Coordinated amplification, coordinated inauthentic behaviour, orchestrated campaigns:A systematic literature review of coordinated inauthentic content on online social networks

The internet and online social networks have resulted in dramatic changes in the information landscape. Pessimistic views fear that networks and algorithms can limit exposure to various content by exposing users to pre-existing beliefs. In this respect, coordinated campaigns can amplify these individuals' voices above the crowd, capable of hijacking conversations, influencing other users and manipulating content dissemination. Through a systematic literature review, this chapter locates and synthesises related research on coordinated activities to (i) describe the state of this field by identifying the patterns and trends in the conceptual and methodological approaches, topics and practices; and (ii) shed light on potentially essential gaps in the field and suggest recommendations for future research. Findings show an evolution of the approaches used to detect coordinated activities. While bot detection was the focus in the early years, more recent research focused on using advanced computational methods based on training datasets or identifying coordinated campaigns by timely and similar content. Due to the data availability, Twitter is the most studied online social network, although studies have shown that coordinated activities can be found on other platforms. We conclude by discussing the implications of current approaches and outlining an agenda for future research

Cost-effectiveness of genotype-guided and dual antiplatelet therapies in acute coronary syndrome.

BackgroundThe choice of antiplatelet therapy after acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is complicated: Ticagrelor and prasugrel are novel alternatives to clopidogrel, patients with some genotypes may not respond to clopidogrel, and low-cost generic formulations of clopidogrel are available.ObjectiveTo determine the most cost-effective strategy for dual antiplatelet therapy after percutaneous coronary intervention for ACS.DesignDecision-analytic model.Data sourcesPublished literature, Medicare claims, and life tables.Target populationPatients having percutaneous coronary intervention for ACS.Time horizonLifetime.PerspectiveSocietal.InterventionFive strategies were examined: generic clopidogrel, prasugrel, ticagrelor, and genotyping for polymorphisms of CYP2C19 with carriers of loss-of-function alleles receiving either ticagrelor (genotyping with ticagrelor) or prasugrel (genotyping with prasugrel) and noncarriers receiving clopidogrel.Outcome measuresDirect medical costs, quality-adjusted life years(QALYs), and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs).Results of base-case analysisThe clopidogrel strategy produced$179 301 in costs and 9.428 QALYs. Genotyping with prasugrel was superior to prasugrel alone, with an ICER of$35 800 per QALY relative to clopidogrel. Genotyping with ticagrelor was more effective than genotyping with prasugrel ($30 200 per QALY relative to clopidogrel). Ticagrelor was the most effective strategy($52 600 per QALY relative to genotyping with ticagrelor).Results of sensitivity analysisStronger associations between genotype and thrombotic outcomes rendered ticagrelor substantially less cost-effective ($104 800 per QALY). Genotyping with prasugrel was the preferred therapy among patients who could not tolerate ticagrelor.LimitationNo randomized trials have directly compared genotyping strategies or prasugrel with ticagrelor.ConclusionGenotype-guided personalization may improve the cost-effectiveness of prasugrel and ticagrelor after percutaneous coronary intervention for ACS, but ticagrelor for all patients may bean economically reasonable alternative in some settings

A HIGH RESOLUTION TEMPERATURE CLIMATOLOGY FOR THE GREATER ALPINE REGION (GAR)

The Greater Alpine Region (the GAR) covering the area between 4-19°E and 43-50°N and an altitude range between 0 and more than 4000 m asl. offers a challenging climate worth to be studied in any detail. However, it is surprising that up to now no comprehensive Alpine Temperature Climatology covering the whole region is existing. To overcome this deficiency as a first step we want to produce monthly temperature maps for this region in spatial resolution as high as possible. The period under investigation will be 1961-1990. In this paper we will describe the first steps of our initiative as well as the further plans

