Spice up Your Chat: The Intentions and Sentiment Effects of Using Emoji

Emojis, as a new way of conveying nonverbal cues, are widely adopted in computer-mediated communications. In this paper, first from a message sender perspective, we focus on people's motives in using four types of emojis -- positive, neutral, negative, and non-facial. We compare the willingness levels of using these emoji types for seven typical intentions that people usually apply nonverbal cues for in communication. The results of extensive statistical hypothesis tests not only report the popularities of the intentions, but also uncover the subtle differences between emoji types in terms of intended uses. Second, from a perspective of message recipients, we further study the sentiment effects of emojis, as well as their duplications, on verbal messages. Different from previous studies in emoji sentiment, we study the sentiments of emojis and their contexts as a whole. The experiment results indicate that the powers of conveying sentiment are different between four emoji types, and the sentiment effects of emojis vary in the contexts of different valences.Comment: 10 pages, published at ICWSM'1

Assessment of the Effectiveness of Matrix Model Among Methadone Patients Using ATS in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

This study assessed the effectiveness of the application of the Matrix model in patients undergoing methadone treatment for Amphetamine-type substance (ATS) in Ho Chi Minh City. A total of 951 methadone patients were screened; 60 (16%) met the inclusion criteria and of those 51 (85%) completed 16 weeks of study procedures. Most of the participants were ATS users with moderate or higher risk of dependence. Compared to the non-intervention group, the intervention group showed a significant reduction in positive urine tests for methamphetamine (a decrease from 100% to 11% vs. a decrease from 100% to 98% for the non-intervention group, p<0.001) and for opiates (a decrease from 36.7% to 3.7% vs. a decrease from 43.3% to 29.2% for the non-intervention group). In the intervention group, the quality of life increased from 76.74 points to 85.5, the proportion of depression decreased from 43.3% to 18.5%, anxiety decreased from 30% to 11.1%, and stress decreased from 76.7% to 29.6%. In the non-intervention group, quality of life decreased from 75.2 points to 74.5 points, the proportion of depression decreased slightly from 40% to 36%, anxiety decreased from 33.3% to 24%, and stress decreased from 76.7% to 76.0%. The intervention group was significantly more likely to adhere to methadone treatment (p<0.001). The proportions of participants in the intervention group and non-intervention group who discontinued treatment were 10% and 20%, respectively. The study results suggested that the MATRIX model could help reduce ATS and opiate use and improve mental health as well as treatment adherence

Optimization of Total Flavonoid Extraction From the Helicteres hirsuta Lour. Roots by Bath Ultrasound Assisted method and cytotoxic activities of these Flavonoids

This study was carried out to optimize the various approaches to analyze the effects of various variables on the total flavonoid content extraction from the roots of Helicteres hirsuta L. The existence of various compounds in the methanol fraction was accessed by using LC-MS/MS analysis. The results of the study identified the ideal parameters such as times (30 minutes); methanol solvent concentration (50%); ultrasonic frequency (12 Hz); and material/solvent ratio [1:30 (w/v)] for extracting the highest total flavonoids from the roots of H. Hirsuta. The study's results suggested that the total flavonoid value was 3.52684 (mg Catechin/g extract). The verified experiment obtained an actual value of 5.205 (mg Catechin/g extract). Further, the results of the study suggested the presence of 20 compounds of a flavonoid nature (66.667%) appearing in the purified methanol fractional extract. These compounds can inhibit DPPH free radicals at 50%, with an IC50 value of 536.760 g/mL, and they also have inhibitory activity on the growth of cancer cell lines with IC50 values ranging from 115.81 and 219.17g/mL. The human leukemia cell line (HL-60) exhibits the most significant cytotoxic response to a methanol extract from H. hirsuta root with an IC50 value of 115.81 g/mL

Redondoviridae: High Prevalence and Possibly Chronic Shedding in Human Respiratory Tract, But No Zoonotic Transmission

Redondoviridae is a recently discovered DNA virus family consisting of two species, vientovirus and brisavirus. Here we used PCR amplification and sequencing to characterize redondoviruses in nasal/throat swabs collected longitudinally from a cohort of 58 individuals working with animals in Vietnam. We additionally analyzed samples from animals to which redondovirus DNA-positive participants were exposed. Redondoviruses were detected in approximately 60% of study participants, including 33% (30/91) of samples collected during episodes of acute respiratory disease and in 50% (29/58) of baseline samples (with no respiratory symptoms). Vientovirus (73%; 24/33) was detected more frequently in samples than brisaviruses (27%; 9/33). In the 23 participants with at least 2 redondovirus-positive samples among their longitudinal samples, 10 (43.5%) had identical redondovirus replication-gene sequences detected (sampling duration: 35–132 days). We found no identical redondovirus replication genes in samples from different participants, and no redondoviruses were detected in 53 pooled nasal/throat swabs collected from domestic animals. Phylogenetic analysis described no large-scale geographical clustering between viruses from Vietnam, the US, Spain, and China, indicating that redondoviruses are highly genetically diverse and have a wide geographical distribution. Collectively, our study provides novel insights into the Redondoviridae family in humans, describing a high prevalence, potentially associated with chronic shedding in the respiratory tract with lack of evidence of zoonotic transmission from close animal contacts. The tropism and potential pathogenicity of this viral family remain to be determined

