Quality of Minority Health Communication: An Analysis of Hispanic-Targeted Health Websites.

The Internet has become one of the most used forms of health communication media. Using the Health on the Net code of conduct, this study examined the quality of health information available on the Internet for one of the United State\u27s fastest growing minorities, Hispanics. When comparing Hispanic-targeted websites with those that target the majority population, this study found significant differences with respect to quality. Specifically, sites targeting Hispanics had a lower level of quality than those that targeted the majority population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR

Faunistic data of micromoths (Lepidoptera) in North Korea

AbstractIn a study of material of microlepidoptera in North Korea that was collected during the zoological expeditions (1970s–1980s) conducted under a scientific agreement between Polish and North Korean academies of science, 17 species belonging to the superfamily Gelechioidea are recognized. Of the total, 11 species of Gelechiidae, two species of Oecophoridae, and two species of Coleophoridae are newly reported from North Korea. Scrobipalpa atriplicella (Fisher von Rölslerstamm, 1841) of Gelechiidae is reported for the first time from the Korean Peninsula. Images of adults and genitalia of all species are given

Framing On Facebook: Examining an Issues Management Approach to Obesity

This study utilized a quantitative content analysis to examine how ten major food corporations are managing and framing the obesity issue on Facebook. Despite the potential for communicating about issues with large numbers of active stakeholders on social media, corporations in our study are not maximizing their issues management efforts on this medium. This study reveals that the overall strategy used by these corporations involves providing individual-focused information about living healthy lifestyles. Food corporations are taking a very positive and empowering approach to the issue by refraining from using the term “obesity” in their messages and frames, providing personalized information related to empowering a healthy lifestyle, and using the product nutrition frame, all of which were found to be the more effective tactics in generating dialogue and positive reaction from stakeholders

How Spokesperson Rank and Selected Media Channels Impact Perceptions in Crisis Communication

This study examined the impact of spokesperson’s rank and selected media channels in crisis communication by employing different ranks (i.e., CEO and communication director spokespersons) and media channels (blogs, websites, and newspapers). Findings indicated that CEO spokespersons were more effective in terms of lowering publics’ crisis responsibility attributions than communication director spokespersons and that blogs were more effective in lowering crisis responsibility attributions than websites and newspapers

Targeting histone deacetylases to modulate graft-versus-host disease and graft-versus-leukemia

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is the main therapeutic strategy for patients with both malignant and nonmalignant disorders. The therapeutic benefits of allo-HSCT in malignant disorders are primarily derived from the graft-versus-leukemia (GvL) effect, in which T cells in the donor graft recognize and eradicate residual malignant cells. However, the same donor T cells can also recognize normal host tissues as foreign, leading to the development of graft-versus-host disease (GvHD), which is difficult to separate from GvL and is the most frequent and serious complication following allo-HSCT. Inhibition of donor T cell toxicity helps in reducing GvHD but also restricts GvL activity. Therefore, developing a novel therapeutic strategy that selectively suppresses GvHD without affecting GvL is essential. Recent studies have shown that inhibition of histone deacetylases (HDACs) not only inhibits the growth of tumor cells but also regulates the cytotoxic activity of T cells. Here, we compile the known therapeutic potential of HDAC inhibitors in preventing several stages of GvHD pathogenesis. Furthermore, we will also review the current clinical features of HDAC inhibitors in preventing and treating GvHD as well as maintaining GvL

Risk Factors for Suicidality in Individuals With Spinal Cord Injury: A Focus on Physical and Functional Characteristics

Objective To demonstrate the association between the physical and functional characteristics of individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) and suicidality, an area of research that is less understood than the association with demographic, social, and psychological characteristics. Methods A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted with 259 patients with SCI admitted for rehabilitation at the National Rehabilitation Center, Seoul, between January 2019 and December 2021. Demographic, SCI-related, physical, and functional data were collected from their medical records. Suicide risk was assessed using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Results The 259 participants had an average age of 49.1 years, and 75.7% were male. The analysis revealed a statistically significant negative correlation between age and suicidality. No significant differences were found for sex, education, occupation, or SCI-related factors. Lower upper extremity motor score (UEMS) was significantly associated with higher suicide risk. Regarding functional factors, the inability to perform independent rolling, come to sit, wheelchair propelling, and self-driving were associated with increased suicidality. In the multiple linear regression analysis, lower UEMS, limited shoulder joint motion, upper extremity spasticity, and dependent wheelchair propulsion were predictors of higher suicide risk. Conclusion This study highlights the associations among physical status, functional dependency, and suicide risk in individuals with SCI. These findings emphasize the need to address psychological aspects and physical and functional factors in the management of individuals with SCI who are at a high risk of suicide

