This research examines the mediating role of the tendency for Internet addiction, fear of missing out (FOMO), and psychological well-being in the relationship between online exposure to ...movement-related information and support for radical actions. A questionnaire survey that targets tertiary students was conducted during the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill (Anti-ELAB) Movement (N = 290). The findings reveal the mediating effect of Internet addiction and depression as the main relationship. These findings enrich the literature of political communication by addressing the political impact of Internet use beyond digital architecture. From the perspective of psychology, this research echoes the literature that concerns depression symptoms driven by a protest environment. Radical political attitudes driven by depression during protests should also be concerned based on the findings of this survey.
Human adenoviruses (HAdV) may be implicated in some disease outbreaks associated with recreational water exposures, typically in swimming pools. Modern molecular methods can be used to detect HAdV in ...environmental water samples. During the EU FP6 Project VIROBATHE a database of over 290 HAdV analyses with corresponding faecal indicator organism (FIO) determinations was gathered and used to explore statistical associations between HAdV and FIO results. The FIOs measured were Escherichia coli, intestinal enterococci and somatic coliphage. Statistically significant trends of increasing proportions of HAdV-positive results in categories of increasing FIO concentration were found in freshwater but not seawater samples. The analysis of these trends in freshwater samples was refined, the trends remaining statistically significant when using categories of 0.5 log10 intervals of FIO concentration. Logistic regression models were then developed to predict the probability of a HAdV-positive outcome from FIO concentration. Potential applications of these models to predict the probability of HAdV-positive outcomes from routine FIO determinations used to describe recreational water quality exposures and to classify recreational water quality are discussed.
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► Over 290 samples were collected from diverse European freshwater and marine sites. ► Samples were analyzed for the presence of human adenovirus using PCR. ► Concentrations of traditional faecal indicator organisms (FIOs) were also measured. ► Adenovirus presence was relatively high at low FIO concentrations. ► Adenovirus presence increased with FIO concentration in freshwater samples.
Dating applications are a popular platform to meet new people. At the same time, they have been associated with risks such as unsafe sexual behavior and privacy concerns in young adults. This paper ...presents a study protocol of a cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the effectiveness of a peer-led web-based intervention to promote its safe usage in young adults.
The study design is an open-labeled cluster RCT with an intervention and a placebo control arm. The intervention group will receive a web-based intervention developed through focus group discussions, a crowdsourcing contest, and a Peer-Vetted Creative Production (PVCP) workshop. The control group will receive a web-based resource on health and exercise. We aim to recruit approximately 338 young adults aged 17-27 years from three tertiary educational institutions in Hong Kong with the class as the cluster unit. Based on the Information, Motivation, and Behavioral Skills (IMB) model, the primary outcome of this study is self-efficacy in using dating applications measured by the General Self Efficacy Scale. Secondary outcomes include change in risk perception measured by the Risk Propensity Scale and a Risk Assessment Tool. Questionnaires will be administered before the intervention, after the intervention, and at one-month follow-up. Intention-to-treat analysis and multilevel regression modeling will be used to evaluate differences in outcomes between groups and the factors affecting these outcomes, respectively.
Dating application usage presents opportunities as well as challenges to young adults meeting new friends. Innovative and relatable interventions are needed to promote the safe usage of dating applications to this population. Practical knowledge gained from the development process may be helpful for future intervention utilizing the peer-led approach. If effective, the intervention will be disseminated to non-governmental organizations and educational institutions to be used as a teaching resource.
ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03685643 . Registered on 26 September 2018. University of Hong Kong Clinical Trials Registry, HKUCTR-2512.
Epidemiological evidence has shown that increased levels of respirable particulate air pollution leads to adverse cardiorespiratory health effects although the exact mechanism of damage is unknown. ...In the UK the largest single source of respirable air particulates is road transport. Currently the background levels of respirable air particulates are measured by stationary monitoring stations. However, traffic volumes often vary considerably within a city and hotspots of densely trafficked areas may give rise to microenvironments with increased respirable particulate levels. The primary objective of this thesis was to investigate whether a high density of local motor traffic would give rise to microenvironments with increased levels of respirable air particulates. A selection of streets in Cardiff city were allocated into exposed and control group according to traffic volumes. Levels of respirable air particulates were measured for each residential location both indoor and outdoor, and individual residents provided blood, urine, and hair samples for the analysis of trace elements, which may serve as biomarkers of exposure to air particulates from motor vehicles. Results showed that for both indoor and outdoor respirable air particulate concentrations, the levels were found to be higher in exposed areas than controls, and there was a moderately high correlation between indoor and outdoor concentrations. However, the study failed to demonstrate any differential uptake of trace elements as reflected by the lack of differences in the levels of biomarkers in the biological samples of subjects residing in different exposure areas. A separate study was carried out to investigate whether short-term changes in respirable air particulate levels would lead to acute exacerbation of disease symptoms in individuals with asthma, chronic respiratory diseases excluding asthma, and chronic cardiac diseases. Subjects were recruited through specialist hospital outpatient clinics located in South Wales and disease specific questionnaires were sent out during different episodes of respirable particulate air pollution. Results showed that symptoms of most subjects were not affected by short-term changes in air particulate levels, although individuals with more severe asthma and cardiac disease appeared to have benefited relatively more from lower levels of respirable air particulates than those with less severe disease symptoms as well as those suffering from chronic respiratory disease.
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