Media content about vaccines in the United States and Canada, 2012-2014: An analysis using data from the Vaccine Sentimeter.

Background: A system for monitoring vaccine-related media content was previously developed and studied from an international perspective. This monitoring approach could also have value at a regional level, but it has yet to be evaluated at this scale. We examined regional patterns of vaccine-related media topics and sentiment in the US and Canada.

Publicly Available Online Tool Facilitates Real-Time Monitoring Of Vaccine Conversations And Sentiments.

Real-time monitoring of mainstream and social media can inform public health practitioners and policy makers about vaccine sentiment and hesitancy. We describe a publicly available platform for monitoring vaccination-related content, called the Vaccine Sentimeter. With automated data collection from 100,000 mainstream media sources and Twitter, natural-language processing for automated filtering, and manual curation to ensure accuracy, the Vaccine Sentimeter offers a global real-time view of vaccination conversations online.

Increasing Patient Engagement in Pharmacovigilance Through Online Community Outreach and Mobile Reporting Applications: An Analysis of Adverse Event Reporting for the Essure Device in the US.

Background: Preparing and submitting a voluntary adverse event (AE) report to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a medical device typically takes 40 min. User-friendly Web and mobile reporting apps may increase efficiency. Further, coupled with strategies for direct patient involvement, patient engagement in AE reporting may be improved.

Comparing timeliness, content, and disease severity of formal and informal source outbreak reporting.

Background: Infectious disease surveillance has recently seen many changes including rapid growth of informal surveillance, acting both as competitor and a facilitator to traditional surveillance, as well as the implementation of the revised International Health Regulations. The present study aims to compare outbreak reporting by formal and informal sources given such changes in the field.

Methods: 111 outbreaks identified from June to December 2012 were studied using first formal source report and first informal source report collected by HealthMap, an automated and curated aggregator of data sources for infectious disease surveillance.

Effect of low-level laser treatment on cochlea hair-cell recovery after acute acoustic trauma.

We investigated the effect of low-level laser radiation on rescuing hair cells of the cochlea after acute acoustic trauma and hearing loss. Nine rats were exposed to noise. Starting the following day, the left ears (NL ears) of the rats were irradiated at an energy output of 100 to 165 mW/cm(2) for 60 min for 12 days in a row.

An in vitro and in vivo study of combination therapy with Photogem®-mediated photodynamic therapy and cisplatin on mouse cancer cells (CT-26).

Objective: This study was designed to evaluate the anticancer effect of cisplatin and photodynamic therapy (PDT) combined in vitro and in vivo.

Background Data: PDT, these days, is a promising modality for the treatment of cancer and infections. In order to optimize the treatment, cisplatin is often combined with other chemotherapeutic agents.

College students' perceived risk and anxiety after reading airplane crash news.

328 college students in midwest and west coast regions read one of five news stories (four airplane crash and one irrelevant) or none. They estimated the likelihood of their victimization in an airplane crash and indicated the maximum amount of time that they would be willing to spend driving in lieu of flying. Analysis showed those who read one of the airplane crash stories reported higher perceived risk of victimization than did those who read the irrelevant story or none.

Relations of perceived ethnic disparity to involvement in ethnic and host cultures.

Among 124 single foreign students residing in the USA, this study examined the relations between perceived ethnic disparity, consisting of physical, cultural. and linguistic dimensions, and ethnic and host culture involvement. The Ethnic Disparity Perception Inventory, a 44-item Likert scale devised to measure perceived ethnic disparity, showed perceived physical disparity (r = .

Drench effects of media portrayal of fatal virus disease on health locus of control beliefs.

Drawing on the notion of the drench hypothesis proposed by Greenberg (1988), the author proposes a preliminary theoretical framework to explain "drenching" effects of dramatic media. Three drench variables-perceived realism, role identification, and media involvement-were identified and tested regarding their role in mediating the impact of virus disease portrayals on health locus-of-control belief orientations. Participants in the experimental condition watched the movie Outbreak (a portrayal of an outbreak of a deadly virus disease).

College students' responses to content-specific advisories regarding television and movies.

Extending Ingold's research on adult viewers' responses to mature content advisories, this study examined the likelihood of viewing television programs and of viewing theatrical movies with general and content-specific advisories. The results show that among the 63 undergraduate men, viewing likelihood was increased significantly with the provision of all types of mature content advisories, whereas among the 122 undergraduate women viewing interest increased with the 'sexuality' advisory but decreased with the 'violence' advisory.

Sex differences in sport spectator involvement.

Among 107 male and 166 female college students, the present study examined sex differences in involvement with sports as spectators. A 14-item Likert-type scale was used to measure the subjects' emotional, cognitive, and behavioral involvement in sports as spectators. Confirming prior findings, male subjects exhibited higher involvement with sport spectating than did females.