The association between the risk perceptions of COVID-19, trust in the government, political ideologies, and socio-demographic factors: A year-long cross-sectional study in South Korea

Risk perception research, targeting the general public, necessitates the study of the multi-faceted aspects of perceived risk through a holistic approach. This study aimed to investigate the association between the two dimensions of risk perception of COVID-19, i.e., risk as a feeling and analysis, trust in the current government, political ideologies, and socio-demographic factors in South Korea. This study used a year-long repeated cross-sectional design, in which a national sample (n = 23,018) participated in 23 consecutive telephone surveys from February 2020 to February 2021. Most factors differed in the magnitude and direction of their relationships with the two dimensions of risk perception. However, trust in the current government, alone, delineated an association in the same direction for both dimensions, i.e., those with a lower level of trust exhibited higher levels of cognitive and affective risk perception. Although these results did not change significantly during the one-year observation period, they are related to the political interpretation of risk. This study revealed that affective and cognitive risk perceptions addressed different dimensions of risk perception. These findings could help governments and health authorities better understand the nature and mechanisms of public risk perception when implementing countermeasures and policies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and other public health emergencies

Relationship between economic loss and anxiety during the Coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic: moderating effects of knowledge, gratitude, and perceived stress

Objectives: The prolonged coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused individuals to suffer economic losses, in particular due to the implementation of intensive quarantine policies. Economic loss can cause anxiety and has a negative psychological impact on individuals, worsening their mental health and satisfaction with life. We examined the protective and risk factors that can influence the relationship between economic loss and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Panel data from 911 participants were collected in April and May 2020 and again 6 months later. We analyzed the relationship between economic loss and anxiety and investigated the moderating effects of knowledge about COVID-19, gratitude, and perceived stress. Moreover, we investigated whether there were any changes in moderating effects over time or in different demographic groups. Results: In the early stages of the spread of COVID-19, gratitude (B = –0.0211, F = 4.8130, p < 0.05) and perceived stress (B = 0.0278, F = 9.3139, p < 0.01) had moderating effects on the relationship between economic loss and anxiety. However, after 6 months, only perceived stress had a significant moderating effect (B = 0.0265, F = 7.8734, p < 0.01). Conclusion: In the early stages of COVID-19, lower levels of gratitude and higher perceived stress led to greater anxiety. In later stages of the prolonged pandemic, only perceived stress had a continued moderating effect on the relationship between economic loss and anxiety. This study suggests that psychological interventions to reduce perceived stress are needed to treat the possible adverse effects of the spread of infectious diseases on mental health

Overexpression of serum amyloid a 1 induces depressive-like behavior in mice

Alzheimer&apos;s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by loss of memory and cognitive abilities. In AD, amyloid β (Aβ) protein aggregates in the brain of patients, forming amyloid plaques. Aβ plaques are known to be surrounded by activated microglial cells. Serum amyloid A (SAA) is elevated from several hundred to 1000-fold as part of the immune response against various injuries, including trauma, infection, and inflammation. Additionally, continuous elevation of SAA is related to the development of amyloidosis. This study was designed to identify the relationship between SAA1 and AD using liver specific SAA1 overexpressing mice (TG), because SAA1 is expressed in the liver during the acute phase. We detected exogenous SAA1 expression in the brain of TG mice. This result implies that liver-derived SAA1 migrates to the brain tissues. Thus, we confirmed that the blood brain barrier (BBB) functioned normally using Evans-blue staining and CARS. Furthermore, our results show an increase in the accumulation of the 87 kDa form of Aβ in TG mice compared to wild type mice (WT). Additionally, the number of microglial cells and levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines were increased. Next, we investigated the relationship between SAA1 and depression by performing social interaction tests. The results showed that TG mice have a tendency to avoid stranger mice and an impaired social recognition. In conclusion, the SAA1 TG mouse model is a valuable model to study depression. © 2016 Elsevier B.V.

Genomic characterization of malonate positive Cronobacter sakazakii serotype O:2, sequence type 64 strains, isolated from clinical, food, and environment samples

Abstract Background Malonate utilization, an important differential trait, well recognized as being possessed by six of the seven Cronobacter species is thought to be largely absent in Cronobacter sakazakii (Csak). The current study provides experimental evidence that confirms the presence of a malonate utilization operon in 24 strains of sequence type (ST) 64, obtained from Europe, Middle East, China, and USA; it offers explanations regarding the genomic diversity and phylogenetic relatedness among these strains, and that of other C. sakazakii strains. Results In this study, the presence of a malonate utilization operon in these strains was initially identified by DNA microarray analysis (MA) out of a pool of 347 strains obtained from various surveillance studies involving clinical, spices, milk powder sources and powdered infant formula production facilities in Ireland and Germany, and dried dairy powder manufacturing facilities in the USA. All ST64 C. sakazakii strains tested could utilize malonate. Zebrafish embryo infection studies showed that C. sakazakii ST64 strains are as virulent as other Cronobacter species. Parallel whole genome sequencing (WGS) and MA showed that the strains phylogenetically grouped as a separate clade among the Csak species cluster. Additionally, these strains possessed the Csak O:2 serotype. The nine-gene, ~ 7.7 kbp malonate utilization operon was located in these strains between two conserved flanking genes, gyrB and katG. Plasmidotyping results showed that these strains possessed the virulence plasmid pESA3, but in contrast to the USA ST64 Csak strains, ST64 Csak strains isolated from sources in Europe and the Middle East, did not possess the type six secretion system effector vgrG gene. Conclusions Until this investigation, the presence of malonate-positive Csak strains, which are associated with foods and clinical cases, was under appreciated. If this trait was used solely to identify Cronobacter strains, many strains would likely be misidentified. Parallel WGS and MA were useful in characterizing the total genome content of these Csak O:2, ST64, malonate-positive strains and further provides an understanding of their phylogenetic relatedness among other virulent C. sakazakii strains