Freedom to Tweet or Tweet to Freedom: The Relationship between Freedom Status and Tweets during Elections

In this thesis, I conduct an exploratory study of the relationship between a country's freedom and the twitter activity during elections. While there have been many studies of Twitter and elections, there has been no previous research conducted to explore the relationship between a countries' freedom and how Twitter influences elections in that given country. My goal is to identify hypotheses for future work in this area, introduce research designs and to shed light on areas of research where there seems to be little indication of relationships. I explore this space with automated analysis of the tweets' text, election outcomes, freedom ratings for the countries, and sentiment analysis. My results show that there seems to be a weak relationship between the outcome of an election and the sentiment expressed towards a candidate in tweets and that there is no relationship between the freedom in a given country and the sentiment expressed towards the incumbent. I found promising initial results regarding the relationship among content removed from links during an election and freedom status of a country, as well as the correlation between how frequently a candidate is mentioned and the election outcome. In the discussion, I present research questions in areas that are promising for future work

Designing Cyberbullying Prevention and Mitigation Tools

While cyberbullying is prevalent among adolescents, attempts by researchers to evaluate mechanisms for its prevention and mitigation have been largely non-existent. In this dissertation, I argue that the complex nature of cyberbullying, made more challenging by the affordances of diverse social media, cannot be solved through strictly algorithmic approaches. Instead, I employ multidisciplinary methods to evaluate data generated by teens on social media and work with teens to develop and test potential cyberbullying mitigation solutions. I further argue that solutions focused on improving users' well-being after being targeted online offer designers a valuable tool in fighting back against the harm caused by cyberbullying. Based on the interdisciplinary studies conducted in this dissertation, I offer design recommendations for cyberbullying prevention and mitigation tools. I address the mitigation of adolescent cyberbullying through a multi-methodological approach: 1) data-centric exploratory study of discourse occurring alongside cyberbullying 2) an experimental design of reactions to positive messages in response to cyberbullying 3) human-centered participatory design to design cyberbullying mitigation prototypes and 4) a longitudinal study evaluating the effectiveness of cyberbullying mitigation tools. I offer design recommendations for building and administering cyberbullying mitigation tools. This dissertation begins with a data-centric study to understand \textit{why} users are motivated to post and interact through ASKfm, a social media platform that affords cyberbullying and how anonymity and the site's other affordances affect these interactions. I discuss the unique affordances specific to semi-anonymous Q\&A social media platforms and how such affordances enable users to engage in self-disclosure and gaining social support on sensitive topics. I then present two studies to first determine if users will be receptive to anonymous positive messages responding to bullying messages, then to administer positive messages or \textit{Cyberbully Reversal Pings} to ASKfm users who have received bullying messages. I then use a human-centered approach methodology to co-design cyberbullying prototypes with teens. I use the design recommendations derived from the participatory design study to test the impact of a cyberbullying mitigation system. I address technological mechanisms to mitigate sadness and decline in well-being caused by negative online experiences and cyberbullying. I administer cyberbullying mitigation through technology-mediated memory; in other words, I use positive posts and images participants have previously shared on social media to remind them of existing social support in users’ social networks. The studies in this dissertation comprise of a mixed methods approach to understand social media platforms on which cyberbullying occurs, work collaboratively with users to design mitigation platforms and ultimately evaluate a cyberbullying mitigation platform with real users. These aforementioned studies result in design recommendations for building cyberbullying mitigation tools and design recommendations for designing a study to evaluate a cyberbullying mitigation tool

Exploitation of resources and cardiovascular outcomes in low-risk patients with chest pain hospitalized in coronary care units

Habibollah Saadat¹, Hossein Shiri², Zahra Salarpour², Tahereh Ashktorab² , Hamid Alavi Majd², Zahra Saadat¹, Hosein Vakili¹ 1Cardiovascular Research Center, Modarres Hospital, Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran; 2Nursing School, Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Background: Most patients who present to medical centers due to chest pain do not suffer from acute coronary syndromes and do not need to be hospitalized in coronary care units (CCUs). This study was done to determine exploitation of resources and cardiovascular outcomes in low-risk patients with chest pain hospitalized in CCUs of educational hospitals affiliated with a major medical university. Methods: Over a 4-month period, 550 patients with chest pain who were hospitalized in the CCUs belonging to six hospitals affiliated to the authors' medical university were recruited by census method. Using Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction risk score, 95 patients (17.27%) were categorized as low-risk patients. This group was evaluated with respect to demographics, bed occupancy rate, mean hospitalization period, expenses during admission, and cardiovascular outcomes in the 30-day period postdischarge. Results: Mean (± standard deviation) hospitalization duration was 3.04 (±0.71) days. No significant difference was seen between the six surveyed hospitals regarding hospitalization duration (P = 0.602). The highest bed occupancy rate was seen in Taleghani and Shohada Tajrish hospitals and the lowest was in Modarres Hospital. The mean paid treatment expenses by low-risk patients was IRR 2,050,000 (US$205). Mean total hospitalization expenses was US$205. No significant difference was seen between the six surveyed hospitals (P = 0.699). Of the patients studied, 89.5% did not show any cardiovascular complications in 1 month and no deaths occurred. Conclusion: Given the high bed-occupancy rate by low-risk patients, associated high hospitalization costs, and the lack of cardiovascular complications in patients observed at 1-month follow-up after discharge, it is recommended that appropriate evaluations be performed in emergency units to prevent unnecessary admissions. Keywords: bed occupancy, hospitalization expenses, low-risk patients, chest pain, exploitation of resource

iAnon: Leveraging Social Network Big Data to Mitigate Behavioral Symptoms of Cyberbullying

