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Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe this new evaluation experience with portfolio in economics, not only from the teacher's point of view but from the student perspective, and all the learning from its implementation; to provide ideas of evaluation practices in virtual and face-to-face modality in international business education; to motivate the rethinking of assessment practices in higher education to combine the best of each modality in the future. Design/methodology/approach: The present work is a case study based on a qualitative description of the implementation of a portfolio as an assessment practice, supported by a reflection questionnaire with students' perceptions and some elements of metacognition. The first section summarizes the literature used as a theoretical framework of this work. The second section describes the portfolio implementation by analyzing teachers and students reflections with a qualitative approach. The third section presents the findings. The fourth section is a discussion of findings, practical implications, limitations and future research directions. Finally, the conclusions of the work are shared. Findings: Because the portfolio has had overwhelming results to assess what students have learned during the pandemic, it has become the learning and assessment tool after the pandemic, as it transforms the classes experience by shifting the focus from traditional examinations to more comprehensive, personalized and reflective ones. It also empowers students to take ownership of their learning, develop essential skills and cultivate a deeper understanding. Among other benefits, the portfolio means the creation of a safe and supportive environment for honest reflection, the development and design of strategic directions to improve learning and lead students toward metacognitive autonomy. Reflection pieces, a critical component of the portfolio, are a vital tool in the proactive learning process, as through reflection students learn to examine their own performance and discuss strategies to enhance their success in future work. Research limitations/implications: This work began as an educational experience per se, not for research purposes, which caused it to be systematized and reconstructed in a descriptive way, not to measure quantitative results. In this way, the present work describes that the portfolio helps to achieve better results on students' learning than traditional examinations but, as another limitation, it does not measure them nor the process. One more limitation of this work is that it was written in a postpandemic context but was implemented during the pandemic; therefore, the circumstances of writing are not the same as those of implementation, and this could also entail a certain margin of decontextualization. At the same time, this is an experience that is still in process and continually being adapted to this changed and changing educational postpandemic context. Practical implications: One of the main implications of the portfolio experience, transferable to all educational contexts, is that it transforms the final exam into a metacognitive one, letting students be aware of their own process of learning and results--objectives and competences--acquired. In this way, it lets teachers witness a part of the learning process that is not so evident in the traditional assessment practices--focused on some aspect of the learning--as it makes visible the way in which students receive, process and apply content, that is to say, how they make it their own. Social implications: The portfolio promotes reflective learning and metacognition, vital skills that benefit students beyond the classroom. This can have a positive impact on societal attitudes toward education and the quality of learning. Of the students, 82% felt the portfolio creation was helpful in their personal and professional lives, suggesting a broader societal impact. The paper's findings contribute to the body of knowledge about the effectiveness of portfolio-based assessment in higher education, especially in the worldwide transition from online education to postpandemic education. This could guide future studies in similar educational contexts or with different pedagogical innovative tools. Originality/value: In light of the 2020 pandemic lockdown, this work delves into the pressing need for educators to adapt and modify their teaching approaches. The relevance of this study is accentuated by the worldwide transition from online education to postpandemic education. This paper bridges the gap between theory and practice because the research can be applied to the educational practice of any international business education context, as well as lay the foundations for future research in the field that contributes to increasing evidence of the effectiveness of the use of the portfolio to achieve significant and deep learning in higher education.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world stage has impacted multiple aspects of our lives, affecting how we interact, organize public affairs, and carry out daily activities. This paper explores how students in an ongoing adult education program in Villa María, Argentina, continued their studies during the 2020-2022 pandemic in the context of the restrictive public health policies that led to suspending in-person classes and collaborative sessions and moving to digitally mediated formats. It centers on the experience of adult learners confronted by the COVID-19 emergency and their response through solidarity relationships and agency. We found that the students actively reorganized and redesigned their academic practices by articulating their emergency needs resulting from the pandemic with their continued participation in their program through acts of solidarity. Finally, we share thoughts and future directions about solidarity in adult learning contexts.

In this paper we present the analysis and interpretation of data collected during an intercultural virtual exchange undertaken in 2020 in which students from Argentina and the USA explored how trauma and suffering associated with COVID-19 can be channeled through collaborative artistic multimodal creations, and how approaching this in a productive way can lead to self-transformation in terms of intercultural and civic growth. To obtain unbiased data, we did not give the students information on the Council of Europe's Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture (RFCDC; 2018) which was fundamental to our conceptualization. Here, we apply an ex post facto research method to explore which of the 20 competences for democratic culture included in the RFCDC were mobilized and deployed by our students during this project. We do so by analyzing their multimodal artistic creations, social actions, and their civic statements from the perspective of the RFCDC definitions and descriptors. Findings indicate that the virtual exchange project contributed to the cultivation of 'democratically and interculturally competent citizens' as conceptualized in the Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture.

The genesis and spread of COVID-19 around the world since 2020 have caused severe impacts in every aspect of people's lives, from work life to recreation, social activities to physical health. Higher education has not been excluded. Universities have altered curriculum, changed delivery methods, provided more counseling, purchased new technology, and altered attendance policy for classroom, athletic, social and artistic events (Hamlin, 2021). To assess the impacts of these changes on college students, the authors created a questionnaire to ask students about their perceptions of these COVID-related impacts on their own personal lives. The survey had 56 questions about how the virus affected their academic, social, financial, physical and emotional lives. Over 800 students responded with objective input and subjective comments. Due to the volume of data, the authors have split the study into two parts. The survey results for the first part, academic and social aspects of the survey, were published in "Understanding the Impact of Covid-19 on College Student Academic and Social Lives," Research in Higher Education Journal Volume 41 (see http://www.aabri.com/manuscripts/213347.pdf). It will sometimes be referred to herein to provide clarity to the reader. The actual survey itself can also be found at that site. This paper focuses on the impact of the coronavirus on student financial and physical well-being, which have become major stressors to this age group and have contributed to higher levels of anxiety and depression. It also examines how the virus has affected their social and emotional well-being. Lastly, recommendations are made to help educators understand the severity of the problem, and to take action to provide assistance for those students who have been adversely affected.

Internationalisation of Curriculum (IoC) can be considered a very inclusive approach, as it makes it possible to reach all students, addressing the current and future needs of global citizenship. Argentine universities, which in previous years had prioritised mobility over other internationalisation strategies, have focused on exploring and developing IoC with greater commitment and effort since the COVID-19 pandemic began. In Argentina there were no theoretical references that allowed IoC to be analysed in a national context, only isolated and fragmented experiences of actions developed by some universities. This paper introduces a conceptual model for the analysis of IoC in Argentine universities, and can also be considered as a benchmark to explore underdeveloped aspects in higher education institutions. Using four levels of analysis, 12 dimensions and 96 indicators, it is proposed to review the different elements that contribute to the curriculum being understood and recognised in diverse contexts.

