Psychological inoculation protects against the social media infodemic.

Misinformation can have a profound detrimental impact on populations' wellbeing. In this large UK-based online experiment (n = 2430), we assessed the performance of false tag and inoculation interventions in protecting against different forms of misinformation ('variants'). While previous experiments have used perception- or intention-based outcome measures, we presented participants with real-life misinformation posts in a social media platform simulation and measured their engagement, a more ecologically valid approach. Our pre-registered mixed-effects models indicated that both interventions reduced engagement with misinformation, but inoculation was most effective. However, random differences analysis revealed that the protection conferred by inoculation differed across posts. Moderation analysis indicated that immunity provided by inoculation is robust to variation in individuals' cognitive reflection. This study provides novel evidence on the general effectiveness of inoculation interventions over false tags, social media platforms' current approach. Given inoculation's effect heterogeneity, a concert of interventions will likely be required for future safeguarding efforts.

Association of SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination or Infection With Bell Palsy: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Importance: Bell palsy (BP) has been reported as an adverse event following the SARS-CoV-2 vaccination, but neither a causative relationship nor a higher prevalence than in the general population has been established. Objective: To compare the incidence of BP in SARS-CoV-2 vaccine recipients vs unvaccinated individuals or placebo recipients. Data Sources: A systematic search of MEDLINE (via PubMed), Web of Science, Scopus, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar from the inception of the COVID-19 report (December 2019) to August 15, 2022. Study Selection: Articles reporting BP incidence with SARS-CoV-2 vaccination were included. Data Extraction and Synthesis: This study followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guideline and was conducted with the random- and fixed-effect models using the Mantel-Haenszel method. The quality of the studies was evaluated by the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Main Outcomes and Measures: The outcomes of interest were to compare BP incidence among (1) SARS-CoV-2 vaccine recipients, (2) nonrecipients in the placebo or unvaccinated cohorts, (3) different types of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, and (4) SARS-CoV-2-infected vs SARS-CoV-2-vaccinated individuals. Results: Fifty studies were included, of which 17 entered the quantitative synthesis. Pooling 4 phase 3 randomized clinical trials showed significantly higher BP in recipients of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines (77 525 vaccine recipients vs 66 682 placebo recipients; odds ratio [OR], 3.00; 95% CI, 1.10-8.18; I2 = 0%). There was, however, no significant increase in BP after administration of the messenger RNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in pooling 8 observational studies (13 518 026 doses vs 13 510 701 unvaccinated; OR, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.42-1.16; I2 = 94%). No significant difference was found in BP among 22 978 880 first-dose recipients of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine compared with 22 978 880 first-dose recipients of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine (OR, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.82-1.15; I2 = 0%). Bell palsy was significantly more common after SARS-CoV-2 infection (n = 2 822 072) than after SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations (n = 37 912 410) (relative risk, 3.23; 95% CI, 1.57-6.62; I2 = 95%). Conclusions and Relevance: This systematic review and meta-analysis suggests a higher incidence of BP among SARS-CoV-2-vaccinated vs placebo groups. The occurrence of BP did not differ significantly between recipients of the Pfizer/BioNTech vs Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines. SARS-CoV-2 infection posed a significantly greater risk for BP than SARS-CoV-2 vaccination.

E-Relationship Through a Value Lens-Implications for Organizational Capability

Firms that extend their e-commerce platforms into customer decision-making to build relationships need to understand the customer journey or build e-relationships through a lens that the customer uses to assess the value created and fulfilled. By contrasting the value cycles that customers and firms use, four different activities are identified for firms with shorter and longer value cycles. By enabling customers to support value creation, fulfilling the value created by enlisting partners and expanding services, and engaging the customers during value-in-use, three organizations discussed in the published literature appear to have developed e-relationship strategies to create and sustain value both before and during COVID-19. This analysis led us to develop three different insights: customer empowerment, collaborative competency, and intelligent digital platform for organizational capability. These insights were used to analyze two different organizations interviewed during the 2020period, as they faced many COVID-19 challenges, and assess the generalizability of these capabilities. We provide three recommendations for IS leaders for building e-relationships through a customer lens, by drawing on five case studies of companies to remain agile.

