The media use of diaspora in a conflict situation : A case study of Venezuelans in Finland

Many Venezuelan emigrants have an emotional connection and/or they have family members and friends in the country of origin, and that is why they seek to find reliable information on the conflict situation in Venezuela. Therefore, they keep in touch with family members, read mainstream news and use different social media platforms. Thus, what kind of impact the conflict has on the media use and how events reported in the media are interpreted is investigated in this study of Venezuelan diaspora in Finland by using social media ethnography. There are internal and external factors behind the media use. External factors come from societies of the host and origin countries. Internal factors rise from family connections and identity construction concerning personal national identity or political activism.Peer reviewe

Nomogram for Predicting Individual Survival After Recurrence of Advanced-Stage, High-Grade Ovarian Carcinoma.

ObjectiveTo analyze clinical prognostic factors for survival after recurrence of high-grade, advanced-stage ovarian-peritoneal-tubal carcinoma and to develop a nomogram to predict individual survival after recurrence.MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed patients treated in multicenter Gynecologic Oncology Group protocols for stage III and IV ovarian-peritoneal-tubal carcinoma who underwent primary debulking surgery, received chemotherapy with paclitaxel and a platinum compound, and subsequently developed recurrence. Prognostic factors affecting survival were identified and used to develop a nomogram, which was both internally and externally validated.ResultsThere were 4,739 patients included in this analysis, of whom, 84% had stage III and 16% had stage IV ovarian carcinoma. At a median follow-up of 88.8 months (95% CI 86.2-92.0 months), the vast majority of patients (89.4%) had died. The median survival after recurrence was 21.4 months (95% CI 20.5-21.9 months). Time to recurrence after initial chemotherapy, clear cell or mucinous histology, performance status, stage IV disease, and age were significant variables used to develop a nomogram for survival after recurrence, which had a concordance index of 0.67. The time to recurrence alone accounted for 85% of the prognostic information. Similar results were found for patients who underwent second look laparotomy and had a complete pathologic response or received intraperitoneal chemotherapy.ConclusionFor individuals with advanced-stage ovarian carcinoma who recur after standard first-line therapy, estimated survivals after recurrence are closely related to the time to recurrence after chemotherapy and prognostic variables can be used to predict subsequent survival.Clinical trial registrationClinialTrials.gov, NCT00002568, NCT00837993, NCT00002717, NCT01074398, and NCT00011986

A social network approach to examine K-12 educational leaders’ influence on information diffusion on Twitter

This study investigated the relationship between the leader’s gender, leadership position, Twitter use, and influence on information diffusion in the communication network on Twitter. We collected the 30,200 latest tweets of 151 active Twitter users who held educational leadership positions. Results of social network analysis and multiple regression analyses suggest a gender inequality in the leader’s influence on information diffusion in the network. Findings also indicate no significant relationship between leadership position (district vs. building) and a leader\u27s influence in the network. Moreover, Twitter following was positively associated with the leader’s influence in the network, whereas the number of followers, weekly tweets, and the time of Twitter account creation did not predict the leader’s influence. Practical implications on how leaders use Twitter to disseminate information are discussed

Understanding Crowd-Powered Search Groups: A Social Network Perspective

Background: Crowd-powered search is a new form of search and problem solving scheme that involves collaboration among a potentially large number of voluntary Web users. Human flesh search (HFS), a particular form of crowd-powered search originated in China, has seen tremendous growth since its inception in 2001. HFS presents a valuable test-bed for scientists to validate existing and new theories in social computing, sociology, behavioral sciences, and so forth. Methodology: In this research, we construct an aggregated HFS group, consisting of the participants and their relationships in a comprehensive set of identified HFS episodes. We study the topological properties and the evolution of the aggregated network and different sub-groups in the network. We also identify the key HFS participants according to a variety of measures. Conclusions: We found that, as compared with other online social networks, HFS participant network shares the power-law degree distribution and small-world property, but with a looser and more distributed organizational structure, leading to the diversity, decentralization, and independence of HFS participants. In addition, the HFS group has been becoming increasingly decentralized. The comparisons of different HFS sub-groups reveal that HFS participants collaborated more often when they conducted the searches in local platforms or the searches requiring a certain level of professional knowledge background. On the contrary, HFS participants did not collaborate much when they performed the search tas

Global wealth disparities drive adherence to COVID-safe pathways in head and neck cancer surgery

Peer reviewe

Influence of mental health perception and willingness-to-pay towards intention-to-support inclusion of mental health coverage in health insurance schemes: a cross sectional study in Malaysia

Background: Across the globe, there have been many mental health disorders and one of the suggested ways of financing mental health disorders is mental health insurance coverage. This study is aimed at determining the influence of mental health perception (MHP) and willingness- to-pay (WTP) towards supporting inclusion of mental health coverage in health insurance schemes in Malaysia.Methods: A validated questionnaire was utilized for this study whereby three variables of the study (MHP, WTP and intention-to-support) were measured. The structured questionnaire contained closed ended questions where present of dichotomous (yes/no), multiple choice questions and 7-point Likert scale questions. 800 questionnaires were distributed to target respondents through online platforms. The inclusion criteria were local citizen of Malaysia, those who gave consent to take part in the study, literate in English, aged 21 years old and above. The data were analysed utilizing statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) software version 23.0.Results: More than half (87.7%) of the respondents agreed to pay for monthly mental health insurance premiums. Among those who were unwilling to pay (12.4%), were unable to afford the mental health insurance. Similarly, majority of respondents had favourable perception of mental health disorders. Correlation and regression analysis revealed that both WTP and influence of MHP were significant predictors of intention to support.Conclusions: WTP and influence of MHP are important predictors that should be highlighted in creating equitable mental health care for all.</jats:p