Purpose: Using sentiment analysis (SA), this study aims to examine the impact of COVID-19 on mental health and virtual learning experiences among 1,125 students at a public Argentinean faculty. Design/methodology/approach: A study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, surveying 1,125 students to gather their opinions. The survey data was analysed using text mining tools and SA. SA was used to extract the students' emotions, views and feelings computationally and identify co-occurrences and patterns in related words. The study also examines educational policies implemented after the pandemic. Findings: The prevalent emotions expressed in the comments were trust, sadness, anticipation and fear. A combination of trust and fear resulted in submission. Negative comments often included the words "virtual", "virtual classroom", "virtual classes" and "professor". Two significant issues were identified: teachers' inexperience with virtual classes and inadequate server infrastructure, leading to frequent crashes. The most effective educational policies addressed vital issues related to the "virtual classroom". Practical implications: Text mining and SA are valuable tools for decision-making during uncertain times, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. They can also provide insights to recover quality assurance processes at universities impacted by health concerns or external shocks. Originality/value: The paper makes two main contributions: it conducts a SA to gain insights from comments and analyses the relationship between emotions and sentiments to identify optimal educational policies. The study pioneers exploring the link between emotions, policies and the pandemic at a public university in Argentina. This area of research still needs to be explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Ioannidis et al. (2020) reported a standardized estimate of scientific productivity obtained from a worldwide database of 6,880,389 scientists who published at least 5 papers picked up by the Scopus database, and elaborated a ranking of ca. 120,000 scientists by both whole trajectory (career-long) impact and their current impact at year 2019. The goal of our paper is to contextualize Latin American ecologists' contribution at the world level based on the four most scientifically productive countries in the region. Methods and findings: Ioannidis et al. (2020) proposed a composite index that is the sum of six scientometric indicators: (1) The number of allocites, (2) the h index, (3) a per capita corrected version of h, (4) the allocites received as single author, (5) those received as single + first author, and (6) those as single + first + last author. We selected data for ecologists from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico and comparatively analyzed their productivity according to the proposed index. We also compared these data with those obtained from a global sample of the top ecologists worldwide. Conclusions: Based on Ioannidis et al.'s proposition to evaluate scientific productivity we extract three lessons: (1) It does not pay to publish many papers; what counts is the number of allocites (i.e., self-citations do not add up). (2) Either be single, first, or last author; it does not pay to be in the middle of an authorship line. (3) Even worse it is to be among many co-authors because the proposed index allocates credits on a per capita basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has produced controversies, and its mode of concrete social existence is strongly assembled in multiple ways of world-making that mobilize particular human-non-human relations. This paper analyzes the ways in which the people of the Andean valleys of northwestern Argentina understand and live the pandemic, in the partial coexistence of ways of understanding the body, the person, and wellbeing. On the one hand, we identify the so-called traditional way of life, which implies a relational sociality; on the other hand, the Pentecostal way of life, which promotes an interpretative current under an apocalyptic key. In sum, we are interested in thinking about the coexistence and assembly between ways of living suffering and well-being in the context of the pandemic, associated with expanded and relational socialities and with ways of imagining and living the "end of the world" as a specific manifestation of the Pentecostal tradition. Thus, the article proposes to overcome the perspective of COVID-19 as a given and universal phenomenon that produces different interpretations or cultural fictions, and consider it as a component in a wide network of human and non-human agencies, forming a scenario of epistemic plurality. Resumen: La pandemia de COVID-19 ha producido controversias variadas y su modo de existencia social se encuentra fuertemente ensamblado en múltiples formas de hacer mundo que movilizan particulares relaciones entre humanos-no humanos. Este trabajo analiza los modos en que la gente de los valles andinos del noroeste argentino entiende y vive la pandemia, teniendo en cuenta las formas de entender el cuerpo, la persona y el bienestar. Considera tanto el modo de vida identificado como tradicional, que implica una socialidad relacional, y el del pentecostalismo, que fomenta una corriente interpretativa bajo una clave apocalíptica. En suma, se propone pensar la convivencia y ensamblaje entre formas de vivir el padecimiento y el bienestar en el contexto de la pandemia, asociados con socialidades ampliadas y relacionales y con modos de imaginar y vivir el "fin del mundo" como manifestación específica de la tradición pentecostal. De este modo, se entiende al COVID-19 más que como un fenómeno dado y universal que produce diferentes interpretaciones o ficciones culturales, como un componente en una red amplia de agenciamientos entre humanos y no humanos, conformando un escenario de pluralidad epistémica. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 outbreak and the global uncertainty it causes produce an apparent panic in stock markets. Efforts to explain the economic spillover effects of COVID-19 can guide authorities to design a control policy against the financial impacts of pandemics. The paper examines the effects of the COVID-19 cases on the stock markets in the emerging Latin American countries of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru. The paper employs a continuous partial wavelet methodology to observe lead-lag relations between the daily variables of new COVID-19 cases and the stock market index for each Latin American country. Brazilian new COVID-19 cases led the Bovespa (BVSP) index to decline during the whole period, except February and June 2020, at one month-two month-frequency band. The wavelet and phase difference analyses indicate that, except for Brazil, COVID-19 cases did not affect the stock market indexes adversely during the whole sample period but did affect the stock exchange markets negatively during some sub-sample periods of the entire sample of each country. Dynamics of Latin American stock exchange markets in the short and long run can be explained by some other parameters of real and financial sectors and COVID-19 cases.