Applying means-end chain theory and laddering interviews to the study of product attributes for Dalat potatoes

Dalat potato brand has currently been facing unfair competition from wholesalers using Chinese potatoes labeled with Vietnamese brand to disguise their true origin. Accordingly, potatoes from China are first transported to Lam Dong and then covered by Lam Dong soil to cheat consumers. This study, therefore, aims to explore key attributes of Dalat potatoes, and the benefits and values created by these attributes for consumers of Dalat potatoes. In order to address the research objective, the study uses a qualitative approach based on means-end chain theory and laddering interviews to collect and analyze the data. Eventually, the linkage between attributes, consequences and values are established to help governmental authorities of Lam Dong province to develop strategies for promoting Dalat potato brand. The finding shows that ‘High food value’, ‘Trustful product’ and ‘Tasty and greasy taste’ are key attributes of Dalat potatoes. The linkage between potatoes attributes, benefits and values show that consuming good farm produce like Dalat potatoes help consumers enjoy a better life. This is essential for authorities to position and build a more solid brand for this specialty. To conclude, the paper discusses some managerial implications for promoting and branding Dalat potatoes

Redondoviridae: High Prevalence and Possibly Chronic Shedding in Human Respiratory Tract, But No Zoonotic Transmission

Redondoviridae is a recently discovered DNA virus family consisting of two species, vientovirus and brisavirus. Here we used PCR amplification and sequencing to characterize redondoviruses in nasal/throat swabs collected longitudinally from a cohort of 58 individuals working with animals in Vietnam. We additionally analyzed samples from animals to which redondovirus DNA-positive participants were exposed. Redondoviruses were detected in approximately 60% of study participants, including 33% (30/91) of samples collected during episodes of acute respiratory disease and in 50% (29/58) of baseline samples (with no respiratory symptoms). Vientovirus (73%; 24/33) was detected more frequently in samples than brisaviruses (27%; 9/33). In the 23 participants with at least 2 redondovirus-positive samples among their longitudinal samples, 10 (43.5%) had identical redondovirus replication-gene sequences detected (sampling duration: 35–132 days). We found no identical redondovirus replication genes in samples from different participants, and no redondoviruses were detected in 53 pooled nasal/throat swabs collected from domestic animals. Phylogenetic analysis described no large-scale geographical clustering between viruses from Vietnam, the US, Spain, and China, indicating that redondoviruses are highly genetically diverse and have a wide geographical distribution. Collectively, our study provides novel insights into the Redondoviridae family in humans, describing a high prevalence, potentially associated with chronic shedding in the respiratory tract with lack of evidence of zoonotic transmission from close animal contacts. The tropism and potential pathogenicity of this viral family remain to be determined

The Virome of Acute Respiratory Diseases in Individuals at Risk of Zoonotic Infections

The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic emphasizes the need to actively study the virome of unexplained respiratory diseases. We performed viral metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) analysis of 91 nasal-throat swabs from individuals working with animals and with acute respiratory diseases. Fifteen virus RT-PCR-positive samples were included as controls, while the other 76 samples were RT-PCR negative for a wide panel of respiratory pathogens. Eukaryotic viruses detected by mNGS were then screened by PCR (using primers based on mNGS-derived contigs) in all samples to compare viral detection by mNGS versus PCR and assess the utility of mNGS in routine diagnostics. mNGS identified expected human rhinoviruses, enteroviruses, influenza A virus, coronavirus OC43, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) A in 13 of 15 (86.7%) positive control samples. Additionally, rotavirus, torque teno virus, human papillomavirus, human betaherpesvirus 7, cyclovirus, vientovirus, gemycircularvirus, and statovirus were identified through mNGS. Notably, complete genomes of novel cyclovirus, gemycircularvirus, and statovirus were genetically characterized. Using PCR screening, the novel cyclovirus was additionally detected in 5 and the novel gemycircularvirus in 12 of the remaining samples included for mNGS analysis. Our studies therefore provide pioneering data of the virome of acute-respiratory diseases from individuals at risk of zoonotic infections. The mNGS protocol/pipeline applied here is sensitive for the detection of a variety of viruses, including novel ones. More frequent detections of the novel viruses by PCR than by mNGS on the same samples suggests that PCR remains the most sensitive diagnostic test for viruses whose genomes are known. The detection of novel viruses expands our understanding of the respiratory virome of animal-exposed humans and warrant further studies