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The sequencing of a kidney sample (KW2013002) from a stranded Megaptera novaeangliae (Humpback whale) calf is the first chromosome-level reference genome for this species1. The calf, a 457 cm and 2,500 lbs male, was found stranded in Hawai'i Kai, HI, in 2013 and was marked as abandoned/orphaned. In 2023, 1 g of kidney was sequenced with PacBio long-read DNA sequencing, chromatin conformation capture (Hi-C), RNA sequencing, and mitochondrial sequencing to comprehensively characterize the genome and transcriptome of M. novaeangliae. Data validation includes a synteny analysis, mitochondrial annotation, and a comparison of BUSCO scores (scaffold v. reference genome and Balaenoptera musculus (Blue whale) v. M. novaeangliae). BUSCO analysis was performed on an M. novaeangliae scaffold-level assembly to determine genomic completeness of the reference genome, with a scaffold BUSCO score of 91.2% versus a score of 95.4%. Synteny analysis was performed using the B. musculus genome as comparison to determine chromosome-level coverage and structure. Further, a time-based phylogenetic tree was constructed using the sequenced data and publicly available genomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Current measures of vaping behaviors in the U.S. do not distinguish what substances participants are vaping and to what extent they are dual-vaping nicotine and cannabis. This study describes the use of new survey questions that more specifically ask whether participants who vape are vaping nicotine, cannabis, cannabidiol (CBD), or another substance. Aims and Methods Adults, who reported any past 30-day tobacco use, from five New England states participated in an online survey from April 2021 to July 2022. Participants who vaped were asked, "Have you used any of the following vape substances in the past 30 days?" with the possible responses of nicotine, cannabis, CBD, other, and "don't know." Dual use of both nicotine and cannabis was defined as the vaping of both nicotine and cannabis and/or CBD in the past 30 days, operationalized as a dichotomous outcome. Data were collected in monthly, repeated cross-sectional waves. Multinomial logistic regression was used to examine correlates of dual-vaping. Results The analytic sample included 1547 adults who reported past 30-day tobacco use (mean age 42.9 years, 62.8% female, 85.4% White, 48.5% income of less than $50 000). Over one-quarter (26.1%) reported dual-vaping in the past 30 days. Identifying as male (p  = .002) and self-rated anxiety (p  = .043) were associated with a higher odds of dual-vaping. Conclusions Our findings show that a sizable proportion of a sample of New England adults who have used tobacco in the past 30 days are dual-vaping nicotine and cannabis. Adequate survey measures for assessing the vaping of multiple substances can help in better screening and characterization of health behaviors around dual-use. Implications This study addresses a key gap in adequate survey measures for assessing vaping of multiple substances. We found that among adults with past 30-day tobacco use, dual-vaping was prevalent and associated with different correlates, such as self-reported anxiety and education level, compared to sole-vaping of nicotine or cannabis. Our findings may help in characterizing and targeting future population-level surveillance and intervention efforts for multiple substance use behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spread of health misinformation poses a threat to public health as it can influence individuals’ health beliefs and, potentially, behaviors, and their support for public health policies. The mainstream news media have the potential to inadvertently increase the salience of misinformation through their reporting. This study explores the agenda-setting effects of mainstream news media coverage on public salience of public health misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic. We analyzed the association between news media coverage and public salience – as measured by Google Trends relative search volume – of three different pieces of COVID-19 misinformation: (1) hydroxychloroquine is a safe and effective treatment for COVID-19; (2) the COVID-19 vaccines cause infertility; and (3) ivermectin is a safe and effective treatment for COVID-19. We plotted news coverage of each piece of misinformation against Google Trends relative search volume over time. Autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models were used to account for autocorrelation and analyze the relationship between the two time series. News media coverage volume was a significant predictor of same-day relative search volume for hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin. The relationship between news media coverage and searches for COVID-19 vaccines and infertility was not significant. These findings indicate mainstream news media coverage may contribute to the public salience of misinformation. Mainstream media outlets should contextualize their reporting on misinformation with verification from scientific consensus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Formative research is an important component of health communication campaign development. Rapid message testing approaches are useful for testing new messaging quickly and