Wastewater-based epidemiology is an economical and effective tool for monitoring the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study we proposed sampling campaigns that addressed spatial-temporal trends within a metropolitan area. This is a local study of detection and quantification of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater during the onset, rise, and decline of COVID-19 cases in Salta city (Argentina) over the course of a twenty-one-week period (13 Aug to 30 Dec) in 2020. Wastewater samples were gathered from 13 sewer manholes specific to each sewershed catchment, prior to convergence or mixing with other sewer lines, resulting in samples specific to individual catchments with defined areas. The 13 sewershed catchments selected comprise 118,832 connections to the network throughout the city, representing 84.7 % (534,747 individuals) of the total population. The number of COVID19-related exposure and symptoms cases in each area were registered using an application developed for smartphones by the provincial government. Geographical coordinates provided by the devices were recorded, and consequently, it was possible to geolocalise all app-cases and track them down to which of the 13 sampling catchments belonged. RNA fragments of SARS-CoV-2 were detected in every site since the beginning of the monitoring, anticipating viral circulation in the population. Over the course of the 21-week study, the concentrations of SARS-CoV-2 ranged between 1.77 × 10 4 and 4.35 × 10 7 genome copies/L. There was a correspondence with the highest viral load in wastewater and the peak number of cases reported by the app for each catchment. The associations were evaluated with correlation analysis. The viral loads of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater were a feasible means to describe the trends of COVID-19 infections. Surveillance at sewershed scale, provided reliable and strategic information that could be used by local health stakeholders to manage the COVID-19 pandemic., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Immunizations for influenza and pneumococcus are effective interventions in reducing morbidity and mortality. The objective of this study was to describe the vaccination rates in volunteers from three regions of Argentina during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, 3853 adults were surveyed, 61.6 % were females, 45 % were aged between 40 and 60 and 18.6 % were > 60 years old. The commonest comorbidities were hypertension (12.9 %), dyslipidemia (8.5 %), and smokers or former smokers (9.2 %). The global influenza vaccination rate was 37.7 %, pneumococcal vaccination 24.7 %, and both 17.8 %. Multivariable regression showed that the vaccination rate increased with age and the presence of comorbidities. However, in the subgroup with indications for both vaccines, 71.7 % had the influenza vaccine, 59 % had the pneumococcal vaccine, and 28.3 % received neither. Our study suggests that influenza and pneumococcal vaccine percentages in high-risk patients in Argentina remain sub-optimal. Immunizations with proven reductions in morbimortality could have also been relegated during the COVID pandemic., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Although there has developed an increased interest in the vaccines BNT1622b2 (Pfizer/BioNTech), mRNA-1273 (Moderna/NIAID), and ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AstraZeneca/University of Oxford), there are still few reports describing the immune response induced by different vaccine platforms in real-world settings of low-income countries. Here, we proposed to analyse the humoral immune response elicited by the primary vaccines used in Argentina from July-December 2021., Methods: Anti-SARS-CoV-2-Spike-RBD IgG and neutralising antibodies were assayed by ELISA in a total of 871 serum samples obtained from 376 volunteers from an educational staff. The individuals were vaccinated with BBIBP-CorV (Sinopharm), ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AstraZeneca/University of Oxford, AZ), Gam-COVID-Vac (Sputnik V, SpV) or combined vaccines (mostly SpV and mRNA-1273, Moderna). The antibody response was analysed several days after the initial vaccination (20, 40, 120 and 180 days)., Results: After receiving at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, we detected 93.34% of seroprevalence. Previously SARS-CoV-2 infected showed higher antibody concentrations compared with naïve vaccinees. Six months after the initial vaccination, combined vaccination induced higher anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels than the other vaccines in naïve volunteers. However, we did not find differences in the neutralising responses after any vaccine from naïve vaccines or between the naïve and previously infected volunteers on day 120 after vaccination., Conclusions: Our long-term analysis of volunteers from the educational system provides data in a real-world context, showing the benefits of a boost dose still in previously infected volunteers, and suggesting the advantages of a heterologous prime-boost schedule., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This paper is an ethnographic case study of COVID-19 emergence in Santo Tomé (South America, NE Argentina, ≂25,000 inhabitants). Based on interviews with healthcare personnel, we describe local containment and prevention policies in a context of national lockdown measures. We reconstruct a tree diagram of infections, index cases and close contacts that spread infection locally. In parallel, fieldwork in a sample of impoverished subsistence agricultures and fishermen allows us to describe drought and fresh food production decline during confinement as convergent ecocrises (pluralea interactions) with the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak. The core idea of the article, which emerged from ethnographic fieldwork evidence, is that in the context of climate change, the sudden onset of an infectious disease interacts with convergent ecocrises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Chatbot or Conversational Agent is a computer application that simulates the conversation with a human person (by text or voice), giving automated responses to people's needs. In the healthcare domain, chatbots can be beneficial to help patients, as a complement to care by health personnel, especially in times of high demand or constrained resources such as the COVID-19 Pandemic. In this paper we share the design and implementation of a healthcare chatbot called Tana at the Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires. Considering best practices and being aware of possible unintended consequences, we must take advantage of information and communication technologies, such as chatbots, to analyze and promote useful conversations for the health of all people.

WHO and UNICEF highlight vaccination as the most cost-effective method of prevention of infectious diseases. An effective public health strategy requires efficient tracking of vaccination to assess coverage, safety, and efficacy of these vaccines. Paper-based immunization records are still being used in most low and middle-income countries. Adequate Electronic Logistic Management Information Systems, Immunization Registries and Records are crucial for proper data collection and analysis, and for making better decisions at an individual and at a population level. In this paper we share our experience in the redesign of an interoperable immunization record to track vaccination, including the recently developed vaccines for the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19).

