The double-edged sword of social media usage during the COVID-19 pandemic: demographical and cultural analyses

Purpose This exploratory research aims to (1) investigate the bright and dark sides of social media use during the COVID-19 pandemic; (2) explore the impact of demographic factors on social media usage; and (3) assess the effects of cultural dimensions on social media usage. Design/methodology/approach The data are collected through an online survey. Factors derived from grounded theories and models such as affordance theory and Hofstede\u27s cultural framework were considered. Spearman correlation and nonparametric analysis were used to test the hypotheses. Findings The results revealed that social media usage was positively associated with healing and affiliation, and negatively associated with self-control. There are also positive associations between social media usage and sharing information related to COVID-19 without verification, perceived reliability of COVID-19 information on social media and relapse. The impact of demographic and cultural factors indicated significant effects of gender, age, marital status, educational level, power distance and collectivism on social media usage, sharing information, perceived information reliability, healing and affiliation. Originality/value This study contributes to technology affordances by examining social media\u27s positive and negative affordances in a new context (COVID-19 pandemic). From the positive side, this study explores the use of social media for healing and affiliation. As for the negative impact of social media during the pandemic, this study assesses the user\u27s addiction to social media use (relapse) and perception of the social media information reliability and information sharing without verification. It is among few research endeavors conducted in a non-Western country. This study also examines the influence of demographic and cultural factors on social media users. The results provide insights for both researchers and policymakers regarding social media usage

Effect of statins on atrial fibrillation: collaborative meta-analysis of published and unpublished evidence from randomised controlled trials

Objective To examine whether statins can reduce the risk of atrial fibrillation. Design Meta-analysis of published and unpublished results from larger scale statin trials, with comparison of the findings against the published results from smaller scale or shorter duration studies. Data sources Medline, Embase, and Cochrane's CENTRAL up to October 2010. Unpublished data from longer term trials were obtained through contact with investigators. Study selection Randomised controlled trials comparing statin with no statin or comparing high dose versus standard dose statin; all longer term trials had at least 100 participants and at least six months' follow-up. Results In published data from 13 short term trials (4414 randomised patients, 659 events), statin treatment seemed to reduce the odds of an episode of atrial fibrillation by 39% (odds ratio 0.61, 95% confidence interval 0.51 to 0.74; P<0.001), but there was significant heterogeneity (P<0.001) between the trials. In contrast, among 22 longer term and mostly larger trials of statin versus control (105 791 randomised patients, 2535 events), statin treatment was not associated with a significant reduction in atrial fibrillation (0.95, 0.88 to 1.03; P=0.24) (P<0.001 for test of difference between the two sets of trials). Seven longer term trials of more intensive versus standard statin regimens (28 964 randomised patients and 1419 events) also showed no evidence of a reduction in the risk of atrial fibrillation (1.00, 0.90 to 1.12; P=0.99). Conclusions The suggested beneficial effect of statins on atrial fibrillation from published shorter term studies is not supported by a comprehensive review of published and unpublished evidence from larger scale trials

A cross-cultural study of the intention to use mobile banking between Lebanese and British consumers: Extending UTAUT2 with security, privacy and trust

This study aims to examine the key factors that may hinder or facilitate the adoption of mobile banking services in a cross-cultural context. A conceptual framework was developed through extending the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology UTAUT2 by incorporating three additional constructs, namely trust (TR), security (PS) and privacy (PP). Data were collected using an online survey and a self-administrated questionnaire from 901 mobile banking users who were either Lebanese or English. These were analysed using structural equation modelling based on AMOS 23.0. The results of this analysis indicated that behavioural intention towards adoption of mobile banking services was influenced by habit (HB), perceived security (PS), perceived privacy (PP) and trust (TR) for both the Lebanese and English consumers. In addition, performance expectancy (PE) was a significant predictor in Lebanon but not in England; whereas price value (PV) was significant in England but not in Lebanon. Contrary to our expectation, Social Influence (SI) and Hedonic Motivations (HM) were insignificant for both the Lebanese and English consumers. Overall, the proposed model achieved acceptable fit and explained 78% of the variance for the Lebanese sample and 83% for the English sample – both of which are higher than that of the original UTAUT2. These findings are expected to help policy makers and bank directors understand the issues facing mobile banking adoption in different cultural settings. Subsequently, they will help guide them in formulating appropriate strategies to improve the uptake of mobile banking activities. As the low mobile banking adoption rate in Lebanon can be attributed to the novelty of this technology, the Lebanese banking sector stands to greatly benefit from this study

An empirical examination of the moderating role of age and gender in consumer mobile banking use: a cross-national, quantitative study

