents except Antarctica, especially after 2016, are presented. Three different clades are encountered in Great Britain, all four clades - in the USA. South Asian clade is currently present in Russia: the introduction was associated with labor migration from Middle Asia. The necessity of C. auris surveillance, essential for the establishment of sources and routes of transmission and dissemination of different clades is emphasized. A window of possibilities is still present to prevent further spread of the fungus with the ability to cause outbreaks of hospital infections including intensive care departments. Rapid implementation of preventive measures during the pandemic of COVID-19 are needed taking into account introduction of fungus in new countries and clinics, as well as increased frequency of C. auris infections in some hospitals for patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 virus.Copyright © 2021, Interregional Association for Clinical Microbiology and Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. All rights reserved.

Modeling the Impact of Fake Data Dissemination During Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic has increased the global dependency on the internet. Millions of individuals use social networking sites to not only share information, but also their personal opinions. These facts and opinions are frequently unconfirmed, which result in the spread of incorrect information, generally alluded to as "Fake Content”. The most challenging aspect of social media is in determining the source of information. It's difficult to figure out who generated fake news once it's gone viral. Most available computational models have a key flaw in that they rely on the presence of inaccurate information to generate meaningful features, making disinformation mitigation measures difficult to predict. This paper presents a parallel approach to false information mitigation drawn from the field of Epidemiology using SIR(Susceptible, Infected, Recovered) to model the impact of fake data dissemination during Covid-19. SIR simulation is done using NetLogo in which the population is made up of two agents: Fake news believers and non-believers. To confirm our work, the concept of trust is also discussed which is a fundamental component of any fake news interaction. The level of trust can be expressed by assigning each node a pair of trust scores. We ran our experiments based on three common evaluation metrics: Accuracy, Precision, and Recall. The hybrid model shows an increase in accuracy by 81.4%, 77.1%, and 91.8% for the respective networks. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Fake news in a time of plague: Exploring individuals' online information management in the COVID-19 era

Online health information is critical during pandemics. Previous research has focused on examining antecedents or consequences of particular information behaviors (e.g., seeking, sharing), but the process by which one information behavior influences or transforms into other information behaviors remains poorly understood. Guided by theories of information behavior and the literature on online misinformation, this study proposes an interaction model of online information behaviors that theorizes relationships among online information scanning, misinformation exposure, misinformation elaboration, information sharing, and information avoidance. Conducting a two-wave representative panel survey in Hong Kong during the COVID-19 pandemic (N = 1501), we found that online information scanning at Wave 1 had a direct, positive impact on misinformation exposure and information sharing at Wave 2, while it did not have an impact on information avoidance at Wave 2. Additionally, misinformation exposure was positively related to both information sharing and information avoidance at Wave 2. Importantly, we underlined that evaluations of crisis-related misinformation are aided by misinformation elaboration, which plays a moderating role in catalyzing appropriate information behaviors. Results of this study could help scholars and practitioners propose evidence-based interventions for enhancing the public's ability to manage crisis information on the Internet in times of heightened uncertainty. © 2023 Elsevier Ltd

Controlling of Fake Information Dissemination in Online Social Networks: An Epidemiological Approach

Due to the fast advancement of Internet technology, the popularity of Online Social Networks (OSN) over the Internet is increasing day by day. In the modern world, people are using OSN to communicate with others around the world who may or may not know each other. OSN has become the most convenient means to transmit media (news/content) and gather or spread information in the world. The posts (contents) on OSN affect and impact people, and minds at least for some time. These contents are important because they play a crucial role in taking the decision. The posts which are available on the OSN may be information or just misinformation. The misinformation may be a type of fake news or rumour. This is very difficult for people to differentiate whether the posts are information or rumour. Therefore, the development of techniques that can prevent the transmission of false information or rumours that might harm society in any way is critical. In this paper, a model is developed based on the epidemic approach, for examining and controlling fake information dissemination in OSN. The proposed model illustrates how different misinformation debunking measures impact and how misinformation spreads among different groups. In this article, we explain that the proposed model will be able to recognize and eradicate fake news from OSN. The model is written as a system of differential equations. Its equilibrium and stability are also carefully examined. The basic reproduction number $(R_{0})$ is calculated, which is an important parameter in the study of message propagation in OSN. If $R_{0} < 1$ , the propagation of rumor in the OSN will be minimal;nevertheless, if $R_{0} > 1$ , the fake information/rumor will continue in OSN. The effects of disinformation of rumours in OSN in the real world are explored. In addition, the model covers the fake information/rumour dissemination control mechanism. The comparative study shows that the proposed model provides a better mechanism to prevent the dissemination of fake information in OSN in comparison to other previous models Extensive theoretical study and computation analysis have also been used to validate the proposed model © 2013 IEEE.