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We examine the value of due diligence recommendations on Reddit's Wallstreetbets (WSB) platform. Before the Gamestop (GME) short squeeze, recommendations are significant predictors of returns and cash-flow news. This predictability is eliminated post-GME. Post-GME, the fraction of reports emphasizing price-pressure or attention-grabbing stocks dramatically increases, and the decline in informativeness is concentrated in these reports. Similarly, retail trade informativeness is particularly strong following DD reports in the pre-GME period, but not post-GME. Our findings are consistent with the view that the Gamestop event altered the culture of WSB , leading to a deterioration in investment quality that adversely affected smaller investors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Studies tracking changes in physical education (PE) policy adherence after an intervention are scarce. In California, successful litigation against 37 school districts for not providing adequate PE time compelled district schools' teachers to post PE schedules online or on-site for 3 years. We performed a follow-up study 4 years after the expiration of lawsuit settlement stipulations to determine the level of adherence in the absence of external accountability. Methods: We reexamined the websites of all 37 school districts, 106 schools' websites that posted time information in spring 2018 (Time 1), and a proportionate 20% random sample of schools' websites (n = 150) that posted no information at Time 1. We used descriptive statistics and paired t tests to detect differences between Times 1 and 2. Discussion/Conclusion: District websites mostly maintained postings of PE time documents and information, while the proportion of Time 1 posting school websites with such content dropped by 58%–67%. At the school level, compliance to policy mandates was positively, but not permanently impacted by a lawsuit intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The academic publishing process is fraught with challenges, inconsistencies, and the absence of clearly articulated guidelines and recommendations, particularly for doctoral students and other newcomers. Our goal is to overview key information that authors may consider and decisions they will need to make when determining authorship and preparing manuscripts for submission. Specifically, we discuss how authors can consider (a) the ongoing discussion of authorship, (b) identifying a target journal, and (c) submitting a manuscript for review. We draw influence from how processes are conducted relative to the Journal of Teaching in Physical Education in approaching our commentary as a point of reference. Nevertheless, while acknowledging differences in journal style and submission formats, many of the considerations discussed are relevant across publication outlets. Common threads across the discussion impress the importance of being intentional, proactive, and adaptive when engaging in authorship conversations and identifying target journals for submission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 'Bridging Imaging Users to Imaging Analysis' survey was conducted in 2022 by the Center for Open Bioimage Analysis (COBA), BioImaging North America (BINA) and the Royal Microscopical Society Data Analysis in Imaging Section (RMS DAIM) to understand the needs of the imaging community. Through multichoice and open‐ended questions, the survey inquired about demographics, image analysis experiences, future needs and suggestions on the role of tool developers and users. Participants of the survey were from diverse roles and domains of the life and physical sciences. To our knowledge, this is the first attempt to survey cross‐community to bridge knowledge gaps between physical and life sciences imaging. Survey results indicate that respondents' overarching needs are documentation, detailed tutorials on the usage of image analysis tools, user‐friendly intuitive software, and better solutions for segmentation, ideally in a format tailored to their specific use cases. The tool creators suggested the users familiarise themselves with the fundamentals of image analysis, provide constant feedback and report the issues faced during image analysis while the users would like more documentation and an emphasis on tool friendliness. Regardless of the computational experience, there is a strong preference for 'written tutorials' to acquire knowledge on image analysis. We also observed that the interest in having 'office hours' to get an expert opinion on their image analysis methods has increased over the years. The results also showed less‐than‐expected usage of online discussion forums in the imaging community for solving image analysis problems. Surprisingly, we also observed a decreased interest among the survey respondents in deep/machine learning despite the increasing adoption of artificial intelligence in biology. In addition, the community suggests the need for a common repository for the available image analysis tools and their applications. The opinions and suggestions of the community, released here in full, will help the image analysis tool creation and education communities to design and deliver the resources accordingly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Reboot," especially NoFap, promotes abstinence from masturbation and/or pornography to treat "pornography addiction," an unrecognized diagnosis. While the intention of Reboot/NoFap is to decrease distress, qualitative studies have consistently suggested that "Reboots" paradoxically cause more distress. The distress appears to occur in response to (1) the abstinence goal, which recasts common sexual behaviors as personal "failures," and (2) problematic and inaccurate Reboot/NoFap forum messaging regarding sexuality and addiction. This preregistered survey asked men about their experience with perceived "relapse" and NoFap forums. Participants reported that their most recent relapse was followed by feeling shameful, worthless, sad, a desire to commit suicide, and other negative emotions. A novel predictor of identifying as a pornography addict in this lower religiosity sample was higher narcissism. Participants reported that NoFap forums contained posts that were misogynist (73.7% of participants), bullying (49.1%), anti-LGBT (42.9%), antisemitic (32.0%), instructing followers to harm or kill themselves (23.5%), or threats to hurt someone else (21.1%). More engagement in NoFap online forums was associated with worse symptoms of erectile dysfunction, depression, anxiety, and more sex negativity. Results support and expand previously documented harms and problems with Reboot/NoFap claims of treating pornography addiction from qualitative research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quest to understand the formation and management of relationships between a firm and consumers in online contexts represents a priority for both researchers and practitioners. Consumer engagement is central to furthering such understanding and encouraging satisfaction, commitment, and trust, as popular enabling variables. Recent calls to broaden and deepen consumer engagement nomological networks motivate the current study, which aims to include place identity (PI) as a promising feature. Because it is integral to individual self-identity, PI could provide a stable, enduring complement to attitudinal constructs. Amos 25 was used to analyze survey data from 250 online travel consumers in Taiwan, and the results reveal that PI fully mediates the effects of engagement, commitment, and satisfaction on loyalty intentions; in particular, it explains an additional 24% of the variance in this outcome. The effects of consumer engagement and PI on satisfaction and loyalty, respectively, also grow significantly stronger at low levels of consumer trust. Taken together, these findings establish the important, unique role of PI for facilitating loyalty intentions in online travel contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dark Web has turned into a platform for a variety of criminal activities, including weapon trafficking, pornography, fake documents, drug trafficking, and, most notably terrorism as detailed in this study. This article uses an LDA-based topic modeling approach to identify the topics addressed in discussions on the Dark Web. The main purpose is to present an overview of jihadists' communication in cyberspace for the detection of unusual behavior or terrorism-related purposes. According to the findings, conversations in the context of recruitment and propaganda predominated at the forum. There was no direct evidence of terrorist collaboration at the conclusion of the investigation. This does not, however, imply that these sites are risk-free. Propaganda and recruitment tools feed the terrorist activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Objective Methods Results Conclusion People living with Parkinson's disease (PD) commonly experience heat sensitivity—worsening symptoms and restricted daily activities in heat.This study aimed to develop a scale of heat sensitivity for people with PD.Through a search of the scientific literature and online forums, we developed 41 items relating to experiences of heat for people with PD to assess