Purpose Despite the benefits of mobile banking services in an increasingly digitised world, adoption rates remain unsatisfactory. The present cross-national study examines age- and gender-dependent variations of consumer intentions and use of mobile banking services. Design/methodology/approach The study analyses consumer mobile banking use by integrating factors such as with trust, security and privacy and it examines the effects of these factors among two demographic factors including age and gender. 897 Lebanese and British mobile banking users completed a survey. Data was analysed by partial least squares-structural equations modelling. Findings Consumer behavioural intention was significantly moderated by age through its relationship with facilitating conditions and trust among Lebanese respondents, and performance expectancy, effort expectancy, hedonic motivation, price value and habit among their British counterparts. As for gender, a significant moderating effect was evidenced in the Lebanese, but not the British sample, on the level of performance expectancy, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions, price value and perceived security. Originality/value The findings provide evidence of the applicability of the new factors proposed in this research. The reflection of the influence of these demographic factors in a cross-national context provides insights into mobile banking adoption variation between different countries

Use of uterine fundal pressure maneuver at vaginal delivery and risk of severe perineal laceration

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Greensporone A, a fungal secondary metabolite suppressed constitutively activated AKT via ROS generation and induced apoptosis in leukemic cell lines

Greensporone A is a fungal secondary metabolite that has exhibited potential in vitro for anti-proliferative activity in vitro. We studied the anticancer activity of greensporone A in a panel of leukemic cell lines. Greensporone A-mediated inhibition of proliferation is found to be associated with the induction of apoptotic cell death. Greensporone A treatment of leukemic cells causes inactivation of constitutively activated AKT and its downstream targets, including members GSK3 and FOXO1, and causes downregulation of antiapoptotic genes such as Inhibitor of Apoptosis (IAPs) and Bcl-2. Furthermore, Bax, a proapoptotic member of the Bcl-2 family, was found to be upregulated in leukemic cell lines treated with greensporone A. Interestingly, gene silencing of AKT using AKT specific siRNA suppressed the expression of Bcl-2 with enhanced expression of Bax. Greensporone A-mediated increase in Bax/Bcl-2 ratio causes permeabilization of the mitochondrial membrane leading to the accumulation of cytochrome c in the cytoplasm. Greensporone A-induced cytochrome c accumulation causes the activation of caspase cascade and cleavage of its effector, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), leading to apoptosis. Greensporone A-mediated apoptosis in leukemic cells occurs through the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) due to depletion of glutathione (GSH) levels. Finally, greensporone A potentiated the anticancer activity of imatinib in leukemic cells. In summary, our study showed that greensporone A suppressed the growth of leukemic cells via induction of apoptotic cell death. The apoptotic cell death occurs by inhibition of AKT signaling and activation of the intrinsic apoptotic/caspase pathways. These results raise the possibility that greensporone A could be developed as a therapeutic agent for the treatment of leukemia and other hematological malignancies.Qatar University , University of North Carolina, National Palliative Care Research Center, Jordan University of Science and Technolog

Copper chelation selectively kills colon cancer cells through redox cycling and generation of reactive oxygen species

Background: Metals including iron, copper and zinc are essential for physiological processes yet can be toxic at high concentrations. However the role of these metals in the progression of cancer is not well defined. Here we study the anti-tumor activity of the metal chelator, TPEN, and define its mechanism of action.Methods: Multiple approaches were employed, including cell viability, cell cycle analysis, multiple measurements of apoptosis, and mitochondrial function. In addition we measured cellular metal contents and employed EPR to record redox cycling of TPEN-metal complexes. Mouse xenografts were also performed to test the efficacy of TPEN in vivo.Results: We show that metal chelation using TPEN (5μM) selectively induces cell death in HCT116 colon cancer cells without affecting the viability of non-cancerous colon or intestinal cells. Cell death was associated with increased levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and was inhibited by antioxidants and by prior chelation of copper. Interestingly, HCT116 cells accumulate copper to 7-folds higher levels than normal colon cells, and the TPEN-copper complex engages in redox cycling to generate hydroxyl radicals. Consistently, TPEN exhibits robust anti-tumor activity in vivo in colon cancer mouse xenografts.Conclusion: Our data show that TPEN induces cell death by chelating copper to produce TPEN-copper complexes that engage in redox cycling to selectively eliminate colon cancer cells. © 2014 Fatfat et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

Serum Phosphorus and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease, All-Cause Mortality, or Graft Failure in Kidney Transplant Recipients: An Ancillary Study of the FAVORIT Trial Cohort

Mild hyperphosphatemia is a putative risk factor for cardiovascular disease [CVD], loss of kidney function, and mortality. Very limited data are available from sizable multicenter kidney transplant recipient (KTR) cohorts assessing the potential relationships between serum phosphorus levels and the development of CVD outcomes, transplant failure, or all-cause mortality