Click: Exploring Social Actions in the 21st Century

The phenomenon of social media has become part of our everyday interaction with others. At the heart of this exploration lies the idea that ‘clicks’ on social media are meaningful ways of communicating with others and doing things together. Approaching them in their role as a symbol of 21st century everyday social action means considering how ‘clicks’ are understood as meaningful units of behaviour in context. Whereas the standard philosophy of action tempts one to think of a ‘click’ as a highly individualistic action, I contend that even the simplest ‘click’ retains important senses of sociality. Philosophical theories struggle to explain these nuances of social action and ignore how sociality weaves through conceptions of actions, offline and online. I criticise views in philosophy that are enchanted by a solipsistic paradigm of action. I call this point of view atomism. The atomistic paradigm has been uncritically employed in accounts of collective action, which proposes a particular way of making the distinction between actions performed individually, and action that is performed socially or collectively. The former is traditionally taken to be preliminary to the latter. This has led to a misguided understanding of the connection between sociality and action, resulting in unnecessary metaphysical tangles. As an alternative, I propose a view that illuminates how actions are social regardless as to whether they are performed with others or alone. An action’s sociality can but is not necessarily constituted by the number of agents involved at any given time. Sociality rather, interweaves conceptions of action on a conceptual level. To highlight the nuances of the interplay of sociality and action, I suggest social holism as a perspicuous perspective from which actions are conceptualised in the light of an inquisitive aim. It explores how actions are ordinarily understood in relation to what they mean. What the action is thus, depends on the context and is informed by senses of sociality. This ordinary action philosophy investigates the phenomenological engagement of ordinary agents with actions and outlines the social resources that are active in understanding each other’s actions. Where atomism might tempt one to think of a ‘click’ on social media as an individual action in isolation, I show that understanding ‘clicks’ as actions is already social, both on empirical and conceptual levels. Reaching from being accustomed to a world in which this form of communication is conceivably doable to the ways in which the opportunity to do so is a socially enabled achievement. The argument will proceed in three steps: first, drafting a holistic perspective on how agents come to see action as meaningful wholes. Second, showing how perceptual holism is informed by senses of sociality: paradigmatically, one encounters actions in a variety of social ways. These include the understanding of doable actions that are ordinary and repeatable; the sense in which actions are interactive and enabled by others. With these senses in place, and by drawing on a range of methodological allies outside the philosophy of action, an exploration of the acts of communication performed on social media is presented as demonstrating how actions are understood, described and rendered intelligible. And third, applying the senses of sociality to everyday examples of social media action. Starting from social holism avoids caveats of atomism; paradigms of social action collapses the artificial distinction that atomists make between individual and collective action. Embracing this alternative starting point lays the groundwork for conducting further research in the area, particularly internet ethics and considerations of online action

Office-based Air-Fluid Exchange for Diabetic Post-Operative Vitreous Cavity Hemorrhage

Post-operative vitreous cavity hemorrhage (POVCH) is observed in 6-75% of eyes undergoing pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) for proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). We describe our technique for office-based Air fluid exchange (AFX) in the treatment of POVCH. Sixteen eyes (15 patients) with PDR and POVCH undergoing office-based AFX between January 2006 and November 2016 were retrospectively identified. The pre- and post- procedure visual acuity (VA) and complications were compared between eyes with and without traction retinal detachment (TRD). Medicare charges for office-based AFX versus PPV were also analyzed. Mean age at the time of AFX was 55.31 (± 8.02) years. Nine eyes (56.25%) had TRD prior to PPV and 11 eyes (68.75%) were pseudophakic. The improvements in mean (± standard deviation [SD]) logMAR VA at the last postoperative visit (3 - 8 months) were 1.38 (± 0.99), 0.82 (± 0.91) and 2.09 (± 0.53) in all eyes, TRD eyes and non-TRD eyes, respectively. Complications included cataract progression, hypotony, and recurrence of TRD and ghost cell glaucoma. The total cost of outpatient AFX was $1,409.59 less than that of PPV. Office-based AFX is a cost-effective alternative treatment for non-clearing diabetic POVCH with an acceptable risk profile

Office-based Air-Fluid Exchange for Diabetic Post-Operative Vitreous Cavity Hemorrhage

Post-operative vitreous cavity hemorrhage (POVCH) is observed in 6-75% of eyes undergoing pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) for proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). We describe our technique for office-based Air fluid exchange (AFX) in the treatment of POVCH. Sixteen eyes (15 patients) with PDR and POVCH undergoing office-based AFX between January 2006 and November 2016 were retrospectively identified. The pre- and post- procedure visual acuity (VA) and complications were compared between eyes with and without traction retinal detachment (TRD). Medicare charges for office-based AFX versus PPV were also analyzed. Mean age at the time of AFX was 55.31 (± 8.02) years. Nine eyes (56.25%) had TRD prior to PPV and 11 eyes (68.75%) were pseudophakic. The improvements in mean (± standard deviation [SD]) logMAR VA at the last postoperative visit (3 - 8 months) were 1.38 (± 0.99), 0.82 (± 0.91) and 2.09 (± 0.53) in all eyes, TRD eyes and non-TRD eyes, respectively. Complications included cataract progression, hypotony, and recurrence of TRD and ghost cell glaucoma. The total cost of outpatient AFX was $1,409.59 less than that of PPV. Office-based AFX is a cost-effective alternative treatment for non-clearing diabetic POVCH with an acceptable risk profile