heat sensitivity. A panel of experts was then consulted to review the scale items critically. After two rounds of review, the scale was refined to 36 items with an overall scale content validity index of 0.89. Via an online survey, 247 people with PD responded to the items.The items were examined with exploratory factor analysis to determine the underlying factors therein. After several iterations, a simple structure was achieved with 29 items loading uniquely onto one of four factors: daily activities, sweating and exercise, heat‐related illness, and symptoms and medications. The model had acceptable to excellent fit statistics (root mean square error of approximation = 0.073 [90% confidence interval 0.067–0.081], root mean square of the residuals = 0.03, comparative fit index = 0.93, and Tucker‐Lewis index = 0.91), and each factor showed high reliability (Cronbach's α ≥0.89). Factor and total scale scores were significantly higher among those reporting sensitivity to heat and poor health status.This new heat sensitivity scale for people living with PD can enable health professionals and clients to assess the severity and impact of heat sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Anti-racism is part of the medical professional ethos. Nevertheless, racism pervades medicine on individual, institutional, and structural levels. The concept of habitus helps to understand deficiencies in enacting anti-racism in practice. We use a habitus-based framework to analyse how medical students in Germany deal with the topic of racism. The research questions are: What are medical students' understandings of racism? How do they deal with the topic in discussions? What difficulties do they face in such discussions? Methods: In a qualitative-explorative research design, we conducted six online group discussions with 32 medical students from medical schools all over Germany. Data analysis combined qualitative methods from thematic qualitative content analysis and the documentary method. Results: We identified five typical ways of dealing with the topic of racism in discussions. The first one ('scientistic') orientates action towards the idea of medicine as an objective science, justifies the use of racial categories as scientific, and defines racism based on intention. The second ('pragmatic') orientates action towards tacit rules of clinical practice, justifies the use of racialised categories as practical and defines racism as an interpersonal problem. The third ('subjectivist') lacks a clear orientation of action for dealing with the topic of racism and instead displays uncertainty and subjectivism in understanding racialised categorisations as well as racism. The fourth ('interculturalist') orientates action towards an ideal of intercultural exchange, understands racialised categorisations as representing cultural differences and interprets racism as prejudice against cultures. The fifth ('critical') orientates action towards sociological scholarship, understands racialised categorisations as social constructs and views racism as a structural problem. Conclusion: The results presented help to understand preconditions of enacting anti-racism in medicine and point to difficulties and learning needs. The heterogenous ways of dealing with the topic require a differentiated approach in medical education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: In palliative care, it is important for family caregivers to spend time with and care for the patient, and to receive (in)formal support. These elements were compromised during the Covid-19-pandemic. This study investigates what family caregivers of non-Covid-19-patients in the palliative phase shared online during the first wave of the pandemic, and what their communicative intentions were with posting online. Methods: To investigate what family caregivers shared online, a reflexive thematic analysis was performed on online newspaper articles and posts on Twitter, Facebook and online forums. To investigate family caregivers' communicative intentions with social media posts, content analysis was conducted guided by Speech Act Theory. Results: In total, 412 posts and articles were included, the majority being Tweets (86.7%). Four themes were constructed: 1) 'Being out of touch', 2) 'Fear, worries and uncertainties, 3) 'Disbelief, anger and resistance', and 4) 'Understanding, acceptance and gratitude'. Family caregivers felt overwhelmed with anger, sadness and anxiety, yet some expressing milder or positive attitudes towards the new circumstances. Family caregivers mostly posted online to share their personal experiences and emotions, and to express their opinions about the restrictions. Conclusions: The pandemic had distinct implications for family caregivers of non-Covid-19-patients in the palliative phase. In future similar circumstances, restrictions should be tailored to individual conditions and interventions should be in place to facilitate contact between patients, family caregivers and healthcare professionals and to support family caregivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractBackgroundMethodsResultsConclusionThis study explores how cannabis has been accommodated over the last 18 years in the social world of an online forum in Poland. It considers users who operate in the context of unhurried normalization and restrictive policy that has barely changed over the last two decades. Simultaneously, these users refer to global cannabis cultures and follow progressive policy developments worldwide.Cannabis-related threads were scrapped from the biggest Polish forum, posted in the years 2006–2023, and divided into three periods marked by minor relaxation of the punitive law in 2011 and the introduction of medical cannabis in 2019. The threads were thematically analyzed to track changes in the perceived access to cannabis and shifts in the reasons users praise it.The shifts indicate the interaction of the normalization processes on both sides of the cannabis social world in Poland: among users and in society. The praise becomes less unconditional, and nuanced goals, or reflexivity of use emerges.We have recognized a consensus among forum users that there are problems associated with use. Instead of harm being neutralized as it used to be when stigmatization mattered more, it is now discussed among users who are becoming better informed, reflexive, and likely to engage with bottom-up harm reduction efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: During the COVID-19 pandemic, sex work in the Netherlands was forbidden for many months, yet most sex workers were not eligible for governmental financial support. Therefore, many were forced to continue working illegally, likely leading to unsafe work conditions. We determined sex workers' experienced violence and police reporting during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Data were collected through an online, anonymous survey (N = 173) covering background characteristics, the financial impact of the COVID-19 control measures, experienced sexual and/or physical violence, and police reporting in relation to experienced violence in 2021. We analyzed the data through descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression analysis. Contextualization was achieved through online focus group discussions (FGDs; N = 3 covering a total of 14 sex workers and 4 social/health workers). Results: In total, 41% (n/N = 71/173) of sex workers reported at least one form of violence, and those facing severe financial problems due to the COVID-19 containment measures were significantly more likely to report violence (adjusted OR: 2.7, CI 1.0–7.2, p = 0.049) compared to those without financial problems. Only 9% of those having reason to file charges officially did so. FGDs explained that violence was high due to the unsafe working conditions, and police reporting was low because police were more concerned with enforcing COVID-19 sex work restrictions rather than with prioritizing the safety and well-being of sex workers. Discussion: We found high rates of reported violence and low police reporting among sex workers in The Netherlands during the COVID-19 pandemic, and COVID-19 control measures and enforcement likely contributed to these unsafe conditions. Safeguarding the safety of sex workers during future crises demands legislation grounded in human rights principles. This includes measures such as mitigating income loss during prohibition of sex work, and shifting police focus towards protecting rather than prosecuting sex workers engaged in illegal sex work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Recent years have seen a rapid growth in the number of online health communities targeted at patients with long-term conditions. Myasthenia Gravis (MG) is a rare neurological disease for which such communities have not been analysed before. The aim of this study was to better understand the needs of the MG population through the collation and categorisation of questions that users of MG social media were asking fellow users on these platforms. Methodology: Systematic observation of four MG Facebook groups was conducted over a 2-month period. Groups were selected for analysis based on the following systematic criteria: Language (English), Membership (≥ 5,000 members), group