efficiently during public health emergencies, such as COVID-19, when guidance and recommendations are rapidly changing. Wiki surveys simultaneously collect quantitative message testing data and qualitative feedback on potential social media campaign messages. Philly CEAL used wiki surveys to test messages about COVID-19 vaccinations for dissemination on social media. A cross-sectional survey of Philadelphia residents (N = 199) was conducted between January and March 2023. Wiki surveys were used to assess the perceived effectiveness of messages promoting the updated COVID-19 booster and child vaccination. In each wiki survey, participants were presented with two messages and asked to select the one that they perceived as most effective. Participants could alternatively select "can't decide" or submit their own message. A score estimating the probability of selection was calculated for each message. Participant-generated messages were routinely reviewed and incorporated into the message pool. Participants cast a total of 32,281 votes on messages seeded by the research team (n = 20) and participants (n = 43). The highest scoring messages were those that were generated by participants and spoke to getting your child vaccinated to protect them against serious illness and getting the booster to protect your health and that of your community. These messages were incorporated into social media posts disseminated by Philly CEAL's social media accounts. Wiki surveys are a feasible and efficient method of rapid message testing for social media campaigns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The Massachusetts legislature passed An Act Modernizing Tobacco Control in November 2019 to restrict retail sales of flavored commercially manufactured tobacco products including menthol products, increase penalties for violating the law's provisions, and provide health insurance coverage for tobacco treatment. Aims and Methods: This study explores key informants' perceptions of intended and unintended impacts of implementation of the 2019 Massachusetts statewide law through a health equity and racial justice lens. We conducted in-depth interviews with 25 key informants from three key informant groups (public health officials and advocates, clinicians, and school staff) between March 2021 and April 2022. Using deductive codes on unintended impacts of the implementation of the law's policies, we conducted a focused analysis to identify impacts that were perceived and observed by informants from different key informant groups. Results: Perceived or observed impacts of the law were identified across multiple levels by key informants and included concerns related to three broad themes: 1) intended impacts on health equity and racial justice, 2) ongoing availability of restricted products undermining the intended impact of the law, and 3) inequitable targeting by the policies and enforcement among communities of color. Conclusions: Future evaluation is needed to assess the intended and unintended impacts of implementation of the Massachusetts law to maximize the potential of the policies to reduce tobacco-related health disparities. We discuss implications and recommendations for achieving a national policy and equitable enforcement of flavored tobacco sales restrictions. Implications: This qualitative study among 25 key informants including public health and tobacco control advocates, clinicians, and school staff obtained perspectives of intended and unintended health equity and racial justice impacts of the 2019 Massachusetts An Act Modernizing Tobacco Control. Findings and recommendations from this study can inform monitoring efforts to assess the law's impacts in Massachusetts and the adoption of similar flavored tobacco sales restrictions and other tobacco control policies in other states to maximize the health equity benefits and minimize unintended impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the need for changes in the policies and procedures of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) and its academic journal, Nicotine & Tobacco Research (N&TR). The authors, members of the Health Equity Network (HEN), call for updated definitions of the "tobacco and nicotine industry" to include all entities involved in the manufacturing, marketing, and distribution of commercial nicotine and tobacco products. They also propose prohibiting individuals receiving financial support from the industry from participating in SRNT activities and excluding them from the publication process at N&TR. The authors argue that industry-funded research undermines the integrity of the field and that the tobacco industry has a history of manipulating scientific discourse. They call on SRNT and N&TR to actively reject industry influence and become an anti-racist organization. [Extracted from the article]