Objective: Postpartum women are a vulnerable population to pandemic stressors that challenge their psychological well-being. Thus, reliable and valid instruments are necessary to measure pandemic-related stress and to identify risk and protective factors. This work aimed to assess psychometric properties of the COVID-19 Pandemic-Related Stress Scale (PSS-10-C) and associations of maternal pandemic stress with demographic, reproductive and pandemic factors of Argentinian postpartum women during the second COVID-19 wave., Design: An online cross-sectional survey was conducted from April to June 2021., Setting: Online recruitment of postpartum women was carried out during the second wave of COVID-19 in Argentina. This study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and had the corresponding ethical approval., Participants: This study was performed on 300 women, aged 18-49 years, up to 12 months postpartum in Argentina., Measurements and Findings: Stress was assessed with PSS-10-C, with a sociodemographic questionnaire being used to collect demographic, reproductive and pandemic variables. Statistical analysis included psychometric procedures, structural equation modeling, and multiple regressions. PSS-10-C was a reliable and structurally valid instrument with two subscales, with entire scale, Stress and Coping subscales scoring 17.31 (6.52), 9.70 (4.61) and 7.61 (2.77), respectively. History of mood disorders, pregnancy loss, and unhealthy child during the pandemic predisposed to increased stress (β > 0.10, p < 0.05), whereas having work and practicing breastfeeding promoted coping to face it (β < -0.13, p < 0.05). This situation was impaired by mood changes, loss of happiness, economic changes, fear of contracting COVID-19 -own or by a loved one- (β > 0.11, p < 0.05)., Key Conclusions: The study highlighted the vulnerability of postpartum women's mental health in the pandemic context, with PSS-10-C being a useful instrument for clinicians and researchers to assess perceived stress. Targeting interventions toward women at higher risk can be highly beneficial for maternal and child health., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships. That could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

This work is focused on the multilevel control of the population confinement in the city of Buenos Aires and its surroundings due to the pandemic generated by the COVID-19 outbreak. The model used here is known as SEIRD and two objectives are sought: a time-varying identification of the infection rate and the inclusion of a controller. A control differential equation has been added to regulate the transitions between confinement and normal life, according to five different levels. The plasma treatment from recovered patients has also been considered in the control algorithm. Using the proposed strategy the ICU occupancy is reduced, and as a consequence, the number of deaths is also decreased., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The article discusses how the Argentine socio -political polarization known as la grieta has influenced the country’s politics and impacted democratic standards during the Covid -19 pandemic. It uses qualitative data to present the nature of Argentine socio -political polarization, the outbreak of the Covid -19 pandemic in Argentina and new areas of polarization that emerged in the country under the pandemic situation, mainly the quarantine measures and vaccination campaign. The paper also takes a look on potential challenges for the Argentine democracy in a post -pandemic reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged authorities at different levels of government administration around the globe. When faced with diseases of this severity, it is useful for the authorities to have prediction tools to estimate in advance the impact on the health system as well as the human, material, and economic resources that will be necessary. In this paper, we construct an extended Susceptible-Exposed-Infected-Recovered model that incorporates the social structure of Mar del Plata, the 4°most inhabited city in Argentina and head of the Municipality of General Pueyrredón. Moreover, we consider detailed partitions of infected individuals according to the illness severity, as well as data of local health resources, to bring predictions closer to the local reality. Tuning the corresponding epidemic parameters for COVID-19, we study an alternating quarantine strategy: a part of the population can circulate without restrictions at any time, while the rest is equally divided into two groups and goes on successive periods of normal activity and lockdown, each one with a duration of τ days. We also implement a random testing strategy with a threshold over the population. We found that τ=7 is a good choice for the quarantine strategy since it reduces the infected population and, conveniently, it suits a weekly schedule. Focusing on the health system, projecting from the situation as of September 30, we foresee a difficulty to avoid saturation of the available ICU, given the extremely low levels of mobility that would be required. In the worst case, our model estimates that four thousand deaths would occur, of which 30% could be avoided with proper medical attention. Nonetheless, we found that aggressive testing would allow an increase in the percentage of people that can circulate without restrictions, and the medical facilities to deal with the additional critical patients would be relatively low., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Fitting Susceptible-Infected-Recovered (SIR) models to incidence data is problematic when not all infected individuals are reported. Assuming an underlying SIR model with general but known distribution for the time to recovery, this paper derives the implied differential-integral equations for observed incidence data when a fixed fraction of newly infected individuals are not observed. The parameters of the resulting system of differential equations are identifiable. Using these differential equations, we develop a stochastic model for the conditional distribution of current disease incidence given the entire past history of reported cases. We estimate the model parameters using Bayesian Markov Chain Monte-Carlo sampling of the posterior distribution. We use our model to estimate the transmission rate and fraction of asymptomatic individuals for the current Coronavirus 2019 outbreak in eight American Countries: the United States of America, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru, and Panama, from January 2020 to May 2021. Our analysis reveals that the fraction of reported cases varies across all countries. For example, the reported incidence fraction for the United States of America varies from 0.3 to 0.6, while for Brazil it varies from 0.2 to 0.4., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

In the current pandemic of COVID-19, sewage surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 genome has been used to complement viral epidemiology in different countries. The aim of this work was to introduce and evaluate this wastewater-based tool in the metropolitan region of Buenos Aires, Argentina. As a pilot study, surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater from three districts of this area was performed for more than nine months from June 2020 to April 2021. Viruses present in the samples were concentrated using polyethylene glycol precipitation and quantified using RT-qPCR CDC N1 assay. Virus recovery for SARS-CoV-2 and a potential surrogate, bovine coronavirus Mebus strain, that shares the Betacoronavirus genus and structural characteristics with SARS-CoV-2, were evaluated after concentration and detection procedures. Recovery of both viruses did not differ significantly, with a median for SARS-CoV-2 and BCoV of 0.085 (95% CI: 0.021-0.179) and 0.262 (95% CI: 1.18 × 10 -5 -0.564) respectively. The concentration of SARS-CoV-2 genome in wastewater ranged from 10 -1 to 10 3 cg/ml, depending on the wastewater treatment plant, type of collection site, viral recovery of the concentration method and the epidemiological situation of the outbreaks. Significant correlations were observed between SARS-CoV-2 concentration in wastewater and reported clinical cases, reinforcing the utility of this approach to monitor the epidemiological status of populations., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Based on a novel survey for Argentina, this paper provides evidence of the changes in time allocation within couples during the COVID-19 emergency. The survey was conducted online during the period of national lockdown in 2020 and collected information on hours allocated to paid work, housework, child care, educational childcare and leisure by both members of the couple before and during the lockdown, as well as socio-demographic characteristics. Our sample consists of 961 couples of which 785 have children. Our results indicate that during the lockdown, despite a reduction in time assigned to paid work and an increase in time spent in unpaid activities for both members of the couple, gender gaps regarding the latter increased. Specifically, while the load of men and women's work for pay became more equitable, women took up a larger proportion of the additional housework and childcare. We found that some factors mitigated (whether the man reduced his hours of work or whether