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Public Discourse, User Reactions, and Conspiracy Theories on the X Platform About HIV Vaccines: Data Mining and Content Analysis
Get PDFBackground:
The initiation of clinical trials for messenger RNA (mRNA) HIV vaccines in early 2022 revived public discussion on HIV vaccines after 3 decades of unsuccessful research. These trials followed the success of mRNA technology in COVID-19 vaccines but unfolded amid intense vaccine debates during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is crucial to gain insights into public discourse and reactions about potential new vaccines, and social media platforms such as X (formerly known as Twitter) provide important channels.
Objective:
Drawing from infodemiology and infoveillance research, this study investigated the patterns of public discourse and message-level drivers of user reactions on X regarding HIV vaccines by analyzing posts using machine learning algorithms. We examined how users used different post types to contribute to topics and valence and how these topics and valence influenced like and repost counts. In addition, the study identified salient aspects of HIV vaccines related to COVID-19 and prominent anti–HIV vaccine conspiracy theories through manual coding.
Methods:
We collected 36,424 English-language original posts about HIV vaccines on the X platform from January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2022. We used topic modeling and sentiment analysis to uncover latent topics and valence, which were subsequently analyzed across post types in cross-tabulation analyses and integrated into linear regression models to predict user reactions, specifically likes and reposts. Furthermore, we manually coded the 1000 most engaged posts about HIV and COVID-19 to uncover salient aspects of HIV vaccines related to COVID-19 and the 1000 most engaged negative posts to identify prominent anti–HIV vaccine conspiracy theories.
Results:
Topic modeling revealed 3 topics: HIV and COVID-19, mRNA HIV vaccine trials, and HIV vaccine and immunity. HIV and COVID-19 underscored the connections between HIV vaccines and COVID-19 vaccines, as evidenced by subtopics about their reciprocal impact on development and various comparisons. The overall valence of the posts was marginally positive. Compared to self-composed posts initiating new conversations, there was a higher proportion of HIV and COVID-19–related and negative posts among quote posts and replies, which contribute to existing conversations. The topic of mRNA HIV vaccine trials, most evident in self-composed posts, increased repost counts. Positive valence increased like and repost counts. Prominent anti–HIV vaccine conspiracy theories often falsely linked HIV vaccines to concurrent COVID-19 and other HIV-related events.
Conclusions:
The results highlight COVID-19 as a significant context for public discourse and reactions regarding HIV vaccines from both positive and negative perspectives. The success of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines shed a positive light on HIV vaccines. However, COVID-19 also situated HIV vaccines in a negative context, as observed in some anti–HIV vaccine conspiracy theories misleadingly connecting HIV vaccines with COVID-19. These findings have implications for public health communication strategies concerning HIV vaccines
Exploring boaters’ intentions and awareness to explain why some anchor on coral reefs
Get PDFCoral reefs provide a variety of ecosystem services to humans, but are also degrading due to human activities such as damage from boat anchoring. Anchoring on reef could occur intentionally, because boaters prioritize other considerations that outweigh any desire to not anchor on reef, or unintentionally, because they lack true awareness of the seabed habitat. We conducted structured interviews, informed by the Theory of Planned Behavior, with 130 boaters in the British Virgin Islands to uncover the motivations and awareness underlying their anchoring behavior. Perceived awareness is rarely ground-truthed, so we checked interview responses of anchored boats by snorkeling to observe the seabed underlying their anchor and anchor chain. All respondents stated a strong aversion to anchoring on coral reef. The few boats we observed anchored on reef did so unintentionally due to a mismatch between their perceived and actual awareness of the seabed habitat. Potential management actions to reduce anchoring on reef thus include measures that increase awareness of seabed habitats. Mooring buoys are an alternative to anchoring at some sites, so increased use of moorings is another option because it should decrease the proportion of boats that anchor, which, in turn, should reduce unintentional anchoring on coral. The decision to use a mooring rather than anchor is, however, multifaceted. Boaters are less likely to choose moorings if they perceive moorings as inconvenient to pre-book, do not trust the moorings are secure, or prefer more secluded areas. Boaters also noted that, during peak boating season, the option to moor is reduced because moorings are sometimes fully occupied. Despite this complexity, our findings suggest several local management options that could further reduce the minority of boats anchoring on coral
Every color of the rainbow: a framework for analyzing LGBTQIA + representation in children’s picture books
No full textThis pilot project analyzed 185 children’s picture books, published 2018–2020, that feature members of the LGBTQIA + community as primary, secondary, or background characters. In developing a framework that builds upon classifications from Diverse BookFinder, the Cooperative Children’s Book Center, and the Rainbow Book List, the purpose of the study was to determine which members within the LGBTQIA + community are most frequently represented in picture books and what types of stories are being shared about this community. Additionally, this content analysis explored the representation of intersecting social identities by tracking how often LGBTQIA + characters were also depicted as Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) or as having a disability. While the analysis revealed a surprising breadth of representation, it also highlighted the prevalence of biographies and stories of resilience in picture books featuring LGBTQIA + characters as well as the continued erasure of some LGBTQIA + identities and orientations, including nonbinary, bisexual, intersex, two-spirit, and pansexual representation. Although more than 60% of the sample included LGBTQIA + BIPOC characters, there was limited representation of LGBTQIA + characters who were depicted as having a disability. This study also revealed some challenges and inconsistencies in labeling LGBTQIA + content and characters, particularly in respect to gender nonconformity
Unbound Fractions of PFAS in Human and Rodent Tissues: Rat Liver a Suitable Proxy for Evaluating Emerging PFAS?