The Association Between Dissemination and Characteristics of Pro-/Anti-COVID-19 Vaccine Messages on Twitter: Application of the Elaboration Likelihood Model.

Background: Messages on one's stance toward vaccination on microblogging sites may affect the reader's decision on whether to receive a vaccine. Understanding the dissemination of provaccine and antivaccine messages relating to COVID-19 on social media is crucial; however, studies on this topic have remained limited. Objective: This study applies the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) to explore the characteristics of vaccine stance messages that may appeal to Twitter users. First, we examined the associations between the characteristics of vaccine stance tweets and the likelihood and number of retweets. Second, we identified the relative importance of the central and peripheral routes in decision-making on sharing a message. Methods: English-language tweets from the United States that contained provaccine and antivaccine hashtags (N=150,338) were analyzed between April 26 and August 26, 2021. Logistic and generalized negative binomial regressions were conducted to predict retweet outcomes. The content-related central-route predictors were measured using the numbers of hashtags and mentions, emotional valence, emotional intensity, and concreteness. The content-unrelated peripheral-route predictors were measured using the numbers of likes and followers and whether the source was a verified user. Results: Content-related characteristics played a prominent role in shaping decisions regarding whether to retweet antivaccine messages. Particularly, positive valence (incidence rate ratio [IRR]=1.32, P=.03) and concreteness (odds ratio [OR]=1.17, P=.01) were associated with higher numbers and likelihood of retweets of antivaccine messages, respectively; emotional intensity (subjectivity) was associated with fewer retweets of antivaccine messages (OR=0.78, P=.03; IRR=0.80, P=.04). However, these factors had either no or only small effects on the sharing of provaccine tweets. Retweets of provaccine messages were primarily determined by content-unrelated characteristics, such as the numbers of likes (OR=2.55, IRR=2.24, P<.001) and followers (OR=1.31, IRR=1.28, P<.001). Conclusions: The dissemination of antivaccine messages is associated with both content-related and content-unrelated characteristics. By contrast, the dissemination of provaccine messages is primarily driven by content-unrelated characteristics. These findings signify the importance of leveraging the peripheral route to promote the dissemination of provaccine messages. Because antivaccine tweets with positive emotions, objective content, and concrete words are more likely to be disseminated, policymakers should pay attention to antivaccine messages with such characteristics.

The Association Between Dissemination and Characteristics of Pro-/Anti-COVID-19 Vaccine Messages on Twitter: Application of the Elaboration Likelihood Model

Background Messages on one’s stance toward vaccination on microblogging sites may affect the reader’s decision on whether to receive a vaccine. Understanding the dissemination of provaccine and antivaccine messages relating to COVID-19 on social media is crucial;however, studies on this topic have remained limited. Objective This study applies the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) to explore the characteristics of vaccine stance messages that may appeal to Twitter users. First, we examined the associations between the characteristics of vaccine stance tweets and the likelihood and number of retweets. Second, we identified the relative importance of the central and peripheral routes in decision-making on sharing a message. Methods English-language tweets from the United States that contained provaccine and antivaccine hashtags (N=150,338) were analyzed between April 26 and August 26, 2021. Logistic and generalized negative binomial regressions were conducted to predict retweet outcomes. The content-related central-route predictors were measured using the numbers of hashtags and mentions, emotional valence, emotional intensity, and concreteness. The content-unrelated peripheral-route predictors were measured using the numbers of likes and followers and whether the source was a verified user. Results Content-related characteristics played a prominent role in shaping decisions regarding whether to retweet antivaccine messages. Particularly, positive valence (incidence rate ratio [IRR]=1.32, P=.03) and concreteness (odds ratio [OR]=1.17, P=.01) were associated with higher numbers and likelihood of retweets of antivaccine messages, respectively;emotional intensity (subjectivity) was associated with fewer retweets of antivaccine messages (OR=0.78, P=.03;IRR=0.80, P=.04). However, these factors had either no or only small effects on the sharing of provaccine tweets. Retweets of provaccine messages were primarily determined by content-unrelated characteristics, such as the numbers of likes (OR=2.55, IRR=2.24, P<.001) and followers (OR=1.31, IRR=1.28, P<.001). Conclusions The dissemination of antivaccine messages is associated with both content-related and content-unrelated characteristics. By contrast, the dissemination of provaccine messages is primarily driven by content-unrelated characteristics. These findings signify the importance of leveraging the peripheral route to promote the dissemination of provaccine messages. Because antivaccine tweets with positive emotions, objective content, and concrete words are more likely to be disseminated, policymakers should pay attention to antivaccine messages with such characteristics.

