Nothing Is True? The Credibility of News and Conflicting Narratives during “Information War” in Ukraine

In international politics, the strategic narratives of different governments compete for public attention and support. The Russian government’s narrative has prompted western concern due to fears that it exerts a destabilizing effect on societies in Eastern Europe and elsewhere. However, the behavior and thought processes of news consumers targeted by contradictory strategic narratives are rarely subjected to analysis. This paper examines how Ukrainian news consumers decide where to get their news and what to believe in a media environment where “propaganda” and “disinformation” are regarded as major threats to national security. Evidence comes from thirty audio-diaries and in-depth interviews conducted in 2016 among adult residents of Odesa Region. Through qualitative analysis of the diary and interview transcripts, the paper reveals how participants judged the credibility of news and narratives based on their priorities (what they considered important), not just “facts” (what they believed had happened). The attribution of importance to different foreign policy issues was associated, in turn, with varying personal experiences, memories, and individual cross-border relationships

Effect of Oral Alendronate on Bone Mineral Density and the Incidence of Fractures in Postmenopausal Osteoporosis

BACKGROUND Postmenopausal osteoporosis is a serious health problem, and additional treatments are needed. METHODS We studied the effects of oral alendronate, an aminobisphosphonate, on bone mineral density and the incidence of fractures and height loss in 994 women with postmenopausal osteoporosis. The women were treated with placebo or alendronate (5 or 10 mg daily for three years, or 20 mg for two years followed by 5 mg for one year); all the women received 500 mg of calcium daily. Bone mineral density was measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. The occurrence of new vertebral fractures and the progression of vertebral deformities were determined by an analysis of digitized radiographs, and loss of height was determined by sequential height measurements. RESULTS The women receiving alendronate had significant, progressive increases in bone mineral density at all skeletal sites, whereas those receiving placebo had decreases in bone mineral density. At three years, the mean (±SE) differences in bone mineral density between the women receiving 10 mg of alendronate daily and those receiving placebo were 8.8±0.4 percent in the spine, 5.9±0.5 percent in the femoral neck, 7.8±0.6 percent in the trochanter, and 2.5±0.3 percent in the total body (P CONCLUSIONS Daily treatment with alendronate progressively increases the bone mass in the spine, hip, and total body and reduces the incidence of vertebral fractures, the progression of vertebral deformities, and height loss in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis

Quantitative analysis of a footwall‐scarp degradation complex and syn‐rift stratigraphic architecture, Exmouth Plateau, NW Shelf, offshore Australia

Interactions between footwall‐, hangingwall‐ and axial‐derived depositional systems make syn‐rift stratigraphic architecture difficult to predict, and preservation of net‐erosional source landscapes is limited. Distinguishing between deposits derived from fault‐scarp degradation (consequent systems) and those derived from long‐lived catchments beyond the fault block crest (antecedent systems) is also challenging, but important for hydrocarbon reservoir prospecting. We undertake geometric and volumetric analysis of a fault‐scarp degradation complex and adjacent hangingwall‐fill associated with the Thebe‐2 fault block on the Exmouth Plateau, NW Shelf, offshore Australia, using high resolution 3D seismic data. Vertical and headward erosion of the complex and fault throw are measured. Seismic‐stratigraphic and seismic facies mapping allow us to constrain the spatial and architectural variability of depositional systems in the hangingwall. Footwall‐derived systems interacted with hangingwall‐ and axial‐derived systems, through diversion around topography, interfingering or successive onlap. We calculate the volume of footwall‐sourced hangingwall fans (VHW) for nine quadrants along the fault block, and compare this to the volume of material eroded from the immediately up‐dip fault‐scarp (VFW). This analysis highlights areas of sediment bypass (VFW > VHW) and areas fed by sediment sources beyond the degraded fault scarp (VHW > VFW). Exposure of the border fault footwall and adjacent fault terraces produced small catchments located beyond the fault block crest that fed the hangingwall basin. One source persisted throughout the main syn‐rift episode, and its location coincided with: (a) an intra‐basin topographic high; (b) a local fault throw minimum; (c) increased vertical and headward erosion within the fault‐scarp degradation complex; and (d) sustained clinoform development in the immediate hangingwall. Our novel quantitative volumetric approach to identify through‐going sediment input points could be applied to other rift basin‐fills. We highlight implications for hydrocarbon exploration and emphasize the need to incorporate interaction of multiple sediment sources and their resultant architecture in tectono‐stratigraphic models for rift basins

The rationale and design of TransCon Growth Hormone for the treatment of growth hormone deficiency

The fundamental challenge of developing a long-acting growth hormone (LAGH) is to create a more convenient growth hormone (GH) dosing profile while retaining the excellent safety, efficacy and tolerability of daily GH. With GH receptors on virtually all cells, replacement therapy should achieve the same tissue distribution and effects of daily (and endogenous) GH while maintaining levels of GH and resulting IGF-1 within the physiologic range. To date, only two LAGHs have gained the approval of either the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or the European Medicines Agency (EMA); both released unmodified GH, thus presumably replicating distribution and pharmacological actions of daily GH. Other technologies have been applied to create LAGHs, including modifying GH (for example, protein enlargement or albumin binding) such that the resulting analogues possess a longer half-life. Based on these approaches, nearly 20 LAGHs have reached various stages of clinical development. Although most have failed, lessons learned have guided the development of a novel LAGH. TransCon GH is a LAGH prodrug in which GH is transiently bound to an inert methoxy polyethylene glycol (mPEG) carrier. It was designed to achieve the same safety, efficacy and tolerability as daily GH but with more convenient weekly dosing. In phase 2 trials of children and adults with growth hormone deficiency (GHD), similar safety, efficacy and tolerability to daily GH was shown as well as GH and IGF-1 levels within the physiologic range. These promising results support further development of TransCon GH

