Characterizing organ donation awareness from social media

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the IEEE via the DOI in this recordApproximately 22 people die every day in the USA due to a lack of organs for transplant. Research suggests that the most effective solution is to increase organ donor rates; current, proposals range from expanding the donor eligibility criteria (donor pool) to performing mass media campaigns. However, little is known about the extent in which activities on social media are associated with aspects (e.g. awareness) of organ donation. Our hypothesis is that social media can be utilized as a sensor to characterize organ donation awareness and population engagement in donation for each different organ. In this sense, we collected Twitter messages (tweets) regarding organ donation, and characterized organ awareness by aggregating tweets from users who mostly mentioned that organ. Similarly, we assessed the relative risk between the cumulative incidence of organ related conversations inside and outside geographical regions to characterize them regarding organ donation awareness. Our characterization suggests that organ-related conversations on social media seems to be indeed associated with aspects of organ donation such as the co-occurrence of organ transplantations. Also, we found variations regarding the specific organs that are prominently discussed in each geographical region, and that such variations seem to be associated with aspects of organ donation in that region; for instance, the abnormal amount of conversations about kidneys in Kansas. Our findings suggest that the proposed approach has the potential to characterize the awareness of organ donation in real-Time

A data-driven social network intervention for improving organ donation awareness among minorities: analysis and optimization of a cross-sectional study

This is the author accepted manuscriptBACKGROUND: Increasing the number of organ donors may enhance organ transplantation, and past health interventions have shown the potential to generate both large-scale and sustainable changes, particularly among minorities. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to propose a conceptual data-driven framework that tracks digital markers of public organ donation awareness using Twitter and delivers an optimized social network intervention (SNI) to targeted audiences using Facebook. METHODS: We monitored digital markers of organ donation awareness across the United States over a 1-year period using Twitter and examined their association with organ donation registration. We delivered this SNI on Facebook with and without optimized awareness content (ie, educational content with a weblink to an online donor registration website) to low-income Hispanics in Los Angeles over a 1-month period and measured the daily number of impressions (ie, exposure to information) and clicks (ie, engagement) among the target audience. RESULTS: Digital markers of organ donation awareness on Twitter are associated with donation registration (beta=.0032; P<.001) such that 10 additional organ-related tweets are associated with a 3.20% (33,933/1,060,403) increase in the number of organ donor registrations at the city level. In addition, our SNI on Facebook effectively reached 1 million users, and the use of optimization significantly increased the rate of clicks per impression (beta=.0213; P<.004). CONCLUSIONS: Our framework can provide a real-time characterization of organ donation awareness while effectively delivering tailored interventions to minority communities. It can complement past approaches to create large-scale, sustainable interventions that are capable of raising awareness and effectively mitigate disparities in organ donation.Rosenfeld Heart Foundatio

The Effects of Renal Cold Storage and Transplantation on Immunoproteasome and the Complement System

Renal transplantation is the preferred method of treatment for end stage kidney disease. The majority of donor kidneys come from deceased donors and have to be stored in cold storage solution (CS) until the recipient is identified. However, prolonged CS is associated with poor long-term outcome. Unfortunately, the mechanisms of CS-related damage are largely unknown. Our laboratory recently reported that the proteasome and renal function were significantly decreased in rat kidney transplants that involved CS combined with transplantation (CS/Tx), as opposed to those that did not undergo CS (auto-transplantation/ATx). The long-term goal is to improve the transplant outcome by identifying CS-mediated renal damage and by acquiring targeted therapies during CS. This study contributes to that objective by characterizing immunoproteasome (a proteasome variant) and complement (a group of serum proteins that participates in eliminating pathogens and debris) activation within the kidneys after CS/Tx. Our hypothesis is that CS/Tx will exacerbate the function of immunoproteasome and complement systems. Lewis rat kidneys exposed to 18 hours of cold storage were used for transplantation (CS/Tx). Kidneys with no CS exposure were transplanted (ATx) and used as a transplant control. The sham (Sh) kidneys with right nephrectomy were used as a control. Using paraffin embedded kidney sections and immunohistochemistry/immunofluorescence, immunoproteasome and complement levels/function were evaluated. Immunoproteasome function was significantly increased only after CS/Tx when compared to Sh and ATx. Immunohistochemistry of kidney sections revealed a modest increase of immunoproteasome catalytic subunits, LMP2 and LMP10, after ATx when compared to Sh; but a profound increase of these subunits was detected after CS/Tx. Similarly, complement proteins C3 (an upstream component) and C5b-9 (a cytolytic terminal activation product), were increased in kidneys after ATx (detected by immunofluorescence), but an excessive increase of these proteins was observed after CS/Tx. Furthermore, TUNEL assay revealed exacerbated cell death in kidney sections after CS/Tx, whereas ATx showed a slight increase of cell death. These results suggest that the prolonged CS worsens activation of the immunoproteasome and complement system leading to renal damage/dysfunction

The Effects of Renal Cold Storage and Transplantation on Immunoproteasome and the Complement System