both partners kept on doing so) while others potentiated (whether the woman reduced her hours of work, whether she continued working from home, or whether the couple outsourced housework before lockdown) the changes in the within-couple gender gaps in unpaid activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Argentina, overcrowded conditions and poor sanitation that exist in many prisons across the country threatened to contribute to the spread of COVID-19, increase mortality rates, and place the health system at high risk of collapse. In response, between March and May 2020, the Argentine government ordered the transfer of some prison inmates to home imprisonment, thus implementing international health organisations' guidelines. The conditions of the inmates and the crisis that the prison sector was experiencing, became a central issue in the public agenda during the first months of the pandemic. In this paper, I analyse the social attitudes of Twitter users, employing critical discourse analysis tools to explore the cognitive social patterns that enable the reproduction of whiteness and its exclusion practices. Drawing on a broad sample of 16,836 tweets spanning from January to July 2020, I focus on those tweets that discuss the release of prisoners due to COVID-19. This analysis unmasks the conflictive relationship between the sector of the population invested in the idea of a nation linked to supposed European origins and those who deviate from this national myth. Consequently, the tweets operate as a cultural manifestation on whiteness in the context of an profound humanitarian crisis. They compose a sort of escape valve favoured by the anonymity and the affordances of the medium, where racism, dehumanization, eliminationism, and contempt for otherness are gruesomely exposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, our aim is to explore the dynamics of COVID-19 or 2019-nCOV in Argentina considering the parameter values based on the real data of this virus from March 03, 2020 to March 29, 2021 which is a data range of more than one complete year. We propose a Atangana–Baleanu type fractional-order model and simulate it by using predictor–corrector (P-C) method. First we introduce the biological nature of this virus in theoretical way and then formulate a mathematical model to define its dynamics. We use a well-known effective optimization scheme based on the renowned trust-region-reflective (TRR) method to perform the model calibration. We have plotted the real cases of COVID-19 and compared our integer-order model with the simulated data along with the calculation of basic reproductive number. Concerning fractional-order simulations, first we prove the existence and uniqueness of solution and then write the solution along with the stability of the given P-C method. A number of graphs at various fractional-order values are simulated to predict the future dynamics of the virus in Argentina which is the main contribution of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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We simulate the short- and long-term distributional consequences of COVID-19 in the four largest Latin American economies: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico. We show that the short-term impact on income inequality and poverty can be very significant, but that additional spending on social assistance more than offsets the effect in Brazil. The offsetting effect is significant in Argentina and Colombia and nil in Mexico, where there has been no such expansion. We find that a universal basic income that would have produced the same reduction in the poverty gap as actual policies would have cost slightly more but would have benefited the poor (the nonpoor) slightly less (more). To project the longterm consequences, we estimate the impact of the pandemic on school achievement and its intergenerational persistence. We use information on school closures, educational mitigation policies, and account for educational losses related to health shocks and parental job loss. Our findings show that in all four countries the impact is strongly asymmetric and affects particularly the high-school completion rates of children from disadvantaged families. Our simulations suggest that mitigation policies seem to have a minor impact on containing these negative effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background: Pandemic fatigue generates low motivation or the ability to comply with protective behaviors to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Aims: This study aimed to analyze the symptoms of pandemic fatigue through network analysis in individuals from five South American countries. Method: A total of 1,444 individuals from Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay participated and were evaluated using the Pandemic Fatigue Scale. The networks were estimated using the ggmModSelect estimation method and a polychoric correlation matrix was used. Stability assessment of the five networks was performed using the nonparametric resampling method based on the case bootstrap type. For the estimation of network centrality, a metric based on node strength was used, whereas network comparison was performed using a permutation-based approach. Results: The results showed that the relationships between pandemic fatigue symptoms were strongest in the demotivation dimension. Variability in the centrality of pandemic fatigue symptoms was observed among participating countries. Finally, symptom networks were invariant and almost identical across participating countries. Conclusions: This study is the first to provide information on how pandemic fatigue symptoms were related during the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a method to estimate excess mortality where national data are missing for some or all of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic period, but subnational data exist, such as in Argentina. By making use of the stability of the regional distribution of deaths, data on deaths in Córdoba province were used to project excess deaths in Argentina from March 2020 up to the end of 2021. The number of excess deaths was estimated at 134 504, which is 14.8% higher than the reported number of COVID-19 deaths in Argentina for the same time period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the COVID-19 pandemic's immediate and long-term impact on Argentina's labor market with a focus on gender disparities and the mediating role of the public vs. private sectors. Using household survey data, we assess men and women's employment trends before, during, and after the pandemic. Our findings reveal gender-specific recovery patterns that interact with the employment sector. The most prominent short-term effect of the pandemic was a dramatic increase in inactivity for both men and women. However, men recovered their level of labor force participation sooner than women, and one of the mechanisms behind this disparity was sector employment. While men predominantly benefitted from quicker reintegration in both the formal and informal private sectors, women leaned toward the public sector for stability during and after the pandemic. The heightened feminization of public sector employment is a further indication that the sector is critical for sustaining women's employment and promoting gender equity in the labor market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an attempt is made to discover the distribution of COVID-19 spread in different countries such as; Saudi Arabia, Italy, Argentina and Angola by specifying an optimal statistical distribution for analyzing the mortality rate of COVID-19. A new generalization of the recently inverted Topp Leone distribution, called Kumaraswamy inverted Topp-Leone distribution, is proposed by combining the Kumaraswamy-G family and the inverted Topp-Leone distribution. We initially provide a linear representation of its density function. We give some of its structure properties, such as quantile function, median, moments, incomplete moments, Lorenz and Bonferroni curves, entropies measures and stress-strength reliability. Then, Bayesian and maximumlikelihood estimators for parameters of the Kumaraswamy inverted Topp-Leone distribution under Type-II censored sample are considered. Bayesian estimator is regarded using symmetric and asymmetric loss functions. As analytical solution is too hard, behaviours of estimates have been done viz Monte Carlo simulation study and some reasonable comparisons have been presented. The outcomes of the simulation study confirmed the efficiencies of obtained estimates as well as yielded the superiority of Bayesian estimate under adequate priors compared to the maximum likelihood estimate. Application to COVID-19 in some countries showed that the new distribution is more appropriate than some other competitive models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the implementation of lessons learned in ensuring human rights for older persons in long-term care facilities LTCF), particularly in Argentina. Topics include examining the legal situation of human rights for older persons in Argentina's LTCF; discussing the challenges faced by these facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic; and exploring the importance of an International Convention of Human Rights for Older Persons, considering the complexities of LTCF.