activity (≥ 2 posts per week), target audience (general MG population) and researcher engagement with group administrators. The study protocol was reviewed by the institutional review board of the Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin (EA2/106/22). During the observation period, data were extracted from individual posts featuring questions made across each group using a systematic and objective coding scheme. All data points were coded directly from the source and collated into an SPSS database (IBM SPSS V.27, SPSS). Absolute and relative frequencies were calculated for categorical variables and proportions were compared across groups to validate the credibility and relevance of different requests. Results: Of the 2,062 posts observed (N = 2,062), 1,392 featured questions (n = 1,392). Questions were asked by 787 unique users: 531 were identified as one-time users (67%) and 256 were identified as repeat users (33%). Six hundred and fifty six users were classified as presumed diagnosed (83%), 61 as seeking diagnosis (8%), 69 as family and/or friends (9%) and as other (<0%). Eight unique categories of questions were observed including MG treatment (31%), Symptoms (19%), Living with MG (12%), Diagnosis (10%), non-MG medication (11%), Tests (8%), Location (4%) and Other (4%). Conclusion: Members of the MG population make active use of online health communities to seek and discuss practical information concerning various aspects of the disease, its diagnosis and care. The openness and willingness of the sample population to share sensitive medical information shows a high need for information not entirely catered to by the medical profession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) offer highly specialized online courses and have attracted nearly 10 million learners worldwide to participate in various educational programs. These platforms provide discussion forums that allow learners to engage with both their peers and instructors, facilitating idea exchange and seeking assistance, respectively. However, due to the substantial participant-to-instructor ratio, certain posts may go unanswered. Addressing learners' confusion is crucial. This emotional state, often experienced during the learning journey, necessitates prompt support to prevent potential dropouts. This paper proposes the application of a deep transfer learning method to automate the classification of online discussion posts based on indicators of confusion utilizing the Stanford MOOCPost dataset. The approach involves creating an explainable and adaptable deep learning model through network-based transfer learning across multiple educational domains. This model outperforms baseline methods, achieving an average accuracy of 91%. Additionally, employing data augmentation techniques enhances the model's generalizability, resulting in an 11% improvement in the F1 score. To mitigate the inherent opacity of the implemented models, Local Interpretable Model-Agnostic Explanation and Shapley Additive Explanation techniques are integrated. These explanations assess the reliability of features and provide supplementary insights into the confusion detection. By pinpointing confused posts, this work assists instructors in delivering timely responses, resolving learner confusion, providing accurate visualization of key contributing words, and reducing the dropout rate. This proactive approach ensures a smoother continuation of the learning process, consequently enhancing learner satisfaction with the educational experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Preventive strategies for cytomegalovirus (CMV) in the posttransplant period have changed the pattern of CMV infections, now more commonly manifesting as late‐onset occurrences known as post‐prophylaxis delayed‐onset CMV disease (PPDOC). We conducted a survey to investigate provider practices in managing PPDOC. Methods: A web‐based provider survey on the management of PPDOC was developed using Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap). It was distributed to the online forums of the American Society of Transplantation communities of practice (COP) for Infectious Diseases (IDCOP), Kidney and Pancreas (KPCOP), Liver and Intestinal (LICOP), and Thoracic and Critical Care (TCCOP). The survey was posted twice within a span of a month. Results: Fifty‐six respondents, comprising 50 (89%) transplant physicians and 6 (11%) transplant pharmacists, from 46 distinct transplant centers, completed the survey. Universal antiviral prophylaxis (UAP) was the predominant preventive approach for both high‐risk (85%) and moderate‐risk (85%) transplant recipients. Out of 56, 51 respondents completed the questions regarding management of PPDOC. Regular surveillance with nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT) (88%) was the most commonly used approach in high‐risk recipients, while symptom monitoring (73%) was the most common strategy in moderate‐risk recipients. Immunologic monitoring was used only by a few respondents who found it moderately useful in high‐risk recipients. Conclusion: Management of PPDOC was highly variable among providers and strategies differed based on patient risk profile. These findings could help shape future studies and guidelines to harmonize CMV management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most research on the consumer journey has focused on product purchases. This research, however, examines the consumer journey for experiences – in this case a long-distance hike. Two studies examine how people become aware of, learn more about, prepare for, evaluate, and reflect on a 200-mile hike on the John Muir Trail in California. The first study interviewed hikers while on the trail. The second study analyzed online discussion groups dedicated to the trail. These studies reveal that the idea of a long-distance hike often arises from a mention by others where people add the idea to a mental "bucket list". For those with whom the idea resonates, they may quickly decide to hike the trail, though their motivation may not always be clear, and the trip may not occur for quite some time. Getting a permit is frequently a barrier, but online communities often offer advice. Preparation for the hike is typically a high-involvement process that involves purchasing equipment and physical training. The hike itself is a paradox of aesthetic appreciation in the face of physical struggle. Importantly, many hikers later report the journey as an important experience and serve as evangelists for other hikers. The two studies corroborate certain notions about the consumer decision process while calling others into question. For instance, they validate the significance of word-of-mouth recommendations from individuals with similar backgrounds, which plays a pivotal role in raising awareness. Simultaneously, they challenge conventional thinking by demonstrating that the decision-making process is influenced not solely by rational factors but also by emotional elements. Finally, these findings underscore the importance of employing multiple research methods to comprehensively grasp the intricate aspects of the consumer journey, especially the consumption of experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although higher education institutions offer self-paced massive open online courses (MOOCs) on platforms like edX, little systematic effort has been made to examine their instructional design features. The purpose of this study was, therefore, to review self-paced MOOCs on edX and examine their instructional design features for those interested in designing and offering them: A total of 40 MOOCs representing engineering, computer science, communications, and business and management were randomly chosen for analysis. The instructional design features of the MOOCs have been organized in terms of course structure and elements of course information, as well as types of instructional videos, assessments, and online discussion boards. Issues regarding current instructional design features are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Objectives: Discussions about the possibility of psychologists prescribing medications have been ongoing for several years. The study aims to ascertain the opinion of the Polish professional community of psychologists on the right of psychologists to prescribe psychotropic drugs. Methods: The study was conducted on online forums (Porozumienie Psychologów) associated with psychologists from all over the world from 15 April 2023 to 30 September 2023. The participants were asked to fill out a Google survey consisting of 26 questions. Results: A total of 677 psychologists participated in the study, including 580 (85.7%) women and 97 (14.3%) men. The majority of the respondents were at the peak of their life activity, between 30 and 50 years of age. A large group of respondents believed that a psychologist should have the right to prescribe psychotropic drugs (46.5%) and declared their participation in activities to promote these rights (52.9%). The vast majority of respondents reported that psychologists authorized to prescribe drugs should complete additional courses as part of the pharmacology specialization (74.8%) and should pass an exam in this field (73.4%) or should complete additional courses in the