International migrants and coronavirus disease 2019 vaccinations: Social Media, motivated information management, and vaccination willingness.

Objective: This study examines how those who were born outside the United States and migrated to the country in the past decade used social media and other online sites to deal with uncertainties around the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. In particular, we examine how they used digital communication technologies to tap into online resources and social connections both in the United States and their origin country and how various aspects of online information management were associated with their willingness to get vaccinated against the virus. Method: We conducted an online survey and in-depth interviews with international migrants aged 18-64 years who moved to the United States in 2011 or later and were living in two neighboring states in the US Midwest as of spring 2021. Since this research involves understanding how these international migrants dealt with uncertainties related to coronavirus disease 2019 vaccinations, we collected the survey and interview data when each state had a vaccination rate of less than 10% and very limited vaccination eligibility for those aged 64 years and below. Results: Our results show that international migrants" perceived uncertainty, positive and negative emotions, efficacy, and outcome expectancy affect their information seeking related to the coronavirus disease 2019 vaccination. In addition, issue salience moderates the effect between information seeking and vaccine willingness. Conclusion: This research provides relevant and timely scholarly and policy implications that help advance research in this area and better support international migrant communities during public health crises such as the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

Social media use for health, cultural characteristics, and demographics: A survey of Pakistani millennials.

Objective: Over the last 10 years, an extensive body of literature has been produced to investigate the role of social media in health. However, little is known about the impact of cultural characteristics (e.g. masculinity, collectivism, and uncertainty avoidance) on social media use regarding health-related information, especially in developing countries like Pakistan. The present study employed Hofstede's cultural characteristics framework and uses and gratification theory to examine how Pakistani millennials' demographic attributes and cultural characteristics are associated with their social media use for health-related information. Method: An online survey of 722 people aged 18-35 living in Pakistan was conducted in spring 2020 to examine the intensity and frequency of social media use, health-related use of social media, cultural characteristics, and demographic attributes. Results: Results showed that cultural characteristics-masculinity, collectivism, and uncertainty avoidance-are strongly related with their perceptions of social media importance, usefulness, and perceived ease of access for health-related information even when controlling for demographic characteristics. Age and gender are also significantly associated with their perspectives on social media for health. Conclusions: We found that communicating and sharing information is the most important motivation for Pakistani millennials to use social media in the area of health with WhatsApp and YouTube being most preferred social media sites for health-related issues.

Conduction aphasia as an initial symptom in a patient with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

We report a 59-year-old woman who presented to our facility with conduction aphasia as an initial symptom which, within 3months, was followed by generalized myoclonus and global aphasia. She had difficulty repeating words during the Korean-Western Aphasia Battery test. Diffusion-weighted MRI demonstrated ribbon-like hyperintensities in the bilateral temporal, parietal and occipital cerebral cortex. An electroencephalogram showed periodic discharges over the bilateral hemispheres, while single photo emission CT revealed diminished perfusion. After a positive finding of the 14-3-3 protein in her cerebrospinal fluid, she was diagnosed as having probable sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

The short-term effect of acetylcholinesterase inhibitor on the regional cerebral blood flow of Alzheimer's disease.

This study is to investigate changes in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in short-term treatment with acetylcholinesterase inhibitor (ChEI). rCBF was measured by single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). CBF measurements were performed in 13 AD patients before treatment and 4 months later, while the control group with syncope or headache consisted of 17 patients. The clinical diagnosis of AD was based on the NINCDS-ADRDA criteria. Significant increases in rCBF were noted in the left angular, the right superior frontal gyrus, the right occipital, the left temporal lobe and the left orbital gyrus at the end of short-term therapy. Reduction in the rCBF before treatment is more profound in the left superior temporal, the right precentral and the both inferior frontal gyri compared with the control group. It achieved increase of rCBF after ChEI treatment. Also it overall increased in global cognitive functions including Korean Version Mini Mental State Examination (K-MMSE) and Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR). Treatment with ChEI for 4 months could increase rCBF and improve cognitive function of patients with AD.

Medial temporal lobe atrophy in vascular dementia: visual temporal lobe rating scale.

Medial temporal lobe atrophy (MTA) as assessed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be measured in several ways. First of all, visual rating scale is a quick and easy measurement. MTA is a sensitive marker for Alzheimer's disease (AD), but not specific. It has been documented in other dementias including vascular dementia (VD). This study is to evaluate the degree of MTA in VD patients using a standardized visual rating scale and to suggest the importance of the possible role of MTA in VD. Twenty-five VD, 33 AD and 27 non-demented patients underwent a coronal three-dimensional magnetization prepared rapid gradient echo brain MRI sequence. MTA was rated visually using a 5-point rating scale from 0 (no atrophy) to 4 (severe atrophy). The mean summed MTA score was 5.39 in AD, 2.16 in VD and 0.56 in non-demented patients. Most of the VD patients (80%) showed MTA. They were greater in bilateral sides compared with the non-demented group, but milder than in AD. Additionally, MTA of left side score was significantly associated with age. Medial temporal lobe volumes measured visually are smaller in size in patients with VD, although not to the same extent as in AD. This suggests that MTA in VD patients may be associated with pre-existing AD.