Copyright of Social Compass is the property of Sage Publications, 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 abstract 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 abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how intraurban inequalities are likely to reinforce health and social inequalities. Studies at small area level help to visualize social inequialities hidden in large areas as cities or regions. Aim: To describe the spatial patterning of COVID-19 death rates in neighborhoods of the medium-sized city of Bariloche, Argentina, and to explore its relationship with the socioeconomic characteristics of neighborhoods. Methods: We conducted an ecological study in Bariloche, Argentina. The outcome was counts of COVID-19 deaths between June 2020 and May 2022 obtained from the surveillance system and georeferenced to neighborhoods. We estimated crude- and age-adjusted death rates by neighborhood using a Bayesian approach through a Poisson regression that accounts for spatial-autocorrelation via Conditional Autoregressive (CAR) structure. We also analyzed associations of age-adjusted death rates with area-level socioeconomic indicators. Results: Median COVID-19 death rate across neighborhoods was 17.9 (10th/90th percentile of 6.3/35.2) per 10,000 inhabitants. We found lower age-adjusted rates in the city core and western part of the city. The age-adjusted death rate in the most deprived areas was almost double than in the least deprived areas, with an education-related relative index of inequality (RII) of 2.14 (95% CI 1.55 to 2.96). Conclusion: We found spatial heterogeneity and intraurban variability in age-adjusted COVID-19 death rates, with a clear social gradient, and a higher burden in already deprived areas. This highlights the importance of studying inequalities in health outcomes across small areas to inform placed-based interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since, during the Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic, a large part of the human population has become infected, a rapid and simple diagnostic method has been necessary to detect its causative agent, the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-related Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), and control its spread. Thus, in the present study, we developed a colorimetric reverse transcription-loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) kit that allows the detection of SARS-CoV-2 from nasopharyngeal swab samples without the need for RNA extraction. The kit utilizes three sets of LAMP primers targeting two regions of ORF1ab and one region in the E gene. The results are based on the colorimetric change of hydroxynaphthol blue, which allows visual interpretation without needing an expensive instrument. The kit demonstrated sensitivity to detect between 50 and 100 copies of the viral genome per reaction. The kit was authorized by the National Administration of Drugs, Food and Technology (ANMAT) of Argentina after validation using samples previously analyzed by the gold standard RT-qPCR. The results showed a sensitivity of 90.6% and specificity of 100%, consistent with conventional RT-qPCR. In silico analysis confirmed the recognition of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (B.1.1.7, B.1.351, P.1, B.1.617.2, B.1.427, and B.1.429), and lineages of the Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) with 100% homology. This rapid, simple, and sensitive RT-LAMP method paves the way for a large screening strategy to be carried out at locations lacking sophisticated instrumental and trained staff, as it particularly happens in regional hospitals and medical centers from rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background: COVID-19 has exacerbated global food security risks, and the global food supply chain, especially in developing countries, has become more vulnerable. (2) Methods: In this paper, we discussed the current security of global food, response measures, and potential impacts, and analyzed the characteristics and evolution of food security policies in four representative countries: China, Italy, Malawi, Argentina. (3) Results: The results showed that most countries give priority to ensuring food access. Most underdeveloped countries adopt humanitarian intervention measures such as food distribution and transfer payments, while developed countries tend to implement development intervention policies such as supporting small- and medium-sized enterprises and guaranteeing employment. (4) Conclusions: Despite the ample global supply, developing countries still face long-term food security risks, highlighting the importance of strengthening global food security governance and risk management. Finally, a food security risk response policy framework was built to provide suggestions for effectively handling COVID-19 and similar public health emergencies in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aimed to assess the association between adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures and access to media information related to COVID-19. A multicountry, cross-sectional study using an online survey was conducted from June to December 2020. The sample included 1,457 participants from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico. The outcome variable was self-reported adherence to preventive measures (handwashing, social distancing, self-isolation, use of face masks, and working from home). The explanatory variable was self-report of following media information related to COVID-19 (watching or reading the news, following social media coverage). Multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine the associations. Following information on social media was positively associated with higher odds of practicing social distancing [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 5.39; 95% confidence interval (CI): 3.93–7.30], self-isolation (AOR = 1.44; 95% CI: 1.08–1.92), use of face masks (AOR = 16.84; 95% CI: 10.03–28.27), handwashing (AOR = 6.95; 95% CI: 4.98–9.71), and working from home (AOR = 1.85; 95% CI: 1.43–2.41). Differences in the use of social media for COVID-19 information were observed among the four countries. Following social media was positively associated with adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures in Latin America. Social media may be used effectively for COVID-19 behavior modification in Latin America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this manuscript, we will describe and highlight the most important potential underlying mechanisms of action of the inhaled sodium ibuprofenate in hypertonic saline formulation‐NaIHS aerosolisable, as a probable adjuvant treatment for moderate and severe pneumonia and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19)‐associated acute respiratory distress syndrome in COVID‐19. In both pathological entities, we will refer exclusively to the pulmonary vasoplegic type and we will describe the following therapeutic effects of NaIHS: anti‐inflammatory, immunomodulatory and antiangiogenic. The synergistic action of these therapeutic effects anti‐inflammatory and immunomodulatory together may exert their action at the pulmonary level through the possible reversal of pulmonary vasoplegia and may thereby restore hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction, correcting the uncoupling of the ventilation/perfusion ratio and vasoplegic intrapulmonary shunting and, above all, it may reverse severe hypoxaemia and acute respiratory failure. We will also mention the potential virucidal effects of NaIHS on severe acute respiratory syndrome‐coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2). There are available three retrospective observational studies in moderate and severe COVID‐19 pneumonia, carried out in Argentina, with all three studies concluding that there was a significant reduction in mortality. The most important of these was conducted with the approval of the Institutional Review Board of the National Bureau of Economic Research of Harvard and Columbia Universities, which analysed data from 5146 patients and concluded that NaIHS reduced mortality by 48.7%, although randomized clinical trials are still needed to confirm these emerging data and enable the rise of NaIHS as a new adjuvant treatment. Conclusively, we deem essential to reuse known drugs, such as ibuprofen, in COVID‐19, due to the constant emergence of variants and subvariants of concern secondary to mutations and immune escape mechanisms of (SARS‐CoV‐2), since effective medical treatments are currently scarce and many of them are controversial or not available worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients with inborn errors of immunity (IEI) in Argentina were encouraged to receive licensed Sputnik, AstraZeneca, Sinopharm, Moderna, and Pfizer vaccines, even though most of the data of humoral and cellular responses combination on available vaccines comes from trials conducted in healthy individuals. We aimed to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of the different vaccines in IEI patients in Argentina. The study cohort included adults and pediatric IEI patients (n = 118) and age-matched healthy controls (HC) (n = 37). B cell response was evaluated by measuring IgG anti-spike/receptor binding domain (S/RBD) and anti-nucleocapsid(N) antibodies by ELISA. Neutralization antibodies were also assessed with an alpha-S protein-expressing pseudo-virus assay. The T cell response was analyzed by IFN-γ secretion on S- or N-stimulated PBMC by ELISPOT and the frequency of S-specific circulating T follicular-helper cells (TFH) was evaluated by flow cytometry. No moderate/severe vaccine-associated adverse events were observed. Anti-S/RBD titers showed significant differences in both pediatric and adult IEI patients versus the age-matched HC cohort (p < 0.05). Neutralizing antibodies were also significantly lower in the patient cohort than in age-matched HC (p < 0.01). Positive S-specific IFN-γ response was observed in 84.5% of IEI patients and 82.1% presented S-specific TFH cells. Moderna vaccines, which were mainly administered in the pediatric population, elicited a stronger humoral response in IEI patients, both in antibody titer and neutralization capacity, but the cellular immune response was similar between vaccine platforms. No difference in humoral response was observed between vaccinated patients with and without previous SARS-CoV-2 infection. In conclusion, COVID-19 vaccines showed safety in IEI patients and, although immunogenicity was lower than HC, they showed specific anti-S/RBD IgG, neutralizing antibody titers, and T cell-dependent cellular immunity with IFN-γ secreting cells. These findings may guide the recommendation for a vaccination with all the available vaccines in IEI patients to prevent COVID-19 disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted global interdependencies, accompanied by widespread calls for worldwide cooperation against a virus that knows no borders, but responses were led largely separately by national governments. In this tension between aspiration and reality, people began to grapple with how their own lives were affected by the global nature of the pandemic. In this article, based on 493 qualitative interviews conducted between 2020 and 2021, we explore how people in Argentina, Austria, Bolivia, Ecuador, Ireland, Italy and Mexico experienced, coped with and navigated the global nature of the pandemic. In dialogue with debates about the parameters of the 'global' in global health, we focus on what we call people's everyday (de)bordering practices to examine how they negotiated (dis)connections between 'us' and 'them' during the pandemic. Our interviewees' reactions moved from national containment to an increasing focus on people's unequal socio-spatial situatedness. Eventually, they began to (de)border their lives beyond national lines of division and to describe a new normal: a growing awareness of global connectedness and a desire for global citizenship. This newfound sense of global interrelatedness could signal support for and encourage transnational political action in times of crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In March 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic hit the world, television industries had to rapidly adapt to the circumstances. While a substantial number of people were able to spend more time in front of their TVs, the executives had to make choices: should they tell stories about what was going on or should they try to create escapism? This article compares the responses given to these challenging times by the Argentine and Spanish television industries. Whereas both countries have long-standing cultural and economic ties, they differed in the length of their respective lockdowns, and this had an impact on the televisual answer to the crisis. In the case of Spain, commercial and public broadcasters and video-on-demand platforms produced half a dozen fiction series about the lockdown, focusing on the consequences of isolation and new social habits brought about by it. On the entertainment side, gossip talk-show Sálvame started to include public-service content in a remarkable transformation. Argentine free-to-air channels decided to re-run old telenovelas and focus on game and cooking adaptations of American and British formats (Family Feud, Masterchef, Bake Off). The public channel made just one online series about the "new normal" that had little success. By combining production studies with textual analysis, we hope to shed light on the responses given to the coronavirus crisis in two of the most important TV industries of the Spanish-speaking world on both sides of the Atlantic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The topic of borders is an active research area in Lotmanian studies. Starting from this scholarship, the article aims to open up fresh possibilities for interpretation of Lotman's spatial-driven theory, making it dialogue with the cultural affect studies and the current communication-focused research on the digital sphere. This theoretical framework underpins the case study covered in the essay, that is, the linguistic analysis of online narratives on migration during the COVID-19 pandemic – a prolonged situation of high-intensity relational affect in which emotions played a pivotal (agentive) role in the perception of a widespread and multidimensional crisis. Argentina is the cultural milieu of socio-semiotic scrutiny, in which distant reading and close reading cross-pollinate each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Covid‐19 pandemic brought a heightened fear of death and illness, and increased experiences of isolation, loneliness and aloneness. In this article we describe clinical experiences of psychotherapists in Argentina, the UK and Germany in order to explore how the impacts of the pandemic are variously felt and mediated by inner resources. We explore the capacity to relate internally to good experiences of infancy and a secure internal world, and the risks of loneliness, and interpersonal and intrapsychic withdrawal, that lead to vulnerability in patients and therapists. We contrast instances where psychotherapy in response to increased fears of death, infection and isolation is facilitative of change and growth, with situations where perverse, destructive or defensive relating predominate. We ask if we are witnessing and, through our therapeutic activities, contributing to the emergence of new ways of understanding the internal conflicts of this Covid‐19 age, and tentatively identify some key emerging themes; the capacity for facilitative interactions and change; identifications with the powerful virus; an increase in paranoid anxieties and the potential for a more considerate, 'care‐full' way of relating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Passive immunotherapy has been evaluated as a therapeutic alternative for patients with COVID-19 disease. Equine polyclonal immunotherapy for COVID-19 (EPIC) showed adequate safety and potential efficacy in a clinical trial setting and obtained emergency use authorization in Argentina. We studied its utility in a real world setting with a larger population. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study at "Hospital de Campaña Escuela-Hogar" (HCEH) in Corrientes, Argentina, to assess safety and effectiveness of EPIC in hospitalized adults with severe COVID-19 pneumonia. Primary endpoints were 28-days all-cause mortality and safety. Mortality and improvement in modified WHO clinical scale at 14 and 21 days were secondary endpoints. Potential confounder adjustment was made by logistic regression weighted by the inverse of the probability of receiving the treatment (IPTW) and doubly robust approach. Findings: Subsequent clinical records of 446 non-exposed (Controls) and 395 exposed (EPIC) patients admitted between November 2020 and April 2021 were analyzed. Median age was 58 years and 56.8% were males. Mortality at 28 days was 15.7% (EPIC) vs. 21.5% (Control). After IPTW adjustment the OR was 0.66 (95% CI: 0.46–0.96) P = 0.03. The effect was more evident in the subgroup who received two EPIC doses (complete treatment, n = 379), OR 0.58 (95% CI 0.39 to 0.85) P = 0.005. Overall and serious adverse events were not significantly different between groups. Conclusions: In this retrospective cohort study, EPIC showed adequate safety and effectiveness in the treatment of hospitalized patients with severe SARS-CoV-2 disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The SARS-CoV-2 virus is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. To better understand the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 early in the pandemic in the Province of Cordoba, Argentina, we performed a comparative genomic analysis of SARS-CoV-2 strains detected in survivors and non-survivors of COVID-19. We also carried out an epidemiological study to find a possible association between the symptoms and comorbidities of these patients with their clinical outcomes. Results: A representative sampling was performed in different cities in the Province of Cordoba. Ten and nine complete SARS-CoV-2 genomes were obtained by next-generation sequencing of nasopharyngeal specimens from non-survivors and survivors, respectively. Phylogenetic and phylodynamic analyses revealed multiple introductions of the most common lineages in South America, including