field of pharmacology (74.8%). Such opinions were much more common in the group with psychological specializations. In this group, more people allowed for such a privilege for those who have completed studies, have documented five years of experience, or have a psychotherapist certificate (p < 0.0001). Conclusions: There may be many societal needs that could be successfully met by psychologists obtaining prescriptive privileges. However, psychologists ought to understand that our obligations need to transcend guild concerns and appropriate qualifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In several studies, collaborative action research has been shown to be a productive approach to enabling teachers to incorporate critical thinking into their pedagogy; however it has not been investigated in the Indonesian context. To address this gap, we facilitated a collaborative action research project with a small group of English language teachers in Indonesia. We organised three online focus group discussions (FGDs), shared resources, and mentored the teachers via phone and WhatsApp. The case study confirms that collaborative action research involving practising teachers and academic mentors in Indonesia has the potential to bring about transformation: to different degrees, the teachers took on new identities and expanded their repertoire of teaching strategies for critical thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Postpartum depression is a prevalent condition, and preliminary data suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic further increased its incidence. Building on scholarship that has shown the value of exploring patients' narratives for diagnosis and treatment, this study examines narratives of recovery in an online support forum, using theories of narrative identity. An online forum with 64 participants suffering from postpartum depression was analyzed according to grounded theory. A thematic analysis uncovered two dominant narratives: the full recovery or inevitable progress narrative, and the cyclical recovery or struggle as norm narrative. This study illustrates the complicated interaction between medical institutions, recovery narratives, and identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the activity of Japanese-language dark web sites by examining a Japanese dark web forum, the Onion Channel. While global crypto markets and English-language forums have been extensively studied, there has been little research on Japanese-language dark web sites. The number of posts and the variety of activities on the Onion Channel started increasing around mid-2012, exhibited steady growth until the end of 2016, and then showed a declining trend toward mid-2020. This study classifies activities on the forum into 10 categories. The forum was dominated by illegal and unethical activity. In particular, illegal drug dealing and cyberbullying were the two major illegal and unethical activities that took place there. The large presence of drug-related activity suggests that the forum on the dark web operated as a substitute for crypto markets. Textual analysis revealed that cannabis and methamphetamine were two major drugs that were likely to be sold, and those deals were likely to be completed face-to-face at a designated location. There was also a certain amount of illegal content, such as information related to fraud, identity theft and sales of false IDs, and hacking, as well as criminal conversations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess current practices of U.S. professionals providing outpatient ALS nutrition care. Methods: A cross-sectional survey assessing nutrition care practices was distributed in February/March 2023 through electronic mailing lists of relevant professional organizations. Results: Of the 87 professionals completing the survey, 85.1% were registered dietitians and 50.6% had five or fewer years of experience in ALS care. Many (44.2%) professionals reported receiving no training on the nutrition care of people with ALS (PALS), and 40.2% reported having no other ALS dietitians in their close network. Methods utilized to estimate calorie and protein requirements in PALS varied widely. Although 95.4% of respondents reported that their clinic's dietitian participates in feeding tube discussions, many practitioners may be waiting until ALS symptoms negatively impact PALS' breathing, eating, swallowing, or weight to begin discussing feeding tubes. Additionally, few professionals reported institutional practices conducive for refeeding syndrome prevention or monitoring. Conclusions: Many professionals providing outpatient nutrition care to PALS possess limited experience, received insufficient training, and are not connected to other ALS dietitians. Specific nutrition care practices, including nutrient need estimation, vary widely among health professionals. Practices surrounding feeding tube discussions and refeeding syndrome may be suboptimal at many institutions. These findings highlight the need for initiatives that educate and connect practitioners providing nutrition care to PALS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Laboratory medical reports are often not intuitively comprehensible to non-medical professionals. Given their recent advancements, easier accessibility and remarkable performance on medical licensing exams, patients are therefore likely to turn to artificial intelligence-based chatbots to understand their laboratory results. However, empirical studies assessing the efficacy of these chatbots in responding to real-life patient queries regarding laboratory medicine are scarce. Thus, this investigation included 100 patient inquiries from an online health forum, specifically addressing Complete Blood Count interpretation. The aim was to evaluate the proficiency of three artificial intelligence-based chatbots (ChatGPT, Gemini and Le Chat) against the online responses from certified physicians. The findings revealed that the chatbots' interpretations of laboratory results were inferior to those from online medical professionals. While the chatbots exhibited a higher degree of empathetic communication, they frequently produced erroneous or overly generalized responses to complex patient questions. The appropriateness of chatbot responses ranged from 51 to 64 %, with 22 to 33 % of responses overestimating patient conditions. A notable positive aspect was the chatbots' consistent inclusion of disclaimers regarding its non-medical nature and recommendations to seek professional medical advice. The chatbots' interpretations of laboratory results from real patient queries highlight a dangerous dichotomy – a perceived trustworthiness potentially obscuring factual inaccuracies. Given the growing inclination towards self-diagnosis using AI platforms, further research and improvement of these chatbots is imperative to increase patients' awareness and avoid future burdens on the healthcare system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The paper reports the findings of a research project exploring the information experiences of bonsai growers in Australia as an example of a serious leisure pursuit. Design/methodology/approach: The study used phenomenology as a qualitative approach in an interpretive paradigm. The data collection technique was a semi-structured interview with open-ended questions, and 23 volunteers were recruited via a maximum variation sampling strategy. The study employed the Serious Leisure Perspective and Information Experience as its theoretical frameworks. Findings: Bonsai growers rely on three primary sources of information: publications, people, and plants. They use formal and informal publications across various media. They interact with fellow bonsai growers to share experiences and seek advice. The shape and conditions of bonsai trees are sources of embedded information that help them to make informed decisions in their practice. They have a culture of information sharing on many grounds, such as local clubs, online forums, and workshops. Their embodied information manifests in their sophisticated skills of shaping bonsai trees to express the aesthetic principles of this ancient art. Research limitations/implications: The findings are contextual and cannot be generalised. A generalisation of the result needs to be tested in a broader population. Social implications: Engaging in the bonsai hobby often fosters a sense of community among bonsai enthusiasts. Understanding these social connections can contribute to the development of supportive networks and enhance belongingness. Originality/value: The study contributes to understanding the information experiences in serious leisure. It offers new evidence-based insights that can inform the design of information systems and services tailored to the needs of leisure pursuers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to understand the experiences of food insecure college students during the Covid-19 pandemic. Twenty-four students who self-identified as food insecure were recruited from social media and email listservs. Individual Zoom interviews were conducted. The recordings of interviews were transcribed and analyzed. Three major themes emerged: (1) access to more resources; (2) multiple losses; and (3) "college kids need help." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health technology is changing the way consumers engage with health professionals and their own well-being. Although digital solutions often focus on supplementing physical care, some have potential as an alternative to offline engagements. This research considers how such phygital experiences can promote well-being and social connectedness. Specifically, we explore how online mental health apps help men to engage in well-being discourses, conversations that they would feel unable to have or uneasy about having without the anonymity of the online setting. However, unlike other phygital products, this app can hinder ongoing offline therapy and even deter some men from seeking professional medical help. Data are drawn from an online peer-support forum and interviews with men struggling with mental illness and mental health advocates. The manuscript concludes by recognising the imperative for research furthering understanding of consumption practices associated with poor mental health and marketing practices that promote mental well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyberbullying, a critical concern for digital safety, necessitates effective linguistic analysis tools that can navigate the complexities of language use in online spaces. To tackle this challenge, our study introduces a new approach employing Bidirectional Encoder Representations from the Transformers (BERT) base model (cased), originally pretrained in English. This model is uniquely adapted to recognize the intricate nuances of Arabic online communication, a key aspect often overlooked in conventional cyberbullying detection methods. Our model is an end-to-end solution that has been fine-tuned on a diverse dataset of Arabic social media (SM) tweets showing a notable increase in detection accuracy and sensitivity compared to existing methods. Experimental results on a diverse Arabic dataset collected from the 'X platform' demonstrate a notable increase in detection accuracy and sensitivity compared to existing methods. E-BERT shows a substantial improvement in performance, evidenced by an accuracy of 98.45%, precision of 99.17%, recall of 99.10%, and an F1 score of 99.14%. The proposed E-BERT not only addresses a critical gap in cyberbullying detection in Arabic online forums but also sets a precedent for applying cross-lingual pretrained models in regional language applications, offering a scalable and effective framework for enhancing online safety across Arabic-speaking communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a study which sought to assess the community engagement (CE) initiatives of academic libraries in South Africa. The research approach adopted was qualitative using online interviews with 20 heads of libraries in South Africa and 8 online focus group discussions with library staff as data collection methods. It was found that South African academic libraries' CE initiatives can be construed as support for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 4 on quality education and life-long learning in the context of this study. Initiatives that were interpreted as a contribution to SDG 4 were the imparting of information literacy skills to schools and librarians from other sectors, promotion of reading and writing, library visits by school learners, donation of school shoes and uniforms to learners, as well as donation of computers and computer literacy training to schools. The results of this study are a testament to the potential of academic libraries to change lives of ordinary citizens beyond the academy through CE. They provide fresh insights on the contribution of academic libraries to SDGs. This study can open new avenues for studying the contribution of academic libraries in the SDGs. Given that the phenomenon of CE is itself a fairly new area of study in academic libraries, this study will add a lot of value in this niche. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the impact of quantum computing on current cryptographic systems and the need for organizations to prepare for the transition to quantum-safe cryptography. It highlights the risks of impersonation and forgery that may arise with quantum computing and emphasizes the importance of early awareness and education at all levels of an organization. The article also addresses the need for thorough planning, risk evaluation, and contingency plans to address potential data exposure or impersonation due to migration gaps. Additionally, it mentions the importance of understanding the implications of quantum computing on cybersecurity insurance and the need for organizations to work with insurers to ensure adequate coverage. [Extracted from the article]

In this work we analyze comments on three subreddits related to AI-generated art to understand how people perceive the ability of AI to create art and the topics and moods of discussions in the context of widespread usage of pre-trained models. We used computational text analysis techniques such as LDA topic modeling and sentiment analysis with sentiment lexicons. As a result, we find that discussions on technical topics and descriptions of AI-generated art were mainly positive, while discussions on socio-cultural issues were mainly negative and took place in a subreddit focused on defending AI art. The findings suggest that Reddit users are interested in both the artistic and socio-cultural implications of AI-generated art, finding it risky and questionable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plain English Summary: In the United Kingdom, people can access public funding for In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) treatment if certain criteria are met. Funding restrictions differ between geographical areas, but most areas restrict treatment to women with a Body Mass Index (BMI) below 30. This study explores the unexpected and unintended harms experienced by women restricted from NHS-funded IVF due to these BMI criteria. Posts from a popular infertility online forum were collected and thematically analysed. The study found moralising discourses around body weight which emphasized that women had personal control over their bodies and needed to 'work' to change their bodies to show deservingness for treatment. We conclude that NHS-IVF policies in the UK overlook the emotional and moral burdens placed on individuals due to rigid BMI criteria. As the impact of BMI limits on healthcare access is an under-researched topic, we believe this work is important for demonstrating the harms of BMI-restrictive policies. Background: Across the United Kingdom's National Health Service (NHS), women with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of > 30 face restrictions accessing In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) treatment. This study asks: what are the (un)expected and (un)intended harms and consequences experienced by women restricted from accessing NHS-funded IVF due to BMI threshold criteria? Methods: Posts from a popular infertility online forum were collected and reflexively thematically analysed. Results: On the forum, users discussed how they struggled to lose weight, how they faced time pressures to meet BMI thresholds, and they shared knowledge on how to comply or appear compliant with BMI cut-offs. Our study found widespread moral discourses around body weight were reproduced in the forum, particularly commonplace narratives that body weight is under personal control, that people with a high BMI should 'work' to change their bodies, and that this work helps demonstrate deservingness for IVF treatment. Moralising discourses around weight were linked to the responsibilities of a hoped-for future of motherhood, as users performed deservingness through emphasising their commitment to meeting the BMI threshold. Conclusion: We conclude that NHS-IVF policies in the United Kingdom do not consider the burdensome emotional and moral work placed on people seeking treatment due to inflexible upper-limit BMI criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, TuoMeiYi (escaping beauty duty) has emerged in the Chinese digital space as a distinct feminist proposition. Advocating for women to break free from the constraints of beauty, TuoMeiYi feminists strive to redefine what a woman should look like, and actively practice their anti-beauty stance by shaving their hair into buzz cuts. This everyday feminist politics attempts to reclaim women’s autonomy over their bodies by transforming their feminist body into a rebellious project. Diverging from the prevalent media discursive approach in Chinese digital feminism studies, this article examines TuoMeiYi feminists’ explorative body project through the lens of affect grounded in corporeal and phenomenological feminist theories. Using digital ethnography to explore an online TuoMeiYi forum, this article recognizes that pride and shame have been discursively mobilized as pivotal tools to sustain the anti-beauty feminist ideal. Yet, the construction of the proud feminist subject also involves a highly self-autonomous logic that tries to eliminate feminist embodied feelings. In the end, this article argues that it is not ‘feeling good’ but the ‘strange feelings’ that demonstrate the feminist body is neither a docile nor consciously