Introduction Exposure to certain features in commercial e-cigarette ads may influence e-cigarette use perceptions. This study explored the reactions toward common features in e-cigarette ads among young adults of various tobacco-use behaviors. Aims and Methods We used data from in-depth interviews with U.S. young adults (ages 18–29) who do not use tobacco (n = 26) and who currently smoke cigarettes (n = 26). Participants viewed 30 print e-cigarette ads that included multiple features (eg, fruit flavors, price promotions, smoker-targeted messages) before discussing their perceived influence of memorable ad features. We used reflective thematic analysis to analyze interview data. Results Participants from both groups generally noticed fruit and multiple flavors displayed in the ads, which were seen as appealing and were reported to generate product-use interest because of bright colors, sensory appeal, and a variety of flavor options. Participants who smoke perceived price promotions and positive experience testimonials to be appealing, and some reported this generated use interest. Participants from both groups perceived smoker-targeted messages to be unconvincing, and reported this dampened ad and product appeal and use interest. Participants who do not use tobacco perceived nicotine warnings to be unappealing, resulting in reduced perceived appeal of other attractive features (eg, fruit flavors) appearing in the same ads. Conclusions Marketing features appearing in e-cigarette ads may be perceived by young adults of various tobacco-use behaviors in both similar and different ways. Communication and policy strategies that account for these differential perceptions towards various marketing features are needed to reduce the negative impact of e-cigarette marketing. Implications This study revealed evidence related to young adults' reactions to and perceived influence of commonly used marketing features (eg, fruit flavors, nicotine warnings, price promotions, smoker-targeted messages) in commercial e-cigarette ads. The results highlight the similar and differential perceived appeal and use interest of e-cigarette products promoted with various marketing features among young adults of different tobacco-use behaviors. The results have implications for informing the design of communication strategies and policies related to e-cigarette marketing aimed at promoting complete product switching among young adults who smoke while simultaneously deterring e-cigarette use interest among those who do not use tobacco. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adoptive cellular immunotherapy as a new paradigm to treat cancers is exemplified by the FDA approval of six chimeric antigen receptor-T cell therapies targeting hematological malignancies in recent years. Conventional αβ T cells applied in these therapies have proven efficacy but are confined almost exclusively to autologous use. When infused into patients with mismatched human leukocyte antigen, αβ T cells recognize tissues of such patients as foreign and elicit devastating graft-versus-host disease. Therefore, one way to overcome this challenge is to use naturally allogeneic immune cell types, such as γδ T cells. γδ T cells occupy the interface between innate and adaptive immunity and possess the capacity to detect a wide variety of ligands on transformed host cells. In this article, we review the fundamental biology of γδ T cells, including their subtypes, expression of ligands, contrasting roles in and association with cancer prognosis or survival, as well as discuss the gaps in knowledge pertaining to this cell type which we currently endeavor to elucidate. In addition, we propose how to harness the unique properties of γδ T cells for cellular immunotherapy based on lessons gleaned from past clinical trials and provide an update on ongoing trials involving these cells. Lastly, we elaborate strategies that have been tested or can be explored to improve the anti-tumor activity and durability of γδ T cells in vivo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tumour spheroids are widely used in immune cell cytotoxicity assays and anticancer drug testing, providing a physiologically relevant model replicating the tumour microenvironment. However, co-culture of immune and tumour cells complicates quantification of immune cell killing efficiency. We present a novel 3D hanging spheroid-filter plate that efficiently facilitates spheroid formation and separates unbound/dead cells during cytotoxicity assays. Optical imaging directly measures the cytotoxic effects of anti-cancer drugs on tumour spheroids, eliminating the need for live/dead fluorescent staining. This approach enables cost-effective evaluation of T-cell cytotoxicity with specific chimeric antigen receptors (CARs), enhancing immune cell-based assays and drug testing in three-dimensional tumour models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the perceived impact of three pre-conference workshops hosted by the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) Health Equity Network (HEN) on attendees' professional development. The workshops aimed to provide researchers with support and knowledge to address tobacco-related disparities. Feedback from workshop attendees highlighted the workshops' instrumental role in professional development, providing support for tobacco-related scholarship, and fostering collaborations. However, there is a need to increase awareness and attendance at these workshops, particularly among underrepresented researchers. The article suggests targeted efforts and funding to support attendance and create additional opportunities for collaboration. [Extracted from the article]

Competing Interests: CONFLICT OF INTEREST DISCLOSURES: The authors have indicated they have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.

