The Influence of Culture Medium and Light Cycle on the Productivity of the Green Algae Neochloris Oleoabundans

Biofuels from algae are a promising source of alternative energy. One algae species, Neochloris oleoabundans, shows potential for successful biodiesel production, where biodiesel is produced from the neutral lipid content of the algae. Algal neutral lipid content may be influenced and increased by changes in the surrounding environment. One possible way to influence lipid synthesis is through the growth medium. Two published growth mediums were compared using photobioreactors. Two experimental runs were performed with each medium: 1) continuous light and 2) 12 hour on, 12 hour off light cycle. In addition to medium composition, the effect of light cycle on kinetics and energy content was investigated

Trusted Sources of Health Information During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background: As the role of media has evolved with display and consumption of health information, the need to decipher the quality of the information has become exceedingly important. This became more important during the covid-19 pandemic, when information was being formulated and released nearly real-time. Prior to the pandemic, government agencies, health professionals and authorities were generally trusted sources of information. Additionally, information passed more casually through family and acquaintances was also something people tended to rely upon. This paper explores the self-reported trustworthiness of different health information sources during the pandemic and also seeks to rank the importance from health information consumers. Methods: The study employed the COVID-19 Impact on Health and Well-being Survey (IHWS) created by members of UTRGV. Inside the IHWS demographic information was collected along with questions on trusted sources on health information. To be included for analysis all trusted sources questions needed to be complete; 640 of 836 observations were used. Using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) important factors on trusted sources of health information were created. Descriptive statistics were created and stratified by the PCA factors. Multivariable regression was then used to explore if sociodemographic (age, race, sex, education, income) variables were associated with mean factor scores. An alpha of 0.05 was used to determine significance. SAS 9.4 was used to perform all analysis. Results: The factors identified were Government/Non-Profits/News Outlets (F1), Family/Friends/social media(F2), Health Professionals (F3). The cumulative variance explained by the three factors was 67.1%. The majority of respondents were female (n=492, 78.2%), Hispanic (n=353, 55.3%), and college graduates (n=480, 75.1%). Age was associated with all factors, with younger respondents having less trust in sources. Income group was associated with F1 and F2, with higher incomes showing more trust in these factors. Race was associated with F1 with Caucasians showing less trust than Hispanics and other race groupings. Discussion: This research found three important factors on grouping trusted sources of information with domain specificity. The most important factor was government/non-profits/news outlets. Differences were found across sociodemographic across the factors demonstrating tailored informational dissemination might be more effective based on these characteristics

Exploration of factors in faith and their association with depression and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic

Background: Depression and anxiety are two of the most common mental health conditions afflicting a wide range of populations. They have been found to cause not only mental distress but also lead to poorer health outcomes. Research has sought to find the causes and risk factors regarding these conditions to better prevent their development and treat them adequately. Religions and faith, measured in various forms have been shown to both attenuate or exaggerate these effects. This research seeks to identify how self-reported faith was shown to be associated with the development and severity of depression and anxiety during the early months of the pandemic. Methods: Using the COVID-19 Impact on Health and Well-being Survey (IHWS) created by members of UTRGV. Validated instruments (FAITH scale, PHQ9 and GAD7) were used to construct faith factors and depression and anxiety measures. Descriptive statistics were created for all covariates and stratified by faith favors. Chi-square analysis was performed to examine the association between all covariates and faith factors. A final model using binary logistic regression explored how the self-reported faith factors were associated with anxiety and depression adjusted for all other covariates. An alpha of 0.05 was used to determine significance unless otherwise noted. SAS 9.4 was used to perform all analysis. Results: The majority of respondents were female (n=485, 78.6%), Hispanic (n=349, 56.0%), and college graduates (n=472, 75.9%). Overall, the proportion of moderate to severe depression and anxiety 9.6% and 19.2% respectively. Faith Factors (self-reported faith intensity, service attendance and weekly hours of prayer/meditation) were not associated with depression. Service attendance was associated with reduced anxiety in adjusted and unadjusted analysis. The odds of moderate to severe anxiety was 103% higher (OR=2.02 95% CI 1.12 = 3.70) for those who attended services monthly or less versus those who attended weekly or more. Discussion: Prior research has shown that positive faith and religious experiences generally attenuate depression and anxiety. This research found during the pandemic positive faith expression, service attendance and weekly prayer and meditation didn’t attenuate depression, but weekly or more service attendance did reduce moderate to severe anxiety