Enabling Blockchain Based SCM Systems with a Real Time Event Monitoring Function for Preemptive Risk Management

The risk of supply chain disruption is usually related to daily disturbances in supply chain operations (e.g., demand fluctuations) and some emergency risks, such as earthquakes and epidemic outbreaks. During a crisis, companies need agility to quickly find new suppliers and open auxiliary sales channels to meet customer needs and remain competitive. However, identifying “event” is one of the most difficult challenges of current decision support systems. If the system encounters an emergency, it is usually unable to promptly notify users of the warning to avoid risks. A sensible solution is to incorporate the real-time event-monitoring system into SCM (i.e., supply chain management) in order to share emergency information in the early stage for preemptive management in the supply chain. On the other hand, in order to process confidential supply chain data with other members, the SCM infrastructure requires secure data sharing. The blockchain-based SCM system can improve the transparency of traceability to ensure that the supply chain system provides high-quality products and protects data privacy and security. The view is taken;therefore, in this work, we combined a method of real-time event detection using collected Twitter data and blockchain technology for event monitoring to improve the visibility of the supply chain system and take preemptive measures for risk avoidance. The experiments show some interesting results and potentials for future work in the field of the agile supply chain.

HOW THE PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY OF EMPLOYEES INFLUENCES JOB PERFORMANCE IN THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY? THE MEDIATION ROLE OF ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION AND ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING

Due to the nature of the insurance industry, it is necessary to explore factors that can influence job performance. To understand how psychological safety can enhance the performance of employees in the insurance industry, the present study examines the role of organizational communication and organizational learning. This study used a structural equation model of a questionnaire for analysis. The results show that job performance is directly affected by psychological safety and organizational learning. Organizational communication, however, only affects job performance indirectly through organizational learning. The results of the mediation analysis show that, in addition to the effect of psychological safety through organizational learning, psychological safety also promotes the learning behavior of employees through organizational communication, enhancing job performance.

Mucosal-associated invariant T cell responses differ by sex in COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: Sexual dimorphisms in immune responses contribute to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outcomes, but the mechanisms governing this disparity remain incompletely understood. METHODS: We carried out sex-balanced sampling of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from hospitalized and non-hospitalized individuals with confirmed COVID-19, uninfected close contacts, and healthy control individuals for 36-color flow cytometry and single-cell RNA sequencing. FINDINGS: Our results revealed a pronounced reduction of circulating mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells in infected females. Integration of published COVID-19 airway tissue datasets suggests that this reduction represented a major wave of MAIT cell extravasation during early infection in females. Moreover, MAIT cells from females possessed an immunologically active gene signature, whereas cells from males were pro-apoptotic. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings uncover a female-specific protective MAIT cell profile, potentially shedding light on reduced COVID-19 susceptibility in females. FUNDING: This work was supported by NIH/NIAID (U01AI066569 and UM1AI104681), the Defense Advanced Projects Agency (DARPA; N66001-09-C-2082 and HR0011-17-2-0069), the Veterans Affairs Health System, and Virology Quality Assurance (VQA; 75N93019C00015). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official view of the National Institutes of Health. COVID-19 samples were processed under Biosafety level 2 (BSL-2) with aerosol management enhancement or BSL-3 in the Duke Regional Biocontainment Laboratory, which received partial support for construction from NIH/NIAID (UC6AI058607).