autonomous entity, but a rebellious affective being capable of feeling in unplanned alternative ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sentiment analysis (SA) is the popular natural language processing (NLP) problem utilized for analyzing texts, including uploaded reviews and user posts on e-commerce portals, forums, and social media platforms, regarding their opinions about the event or person, product, and service. The SA task comprises analyzing text to determine whether the sentiment expressed is negative, positive, or neutral, aiming for precise subjective data analysis. The deep learning (DL) technique enables various architectures to model SA tasks and has surpassed other machine learning (ML) techniques as the first method to perform SA tasks. Recent advancements in the DL model depart from the growing dominance of transformer language algorithms and convolutional neural network (CNN) and recurrent neural network (RNN) models. Utilizing pre-trained transformer language models to transfer knowledge to downstream tasks has emerged as a cutting-edge model in NLP. Therefore, the study designs a fractal walrus optimizer with self-attention DL-based SA in applied linguistics (WOSADL-SAAL) method. The WOSADL-SAAL method aims to recognize and classify the presence of sentiments in social media content. In the WOSADL-SAAL technique, data preprocessing is initially performed to transform the input dataset into a meaningful format. In addition, the WOSADL-SAAL technique uses the bag of words (BoW) model for extracting features. The self-attention bidirectional long short-term memory (SA-BiLSTM) network is applied to classify sentiment. The walrus optimizer (WO) model performs the hyperparameter tuning model to boost the detection outcomes of the SA-BiLSTM network. The performance evaluation of the WOSADL-SAAL method takes place under the benchmark SA dataset. The experimental analysis of the WOSADL-SAAL method exhibited a superior accuracy value of 99.07% and 99.24% under TUSA and IMDB datasets over existing approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Peer tutorials are widely used in medical and health professions education. Some evidence suggests that peer tutorials can have positive effects for student peer tutors and tutees alike. To promote these positive effects, peer tutors are often prepared for their tasks. However, detailed information about this preparation is missing in the literature. The present study thus examines from the tutors' perspective how peer tutor preparation is conducted, both in interprofessional and uniprofessional contexts, and how this preparation affects peer relations. Methods: A qualitative design was used for the study. For data gathering, three online focus group discussions were conducted with student peer tutors from uniprofessional and interprofessional settings who had a background in health professions. Data were analysed inductively via thematic analysis. Results: A total of 19 individuals participated in three focus group discussions (n = 6/n = 6/n = 7). From the participants' perspective, preparation measures were heterogenous. Of a wide range of different measures, some were perceived as more helpful, others as less helpful. In analysing the data, three relevant themes came up which were dereived from the peer tutors' perspective: roles, eye level, and (self-)trust. All three themes were found to be closely related and appeared to have a direct influence on peer relations. This influence on the learning/teaching process was either positive or negative depending on the respondents' experiences. Conclusion: From the peer tutors' perspective, the preparation they received affected their relationships with their peers in a variety of ways, influenced by the context and the peer tutors' needs. This finding should be taken into account when planning and implementing future preparatory activities. In addition, further pedagogical considerations and discussions about preparatory activities for peer tutors and their potential impact on social and cognitive congruence are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Collegiate mental health continues to be a worrisome public health concern among college students in the U.S. The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic has caused an upward trend of mental health crises, especially among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ+) college students. The objective of this study was to assess the mental health statuses, attitudes towards disease control and mitigation measures, and coping strategies among this vulnerable group. Methods: A web-based survey was conducted at a medium-sized public university in the mid-Atlantic region during the summer and fall of 2021 when COVID-19 was still a major public health concern. The survey was distributed through the listservs of the college and was advertised through campus-wide social media. Descriptive and inferential statistics including a t-test for the differences in group means and a logit regression model for comparing the groups were used. Results: Our final sample is composed of 611 students with 79% of the respondents identifying as straight, and 20% in the LGBTQ+ group. Our results showed that LGBTQ+ students exhibited higher levels of anxiety and fear compared to the non-LGBTQ+ groups. Also, a large proportion of LGBTQ+ students were negatively impacted by the pandemic as compared to the non-LGBTQ+ groups (p = 0.05), while they generally have more positive views on the public health measures to alleviate the adverse impacts from COVID-19 (p = 0.001). Conclusions: Public health emergency management should adopt appropriate strategies and adapt their services to support the mental health needs of LGBTQ+ students. Our study highlighted the need to design tailored health promotion programs and enhance support systems for LGBTQ+ college students during similar emergencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing research observes that fathers navigate the workplace through a complex network of mistreatment, adopting “ground breaker discourse” as a mechanism by which to maintain alignment with masculine norms to reduce mistreatment. Through analysis of online forum comments in response to a UK newspaper article exploring fathers and masculinity, this research investigates if “fatherhood forfeits” and the “patriarchal deficit” are evident in this context and how they are navigated. The research affirms the existence of “fatherhood forfeits” and the “patriarchal deficit,” uncovering an additional forfeit of “impeded attractiveness.” Additionally, it expands knowledge regarding the way in which fathers maintain hegemonic masculinity when combining work and care through observing that fathers adopted a “disregarding discourse” toward any criticism as a management strategy, suggesting a new dimension for research in this area. This research identifies ways in which organizations can improve the workplace experience for fathers, with a view to increasing gender equality for both parents and maximizing the effectiveness of staff in the post‐COVID workplace. It is suggested that future research could involve a more representative sample and an exploration of any potential differences in the findings in the context of the post‐COVID work environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aim: The International Association of Dental Traumatology (IADT) is considered the foremost authority in Dental Traumatology. Fellowship status was introduced in 2015 and is considered an international standard of excellence. The Fellowship Committee of the IADT believed it was essential to survey members seeking information on the benefits of the IADT Fellowship and potential considerations for future development. This survey aimed to explore the perceptions of members of IADT surrounding the fellowship process in terms of interest, accessibility, equality, perceived prestige, and value to the membership. Material and Methods: The survey was sent to 546 IADT members, of whom 89 were fellows (as of 31 July 2022) from 74 countries via an email invitation. Answers were analysed using the Chi2 and Fisher's exact test (p <.05). Results: The response rate to the survey was 20.69% (n = 113), including 28 fellows (24.78%). Forty‐six respondents (40.71%) were female, and 67 (59.30%) were male. Dentists identified as specialists were significantly more likely to be involved in teaching dental trauma (p =.000008). A majority of respondents (87.76%; 86/98) expressed interest in obtaining fellowship, with increased interest from more recent graduates. Learning opportunities, obtaining expertise, networking and a sense of community and prestige, were key factors in considering fellowship. There was interest in alternate pathways other than examination alone, with 60.2% of 98 respondents suggesting a combination of publications /service to IADT/ reviewer for Dental Traumatology, 57.14% suggesting the submission of case reports, and 42.86% suggesting Honorary Fellowship. Respondents (73%) were willing to participate in online discussion forums and other professional development opportunities. This preference was more notable among non‐fellows (75.29%) than fellows (67.85%). Conclusions: The survey indicates the diverse motivations and perceptions