Hydrogen peroxide oxidation modifies the structural properties and allergenicity of the bee pollen allergen profilin.

Bee pollen is a byproduct of pollination, which is a necessary process to produce foods. However, bee pollen can induce significant food-borne allergies. We previously identified a bee pollen-derived pan-allergen in the profilin family, Bra c p. Herein, we aimed to reduce Bra c p allergenicity via protein oxidation with hydrogen peroxide and explore the changes induced. Ion-mobility mass spectrometry revealed aggregation of the oxidized product; we also found irreversible sulfonation of the free sulfhydryl group of the Bra c p Cys98 residue to a more stable cysteine derivative. A significant proportion of the α-helices in Bra c p were transformed into ß-sheets after oxidation, masking the antigenic epitopes. An immunoassay demonstrated that the IgE-binding affinity of Bra c p was decreased in vitro after oxidation. To our knowledge, this is the first report describing the application of protein oxidation to reduce the allergenicity of profilin family member in foods.

Social Media Communication about HPV Vaccine in China: A Study Using Topic Modeling and Survey.

The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine is relatively novel to people in China. Social media is becoming an important channel for learning new health information. However, limited is known about what HPV vaccine information has been disseminated on social media, and how such online information is associated with health-related behaviors in China. Based on Longo et al.'s model of patient use of healthcare information for healthcare decision, and Longo's model of health information seeking behaviors, this study examined HPV vaccine-related information type and information acquisition pattern. Following the mixed-methods approach, we first crawled 67,773 postings about HPV vaccine on Weibo, the largest microblogging website in China, and performed topic modeling to identify HPV vaccine-related topics that are prevalent on Weibo. The results showed six major topics about HPV vaccine, namely policy, guidance information, advertising, scandals, personal experience sharing, and HPV risks. Second, we conducted an online survey (n = 1,982) to investigate how scanning, seeking, and discussing the six HPV vaccine topics identified from big data analytics can affect HPV vaccine knowledge, safety concern, and vaccination intention. We documented significant impacts of social media health communication on users' health knowledge, attitude and behavioral intention.

Cancer Communication and User Engagement on Chinese Social Media: Content Analysis and Topic Modeling Study.

BACKGROUND: Cancer ranks among the most serious public health challenges worldwide. In China-the world's most populous country-about one-quarter of the population consists of people with cancer. Social media has become an important platform that the Chinese public uses to express opinions. OBJECTIVE: We investigated cancer-related discussions on the Chinese social media platform Weibo (Sina Corporation) to identify cancer topics that generate the highest levels of user engagement. METHODS: We conducted topic modeling and regression analyses to analyze and visualize cancer-related messages on Weibo and to examine the relationships between different cancer topics and user engagement (ie, the number of retweets, comments, and likes). RESULTS: Our results revealed that cancer communication on Weibo has generally focused on the following six topics: social support, cancer treatment, cancer prevention, women's cancers, smoking and skin cancer, and other topics. Discussions about social support and cancer treatment attracted the highest number of users and received the greatest numbers of retweets, comments, and likes. CONCLUSIONS: Our investigation of cancer-related communication on Weibo provides valuable insights into public concerns about cancer and can help guide the development of health campaigns in social media.

Aaptodines A-D, Spiro Naphthyridine-Furooxazoloquinoline Hybrid Alkaloids from the Sponge Aaptos suberitoides.

LC-MS-oriented fractionation of the sponge Aaptos suberitoides resulted in the isolation of four heptacyclic alkaloids, aaptodines A-D (1-4), which contain 9,10-dihydrofuro[2,3-f][1,3]oxazolo[5,4-h]quinolone and 7,8-dihydrocyclopenta[de][1,6]naphthyridine subunits with a spiro carbon atom. The structures were determined on the basis of NMR spectroscopic and single-crystal X-ray diffraction data analysis aided by electronic circular dichroism calculations and Mosher's method. A biosynthetic pathway for the formation of aaptodines A-D is postulated. Aaptodine D exhibits potent inhibition against osteoclast formation.

Discussing Occupy Wall Street on Twitter: longitudinal network analysis of equality, emotion, and stability of public discussion.

To evaluate the quality of public discussion about social movements on Twitter and to understand the structural features and evolution of longitudinal discussion networks, we analyze tweets about the Occupy Wall Street movement posted over the course of 16 days by investigating the relationship between inequality, emotion, and the stability of online discussion. The results reveal that (1) the discussion is highly unequal for both initiating discussions and receiving conversations; (2) the stability of the discussion is much higher for receivers than for initiators; (3) the inequality of online discussions moderates the stability of online discussions; and (4) on an individual level, there is no significant relationship between emotion and political discussion. The implications help evaluate the quality of public discussion, and to understand the relationship between online discussion and social movements.