GScluster: Network-weighted gene-set clustering analysis

Background: Gene-set analysis (GSA) has been commonly used to identify significantly altered pathways or functions from omics data. However, GSA often yields a long list of gene-sets, necessitating efficient post-processing for improved interpretation. Existing methods cluster the gene-sets based on the extent of their overlap to summarize the GSA results without considering interactions between gene-sets. Results: Here, we presented a novel network-weighted gene-set clustering that incorporates both the gene-set overlap and protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks. Three examples were demonstrated for microarray gene expression, GWAS summary, and RNA-sequencing data to which different GSA methods were applied. These examples as well as a global analysis show that the proposed method increases PPI densities and functional relevance of the resulting clusters. Additionally, distinct properties of gene-set distance measures were compared. The methods are implemented as an R/Shiny package GScluster that provides gene-set clustering and diverse functions for visualization of gene-sets and PPI networks. Conclusions: Network-weighted gene-set clustering provides functionally more relevant gene-set clusters and related network analysis

Multi-Omics Approach Reveals Dysregulation of Protein Phosphorylation Correlated with Lipid Metabolism in Mouse Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver

Obesity caused by overnutrition is a major risk factor for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Several lipid intermediates such as fatty acids, glycerophospholipids and sphingolipids are implicated in NAFLD, but detailed characterization of lipids and their functional links to proteome and phosphoproteome remain to be elucidated. To characterize this complex molecular relationship, we used a multi-omics approach by conducting comparative proteomic, phoshoproteomic and lipidomic analyses of high fat (HFD) and low fat (LFD) diet fed mice livers. We quantified 2447 proteins and 1339 phosphoproteins containing 1650 class I phosphosites, ofwhich 669 phosphositeswere significantly different between HFD and LFD mice livers. We detected alterations of proteins associated with cellular metabolic processes such as small molecule catabolic process, monocarboxylic acid, long- and medium-chain fatty acid, and ketone body metabolic processes, and peroxisome organization. We observed a significant downregulation of protein phosphorylation in HFD fed mice liver in general. Untargeted lipidomics identified upregulation of triacylglycerols, glycerolipids and ether glycerophosphocholines and downregulation of glycerophospholipids, such as lysoglycerophospholipids, as well as ceramides and acylcarnitines. Analysis of differentially regulated phosphosites revealed phosphorylation dependent deregulation of insulin signaling as well as lipogenic and lipolytic pathways during HFD induced obesity. Thus, this study reveals amolecular connection between decreased protein phosphorylation and lipolysis, as well as lipid-mediated signaling in diet-induced obesity

Biclustering analysis of transcriptome big data identifies condition-specific microRNA targets

We present a novel approach to identify human microRNA (miRNA) regulatory modules (mRNA targets and relevant cell conditions) by biclustering a large collection of mRNA fold-change data for sequence-specific targets. Bicluster targets were assessed using validated messenger RNA (mRNA) targets and exhibited on an average 17.0% (median 19.4%) improved gain in certainty (sensitivity + specificity). The net gain was further increased up to 32.0% (median 33.4%) by incorporating functional networks of targets. We analyzed cancer-specific biclusters and found that the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway is strongly enriched with targets of a few miRNAs in breast cancer and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Indeed, five independent prognostic miRNAs were identified, and repression of bicluster targets and pathway activity by miR-29 was experimentally validated. In total, 29 898 biclusters for 459 human miRNAs were collected in the BiMIR database where biclusters are searchable for miRNAs, tissues, diseases, keywords and target genes