Free Speech or Safe Speech: The Neoliberal University's False Dilemma

The war between free speech and safe speech in universities has unleashed competition for victimhood among antagonistic groups whose battles empower administrators. Freedom versus safety is a false dilemma. Understanding its falsity and social origins can help us detect the forces deploying it for political control by fostering demands for patronage. In the "cancel culture" era, we should remember that the original purpose of the struggles for free speech was to empower the weak, not to shelter them. Universities should not become unfit-for-purpose social welfare agencies trying in vain to counter the ubiquitous insecurity neoliberal policies generate. The 2024 university campus protests against the Israeli atrocities in Gaza indicate a way out of the false dilemma

Relational, structural and systemic forms of power: the ‘right to justification’ confronting three types of domination

This article investigates the nature of intellectual critique and social criticism Rainer Forst’s critical theory of justification enables. I introduce a taxonomy of three forms of power – namely, ‘relational’, ‘structural’ and ‘systemic’ – and related to them types of domination, and assess the capacity of Forst’s conceptual framework to address each of them. I argue that the right to justification is a potent tool for emancipation from structural and relational forms of domination, but claim that Forst’s particular conceptualisation of power prevents him from addressing injustices generated by ‘systemic domination’ – the subjection of all actors to the functional imperatives of the system of social relations

Transformation of the Forecast Assessment of Expected Credit Losses in Monitoring and Assessment of Credit Risk in Commercial Banks

The article presents the results of the systematization of issues arising in connection with the transformation of the banks forecast assessment of expected credit losses during the monitoring and evaluation of credit risk in commercial banks. Based on the data obtained on the introduction of IFRS 9 "Financial instruments" into the banking sector, it is concluded that in banking practice there is uncertainty regarding the long-term impact of credit risk, and there are significant difficulties with the use of a large amount of additional information, which creates certain difficulties in calculating future credit losses of banks. It is noted that the current use of the model of predictive assessment of expected credit losses of customers in the monitoring and evaluation of credit risk in the bank should take into account the selected collective or individual basis of assessment. The article presents a comprehensive approach to the use of the impairment model of expected losses in banking as a basic tool for modeling expected credit losses in order to form provisions for impairment with the allocation. The modification of this model will depend on the specifics of the bank's credit activities and portfolio, the types of its financial instruments, the sources of available information, as well as the IT systems used. Validation of this model will reduce the expected credit losses, reduce the amount of estimated reserves, as well as improve the efficiency of the Bank as a whole

Clinical impact of a targeted next-generation sequencing gene panel for autoinflammation and vasculitis.

BACKGROUND: Monogenic autoinflammatory diseases (AID) are a rapidly expanding group of genetically diverse but phenotypically overlapping systemic inflammatory disorders associated with dysregulated innate immunity. They cause significant morbidity, mortality and economic burden. Here, we aimed to develop and evaluate the clinical impact of a NGS targeted gene panel, the "Vasculitis and Inflammation Panel" (VIP) for AID and vasculitis. METHODS: The Agilent SureDesign tool was used to design 2 versions of VIP; VIP1 targeting 113 genes, and a later version, VIP2, targeting 166 genes. Captured and indexed libraries (QXT Target Enrichment System) prepared for 72 patients were sequenced as a multiplex of 16 samples on an Illumina MiSeq sequencer in 150bp paired-end mode. The cohort comprised 22 positive control DNA samples from patients with previously validated mutations in a variety of the genes; and 50 prospective samples from patients with suspected AID in whom previous Sanger based genetic screening had been non-diagnostic. RESULTS: VIP was sensitive and specific at detecting all the different types of known mutations in 22 positive controls, including gene deletion, small INDELS, and somatic mosaicism with allele fraction as low as 3%. Six/50 patients (12%) with unclassified AID had at least one class 5 (clearly pathogenic) variant; and 11/50 (22%) had at least one likely pathogenic variant (class 4). Overall, testing with VIP resulted in a firm or strongly suspected molecular diagnosis in 16/50 patients (32%). CONCLUSIONS: The high diagnostic yield and accuracy of this comprehensive targeted gene panel validate the use of broad NGS-based testing for patients with suspected AID

Preclinical Anticancer Activity of an Electron-Deficient Organoruthenium(II) Complex

YesRuthenium compounds have been shown to be promising alternatives to platinum(II) drugs. However, their clinical success depends on achieving mechanisms of action that overcome Pt-resistance mechanisms. Electron-deficient organoruthenium complexes are an understudied class of compounds that exhibit unusual reactivity in solution and might offer novel anticancer mechanisms of action. Here, we evaluate the in vitro and in vivo anticancer properties of the electron-deficient organoruthenium complex [(p-cymene)Ru(maleonitriledithiolate)]. This compound is found to be highly cytotoxic: 5 to 60 times more potent than cisplatin towards ovarian (A2780 and A2780cisR), colon (HCT116 p53+/+ and HCT116 p53−/−), and non-small cell lung H460 cancer cell lines. It shows no cross-resistance and is equally cytotoxic to both A2780 and A2780cisR cell lines. Furthermore, unlike cisplatin, the remarkable in vitro antiproliferative activity of this compound appears to be p53-independent. In vivo evaluation in the hollow-fibre assay across a panel of cancer cell types and subcutaneous H460 non-small cell lung cancer xenograft model hints at the activity of the complex. Although the impressive in vitro data are not fully corroborated by the in vivo follow-up, this work is the first preclinical study of electron-deficient half-sandwich complexes and highlights their promise as anticancer drug candidates.UF150295/Royal Society; University of Bradford; Government Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy; SBF003\1170/British Heart Foundation Springboard Award; AMS_/Academy of Medical Sciences/United Kingdo

The 2017 Regional Election in Catalonia: An attempt to understand the pro-independence vote

This paper tries to unveil the main factors behind the triumph of the proindependence vote in the 2017 Regional Election in Catalonia. The empirical analysis, which is carried out at the county level and by using a spatial econometric model, reveals that geographical location matters. The estimation results also suggest that the pro-independence vote is mainly linked to the birthplace of individuals. More specifically, it shows that the independence feeling is weaker the higher the share of citizens born outside Catalonia. On the other side, young and highly educated people are more prone to independence. Additionally, it is shown that people working in the public sector are more likely to vote for a political party in favor of Catalonia remaining in Spain, while the opposite happens for those voters working in construction. Finally, the results seem to dispel some myths associated with the role played by the county’s size and level of income on the proindependence vote