Renal transplantation is the preferred method of treatment for end stage kidney disease. The majority of donor kidneys come from deceased donors and have to be stored in cold storage solution (CS) until the recipient is identified. However, prolonged CS is associated with poor long-term outcome. Unfortunately, the mechanisms of CS-related damage are largely unknown. Our laboratory recently reported that the proteasome and renal function were significantly decreased in rat kidney transplants that involved CS combined with transplantation (CS/Tx), as opposed to those that did not undergo CS (auto-transplantation/ATx). The long-term goal is to improve the transplant outcome by identifying CS-mediated renal damage and by acquiring targeted therapies during CS. This study contributes to that objective by characterizing immunoproteasome (a proteasome variant) and complement (a group of serum proteins that participates in eliminating pathogens and debris) activation within the kidneys after CS/Tx. Our hypothesis is that CS/Tx will exacerbate the function of immunoproteasome and complement systems. Lewis rat kidneys exposed to 18 hours of cold storage were used for transplantation (CS/Tx). Kidneys with no CS exposure were transplanted (ATx) and used as a transplant control. The sham (Sh) kidneys with right nephrectomy were used as a control. Using paraffin embedded kidney sections and immunohistochemistry/immunofluorescence, immunoproteasome and complement levels/function were evaluated. Immunoproteasome function was significantly increased only after CS/Tx when compared to Sh and ATx. Immunohistochemistry of kidney sections revealed a modest increase of immunoproteasome catalytic subunits, LMP2 and LMP10, after ATx when compared to Sh; but a profound increase of these subunits was detected after CS/Tx. Similarly, complement proteins C3 (an upstream component) and C5b-9 (a cytolytic terminal activation product), were increased in kidneys after ATx (detected by immunofluorescence), but an excessive increase of these proteins was observed after CS/Tx. Furthermore, TUNEL assay revealed exacerbated cell death in kidney sections after CS/Tx, whereas ATx showed a slight increase of cell death. These results suggest that the prolonged CS worsens activation of the immunoproteasome and complement system leading to renal damage/dysfunction

A Community-Driven Intervention for Improving Biospecimen Donation in African American Communities

Introduction Human biospecimens are an invaluable resource for addressing cancers and other chronic diseases. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of an educational intervention on biospecimen knowledge and attitudes. Methods The participants consisted of 112 African Americans, 18 years and older, and who had not provided biospecimens for any health-related research in the past. A total of 55 participants received the educational brochure, and 57 received the educational video. The main outcomes of the study were knowledge and attitudes for biospecimen donation. This information was collected pre- and post-intervention. Results The average knowledge scores increased (p \u3c 0.0001) and the average attitude scores for biospecimen donation improved (p \u3c 0.0001) post-intervention for both the video and brochure conditions. There was an interaction between the intervention condition and knowledge where the participants who received the educational video showed a greater increase in knowledge pre-to-post compared to those who received the educational brochure (p = 0.0061). There were no significant interactions between the two intervention conditions for attitudes toward biospecimen donation. Discussion The results of this study demonstrated the feasibility and efficacy of an academic institution collaborating with the African American community in developing educational tools for biospecimen donation

Understanding awareness and completion of advanced care directives: An exploratory study

Background: Advance Care Directives (ACDs) are forms that are beneficial for expressing end-of-life wishes during Advance Care Planning (ACP); however, few studies have focused on awareness and completion among college-aged populations. Completion of ACDs are more common among populations forced to think about potential of death, such as the elderly and chronically ill. Methodology: This research is comprised of two parts in order to explore the availability of resources on four-year public institutions’ official websites (institutional level), and college-aged students’ beliefs and values. The institutional level took inventory of information available on the official websites of four-year public institutions (n=1,642). The student level surveyed JMU students (n=360) with an online questionnaire comprised of demographic questions, beliefs and values scales, and general ACD questions. Results: The majority of four-year public institutions do not provide public information to their students regarding ACDs and ACP. Students showed higher scores on the Death Depression Scale and College Beliefs and Values Scale when there was no knowledge of ACP. Discussion: Institutions that do not provide information regarding ACDs and ACP should use other institutions as models for designing materials that will raise awareness and assist students in completing these documents. The Death Depression Scale and one subscale of the College Students Beliefs and Values Scale identified the likelihood of ACP knowledge. Lower average scores on the Death Depression Scale and organ donation are two of the most significant predictors of likelihood of ACP knowledge or completion. Keywords: advanced care planning, advanced care directive, college students, four-year public institution, death, end-of-lif

Ethical challenges in nephrology : a call for action

The American Society of Nephrology, the European Renal Association-European Dialysis and Transplant Association and the International Society of Nephrology Joint Working Group on Ethical Issues in Nephrology have identified ten broad areas of ethical concern as priority challenges that require collaborative action. Here, we describe these challenges - equity in access to kidney failure care, avoiding futile dialysis, reducing dialysis costs, shared decision-making in kidney failure care, living donor risk evaluation and decision-making, priority setting in kidney disease prevention and care, the ethical implications of genetic kidney diseases, responsible advocacy for kidney health and management of conflicts of interest - with the aim of highlighting the need for ethical analysis of specific issues, as well as for the development of tools and training to support clinicians who treat patients with kidney disease in practising ethically and contributing to ethical policy-making. Here, the ASN-ERA-EDTA-ISN Joint Working Group on Ethical Issues in Nephrology highlights ten areas of ethical concern as priority challenges that require collaborative action and discusses the need for development of ethical training and guidance tools to manage these issues

A Partnership for Health: Minorities & Biomedical Research

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has long recognized that minority populations bear a disproportionate burden of sickness and disease in the United States. Differences in racial and ethnic backgrounds can affect susceptibility to infectious and immunologic diseases, including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), asthma, sexually transmitted infections, and kidney disease. Moreover, minority populations often do not fully benefit from research advances that have helped improve the health of other Americans. For more than 50 years, NIAID has progressed in understanding, treating, and preventing infectious and immunologic diseases known to occur disparately in minority populations. As outlined in its Strategic Plan for Addressing Health Disparities, NIAID continues to prioritize basic, clinical, and epidemiological research in addressing the health disparities in minority populations. Specifically, NIAID supports efforts to increase the participation of minority scientists in its research, increase the participation of the minority community in clinical research, and design targeted outreach activities for minority communities that communicate research developments and health risk