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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.

This paper analyses the use of Twitter as a presidential communication channel during the first few months of the COVID-19 crisis. The aim is to determine how four recently elected presidents (those of Spain, Argentina, Mexico and Brazil) managed their political communication, and to explore the thesis that they resorted to populist messages during the first months of their terms in office. Using a qualitative methodology and the XL Node tool to capture data, a comparative analysis was performed on the messages posted on their personal Twitter accounts during the first 20 weeks of 2020, classified in six categories: polarization; conspiracy; exaltation and leadership; personalisation and privacy; emotions and feelings; and media publicity. The results indicate that the four presidents share populist traits, but to a different extent. López Obrador and Bolsonaro display a more populist profile, with emotional appeals to the people and to their saving action as regards the implementation of health policies. Conversely, Alberto Fernández and Pedro Sánchez are more akin to the pop politician profile, posting photographs and media messages with a view to receiving press coverage. Both post tweets, based on values and historical events, aimed at their grassroots supporters. The main conclusion is that the pandemic has enhanced the presidential and personalist profiles of the four leaders, although their actions during the COVID-19 crisis were not necessarily in keeping with the populist paradigm. Thus, Sánchez and Bolsonaro implemented a health management communication strategy, while López Obrador and Fernández paid scant attention to health policy.

The COVID-19 pandemic generated a new scenario in education, where technological resources mediate teaching and learning processes. This paper presents the development of a virtual teacher training experience aimed at promoting inferential reasoning in practicing and prospective mathematics teachers using inference problems on the Chi-square statistic. The objective of this article is to assess the implemented or intended institutional meanings and the degree of availability and adequacy of the material and temporal resources necessary for the development of the training experience. For this purpose, we use theoretical and methodological notions introduced by the Ontosemiotic Approach to Mathematical Knowledge and Instruction (OSA), among which are the notions of practice and suitability criteria. The participants of this experience were divided into three groups; one of them was comprised of practicing teachers and the other two of prospective teachers. The intervention used different virtual modalities that enabled the development of the participants' inferential reasoning in a similar way.

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]

Copyright of Revista Colombiana de Educación is the property of Universidad Pedaggica Nacional 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.)

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]

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]

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.

Introduction: Neuropsychiatric symptoms are common in patients with mild cognitive impairment and dementia. This symptomatology can appear or be exacerbated with changes in routine and in the patient's usual environment. The lockdown situation during the COVID-19 pandemic has meant a drastic and unexpected change in the daily life of the general population, with a particular impact on the most physically and mentally vulnerable groups, including patients with cognitive impairment., Aim: To know the impact of lockdown measures imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic on neuropsychiatric symptomatology in people with mild cognitive impairment and dementia., Materials and Methods: Exploratory systematic review, in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines, of Pubmed and Psycinfo databases papers published from January 2020 to April 2021 which related confinement due to COVID-19 with the presentation or worsening of neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with mild cognitive impairment mild or dementia., Results: Worsening of neuropsychiatric symptoms was observed in patients with dementia and mild cognitive impairment, especially agitation/aggression, anxiety, depression and apathy. Neuropsychiatric symptoms were more common in patients with dementia than in those with mild cognitive impairment, although their typology varied depending on the severity of dementia., Conclusions: During lockdown a worsening in the psychobehavioral area has been observed in people with mild cognitive impairment or dementia. Therefore, considerations arise on the need of promoting social contact in people with mild cognitive impairment and dementia, avoiding situations of isolation and low stimulation.

In this paper, we group South American countries based on the number of infected cases and deaths due to COVID-19. The countries considered are: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela. The data used are collected from a database of Johns Hopkins University, an institution that is dedicated to sensing and monitoring the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic. A statistical analysis, based on principal components with modern and recent techniques, is conducted. Initially, utilizing the correlation matrix, standard components and varimax rotations are calculated. Then, by using disjoint components and functional components, the countries are grouped. An algorithm that allows us to keep the principal component analysis updated with a sensor in the data warehouse is designed. As reported in the conclusions, this grouping changes depending on the number of components considered, the type of principal component (standard, disjoint or functional) and the variable to be considered (infected cases or deaths). The results obtained are compared to the k-means technique. The COVID-19 cases and their deaths vary in the different countries due to diverse reasons, as reported in the conclusions.