Introduction: Sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth have higher rates of nicotine vaping than other youth in the United States. While social media can be effective in reaching youth and discouraging vaping, informed cultural tailoring is necessary to ensure effective messaging to SGM youth. This study aimed to understand SGM youth perspectives on anti-vaping social media messages and tailoring approaches., Methods: In-depth, qualitative videoconference interviews were conducted from February to July 2022 with 34 SGM youth recruited in the United States via social media ads. The interview guide addressed participants' beliefs about vaping, the context of vaping, perspectives on tailoring messages, and responses to examples of social media anti-vaping messages. Coding and thematic analysis followed a team-based approach., Results: SGM youth perspectives fell into four categories - representation and diversity, facts and evidence, empowering messages, and source credibility. Participants stressed the importance of accurate, genuine representation of SGM youth in messages, but also noted that more overt representation may be seen as tokenizing. Participants recommended partnering with known LGBTQ+ influencers who can promote or share anti-vaping messages on social media platforms. They also recommended using culturally tailored language, including statistics specific to SGM youth, and invoking themes of empowerment to improve the relevance, reach, and effectiveness of anti-vaping campaigns., Conclusions: Findings can inform future efforts to develop anti-vaping messages for SGM youth with effective reach through social media. Nuanced perspectives on SGM representation in messages suggest a careful approach to tailoring. Concerns around inauthenticity may be minimized by ensuring SGM youth are included in message development and dissemination., Implications: This study describes the importance of being attentive to the tailoring preferences among the current generation of sexual and gender minority youth. Findings will inform social media-based messaging strategies that discourage nicotine vaping tailored for SGM youth in health campaign material design and evaluation, ensuring that tailored messages are designed in ways that avoid unintended consequences. The study also describes methods for effectively engaging SGM youth in research to improve the relevance of health education materials for this population and increase reach, which in turn can lead to reduction in vaping practices among SGM youth., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Youth offer valuable insight on health communication needs and solutions in their communities. We propose youth participatory action communication research (YPACR) as a model for health campaign development that engages youth perspectives in applying systematic theory-informed communication research to addressing youth-identified health priorities. YPACR informed a series of paid high school internship programs in West Philadelphia, in which youth interns identified mental health help-seeking communication as a need among peers. In Phase 1, guided by the reasoned action approach and Hornik & Woolf method, youth interns conducted a survey measuring behavioral beliefs, normative beliefs, and control beliefs associated with mental health help-seeking, as well as trusted sources of mental health information, among local high school students. Survey results suggested control (self-efficacy) was an important message target and peers were trusted mental health information sources. In Phase 2, youth interns developed TikTok-style messages focused on strengthening control beliefs and promoting a youth-selected mental health support resource. Youth interns distributed an online survey experiment to test whether youth-created messages shown alongside resource information increased help-seeking self-efficacy compared to an information-only control. The YPACR framework contributed to youth-relevant campaign goals, study measurements, recruitment approaches, data interpretation, and message design. We discuss the benefits and challenges of this youth-driven health campaign development model and recommendations for future research.

Drawing from insights from communication science and behavioral economics, the University of Pennsylvania Telehealth Research Center of Excellence (Penn TRACE) is designing and testing telehealth strategies with the potential to transform access to care, care quality, outcomes, health equity, and health-care efficiency across the cancer care continuum, with an emphasis on understanding mechanisms of action. Penn TRACE uses lung cancer care as an exemplar model for telehealth across the care continuum, from screening to treatment to survivorship. We bring together a diverse and interdisciplinary team of international experts and incorporate rapid-cycle approaches and mixed methods evaluation in all center projects. Our initiatives include a pragmatic sequential multiple assignment randomized trial to compare the effectiveness of telehealth strategies to increase shared decision-making for lung cancer screening and 2 pilot projects to test the effectiveness of telehealth to improve cancer care, identify multilevel mechanisms of action, and lay the foundation for future pragmatic trials. Penn TRACE aims to produce new fundamental knowledge and advance telehealth science in cancer care at Penn and nationally., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

The COVID-19 pandemic placed a spotlight on the potential to dramatically increase the use of telehealth across the cancer care continuum, but whether and how telehealth can be implemented in practice in ways that reduce, rather than exacerbate, inequities are largely unknown. To help fill this critical gap in research and practice, we developed the Framework for Integrating Telehealth Equitably (FITE), a process and evaluation model designed to help guide equitable integration of telehealth into practice. In this manuscript, we present FITE and showcase how investigators across the National Cancer Institute's Telehealth Research Centers of Excellence are applying the framework in different ways to advance digital and health equity. By highlighting multilevel determinants of digital equity that span further than access alone, FITE highlights the complex and differential ways structural determinants restrict or enable digital equity at the individual and community level. As such, achieving digital equity will require strategies designed to not only support individual behavior but also change the broader context to ensure all patients and communities have the choice, opportunity, and resources to use telehealth across the cancer care continuum., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