B.1, B.1.1.1, B.1.499, and N.3. Fifty-six mutations were identified, with 14% of those in common between the non-survivor and survivor groups. Specific SARS-CoV-2 mutations for survivors constituted 25% whereas for non-survivors they were 41% of the repertoire, indicating partial selectivity. The non-survivors' variants showed higher diversity in 9 genes, with a majority in Nsp3, while the survivors' variants were detected in 5 genes, with a higher incidence in the Spike protein. At least one comorbidity was present in 60% of non-survivor patients and 33% of survivors. Age 75–85 years (p = 0.018) and hospitalization (p = 0.019) were associated with non-survivor patients. Related to the most common symptoms, the prevalence of fever was similar in both groups, while dyspnea was more frequent among non-survivors and cough among survivors. Conclusions: This study describes the association of clinical characteristics with the clinical outcomes of survivors and non-survivors of COVID-19 patients, and the specific mutations found in the genome sequences of SARS-CoV-2 in each patient group. Future research on the functional characterization of novel mutations should be performed to understand the role of these variations in SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis and COVID-19 disease outcomes. These results add new genomic data to better understand the evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 variants that spread in Argentina during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With regard to strategic communication, there is a set of additive factors driving the strategic complexity that determines the magnitude of an issue and the path to follow. During the COVID-19 pandemic, different governments worldwide have played a variety of roles and their impact has been conclusive. In Latin America, current political and ideological antagonism has configured a diversity of contexts and scenarios that have conditioned public communication management, setting out from the assumption that they have variously weighted the different driving factors of the strategic complexity. Within the framework of the EUPRERA COM-COVID network, we present the cases of strategic communication management of the national governments of Brazil and Argentina during the second half of 2020 and their impact on the population from the sanitary, social and economic levels. Of 1,332 demographically weighted cases, we analyze the information channels, credible sources, types of messages and their effectiveness comparatively. The most relevant conclusion lies in confirming that the strategic factor model in the public sector is conditioned by the ideological profile of who governs and this determines the decisions and effectiveness of the management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a deep impact on the way we perceive our world. This study explores its effect on Urban Green Space (UGS) perception in Buenos Aires City (CABA), Argentina. We provide a detailed overview of the distribution of UGS in CABA, along with socio-economic analysis and visitors' profile and perception before and during the restrictive measures adopted by the national authorities to contain the COVID-19 outbreak (July to December of 2020). We conducted a series of surveys based on open and closed questions. Before the pandemic, surveys were carried out in situ in eight parks of six districts, randomly chosen. During the confinement, online surveys were conducted. According to our results, the mean UGS density in CABA is 6.09 m2 /person, but marked differences between districts exist, ranging from 0.02 m2 /person to 17.68 m2 /person. This uneven distribution causes differences in the quality of life of CABA inhabitants, perhaps more pronounced during reduced-mobility situations like COVID-19 confinement. Socio economic analysis were done linking multidimensional poverty, COVID-19 positive cases and urban mobility in CABA. Regarding UGS visitors, before the confinement, the majority of respondents were employees or students; during the confinement, employees and retirees predominated. When asked to choose important attributes to describe their perception about the UGS from a given list, respondents selected "calm," "green," and "sounds of nature," without differences before and during the confinement. However, when asked about the UGS role, the main answer was "a place to be with nature" before the confinement and "an important place in the city" during it. Understanding how society perceives the UGS, especially during crises, is essential to rethink the urban landscape and prepare our cities, towards biophilic cities and for a more sustainable future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The COVID-19 disease has changed people's work and income. While recent evidence has documented the adverse impact of these changes on mental health outcomes, most research is focused on frontline healthcare workers and the reported association between income loss and mental health comes from high-income countries. In this study we examine the impact of changes in working conditions and income loss related to the COVID-19 lockdown on workers' mental health in Argentina. We also explore the role of psychological detachment from work and work-family interaction in mental health. Methods: A total of 1049 participants aged between 18 and 65 who were working before the national lockdown in March 2020 were recruited using a national random telephone survey. Work conditions included: working at the usual workplace during the pandemic, working from home with flexible or fixed schedules, and being unemployed or unable to work due to the pandemic. Measures of financial hardship included income loss and self-reported financial problems related to the outbreak. Work-family interface included measures of work-family conflict (WFC) and family-work conflict (FWC). Mental health outcomes included burnout, life satisfaction, anxiety and depressive symptoms. Data were collected in October 2020. Results: Home-based telework under fixed schedules and unemployment impact negatively on mental health. Income loss and particularly self-reported financial problems were also associated with deterioration of mental health. More than half of the participants reported financial problems, and those who became unemployed during the pandemic experienced more often financial problems. Finally, psychological detachment from work positively influenced mental health; WFC and FWC were found to negatively impact on mental health. Conclusions: Countries' policies should focus on supporting workers facing economic hardships and unemployment to ameliorate the COVID-19' negative impact on mental health. Organisations can protect employees' mental health by actively encouraging psychological detachment from work and by help managing work-family interface. Longitudinal studies are needed to more thoroughly assess the long-term impact of the COVID-19-related changes in work and economic turndown on mental health issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed at describing the impact that the COVID 19 pandemic had on the financial and consumption habits of Chilean, Argentinean and Colombian families. This was a cross-sectional on-line study. The final sample consisted of 1,184 adults who managed independent financial resources and from urban areas of Argentina, Chile, and Colombia. Results show an increased use of credit to pay for basic services and on the late payments of expenses. The current main fears are linked to contracting the disease, losing employment and not being able to pay basic expenses. Finally, groups of participants emerge based on based on ways of dealing with the crisis and differentiated by sociodemographic variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We here studied some potential factors underlying variation in compliance with preventive behaviors against COVID‐19 by studying mask wearing during outdoor recreational activities in a midsize city of Argentina in 2020. The originality of present research relies on the complementation of observational (N = 15,507) and survey (N = 578) data and in assessing the determinants of and disposition to the same preventive behavior across activities. In Study 1, we did 8 weeks of unobtrusive systematic observation of mask wearing in outdoor recreational sites as a function of activity (walking, running, and cycling). In Study 2, we ran an online survey (concomitant with the last weeks of the observational study) to measure self‐reported mask use and relevant beliefs, including self‐ and other‐regarding motives. Behavioral observations showed that mask wearing declined over time for the three activities as predicted from a social dilemma perspective; nonetheless, compliance significantly differed across activities. Self‐reported mask use was predicted by the perceived risk of contagion for the self and for others, perceived comfort costs of wearing masks, and social norms, but not by perceived illness severity or mask effectiveness. We discuss some implications and limitations of present findings for the development of preventive strategies to reduce COVID‐19 transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]