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]

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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]

If there is one thing we can be sure about the COVID-19 pandemic, it is that it caused an irruption of such magnitude throughout the world that the resonances of the multiple and varied changes it generated have yet to be seen. In relation to communication processes, the demand for information in real time increased and the media took center stage, especially in an initial period when the possibilities of intersubjective contrasts between people were diminished by the confinements. But this was not a constant: as the pandemic spread over time, it lost its novelty character and went from center stage to backdrop in media coverage. This research describes the thematic shifts and the predominant frames that La Nación, Clarín (in its digital versions) and Infobae deployed in their coverage of the pandemic between 2020 and 2022. Framed in the contributions of the agenda setting and framing theories, this paper starts with a quantitative content analysis and compares four specific time frames (April 2020, October 2020, May 2021 and January 2022), chosen for having represented significant peaks in the development of the pandemic in national health terms. The analysis shows that the concentration of the health issue, as well as the prominence of the variables that make up the morality and human interest frames were diluted over time, making the frames in the coverage of the issue less compact and more dispersed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the first confirmed cases of COVID-19 in March 2020, a long and strict lockdown was implemented in Argentina, as a means of avoiding health services collapse. Measures were taken early in order to strengthen the health system before the potential spread of the virus. Mandatory isolation measures impacted on the energy system: they modified energy demand and production patterns, and caused reasons for uncertainty among investors and project stakeholders. Nevertheless, profound changes caused by the pandemic, pave the way for the adoption of sustainable solutions with the potential to improve people's quality of life. This paper aims to explore the effects of the COVID-19 lockdown on the Argentinian energy sector and on the course of the transition. By means of secondary sources, such as public reports and national statistics, and semi-structured interviews, changes in the energy sector are analysed as well as local-scale alternatives for the post-pandemic. Community-led energy initiatives and the possibility of implementing sustainable practices, could contribute to reducing uncertainty and valorizing local resources and capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to describe the framing of the pandemic that the world currently endures during the mandatory quarantine taking place in Argentina. This particular study is part of a bigger corpus of research that investigates the relationship between discourses held by enterprises, politicians and media in the digital age and how it affects communication at times of crisis. This is a qualitative study that explores emerging metaphorical language that is being implemented to communicate salient aspects of the unprecedented phenomenon that is COVID-19 in a partial way. It is important to point out that the analysis is made at the same time that the crisis is unfolding. In order to develop this perspective, we will rely on a previous framework developed to study communication of crisis. Our research has led us to identify a “family” of metaphors that emerge from the headlines of the corpus: war, care and time. Identifying and understanding the emerging metaphors is the first step to avoid contradictions that can lead to double binds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

Copyright of Retos: Nuevas Perspectivas de Educación Física, Deporte y Recreación is the property of Federacion Espanola de Asociaciones de Docentes de Educacion Fisica 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.)

This paper analyzes the media agendas on the vaccination process against Covid-19 in the main digital media in Argentina and the consumption of these news on Facebook, the main world´s social network. From a content analysis on the most relevant news in digital media on the subject and on those with the highest level of engagement, it was intended to determine: 1) the thematic composition of both agendas; 2) the differential presence of actors and points of view in the news; 3) the predominant affective attributes in the media treatment and in the public agenda; and 4) the frames that shaped the information in each of the platforms. The results show the existence of news gaps in terms of topics and frames, in a context of a heavily concentrated media environment. [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]

Copyright of Geopolitica(s): Revista de Estudios Sobre Espacio y Poder is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid 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]

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]

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]

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]

