This investigation tested a theoretical model of communication behavior with specificFacebook friends, such that attitudes toward (a) online self-disclosure, and (b) online social connection, predict Facebook communication frequency and, in turn, relational closeness. Participants included both undergraduates and older adults. Results generally supported the model, with the interaction effect between self-disclosure and social connection directly predicting Facebook communication and indirectly predicting relational closeness. For both dependent variables, online social connection was a positive predictor at low and moderate levels of online self-disclosure, but high levels reduced the association to nonsignificance. One implication of these results was that high-warrant information may discourage those with social anxiety from social network site communication.

Background: The 2019-nCoV has been identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China beginning in December 2019. This epidemic had spread to 19 countries with 11791 confirmed cases, including 213 deaths, as of January 31, 2020. The World Health Organization declared it as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.Methods: A scoping review of 65 research articles published until January 31, 2020 were analyzed and discussed for a better understanding of the epidemiology, causes, clinical diagnosis, prevention and control of this virus. The research domains, publishing dates, journal language, and authors’ affiliations, as well as methodological characteristics were analyzed. All findings and statements that are mentioned regarding the outbreak in this review are based on published information as listed in the references.Results: Most of the publications were in English language (89.23%). The largest proportion of articles were related to causes (38.46%) and majority (67.69%), and were published by Chinese scholars. Research articles initially focused on causes while there was an increase of the articles related to prevention and control over time. Studies thus far have shown origination in connection to a seafood market in Wuhan, but specific animal association has not been confirmed. The reported symptoms include fever, cough, fatigue, pneumonia, headache, diarrhea, hemoptysis, and dyspnea. Preventive measures such as masks, hand hygiene practices, avoidance of public contact, case detection, contact tracing, and quarantines are being discussed for reducing the transmission. To date, no specific antiviral treatment is proven effective, hence, infected people primarily rely on symptomatic treatment and supportive care. Conclusions: There has been a rapid surge in research in response to the outbreak of 2019-nCoV. During this early period, published research primarily explored the epidemiology, causes, clinical manifestation and diagnosis, as well as prevention and control of the novel coronavirus. Although these studies had relevance to the control of a public emergency, more high-quality research need to be conducted to provide valid and reliable ways to manage this kind of public health emergency in both short-and long-terms.

Universities recruit international students for a number of reasons, including enhancement of global contacts and reputation, to increase enrolment, and to generate revenue from tuition. These students face unique challenges as compared with domestic students, but no published studies or reports exist on this issue. In this article we report our findings from a survey and interviews with international graduate students, university personnel, and service providers assisting students. Students reported difficulties with finding affordable, adequate, and suitable housing; with finances, stemming from their ability to work or find employment, and from currency fluctuations; and with integration into a new university and an unfamiliar society. Administrators described limits to the assistance they could provide. Both groups suggested changes to address international students’ housing and financial issues. This study is part of a larger research project exploring housing and related issues among post-secondary students in a western Canadian city.

IntroductionUsing the 2005 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) data, we explore the association between excessive recreational computer use and specific food consumption behavior among California's adolescents aged 12-17.MethodThe adolescent component of CHIS 2005 measured the respondents' average number of hours spent on viewing TV on a weekday, the average number of hours spent on viewing TV on a weekend day, the average number of hours spent on playing with a computer on a weekday, and the average number of hours spent on playing with computers on a weekend day. We recode these four continuous variables into four variables of "excessive media use," and define more than three hours of using a medium per day as "excessive." These four variables are then used in logistic regressions to predict different food consumption behaviors on the previous day: having fast food, eating sugary food more than once, drinking sugary drinks more than once, and eating more than five servings of fruits and vegetables. We use the following variables as covariates in the logistic regressions: age, gender, race/ethnicity, parental education, household poverty status, whether born in the U.S., and whether living with two parents.ResultsHaving fast food on the previous day is associated with excessive weekday TV viewing (O.R. = 1.38, p < 0.01). Having sugary food more than once is associated with excessive weekend TV viewing (O.R. = 1.50, p < 0.001). Having sugary drinks more than once is associated with excessive weekday TV viewing (O.R. = 1.41, p < 0.01), excessive weekday recreational computer use (O.R. = 1.38, p < 0.05), and excessive weekend TV viewing (O.R. = 1.43, p < 0.001). Finally, having more than five servings of fruits and vegetables on the previous day is negatively associated with all four media use variables: excessive weekday TV viewing (O.R. = 0.64, p < 0.001), excessive weekday recreational computer use (O.R. = 0.68, p < 0.01), excessive weekend TV viewing (O.R. = 0.80, p < 0.05), and excessive weekend recreational computer use (O.R. = 0.78, p < 0.05).ConclusionExcessive recreational computer use independently predicts undesirable eating behaviors that could lead to overweight and obesity. Preventive measures ranging from parental/youth counseling to content regulations might be addressing the potential undesirable influence from excessive computer use on eating behaviors among children and adolescents.

New communication devices such as cell phones and the mobile Internet enabled medical professionals to coordinate the rescue and relief work after this major natural disaster, at a time when the country's emergency response system still had plenty of room for improvement. In future, the mobile Internet should be used as a means of collecting bottom-up disaster reports so that the media will not neglect any disaster areas as they did during the Sichuan Earthquake. Rescue relief work would have been substantially easier if medical teams had been equipped with advanced appliances such as maritime satellite cell phones. "Disaster medicine" should be treated as a separate discipline in medical schools and receive more investment. Moreover, a stronger public health emergency response system is needed for more efficient dispatch and coordination.