Bilateral Spontaneous Hyphemas in a Patient with Aplastic Anemia

Bilateral spontaneous hyphemas are a rare ophthalmic event. Aplastic anemia is a hematologic condition with well-documented manifestations in the posterior segment but not the anterior segment. We present a patient with aplastic anemia without obvious risk factors for hyphema who developed bilateral spontaneous hyphemas. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of bilateral spontaneous hyphemas in a patient with aplastic anemia

A large-scale investigation of microplastic contamination: abundance and characteristics of microplastics in European beach sediment

Here we present the large-scale distribution of microplastic contamination in beach sediment across Europe. Sediment samples were collected from 23 locations across 13 countries by citizen scientists, and analysed using a standard operating procedure. We found significant variability in the concentrations of microplastics, ranging from 72 ± 24 to 1512 ± 187 microplastics per kg of dry sediment, with high variability within sampling locations. Three hotspots of microplastic accumulation (> 700 microplastics per kg of dry sediment) were found. There was limited variability in the physico-chemical characteristics of the plastics across sampling locations. The majority of the microplastics were fibrous, < 1 mm in size, and blue/black in colour. In addition, using Raman spectrometry we identified particles as polyester, polyethylene, and polypropylene. Our research is the first large spatial-scale analysis of microplastics on European beaches giving insights into the nature and extent of the microplastic challenge

Digital Twining of Geophysical Extremes

The geophysical research community has developed a relatively large amount of numerical codes and scientific methodologies which are able to numerically simulate through physics the extreme behavior of the Earth systems (for example: volcanoes, tsunamis earthquakes, etc). Furthermore, nowadays, large volumes of data have been acquired and, even near real-time data streams are accessible. Therefore, Earth scientist currently have on their hands the possibility of monitoring these events through sophisticated approaches using the current leading edge computational capabilities provided by pre-exascale computing infrastructures. The implementation and deployments of 12 Digital Twin Components (DTCs), addressing different aspects of geophysical extreme events is being carried out by DT-GEO, a project funded under the Horizon Europe programme (2022-2025). Each DTC is intended as self-contained entity embedding flagship simulation codes, Artificial Intelligence layers, large volumes of (real-time) data streams from and into data-lakes, data assimilation methodologies, and overarching workflows which will are executed independently or coupled DTCs in a centralized HPC and/or virtual cloud computing research infrastructure

A digital twin for geophysical extremes: interim results from the DT-GEO project

The DT-GEO project (2022-2025), funded under the Horizon Europe topic call INFRA-2021-TECH-01-01, is implementing an interdisciplinary digital twin for modelling and simulating geophysical extremes at the service of research infrastructures and related communities. The digital twin consists of interrelated Digital Twin Components (DTCs) dealing with geohazards from earthquakes to volcanoes to tsunamis and that harness world-class computational (FENIX, EuroHPC) and data (EPOS) Research Infrastructures, operational monitoring networks, and leading-edge research and academic partnerships in various fields of geophysics. The project is merging and assembling latest developments from other European projects and EuroHPC Centers of Excellence to deploy 12 DTCs, intended as self-contained containerised entities embedding flagship simulation codes, artificial intelligence layers, large volumes of (real-time) data streams from and into data-lakes, data assimilation methodologies, and overarching workflows for deployment and execution of single or coupled DTCs in centralised HPC and virtual cloud computing Research Infrastructures (RIs). Each DTC addresses specific scientific questions and circumvents technical challenges related to hazard assessment, early warning, forecasts, urgent computing, or geo-resource prospection. This presentation summarises the results form the first year of the project including the digital twin architecture and the (meta)data structures enabling (semi-)automatic discovery, contextualisation, and orchestration of software (services) and data assets. This is a preliminary step before verifying the DTCs at 13 Site Demonstrators and starts a long-term community effort towards a twin on Geophysical Extremes integrated in the Destination Earth (DestinE) initiative

Digital Twinning of Geophysical Extreme Phenomena (DT-GEO)