Copyright of Quaestio Iuris (QI) is the property of Editora da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (EdUERJ) 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 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]

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The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly modified the behavior of societies. The application of isolation measures during the crisis resulted in changes in the acoustic environment. The aim of this work was to characterize the perception of the acoustic environment during the COVID-19 lockdown of people residing in Argentina in 2020. A descriptive cross-sectional correlational study was carried out. A virtual survey was conducted from April 14 to 26, 2020, and was answered mainly by social network users. During this period, Argentina was in a strict lockdown. The sample was finally composed of 1371 people between 18 and 79 years old. It was observed that most of the participants preferred the new acoustic environment. Mainly in the larger cities, before the isolation, mechanical sounds predominated, accompanied by the perception of irritation. Confinement brought a decrease in mechanical sounds and an increase in biological sounds, associated with feelings of tranquility and happiness. The time window opened by the lockdown offered an interesting scenario to assess the effect of anthropogenic noise pollution on the urban environment. This result offers a subjective approach, which contributes to understanding the link between individuals and communities with the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The aim of our study was to determine through a systematic review and meta-analysis the incubation period of COVID-19. It was conducted based on the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA). Criteria for eligibility were all published population-based primary literature in PubMed interface and the Science Direct, dealing with incubation period of COVID-19, written in English, since December 2019 to December 2020. We estimated the mean of the incubation period using meta-analysis, taking into account between-study heterogeneity, and the analysis with moderator variables. Results: This review included 42 studies done predominantly in China. The mean and median incubation period were of maximum 8 days and 12 days respectively. In various parametric models, the 95th percentiles were in the range 10.3–16 days. The highest 99th percentile would be as long as 20.4 days. Out of the 10 included studies in the meta-analysis, 8 were conducted in China, 1 in Singapore, and 1 in Argentina. The pooled mean incubation period was 6.2 (95% CI 5.4, 7.0) days. The heterogeneity (I2 77.1%; p < 0.001) was decreased when we included the study quality and the method of calculation used as moderator variables (I2 0%). The mean incubation period ranged from 5.2 (95% CI 4.4 to 5.9) to 6.65 days (95% CI 6.0 to 7.2). Conclusions: This work provides additional evidence of incubation period for COVID-19 and showed that it is prudent not to dismiss the possibility of incubation periods up to 14 days at this stage of the epidemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Estudios Gerenciales is the property of Universidad ICESI 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.)