Because of the widespread use of social networks, it is difficult for victims of cyberbullying to seek refuge from this torment of bullying. Some social networking sites, like ask.fm, enable abusive behavior by allowing users to send public messages to one another anonymously. Under the guise of anonymity, users of these services can send abusive messages to one another without being accountable for their actions. This abusive behavior has real world consequences.In this paper, we introduce iAnon, a tool that aims to support victims of cyberbullying by providing anonymous support through their social networks. iAnon automatically detects ask.fm users who are at risk and allows third party ”do-gooders” to anonymously send friendly encouraging messages to victims. We hope that our tool, iAnon, can help mitigate feelings of depression and loneliness that are often felt by victims of cyberbullying by providing an online support system for cyberbullying victims.published or submitted for publicationis peer reviewe

Preventive effects of an oral rinse Peppermint essence on chemotherapy-induced oral mucosistis

Introduction: Oral mucositis (OM) is a significant and frequent complication of chemotherapy, whichresults in delayed or incomplete chemotherapeutic management. This study was conducted to determinethe effects of an oral rinse Peppermint essence (PE) in the prevention of chemotherapy- induced OMMaterials & Methods: In this double blind clinical trial, 40 patients with colon or rectum cancers, whoadmitted for chemotherapeutic management, randomly divided in two equal placebo and PE groups. PEand placebo groups were received 10 drops of oral rinse PE or placebo, three times a day, from the firstday of chemotherapy up to the fourteenth day, respectively. A bipartite questionnaire was used forobtaining demographic and clinical information. The evaluation of OM was measured using the WHOscale. Content and inter-rater methods were used for validity and reliability of tools, respectively (r =0.93).Results: The incidence of OM between the PE group (15%) and the placebo group (50%) wassignificantly different (p<0.05). The risk of OM in the placebo group was 3.3 higher than the PE group.Moreover, a significant difference between the grade and incidence time of OM was found between bothgroups (p<0.05).Conclusion: According to these results, it seems that oral rinse PE is an effective, safe and welltoleratedmethod for prophylactic treatment of chemotherapy- induced OM

Esophageal carcinoma in African Americans: A five-decade experience

Background Esophageal cancer accounts for a considerable proportion of carcinomas of the upper gastrointestinal tract in African Americans. Our aim was to describe the epidemiology of esophageal squamous cell cancer (ESCC) and esophageal adenocarcinoma (EA) among African Americans in the last five decades. Methods A total of 601 records of patients with documented esophageal cancer between 1959 and 2007 at Howard University Hospital were reviewed. Demographic characteristics, risk factors, clinical stage and histological findings were reviewed. The change in prevalence of the disease and the interaction between main risk factors with tumor stage of the patients were assessed over the years of this study. Result A total of 552 patients (91.8%) had ESCC while 49 patients (8.2%) had EA. The mean age at diagnosis was 60.1 and 60.6 years for ESCC and EA, respectively (P = 0.8). The peak incidence was in the 1980-1989 decade. Out of 136 ESCC patients with TNM staging information, 130 (95.6%) were diagnosed in stage 2 and above. The majority (73%) of the ESCC were in the mid- and upper third of the esophagus and associated with smoking and alcohol exposure. The majority (81%) of the EA were in the mid- and lower third. The most common presenting symptoms were dysphagia (77.7%), and weight loss (31.9%). Conclusion ESCC is the predominant esophageal cancer in African Americans and diagnosed in late stages, and its diagnosis in our institution has decreased since 1990. A combination of genetic factors, environmental influences (e.g., those related to diet), and the deleterious changes associated with smoking and alcohol consumption, and differences in tumor histology, are the obvious parameters that should be the focus of future studies, and early diagnosis at an earlier stage should be considered among blacks. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011

Esophageal carcinoma in African Americans: A five-decade experience

Background Esophageal cancer accounts for a considerable proportion of carcinomas of the upper gastrointestinal tract in African Americans. Our aim was to describe the epidemiology of esophageal squamous cell cancer (ESCC) and esophageal adenocarcinoma (EA) among African Americans in the last five decades. Methods A total of 601 records of patients with documented esophageal cancer between 1959 and 2007 at Howard University Hospital were reviewed. Demographic characteristics, risk factors, clinical stage and histological findings were reviewed. The change in prevalence of the disease and the interaction between main risk factors with tumor stage of the patients were assessed over the years of this study. Result A total of 552 patients (91.8%) had ESCC while 49 patients (8.2%) had EA. The mean age at diagnosis was 60.1 and 60.6 years for ESCC and EA, respectively (P = 0.8). The peak incidence was in the 1980-1989 decade. Out of 136 ESCC patients with TNM staging information, 130 (95.6%) were diagnosed in stage 2 and above. The majority (73%) of the ESCC were in the mid- and upper third of the esophagus and associated with smoking and alcohol exposure. The majority (81%) of the EA were in the mid- and lower third. The most common presenting symptoms were dysphagia (77.7%), and weight loss (31.9%). Conclusion ESCC is the predominant esophageal cancer in African Americans and diagnosed in late stages, and its diagnosis in our institution has decreased since 1990. A combination of genetic factors, environmental influences (e.g., those related to diet), and the deleterious changes associated with smoking and alcohol consumption, and differences in tumor histology, are the obvious parameters that should be the focus of future studies, and early diagnosis at an earlier stage should be considered among blacks. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011