Social Connectedness, Physical Distancing, and Anxiety in Complying with Shelter-In-Place Orders and Advisories during the Once-In-A-Century COVID-19 Pandemic in the US: A Study of Social Media and Internet Users

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes coronavirus disease (COVID-19), was first identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. As of 20 October 2020, the virus had infected 8,202,552 people, with 220,061 deaths in US, and in countries around the world, over 38 million people have become infected and over one million have died. The virus usually spreads via respiratory droplets from an infected person. At the time of compiling this paper, while countries around the world are still striving to find a pharmaceutical intervention (PI) , including treatments and vaccines, they are left with only non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) , such as physical distancing, wearing masks, and maintaining personal hygiene. In the US, all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and five US territories issued mandatory stay-at-home orders between March 1 and 31 May 2020 to lower the risk of virus transmission. This study empirically examined how social connectedness and anxiety interact with shelter-in-place compliance and advisories during the pandemic. The study collected information from 494 adults using an online survey during April and July 2020

Factors Contributing to SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Hesitancy of Hispanic Population in Rio Grande Valley

Hispanic communities have been disproportionately affected by economic disparities. These inequalities have put Hispanics at an increased risk for preventable health conditions. In addition, the CDC reports Hispanics to have 1.5× COVID-19 infection rates and low vaccination rates. This study aims to identify the driving factors for COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy of Hispanic survey participants in the Rio Grande Valley. Our analysis used machine learning methods to identify significant associations between medical, economic, and social factors impacting the uptake and willingness to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. A combination of three classification methods (i.e., logistic regression, decision trees, and support vector machines) was used to classify observations based on the value of the targeted responses received and extract a robust subset of factors. Our analysis revealed different medical, economic, and social associations that correlate to other target population groups (i.e., males and females). According to the analysis performed on males, the Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC) value was 0.972. An MCC score of 0.805 was achieved by analyzing females, while the analysis of males and females achieved 0.797. Specifically, several medical, economic factors, and sociodemographic characteristics are more prevalent in vaccine-hesitant groups, such as asthma, hypertension, mental health problems, financial strain due to COVID-19, gender, lack of health insurance plans, and limited test availability

‘A victim, and that’s all’: the construction of Meredith Kercher in the British national newspapers

What journalistic techniques are employed to construct a newsworthy female murder victim in the age of social media? Focusing on Meredith Kercher’s murder, this article examines how Kercher’s victim persona was fashioned by the British national press before the arrests of Amanda Knox and two others. Contrary to prevailing perspectives, we argue that the newsworthy murder victim is not necessarily an ideal victim. Murder victim status in a news story is a multi-facetted construction, contingent on whatever will magnify newsworthiness. The Kercher case is the first example of British journalists using the murder victim’s Facebook content as the primary news resource, adding “authenticity” to the text and images used, since it originated from the victim herself. The research findings illustrate how Kercher was sexualized through the application of misogynist victim-blaming templates used in the reporting of sex crimes. It was the degradation of her ideal victim status that drove the initial newsworthiness of the murder story

Cross-cutting principles for planetary health education

Since the 2015 launch of the Rockefeller Foundation Lancet Commission on planetary health,1 an enormous groundswell of interest in planetary health education has emerged across many disciplines, institutions, and geographical regions. Advancing these global efforts in planetary health education will equip the next generation of scholars to address crucial questions in this emerging field and support the development of a community of practice. To provide a foundation for the growing interest and efforts in this field, the Planetary Health Alliance has facilitated the first attempt to create a set of principles for planetary health education that intersect education at all levels, across all scales, and in all regions of the world—ie, a set of cross-cutting principles