regarding the IADT Fellowship, despite the low participation of IADT members. Achieving fellowship status is desired by 87.7% of non‐fellows. The majority of respondents were aware of the process, but main concerns were identified as eligibility criteria and examination difficulty. Options for alternate pathways and other initiatives promoting engagement were identified. Further exploration of these issues is required to be representative of the entire IADT membership. Addressing these obstacles could significantly enhance fellowship participation and overall member satisfaction within the IADT community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers often use attribution theory to understand how people make sense of messages. Unlike the ephemeral actions typically investigated using attribution frameworks, messages can persist. Our study observed how persistence influences the harmfulness of messages and how people levy blame upon harmful posters and those ostensibly obligated and capable of intervening. Grounded in the path model of blame, a randomized experiment (N  =   520) tested whether persistence cues in an online environment (low vs high message persistence) influenced appraisals of the harmfulness of online toxicity (i.e. sexism on Reddit), inferences of mental states for relevant agents (e.g. awareness, capacity), attributions of blame, and motives to respond. Results indicated that greater persistence increased perceived harmfulness and motivated individuals to place greater blame upon inactive/ineffective moderators who were capable of intervening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Educational researchers have pointed to socioemotional dimensions of learning as important in gaining a more nuanced description of student engagement and learning. However, to date, research focused on the analysis of emotions has been narrow in its focus, centering on affect and sentiment analysis in isolation while neglecting how emotions potentially interact with social elements and course objectives in learning environments. In this paper, we present a case study analysis of seven asynchronous online discussions delivered as part of a blended-learning bachelor level course; we demonstrate the utility of a novel analysis workflow and visualization method which we refer to as SSEEN (social sentiment embedded epistemic networks) to uncover insights into the connection between social networks, course content, and detected student sentiment. The findings show that negative sentiment was most often associated with course content, but contrary to insights from prior research, negative sentiment served as a marker of engagement as students connected content to their own personal experiences. By simultaneously considering the social network alongside the sentiment-colored edges, we note that negative sentiment is not consistent within the discourse of particular students or between pairs indicating that sentiment did not appear to be an indicator of peer conflict or breaches in social contracts. The findings demonstrate how the proposed approach (SSEEN) can support educational researchers to gain a more nuanced understanding of the social, emotional, and epistemic dimensions of learning in asynchronous online discussions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Networked and digital technologies are increasingly being used for learning in formal and informal contexts, and participant engagement occurs primarily via online discussions. In this paper, we describe an ongoing research project that focuses on examining and understanding student engagement in collaborative online discussions within a formal educational context. We use multiple methodologies including social network analysis and discourse analysis to answer our main research questions, which relate to examining students' behavioral and cognitive engagement in online discussion at the individual and group level. To support our discourse analyses, we also designed and implemented a machine learning model that uses the Interactive–Constructive–Active–Passive framework (Chi, 2009) to rapidly categorize student discourse. Data analyses indicate that social network analyses can provide immediate visual clues about individual and group behavioral engagement, and degree centrality data can clearly highlight the direction and valence of engagement. Similarly, discourse analyses can provide useful categorization of student discourse at the individual and group level. We conclude by illustrating how both types of analyses together allow for a nuanced insight into the types of roles that individual students may assume, as well as the ways in which individual and collaborative activity might unfold. Our methodology and results support the need to assume a broader perspective on learning by focusing on process and the integration of multiple methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social work professionals experience high levels of burnout, emotional exhaustion, and secondary traumatic stress (STS). This paper reports the findings of a pilot test of the Burn-Not-Out programme that aimed to reduce social workers' burnout, STS, and depressive symptoms and to enhance compassion satisfaction (CS), using the mixed methods evaluation methodology. Hong Kong social workers participated in the programme between December 2023 and March 2024 and completed pre- and post-programme self-administered online surveys including the Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL) and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), healthy alongside self-constructed questions on boundary setting, and post-programme online focus group discussions. The results from 94 paired surveys revealed a concerning mental health profile of the participants at baseline, and, after programme participation, there were statistically significant reductions in burnout (Cohen's d = 0.73) and depressive symptoms (Cohen's d = 0.57) among the participants. The participants in the focus group reported that they valued the programme's emphasis on healthy boundaries, one-on-one coaching, and the sense of being cared for, which contributed to their mental health improvement. This study highlights the urgent need for more research on the role of psychological capital in social workers' resilience and calls for more empirical systemic interventions that can promote social workers' mental wellness, with sustainable policies that ensure manageable workloads and adequate workplace support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The purpose of this study was to understand how transplant infectious disease (TID) physicians assess a potential donor with known or suspected infection and describe posttransplant management. Methods: We designed a survey of 10 organ offer scenarios and asked questions pertaining to organ acceptability for transplantation and management posttransplant. The survey was distributed to TID clinicians via transplant society listservs and email. Responses were recorded in REDCap, and descriptive statistics were employed. Results: One hundred thirteen infectious disease physicians responded to the survey, of whom 85 completed all cases. Respondents were generally in agreement regarding organ acceptability, although some divergence was seen when evaluating lungs from donors with influenza, tuberculosis, or multidrug‐resistant Acinetobacter infection. Posttransplant management showed more variation. Areas of optimization were identified: (1) Further understanding of where risk‐mitigation strategies within the donor offer process may improve donor acceptability and therefore organ utilization; (2) importance of recipient considerations in assessing degree of infectious risk; and (3) gaps in evidenced‐based data regarding optimal posttransplant management of recipients. Conclusion: Evaluation of donor offers by TID clinicians is a complex process. Although the survey does not itself serve to make recommendations regarding best practices, it highlights areas where generation of data to inform acceptance and management practices may allow for improved organ utilization and recipient management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The value of skillfully adopting a multicultural orientation (MCO) in psychotherapy has been increasingly recognized. Deliberate practice methods may be helpful in developing this capacity, but limited opportunities for practice and feedback exist. The present study provided an initial test of the feasibility, usability, and acceptability of a self-guided, web-based deliberate practice tool designed to support the development of therapists' MCO: MCO Deliberate Practice Online (MCO-O). This tool included brief didactic instructions along with opportunities to practice responding to video vignettes of actors portraying clients discussing cultural topics in psychotherapy. A sample of therapists and trainees (n = 287) visited the MCO-O website and consented to the study. Recruitment through emails to listservs and a webinar was highly feasible. Quantitative ratings of usability were modest. Quantitative metrics of acceptability were also modest, with a minority of participants (18.8%) visiting the MCO-O website more than once and 51.2% of participants viewing two or more of the video