The cost-effectiveness of therapy with teriparatide and alendronate in women with severe osteoporosis

Background Teriparatide is a promising new agent for the treatment of osteoporosis. Methods The objective of this study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of teriparatide-based strategies compared with alendronate sodium for the first-line treatment of high-risk osteoporotic women. We developed a microsimulation with a societal perspective. Key data sources include the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures, the Fracture Intervention Trial, and the Fracture Prevention Trial. We evaluated postmenopausal white women with low bone density and prevalent vertebral fracture. The interventions were usual care (UC) (calcium or vitamin D supplementation) compared with 3 strategies: 5 years of alendronate therapy, 2 years of teriparatide therapy, and 2 years of teriparatide therapy followed by 5 years of alendronate therapy (sequential teriparatide/alendronate). The main outcome measure was cost per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY). Results For the base-case analysis, the cost of alendronate treatment was $11 600 per QALY compared with UC. The cost of sequential teriparatide/alendronate therapy was$156 500 per QALY compared with alendronate. Teriparatide treatment alone was more expensive and produced a smaller increase in QALYs than alendronate. For sensitivity analysis, teriparatide alone was less cost-effective than alendronate even if its efficacy lasted 15 years after treatment cessation. Sequential teriparatide/alendronate therapy was less cost-effective than alendronate even if fractures were eliminated during the alendronate phase, although its cost-effectiveness was less than $50 000 per QALY if the price of teriparatide decreased 60%, if used in elderly women with T scores of −4.0 or less, or if 6 months of teriparatide therapy had comparable efficacy to 2 years of treatment. Conclusions Alendronate compares favorably to interventions accepted as cost-effective. Therapy with teriparatide alone is more expensive and produces a smaller increase in QALYs than therapy with alendronate. Sequential teriparatide/alendronate therapy appear expensive but could become more cost-effective with reductions in teriparatide price, with restriction to use in exceptionally high-risk women, or if short courses of treatment have comparable efficacy to that observed in clinical trials

Improvement in spine bone density and reduction in risk of vertebral fractures during treatment with antiresorptive drugs.

PurposeTo estimate how much the improvement in bone mass accounts for the reduction in risk of vertebral fracture that has been observed in randomized trials of antiresorptive treatments for osteoporosis.MethodsAfter a systematic search, we conducted a meta-analysis of 12 trials to describe the relation between improvement in spine bone mineral density and reduction in risk of vertebral fracture in postmenopausal women. We also used logistic models to estimate the proportion of the reduction in risk of vertebral fracture observed with alendronate in the Fracture Intervention Trial that was due to improvement in bone mineral density.ResultsAcross the 12 trials, a 1% improvement in spine bone mineral density was associated with a 0.03 decrease (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.02 to 0.05) in the relative risk (RR) of vertebral fracture. The reductions in risk were greater than predicted from improvement in bone mineral density; for example, the model estimated that treatments predicted to reduce fracture risk by 20% (RR = 0.80), based on improvement in bone mineral density, actually reduce the risk of fracture by about 45% (RR = 0.55). In the Fracture Intervention Trial, improvement in spine bone mineral density explained 16% (95% CI: 11% to 27%) of the reduction in the risk of vertebral fracture with alendronate.ConclusionImprovement in spine bone mineral density during treatment with antiresorptive drugs accounts for a predictable but small part of the observed reduction in the risk of vertebral fracture

Atherosclerosis Effects of the PPAR-␦ agonist MBX-8025 on atherogenic dyslipidemia

a b s t r a c t Objective: Determine the effects of treatment with a selective PPAR-␦ agonist ± statin on plasma lipoprotein subfractions in dyslipidemic individuals. Methods: Ion mobility analysis was used to measure plasma concentrations of subfractions of the full spectrum of lipoprotein particles in 166 overweight or obese dyslipidemic individuals treated with the PPAR-␦ agonist MBX-8025 (50 and 100 mg/d) ± atorvastatin (20 mg/d) in an 8-week randomized parallel arm double blind placebo controlled trial. Results: MBX-8025 at both doses resulted in reductions of small plus very small LDL particles and increased levels of large LDL, with a concomitant reduction in large VLDL, and an increase in LDL peak diameter. This translated to reversal of the small dense LDL phenotype (LDL pattern B) in ∼90% of the participants. Modest increases in HDL particles were confined to the smaller HDL fractions. Atorvastatin monotherapy resulted in reductions in particles across the VLDL-IDL-LDL spectrum, with a significantly smaller reduction in small and very small LDL vs. MBX-8025 100 mg/d (−24.5 ± 5.3% vs. −47.8 ± 4.9%), and, in combination with MBX-8025, a reversal of the increase in large LDL. Conclusion: PPAR-␦ and statin therapies have complementary effects in improving lipoprotein subfractions associated with atherogenic dyslipidemia