A basic tenet of psychology is that the psychological effects of negative information outweigh those of positive information. Three empirical studies show that the negativity bias can be attenuated or even reversed in the context of electronic word-of-mouth (eWoM). The first study analyzes a large sample of customer reviews collected from Amazon.com and concludes that negative reviews are no more helpful than positive ones when controlling for review quality The second study follows up with a virtual experiment that confirms the lack of negativity bias in evaluating the helpfulness of online reviews. The third study demonstrates that the negativity effect can be reversed by manipulating the baseline valences. This work challenges the conventional wisdom of "bad is stronger than good" and contributes to the understanding of the eWoM phenomenon.

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The human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 acts as the host cell receptor for SARS-CoV-2 and the other members of the Coronaviridae family SARS-CoV-1 and HCoV-NL63. Here we report the biophysical properties of the SARS-CoV-2 spike variants D614G, B.1.1.7, B.1.351 and P.1 with affinities to the ACE2 receptor and infectivity capacity, revealing weaknesses in the developed neutralising antibody approaches. Furthermore, we report a pre-clinical characterisation package for a soluble receptor decoy engineered to be catalytically inactive and immunologically inert, with broad neutralisation capacity, that represents an attractive therapeutic alternative in light of the mutational landscape of COVID-19. This construct efficiently neutralised four SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern. The decoy also displays antibody-like biophysical properties and manufacturability, strengthening its suitability as a first-line treatment option in prophylaxis or therapeutic regimens for COVID-19 and related viral infections. IMPORTANCE Mutational drift of SARS-CoV-2 risks rendering both therapeutics and vaccines less effective. Receptor decoy strategies utilising soluble human ACE2 may overcome the risk of viral mutational escape since mutations disrupting viral interaction with the ACE2 decoy will by necessity decrease virulence thereby preventing meaningful escape. The solution described here of a soluble ACE2 receptor decoy is significant for the following reasons: While previous ACE2-based therapeutics have been described, ours has novel features including (1) mutations within ACE2 to remove catalytical activity and systemic interference with the renin/angiotensin system; (2) abrogated FcγR engagement, reduced risk of antibody-dependent enhancement of infection and reduced risk of hyperinflammation, and (3) streamlined antibody-like purification process and scale-up manufacturability indicating that this receptor decoy could be produced quickly and easily at scale. Finally, we demonstrate that ACE2-based therapeutics confer a broad-spectrum neutralisation potency for ACE2-tropic viruses, including SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern in contrast to therapeutic mAb.

In this position article, we synthesize various knowledge gaps in information privacy scholarship and propose a research agenda that promotes greater cross‐disciplinary collaboration within the iSchool community and beyond. We start by critically examining Westin's conceptualization of information privacy and argue for a contextual approach that holds promise for overcoming some of Westin's weaknesses. We then highlight three contextual considerations for studying privacy—digital networks, marginalized populations, and the global context—and close by discussing how these considerations advance privacy theorization and technology design.

Taking a structuration perspective while integrating reciprocity research in economics, this study examines the dynamics of reciprocal interactions in social Q&A communities. We postulate that individual users of social Q&A constantly adjust their kindness into the direction of the observed benefit and effort of others. Collective reciprocity emerges from this pattern of conditional strategy of reciprocation and helps form a structure that guides the very interactions that give birth to the structure. Based on a large sample of data from Yahoo! Answers, our empirical analysis supports the collective reciprocity premise, showing that the more effort (relative to benefit) an asker contributes to the community, the more likely the community will return the favor. On the other hand, the more benefit (relative to effort) the asker takes from the community, the less likely the community will cooperate in terms of providing answers. We conclude that a structuration view of reciprocity sheds light on the duality of social norms in online communities.