Compound W, a 3,3=-diiodothyronine sulfate (T 2 S) cross-reactive material in maternal serum, was found to be useful as a marker for fetal hypothyroidism. In the present report, we explored its biochemical properties and studied its concentrations in cord and in maternal serum obtained from various gestational periods and at term from different continents. Mean W concentrations, expressed as nmol/L T 2 S-equivalent, in maternal serum during gestation showed a moderate increase at 20 -26 wk (1.57 nmol/L) and an accelerated increase to 34 -40 wk (3.59 nmol/L). The mean serum level was relatively low in nonpregnant women (0.17 nmol/L). Compound W levels in cord and maternal serum at term were not significantly different among samples obtained from Taiwan compared with samples from the United States. The mean cord serum "corrected" (by hot acid digestion) concentrations of W were significantly higher than maternal serum concentrations at birth and were also higher in venous than in paired arterial samples, suggesting that the placenta may play a role in its production. We compared a total of 45 iodothyronine analogs by antibody, gel filtration, and HPLC chromatographic studies and found only one compound, N,N-dimethyl- E mploying a sensitive RIA for T 2 S, we found high concentrations in fetal and pregnant serum in humans (1). We further identified that this T 2 S-cross-reactive material is not authentic T 2 S and does not co-chromatograph with synthetic T 2 S on HPLC. Thus, the name Compound W was coined to represent this material in fetal and maternal serum (1). Levels increased with the progression of pregnancy and rapidly peaked before parturition. At delivery, a 20-fold increase in "T 2 S" was found compared with nonpregnant women and returned to baseline within 7-10 d. Serial measurements of serum W in pregnant women have been found to be useful as a noninvasive technique for the diagnosis of fetal hypothyroidism (2,3).The present study was undertaken to determine the normal distribution of elevated Compound W levels in different stages of pregnancy as well as from various geographic areas and correlate between paired maternal and cord blood samples, and to explore its origin and chemical structure. MATERIALS AND METHODS T 2 S RIA. 3,3=-T 2 S and [125 I]T 2 S were prepared by the method of Eelkman-Rooda and co-workers (4,5). T 2 S was further purified and quantitatively recovered by reverse-phase HPLC with a preparative column, as described previously (1,2,4).The T 2 S RIA procedure was a modification of the RIA described previously (1,2). Serum samples (0.2-1.0 mL) were extracted with 2 vol 95% ethanol (final concentration, 63%) before assay. Preliminary experiments showed that the extraction efficiency of T 2 S in serum exceeded 96%. Final T 2 S concentrations were not corrected for recovery. The lower limit of detection of the assay was 3.3 fmol (2 pg), or 33.1 pmol/L in a 300 L ethanol extract of serum. Intra-assay variations were 1.9 -9.1% and interassay variations were 6.0 -19.5%, depending on ...

Background Social media networks provide an abundance of diverse information that can be leveraged for data-driven applications across various social and physical sciences. One opportunity to utilize such data exists in the public health domain, where data collection is often constrained by organizational funding and limited user adoption. Furthermore, the efficacy of health interventions is often based on self-reported data, which are not always reliable. Health-promotion strategies for communities facing multiple vulnerabilities, such as men who have sex with men, can benefit from an automated system that not only determines health behavior risk but also suggests appropriate intervention targets. Objective This study aims to determine the value of leveraging social media messages to identify health risk behavior for men who have sex with men. Methods The Gay Social Networking Analysis Program was created as a preliminary framework for intelligent web-based health-promotion intervention. The program consisted of a data collection system that automatically gathered social media data, health questionnaires, and clinical results for sexually transmitted diseases and drug tests across 51 participants over 3 months. Machine learning techniques were utilized to assess the relationship between social media messages and participants' offline sexual health and substance use biological outcomes. The F1 score, a weighted average of precision and recall, was used to evaluate each algorithm. Natural language processing techniques were employed to create health behavior risk scores from participant messages. Results Offline HIV, amphetamine, and methamphetamine use were correctly identified using only social media data, with machine learning models obtaining F1 scores of 82.6%, 85.9%, and 85.3%, respectively. Additionally, constructed risk scores were found to be reasonably comparable to risk scores adapted from the Center for Disease Control. Conclusions To our knowledge, our study is the first empirical evaluation of a social media–based public health intervention framework for men who have sex with men. We found that social media data were correlated with offline sexual health and substance use, verified through biological testing. The proof of concept and initial results validate that public health interventions can indeed use social media–based systems to successfully determine offline health risk behaviors. The findings demonstrate the promise of deploying a social media–based just-in-time adaptive intervention to target substance use and HIV risk behavior.

Our findings reflect low uptake of the recommended MenACWY vaccine among MSM after a local outbreak, despite public health efforts. In addition to ongoing, widespread campaigns to inform MSM about local outbreaks and vaccination recommendations, MSM may be responsive to direct outreach from peers who have been vaccinated.

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High-quality academic mentorship is key to the success of students pursuing careers in the health sciences. Mentorship may take on additional importance for sexual and gender minority (SGM) students, who often face stressors related to stigmatized identities. We conducted an anonymous online survey to assess the mentorship experiences of SGM students pursuing careers in the health sciences and to elicit their perspectives on what makes an effective mentor. Students (N = 166) were pursuing a variety of health-related careers, including medicine (12.7%), nursing (7.8%), public health (21.1%), and social work (19.3%). Overall, students rated the quality of their mentorship experiences as (very) good: 83.8% among participants who reported having had an academic mentor that openly identified as SGM and 79.5% among participants who had a non-SGM identified mentor (ns). Participants recommended individual, dyadic and structural level activities that could be undertaken by academic mentors of SGM students to promote the students’ academic success and positive career trajectories. Education on SGM issues, direct conversation about experiences of homophobia and transphobia in academic settings, and advocacy for including SGM content in coursework were among the suggestions provided by participants.