N-glycosylation can have a profound effect on the quality of mAb therapeutics. In biomanufacturing, one of the ways to influence N-glycosylation patterns is by altering the media used to grow mAb cell expression systems. Here, we explore the potential of machine learning (ML) to forecast the abundances of N-glycan types based on variables related to the growth media. The ML models exploit a dataset consisting of detailed glycomic characterisation of Anti-HER fed-batch bioreactor cell cultures measured daily under 12 different culture conditions, such as changes in levels of dissolved oxygen, pH, temperature, and the use of two different commercially available media. By performing spent media quantitation and subsequent calculation of pseudo cell consumption rates (termed media markers) as inputs to the ML model, we were able to demonstrate a small subset of media markers (18 selected out of 167 mass spectrometry peaks) in a Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cell cultures are important to model N-glycan relative abundances (Regression - correlations between 0.80-0.92; Classification - AUC between 75.0-97.2). The performances suggest the ML models can infer N-glycan critical quality attributes from extracellular media as a proxy. Given its accuracy, we envisage its potential applications in biomaufactucuring, especially in areas of process development, downstream and upstream bioprocessing., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Introduction: Exposure to certain features in commercial e-cigarette ads may influence e-cigarette use perceptions. This study explored the reactions toward common features in e-cigarette ads among young adults of various tobacco-use behaviors., Aims and Methods: We used data from in-depth interviews with U.S. young adults (ages 18-29) who do not use tobacco (n = 26) and who currently smoke cigarettes (n = 26). Participants viewed 30 print e-cigarette ads that included multiple features (eg, fruit flavors, price promotions, smoker-targeted messages) before discussing their perceived influence of memorable ad features. We used reflective thematic analysis to analyze interview data., Results: Participants from both groups generally noticed fruit and multiple flavors displayed in the ads, which were seen as appealing and were reported to generate product-use interest because of bright colors, sensory appeal, and a variety of flavor options. Participants who smoke perceived price promotions and positive experience testimonials to be appealing, and some reported this generated use interest. Participants from both groups perceived smoker-targeted messages to be unconvincing, and reported this dampened ad and product appeal and use interest. Participants who do not use tobacco perceived nicotine warnings to be unappealing, resulting in reduced perceived appeal of other attractive features (eg, fruit flavors) appearing in the same ads., Conclusions: Marketing features appearing in e-cigarette ads may be perceived by young adults of various tobacco-use behaviors in both similar and different ways. Communication and policy strategies that account for these differential perceptions towards various marketing features are needed to reduce the negative impact of e-cigarette marketing., Implications: This study revealed evidence related to young adults' reactions to and perceived influence of commonly used marketing features (eg, fruit flavors, nicotine warnings, price promotions, smoker-targeted messages) in commercial e-cigarette ads. The results highlight the similar and differential perceived appeal and use interest of e-cigarette products promoted with various marketing features among young adults of different tobacco-use behaviors. The results have implications for informing the design of communication strategies and policies related to e-cigarette marketing aimed at promoting complete product switching among young adults who smoke while simultaneously deterring e-cigarette use interest among those who do not use tobacco., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Adoptive cellular immunotherapy as a new paradigm to treat cancers is exemplified by the FDA approval of six chimeric antigen receptor-T cell therapies targeting hematological malignancies in recent years. Conventional αβ T cells applied in these therapies have proven efficacy but are confined almost exclusively to autologous use. When infused into patients with mismatched human leukocyte antigen, αβ T cells recognize tissues of such patients as foreign and elicit devastating graft-versus-host disease. Therefore, one way to overcome this challenge is to use naturally allogeneic immune cell types, such as γδ T cells. γδ T cells occupy the interface between innate and adaptive immunity and possess the capacity to detect a wide variety of ligands on transformed host cells. In this article, we review the fundamental biology of γδ T cells, including their subtypes, expression of ligands, contrasting roles in and association with cancer prognosis or survival, as well as discuss the gaps in knowledge pertaining to this cell type which we currently endeavor to elucidate. In addition, we propose how to harness the unique properties of γδ T cells for cellular immunotherapy based on lessons gleaned from past clinical trials and provide an update on ongoing trials involving these cells. Lastly, we elaborate strategies that have been tested or can be explored to improve the anti-tumor activity and durability of γδ T cells in vivo ., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Wang, Lim and Tan.)