Get PDFAdverse health effects associated with exposures to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a concern for public health and are driven by their elimination half-lives and accumulation in specific tissues. However, data on PFAS binding in human tissues are limited. Accumulation of PFAS in human tissues has been linked to interactions with specific proteins and lipids in target organs. Additional data on PFAS binding and unbound fractions (funbound) in whole human tissues are urgently needed. Here, we address this gap by using rapid equilibrium dialysis to measure the binding and funbound of 16 PFAS with 3 to 13 perfluorinated carbon atoms (ηpfc = 3–13) and several functional headgroups in human liver, lung, kidney, heart, and brain tissue. We compare results to mouse (C57BL/6 and CD-1) and rat tissues. Results show that funbound decreases with increasing fluorinated carbon chain length and hydrophobicity. Among human tissues, PFAS binding was generally greatest in brain \u3e liver ≈ kidneys ≈ heart \u3e lungs. A correlation analysis among human and rodent tissues identified rat liver as a suitable surrogate for predicting funbound for PFAS in human tissues (R2 ≥ 0.98). The funbound data resulting from this work and the rat liver prediction method offer input parameters and tools for toxicokinetic models for legacy and emerging PFAS
Learning Outcomes, Benefits, and Challenges of International Research Experiences for Students (IRES): An Exploratory Study of an IRES Program in China
Get PDFDespite the increasing number of international programs targeting students’ learning of research and intercultural skills, there has been limited holistic investigation of students’ experiences employing both qualitative and quantitative methods. In this study, we incorporated several measures to explore students’ experiences in an International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) program, which benefited from the existing partnership between Virginia Tech in the U.S. and Shandong University in China. We examined students’ intercultural competence and interdisciplinary research skills and explored students’ stories of their lived experiences across three cohorts, each with five students, who completed the IRES program. Both open-ended survey responses and interview data demonstrate that the experience allowed students to learn skills involving the various tools, methods, and processes needed to conduct experiments and solve interdisciplinary problems. In particular, qualitative data further demonstrated the influence of the program on students’ desire to pursue graduate degrees and navigate the research process. While the behavioral dimension of cultural intelligence did not show a major improvement, student interviews suggested enhanced student abilities in interpersonal interactions, including non-verbal and verbal means for effective communication. We provide explanations for the differences between quantitative and qualitative results. Reflecting on the results, we elaborate on the importance of structural elements necessary for creating international experiences for students and the need to examine students\u27 learning processes using different means of data collection
Patterns in the temporal complexity of global chlorophyll concentration
Get PDFDecades of research have relied on satellite-based estimates of chlorophyll-a concentration to identify oceanographic processes and plan in situ observational campaigns; however, the patterns of intrinsic temporal variation in chlorophyll-a concentration have not been investigated on a global scale. Here we develop a metric to quantify time series complexity (i.e., a measure of the ups and downs of sequential observations) in chlorophyll-a concentration and show that seemingly disparate regions (e.g., Atlantic vs Indian, equatorial vs subtropical) in the global ocean can be inherently similar. These patterns can be linked to the regularity of chlorophyll-a concentration change and the likelihood of anomalous events within the satellite record. Despite distinct spatial changes in decadal chlorophyll-a concentration, changes in time series complexity have been relatively consistent. This work provides different metrics for monitoring the global ocean and suggests that the complexity of chlorophyll-a time series can be independent of its magnitude
Ongoing Laboratory Performance Study on Chemical Analysis of Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Compounds in Three Aquatic Passive Samplers
Get PDFThe quality of chemical analysis is an important aspect of passive sampling-based environmental assessments. The present study reports on a proficiency testing program for the chemical analysis of hydrophobic organic compounds in silicone and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) passive samplers and hydrophilic compounds in polar organic chemical integrative samplers. The median between-laboratory coefficients of variation (CVs) of hydrophobic compound concentrations in the polymer phase were 33% (silicone) and 38% (LDPE), similar to the CVs obtained in four earlier rounds of this program. The median CV over all rounds was 32%. Much higher variabilities were observed for hydrophilic compound concentrations in the sorbent: 50% for the untransformed data and a factor of 1.6 after log transformation. Limiting the data to the best performing laboratories did not result in less variability. Data quality for hydrophilic compounds was only weakly related to the use of structurally identical internal standards and was unrelated to the choice of extraction solvent and extraction time. Standard deviations of the aqueous concentration estimates for hydrophobic compound sampling by the best performing laboratories were 0.21 log units for silicone and 0.27 log units for LDPE (factors of 1.6 to 1.9). The implications are that proficiency testing programs may give more realistic estimates of uncertainties in chemical analysis than within-laboratory quality control programs and that these high uncertainties should be taken into account in environmental assessments
From Sea to Shining Sea: A Survey of Intellectual Freedom Practices in the United States
Get PDFThe American Library Association provides a form for librarians to share challenges to library materials for the purposes of gathering data and providing support. In the face of increasing challenges to library materials, some states have also developed local procedures for gathering information and providing local support. In 2023, the presenters distributed a survey to gather information from states, territories, and tribal nations that do not publicly share their procedures to document efforts. This presentation will share the preliminary survey results showing differences across entities, lessons learned, and areas for future research
