Bridging and Bonding Social Capital by Analyzing the Demographics, User Activities, and Social Network Dynamics of Sexual Assault Centers on Twitter: Mixed Methods Study.

BACKGROUND: Social media platforms have gained popularity as communication tools for organizations to engage with clients and the public, disseminate information, and raise awareness about social issues. From a social capital perspective, relationship building is seen as an investment, involving a complex interplay of tangible and intangible resources. Social media-based social capital signifies the diverse social networks that organizations can foster through their engagement on social media platforms. Literature underscores the great significance of further investigation into the scope and nature of social media use, particularly within sectors dedicated to service delivery, such as sexual assault organizations. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to fill a research gap by investigating the use of Twitter by sexual assault support agencies in Canada. It seeks to understand the demographics, user activities, and social network structure within these organizations on Twitter, focusing on building social capital. The research questions explore the demographic profile, geographic distribution, and Twitter activity of these organizations as well as the social network dynamics of bridging and bonding social capital. METHODS: This study used purposive sampling to investigate sexual assault centers in Canada with active Twitter accounts, resulting in the identification of 124 centers. The Twitter handles were collected, yielding 113 unique handles, and their corresponding Twitter IDs were obtained and validated. A total of 294,350 tweets were collected from these centers, covering >93.54% of their Twitter activity. Preprocessing was conducted to prepare the data, and descriptive analysis was used to determine the center demographics and age. Furthermore, geolocation mapping was performed to visualize the center locations. Social network analysis was used to explore the intricate relationships within the network of sexual assault center Twitter accounts, using various metrics to assess the network structure and connectivity dynamics. RESULTS: The results highlight the substantial presence of sexual assault organizations on Twitter, particularly in provinces such as Ontario, British Columbia, and Quebec, underscoring the importance of tailored engagement strategies considering regional disparities. The analysis of Twitter account creation years shows a peak in 2012, followed by a decline in new account creations in subsequent years. The monthly tweet activity shows November as the most active month, whereas July had the lowest activity. The study also reveals variations in Twitter activity, account creation patterns, and social network dynamics, identifying influential social queens and marginalized entities within the network. CONCLUSIONS: This study presents a comprehensive landscape of the demographics and activities of sexual assault centers in Canada on Twitter. This study suggests that future research should explore the long-term consequences of social media use and examine stakeholder perceptions, providing valuable insights to improve communication practices within the nonprofit human services sector and further the missions of these organizations.

Complex migration of antibiotic resistance in natural aquatic environments.

Antibiotic resistance is a worsening global concern, and the environmental behaviors and migration patterns of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) have attracted considerable interest. Understanding the long-range transport of ARG pollution is crucial. In this study, we characterized the dynamics of ARG changes after their release into aquatic environments and demonstrated the importance of traditional chemical contaminants in the transmission mechanisms of ARGs. We hypothesized that the main route of ARG proliferation switches from active transmission to passive transmission. This antibiotic-dominated switch is motivated and affected by non-corresponding contaminants. The effect of anthropogenic activities gradually weakens from inland aquatic environments to ocean environments; however, the effect of changes in environmental conditions is enhanced along this gradient. The insights discussed in this study will help to improve the understanding of the distribution and migration of ARG pollution in various aquatic environments, and provide a modern perspective to reveal the effect of corresponding contaminants and non-corresponding contaminants in the process of antibiotic resistance proliferation.

Effects of corresponding and non-corresponding contaminants on the fate of sulfonamide and quinolone resistance genes in the Laizhou Bay, China.

The environmental behaviors and migration patterns of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) have attracted considerable research interest. However, there has been little research concerning the effects of corresponding and non-corresponding contaminants on the fate of ARGs in coastal environments. In the present study, the distribution of intI1, sul1, sul2, qnrS and aac(6')-Ib were analyzed in water and sediment samples of Laizhou Bay in the context of corresponding and non-corresponding contaminants. The abundance of intI1, sul1 and sul2 genes exhibited a clear decreasing trend extending from the inner estuary to the coastal area. Strong and positive correlations existed between sul1/sul2 and sulfonamide antibiotic residues in sediments, and between the abundances of intI1 and sul1/sul2. Statistical analyses indicated that non-corresponding contaminants were partially correlated with ARG abundances. These results suggest that non-corresponding contaminants may have direct or indirect influences on the abundances of ARGs and intI1 in the Laizhou Bay.

The effect of environmental factors and migration dynamics on the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli in estuary environments.

Understanding the antibiotic resistance transmission mechanisms and migration dynamics of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) in the natural environment is critical given the increasing prevalence of antibiotic resistance. The aim of this study was to examine the fate of sulfonamide-resistant fecal bacteria (E. coli) in an estuary ecosystem and to explore the role and contribution of environmental factors in this process. The prevalence of sulfonamide-resistance status of E. coli was analyzed over different seasons in two estuary systems. Environmental factors and disturbance indices of anthropogenic activities were evaluated by detecting antibiotic concentrations, heavy metal abundance and other physicochemical parameters. The abundances of antibiotic-resistant E. coli were significantly attenuated during land-sea migration suggesting that estuary environments play a natural mitigation role in the contamination of freshwaters by antibiotic-resistant E. coli. Additionally, environmental factors and disturbance indices of anthropogenic activities significantly correlated with the distribution and migration of antibiotic-resistant E. coli in the estuaries. Lastly, simulation experiments suggested differential adaptability between antibiotic-resistant and non-resistant E. coli towards environmental changes in estuary environments. Meanwhile, our results indicate that low concentrations of antibiotics will not increase the competitive advantage of resistant E. coli in estuaries.