The current COVID-19 pandemic has had obvious, well-documented devastating effects on people's physical health. In this research, we investigate its potential effects on people's mental health. Many people have experienced social isolation, as countries attempt to stem the spread of the disease through confinement and other forms of social distancing. Intuitively, such social isolation may increase feelings of loneliness, and people may take logical steps to reduce their feelings of social isolation and loneliness. One route is through the use of social networking apps (e.g., Facebook, Instagram) and messaging and VoIP apps (e.g., WhatsApp, iMessage). In this research, we investigate the effects of pandemic-induced social isolation on social networking and messaging apps, and potential related effects on loneliness. We surveyed young adults (N = 334) who are part of the Centennial cohort (born after 1995) from three different countries (Italy, Argentina, UK) and obtained their screen time usage data over a 4-week period starting from mid-March 2020. This sampling procedure allowed us to obtain data from respondents who were experiencing different degrees of mandated social isolation (lockdowns), which enabled us to determine whether social network and messaging app usage increased as a function of social isolation, and to test potential effects on levels of loneliness. Results showed that only social network usage increased in the initial stage of confinement as a function of lockdown initiation. Additionally, social network app usage was associated with increased feelings of loneliness, and this relation was mediated by fear of missing out (FOMO). In contrast, messaging app usage was associated with decreased feelings of loneliness, and was unrelated to FOMO. These results suggest that technology may be useful for mitigating the impact of loneliness during social isolation but that it is necessary to promote usage of messaging and VoIP apps, rather than social networking apps, because they are directly associated with decreases in loneliness without increasing FOMO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Purpose: To promote nationwide dissemination and implementation of COVID-19 Risk Assessment and Safety Management Operational Guidelines, drawn up by SAMeR Task Force in ART centers in Argentina. Our objective is to prevent and mitigate the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 at an institutional level, while reducing the risk of infection among both physicians and patients in the context of a critical scenario in the local and Latin American healthcare system. Methods: SAMeR Executive Committee set up a crisis committee which was made up of specialists in reproductive medicine, embryology, and healthcare management. A critical and updated review of the advances in science, documents, and recommendations released by other societies (ASRM, ESHRE, IFFS, Red LARA, societies of anesthesiologists, infectious diseases, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration—OSHA) was carried out. Likewise, there were joint meetings with the Ministry of Health of Argentina in order to draw up the guidelines. Simultaneously, ongoing medical training was carried out, thus providing added value to them, including two status surveys of the activities of the monovalent and polyvalent centers according to the country's epidemiological mapping. Four additional recommendations were made, and online training was given to healthcare workers. The aforementioned regulations were first analyzed by the healthcare providers and their practical suggestions were then added to the guidelines. Results: The one-off collaborative work and the actions coordinated with the National ART Program of the Ministry of Health of Argentina resulted in the development and implementation of the present COVID-19 Risk Assessment and Safety Management Operational Guidelines at a national level. SAMeR gave recommendations for the implementation of the Management Guidelines for the center reopening, providing new safety criteria against the threat of viral contagion. A new organizational culture was promoted through the awareness of all the healthcare workers and teaching responsibility. We continue working on the compliance with a new "Code of Conduct and Commitment in Healthcare" and with workplace safety measures. We helped with transforming the theoretical knowledge into practical measures for the healthcare workers in different services, with the aim to prevent, mitigate, and/or handle contingencies at the centers/services and gamete banks, in line with the actions agreed upon with the Ministry of Health. Conclusions: As an extraordinary and uncertain event, the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic helped consolidate a volunteer-based and collaborative panel of SAMeR experts who developed the COVID-19 Risk Assessment and Safety Management Operational Guidelines as a new and readily available tool for physicians, patients, and gamete banks care. Their implementation has provided specific guidelines to minimize risk for professionals in ART clinics, as well as guaranteeing patient safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Disabled people are particularly exposed to the risks of COVID-19, as well as to the measures taken to address it, and their impact. The aim of the study was to examine the disability-inclusiveness of government responses to COVID-19 in four South American Countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Peru. Methods: We conducted documentary research, using framework analysis to analyse reports, legislation, decrees, and other official documents that communicated measures taken in response to the pandemic, published from February 1st until May 22nd, 2020. We included documents reporting measures that affected disabled people either directly (measures specifically designed for disabled people) or indirectly (measures for the general population). We developed an analytical framework based on recommendations for disability-inclusive response to COVID-19 published by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Carribean, the