vignettes. Younger participants found the MCO-O website more usable, and having MCO-O assigned was associated with watching more videos, when controlling for participant demographics. Qualitative themes included a mixture of positive feedback along with critiques and confusion regarding the MCO-O website. Taken together, results highlight the potential of this approach along with important limitations. Ultimately, it may prove difficult for therapists and trainees to engage in self-guided MCO training, particularly if using software tools that have not undergone extensive (and potentially resource intensive) user experience testing and development. Public Significance Statement: This study suggests that recruitment of therapists and trainees is feasible for use of a web-based tool for deliberate practice of multicultural orientation skills in psychotherapy. Additionally, it highlights that user experience testing and development of the software may be critical to increase usability and acceptability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communal coping theorists have advanced our understanding of stress management in relationships. We add to that work by exploring the content of messages that people exchange when they talk about how they coped with stress. We collected data from 39 online forums and analyzed 446 posts in which people described how they coped with sexual health stress. Results indicated the presence of five types of coping (individual coping, parallelism, communal coping, refused communal coping, reluctant communal coping), distinguished by posters' descriptions of emotions, communication, and relationships in each category. Our findings indicate the need to consider valence in the study of communal coping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trypophobia is the condition in which individuals report a range of negative emotions when viewing clusters of small holes. Since the phenomenon was first described in the peer-reviewed literature a decade ago, 49 papers have appeared together with hundreds of news articles. There has also been much discussion on various Internet forums, including medical and health-related websites. In the present article, we examine the degree to which the phenomenon is caused by a form of social learning, specifically, its ubiquitous social media presence. We also examined its prevalence among the broad population. In Experiment 1 (n = 2,558), we assessed whether younger people and females (i.e., greater social media users) are more sensitive to trypophobic stimuli, as predicted by the social media hypothesis. In Experiment 2 (n = 283), we examined whether sensitivity to trypophobic stimuli and rates of trypophobia is greater in people who are aware of the condition's existence, as opposed to those who have never heard of the phenomenon. In line with the social media theory, results showed that younger people and females are indeed more susceptible to trypophobia. However, 24% of trypophobic individuals have never heard of the condition. Overall, these data suggest that both social learning and non-social learning contribute to trypophobia. We also find that the prevalence of trypophobia is approximately 10%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates offensive animal metaphors in blog comments about the management of donations of money and medical relief during the coronavirus pandemic in China. Rather than understanding the metaphorical usage of language as a cognitive process, we consider its situational usage as a social action and invoke insights from Conversation Analysis. Based on data retrieved from Sina Weibo, we show how discussants use animal metaphors to accomplish varying actions and construct intelligibility between themselves and others about the relationship between actions, moral accountability, and description of social events. We therefore argue that CA with its focus on topicality, action and societal membership can complement the cognitive understanding of the proximity between the source and the target domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study a systematic analysis of signaled metaphor is undertaken in naturally occurring discourse from an online forum relating to the experience of depersonalization/derealization, which has a specific relationship with metaphor. While it is relatively easy to locate pre-identified metaphor source terms in such large text corpora, finding singular metaphor that may express subjective experience is recognized as a difficult but important task, which signals of metaphor may support. It is vital to accurately represent, such discourse, rather than only impose pre-defined knowledge, in order that ethical concerns such as exclusion, demographic misrepresentation, and bias confirmation, may be addressed. It is shown that different signals of metaphor investigated perform different functions in relation to metaphor, with many of them supporting use of idiosyncratic metaphor that appears to express the subjective experience of forum participants. Analysis of nouns across all sentences identified as containing signaled metaphor yields previously unknown terms that are typically associated with metaphor in this context, via a method that is grounded in the data. In addition, the summary list of metaphor signaling constructions may support further such investigations in large text corpora. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How migrants negotiate and adjust to new cultural settings and how they transmit culture to their children are key questions for migration researchers. This paper explores how culture is experienced and negotiated among Russian-speaking migrants, drawing on interviews and observation data collected in Perth, Australia, and Madrid, Spain, together with online forum data and documents. Analysis reveals that long-term socio-historical processes taking place within the post-Soviet space generate certain similarities among its inhabitants. These shared features, which Norbert Elias (1996) called 'national habitus', include internalised dispositions and behavioural patterns evident and reproduced in everyday life, such as hygiene and healthcare practices, norms of conduct in public places, and practices and beliefs related to the control of children's behaviour and discipline. Many migrants come to realise that they are bearers of these similarities only in the process of the migration experience. This process of recognition of their habitus, including realising the cultural nature of certain standards of behaviour perceived as 'civilised' and 'rational' in the past, and the making of decisions about what is important to keep and what is not, we refer to as 'cultural continuity dilemmas'. Participants resolve these dilemmas in three main ways: reinforcing their cultural classification systems through condemnation or attempts to correct; adopting the new standards; or adjusting perceptions to find a compromise. In these processes, certain practices and norms may come to be recognised as Soviet in both positive and negative senses, as being acceptable, or outdated remnants of a totalitarian system. Solving such dilemmas creates a unique combination of practices, forming a common cultural hybridity and generating new awareness of cultural and national identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global pet trade in invertebrates remains poorly understood and underrepresented in policy and research. Tarantulas are a highly traded invertebrate group. Many individuals in trade are wild caught, and trade regulation is often lacking, raising concerns about the effect of trade on local ecosystems and populations. We addressed local concerns surrounding the international trade of Tapinauchenius rasti (Caribbean diamond tarantula), which is endemic to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. We assessed the extinction risks associated with this widely traded species by analyzing supply of and demand for the species with the COM‐B (capability, opportunity, motivation, behavior) model. This model breaks down decision‐making into capability, opportunity, and motivation. We interviewed stakeholders throughout the supply chain and analyzed content of an online hobbyist forum and a time series of prices for this species and other tarantulas. In terms of motivation, there was limited preference for the Caribbean diamond tarantula due to its morphology and behavior. In terms of opportunity, the species was readily available, primarily through captive breeding. Collecting wild specimens is challenging due to enforcement measures and logistical difficulties, making it an unprofitable endeavor. In terms of capability, the species was relatively low in price, likely because it is easy to breed in captivity. As a result, the current wildlife trade does not pose a significant threat to the Caribbean diamond tarantula. Our methodology can serve as a valuable tool for assessing potential threats posed by trade to other spider species and possibly other invertebrates. Understanding these threats is crucial for promoting responsible and sustainable trade practices that minimize risks to wild populations while ensuring equitable benefits for communities coexisting with wildlife. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]