Destination Earth initiative pursues the implementation of a digital model of the Earth. With the aim to help understand and simulate the evolution and behavior of the Earth system components, to aid in better forecasting the impacts on human system processes, ecosystem processes and their interaction. The current state of the art technologies in numerical computations (HPC), data infrastructures (involving data storage, data access, data analysis), enable the possibility of developing numerical clones mimicking Earth¿s geophysical extreme phenomena.A Digital Twin for GEOphysical extremes (DT-GEO),is a new EU project funded under the Horizon Europe programme (2022-2025), with the objective of developing a prototype for a digital twin on geophysical extremes including earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, and anthropogenic-induced extreme events. It will enable analyses, forecasts, and responses to ¿what if¿ scenarios for natural hazards from their genesis phases and across their temporal and spatial scales. The project consortium brings together world-class computational and data Research Infrastructures (RIs), operational monitoring networks, and leading-edge research and academia partnerships in various fields of geophysics. It mergesthe latest outcomes from other European projects and, Centers of Excellence. DT-GEO will deploy and test 12 Digital Twin Components (DTCs). These will be self-contained entities embedding flagship simulation codes, Artificial Intelligence layers, large volumes of (real-time) data streams from and into data-lakes, data assimilation methodologies, and overarching workflows for deployment and execution of single or coupled DTCs in centralized HPC and virtual cloud computing Ris. (DT-GEO: A Digital Twin for GEOphysical extremes, project ID 101058129) How to cite: Carbonell, R., Folch, A., Costa, A., Orlecka-Sikora, B., Lanucara, P., Løvholt, F., Macias, J., Brune, S., Gabriel, A.-A., Barsotti, S., Behrens, J., Gomes, J., Schmittbuhl, J., Freda, C., Kocot, J., Giardini, D., Afanasiev, M., Galves, H., and Badia, R.: Digital Twinning of Geophysical Extreme Phenomena (DT-GEO), EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 24¿28 Apr 2023, EGU23-5674, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-5674, 2023

Bimekizumab treatment in patients with active psoriatic arthritis and prior inadequate response to tumour necrosis factor inhibitors: 52-week safety and efficacy from the phase III BE COMPLETE study and its open-label extension BE VITAL

Objectives To assess 52-week safety and efficacy of bimekizumab in patients with active psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and prior inadequate response/intolerance to tumour necrosis factor inhibitors. Methods Patients completing the 16-week phase III double-blind, placebo-controlled BE COMPLETE (NCT03896581) study entered the open-label extension, BE VITAL (NCT04009499). All patients in BE VITAL received 160 mg bimekizumab every 4 weeks. Safety and efficacy are reported to week 52. Results A total of 347/400 (86.8%) patients completed week 52. To week 52, the exposure-adjusted incidence rate/100 patient-years for ≥1 treatment-emergent adverse event (TEAE) was 126.0, and was 7.0 for serious TEAEs. The most frequent TEAEs were SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), oral candidiasis, nasopharyngitis and urinary tract infection. All fungal infections were mild or moderate in severity and localised; two patients discontinued the study due to oral candidiasis. No cases of active tuberculosis, uveitis or inflammatory bowel disease were reported. One sudden death occurred. Sustained efficacy was observed with bimekizumab from week 16 to ‍52 across clinical and patient-reported outcomes. At week 52, 51.7% bimekizumab-randomised and 40.6% placebo/bimekizumab patients (receiving bimekizumab from week 16 to 52) had ≥50% improvement in the American College of Rheumatology criteria. Complete skin clearance (Psoriasis Area and Severity Index 100) was achieved by 65.9% bimekizumab and 60.2% placebo/bimekizumab patients at week 52. Minimal disease activity was achieved by 47.2% bimekizumab and 33.1% placebo/bimekizumab patients at week 52. Conclusions Bimekizumab demonstrated a safety profile consistent with previous reports; no new safety signals were identified. Sustained efficacy was observed from week 16 to 52

Secukinumab shows sustained efficacy and low structural progression in ankylosing spondylitis: 4-year results from the MEASURE 1 study.

Objectives:To evaluate the effect of secukinumab, a fully human anti-interleukin-17A monoclonal antibody, on efficacy, imaging outcomes, and safety through 4 years (208 weeks) in patients with ankylosing spondylitis. Methods:Patients opting to enrol had completed 2 years' treatment in the MEASURE 1 core study with subcutaneous secukinumab 150 or 75 mg every 4 weeks (q4Wk), following intravenous loading to Week (Wk) 4, or placebo treatment to Wk16/24. Up-titration from secukinumab 75-150 mg q4Wk was permitted following a protocol amendment. Efficacy is reported for patients originally randomized to secukinumab. Radiographic changes were assessed using the modified Stoke Ankylosing Spondylitis Spinal Score (mSASSS) and changes in MRI measures of inflammation using the Berlin scoring method. Safety and tolerability were evaluated. Results:Among 274 extension study participants, 89.7% (78/87) and 93.0% (93/100) originally randomized to secukinumab 150 and 75 mg, respectively, completed 208Wk. Through Wk208, Assessment of Spondyloarthritis International Society 20/40 (observed) were 79.7%/60.8% (150 mg), 71.0%/43.5% (75 mg) and 80.0%/76% (up-titrators; n = 25). Mean (s.d.) changes in mSASSS were 1.2 (3.91) (150 mg), 1.8 (4.32) (75 mg) and 1.6 (5.67) (up-titrators). No radiographic progression (mSASSS change from Baseline < 2) was observed in 79% of patients receiving either secukinumab dose. Exposure-adjusted incidence rates per 100 patient-years were: serious infections (1.0), Candida infections (0.4), Crohn's disease (0.6), ulcerative colitis (0.2), and malignant/unspecified tumours (0.5), with no new safety signals. Conclusion:Through 4 years, secukinumab provided sustained efficacy on signs and symptoms, and MRI outcomes, a low rate of radiographic progression and a consistent safety profile. Trial registration:NCT01863732