All-Sky Search for Periodic Gravitational Waves in the Full S5 LIGO Data

We report on an all-sky search for periodic gravitational waves in the frequency band 50-800 Hz and with the frequency time derivative in the range of 0 through -6 x 10(exp -9) Hz/s. Such a signal could be produced by a nearby spinning and slightly non-axisymmetric isolated neutron star in our galaxy. After recent improvements in the search program that yielded a 10x increase in computational efficiency, we have searched in two years of data. collected during LIGO's fifth science run and have obtained the most sensitive all-sky upper limits on gravitational wave strain to date. Near 150 Hz our upper limit on worst-case linearly polarized strain amplitude h(sub 0) is 1 x 10(exp -24), while at the high end of our frequency ra.nge we achieve a worst-case upper limit of 3.8 x 10(exp -24) for all polarizations and sky locations. These results constitute a factor of two improvement upop. previously published data. A new detection pipeline utilizing a Loosely Coherent algorithm was able to follow up weaker outliers, increasing the volume of space where signals can be detected by a factor of 10, but has not revealed any gravitational wave signals. The pipeline has been tested for robustness with respect to deviations from the model of an isolated neutron star, such as caused by a low-mass or long.period binary companion

Gravitational Waves From Known Pulsars: Results From The Initial Detector Era

We present the results of searches for gravitational waves from a large selection of pulsars using data from the most recent science runs (S6, VSR2 and VSR4) of the initial generation of interferometric gravitational wave detectors LIGO (Laser Interferometric Gravitational-wave Observatory) and Virgo. We do not see evidence for gravitational wave emission from any of the targeted sources but produce upper limits on the emission amplitude. We highlight the results from seven young pulsars with large spin-down luminosities. We reach within a factor of five of the canonical spin-down limit for all seven of these, whilst for the Crab and Vela pulsars we further surpass their spin-down limits. We present new or updated limits for 172 other pulsars (including both young and millisecond pulsars). Now that the detectors are undergoing major upgrades, and, for completeness, we bring together all of the most up-to-date results from all pulsars searched for during the operations of the first-generation LIGO, Virgo and GEO600 detectors. This gives a total of 195 pulsars including the most recent results described in this paper.United States National Science FoundationScience and Technology Facilities Council of the United KingdomMax-Planck-SocietyState of Niedersachsen/GermanyAustralian Research CouncilInternational Science Linkages program of the Commonwealth of AustraliaCouncil of Scientific and Industrial Research of IndiaIstituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare of ItalySpanish Ministerio de Economia y CompetitividadConselleria d'Economia Hisenda i Innovacio of the Govern de les Illes BalearsNetherlands Organisation for Scientific ResearchPolish Ministry of Science and Higher EducationFOCUS Programme of Foundation for Polish ScienceRoyal SocietyScottish Funding CouncilScottish Universities Physics AllianceNational Aeronautics and Space AdministrationOTKA of HungaryLyon Institute of Origins (LIO)National Research Foundation of KoreaIndustry CanadaProvince of Ontario through the Ministry of Economic Development and InnovationNational Science and Engineering Research Council CanadaCarnegie TrustLeverhulme TrustDavid and Lucile Packard FoundationResearch CorporationAlfred P. Sloan FoundationAstronom

Survey of both hepatitis B virus (HBsAg) and hepatitis C virus (HCV-Ab) coinfection among HIV positive patients

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>HIV, HBVand HCV is major public health concerns. Because of shared routes of transmission, HIV-HCV coinfection and HIV-HBV coinfection are common. HIV-positive individuals are at risk of coinfection with HBV and HCV infections. The prevalence rates of coinfection with HBV and HCV in HIV-patients have been variable worldwide depending on the geographic regions, and the type of exposure.</p> <p>Aim</p> <p>This study aimed to examine HBV and HCV coinfection serologically and determine the shared and significant factors in the coinfection of HIV-positive patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This descriptive, cross-sectional study was carried out on 391 HIV-positive patients including 358 males and 33 females in Lorestan province, west Iran, to survey coinfection with HBsAg and anti-HCV. The retrospective demographic data of the subjects was collected and the patients' serums were analyzed by ELISA kits including HBsAg and anti-HCV. The collected data was analyzed with SPSS software (15) and Chi-square. Fisher's exact test with 5% error intervals was used to measure the correlation of variables and infection rates.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results of the study indicated that the prevalence of coinfection in HIV-positive patients with hepatitis viruses was 94.4% (370 in 391), out of whom 57 (14.5%) cases were HBsAg positive, 282 (72%) cases were anti-HCV positive, and 31 (7.9%) cases were both HBsAg and anti-HCV positive.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>There was a significant correlation between coinfection with HCV and HBV and/or both among HIV-positive patients depending on different variables including sex, age, occupation, marital status, exposure to risk factors.(p < 0.001).</p