World Health Organisation, and other international organisations. Results: We analysed 72 documents. The findings highlight that while some positive measures were taken, the needs of disabled people were not fully considered. Several countries published recommendations for a disability-inclusive response to COVID-19, without ensuring their translation to practice. All countries took at least some steps to ensure access to financial support, health, and education for disabled people, but at the same time they also implemented policies that had a detrimental impact on disabled people. The populations that are most exposed to the impacts of COVID-19, including disabled people living in institutional care, were protected in several cases only by recommendations rather by legislation. Conclusions: This study illustrates how the official government responses taken by four countries in the region – while positive, in several aspects – do not fully address the needs of disabled people, thus further disadvantaging them. In order to ensure response to COVID − 19 is disability inclusive, it is necessary to translate recommendations to practice, consider disabled people both in mainstream policy and in disability-specific measures, and focus on the long-term reconstruction phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Scours is the most common disease in dairy calves, and it is a multifactorial syndrome complex. Cryptosporidium sp., rotavirus group A, and bovine coronavirus are the three main pathogens associated with scours. The objective of this study was to identify potential factors associated with scours and these three pathogens in preweaned dairy calves. The results of this study indicated that scours is a prevalent disease in farms of Salta, Argentina, and that rotavirus and Cryptosporidium sp. infections, along with specific farm management practices, might be important contributing factors that could increase the chance of scours in dairy farms. Scours is the most common disease in dairy calves, and it is a multifactorial syndrome complex. Cryptosporidium sp. (C. sp.), rotavirus group A (RVA), and bovine coronavirus (BCoV) are the three main pathogens associated with scours. The objective of this study was to identify potential factors associated with scours, C. sp., RVA, and BCoV infections in preweaned dairy calves from Lerma Valley in Salta Province, Argentina. A total of 488 preweaned calves from 19 dairy farms located in the Lerma Valley were enrolled in this observational study. One fecal sample was collected from each calf between one week and two months of age for assessment of C. sp., RVA, and BCoV infection status. Cryptosporidium sp. oocysts and RVA and BCoV antigens in fecal samples were assessed using microscopic observation and indirect enzyme-linked immune sorbent assay (iELISA), respectively. A voluntary questionnaire was developed and used to collect data regarding management practices from the participants' farms. The data were analyzed using multivariable logistic regression models. Scours incidence was 35.4%, and a greater proportion of calves younger than 20 days were affected. Of the fecal samples, 18% and 9.5% tested were positives for C. sp. and RVA, respectively, while BCoV was detected only in two calves. Furthermore, 84.2% and 63.1% of the farms tested positive for Cryptosporidium sp. and RVA, respectively. In addition, the following variables were associated with higher odds of having scours: (1) herd size (>300 milking cows; OR = 1.7), (2) calf age (<20 days of age; OR = 2.2), (3) RVA and C. sp. test (positive test; RVA OR = 2.6; C. sp. OR = 3), calf feeding practices (feeding milk replacer; OR = 1.81), and newborn calf management practices (calf moved from maternity pen <6 h after calving; OR = 1.7). Concerning RVA infection, calves less than 20 days of age (OR = 2.6) had a higher chance of testing positive for RVA, while calves that remained in the calving pen for less than 6 h after calving had a lower chance (OR = 0.3). On the other hand, for C. sp. infection, large farm size (>300 milking cows; OR = 1.2) and young calf age (<20 days of age; OR = 4.4) indicated a higher chance of testing positive for C. sp., while calves belonging to farms that fed frozen colostrum (OR = 0.2) had a lower chance of becoming infected with C. sp. The result of this study indicated that scours is a prevalent disease in farms of the Lerma Valley, Salta, Argentina, and that RVA and C. sp. infections, along with specific farm management practices, might be important contributing factors that could increase the chance of NCS in dairy farms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work studied the spread of COVID-19, the meteorological conditions and the air quality in a megacity from two viewpoints: (1) the correlation between meteorological and air quality (PM10 and NO2) variables with infections and deaths due COVID-19, and (2) the improvement in air quality. Both analyses were performed for the pandemic lockdown due to COVID-19 in the City of Buenos Aires (CABA), the capital and the largest city in Argentina. Daily data from temperature, rainfall, average relative humidity, wind speed, PM10, NO2, new cases and deaths due COVID-19 were analyzed. Our findings showed a significant correlation of meteorological and air quality variables with COVID-19 cases. The highest temperature correlation occurred before the confirmation day of new cases. PM10 presented the highest correlation within 13 to 15 days lag, while NO2 within 3 to 6 days lag. Also, reductions in PM10 and NO2 were observed. This study shows that exposure to air pollution was significantly correlated with an increased risk of becoming infected and dying due to COVID-19. Thus, these results show that the NO2 and PM10 levels in CABA can serve as one of the indicators to assess vulnerability to COVID-19. In addition, decision-makers can use this information to adopt strategies to restrict human mobility during the COVID-19 pandemic and future outbreaks of similar diseases in CABA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]