Cloaked websites: propaganda, cyber-racism and epistemology in the digital era

This article analyzes cloaked websites, which are sites published by individuals or groups who conceal authorship in order to disguise deliberately a hidden political agenda. Drawing on the insights of critical theory and the Frankfurt School, this article examines the way in which cloaked websites conceal a variety of political agendas from a range of perspectives. Of particular interest here are cloaked white supremacist sites that disguise cyber-racism. The use of cloaked websites to further political ends raises important questions about knowledge production and epistemology in the digital era. These cloaked sites emerge within a social and political context in which it is increasingly difficult to parse fact from propaganda, and this is a particularly pernicious feature when it comes to the cyber-racism of cloaked white supremacist sites. The article concludes by calling for the importance of critical, situated political thinking in the evaluation of cloaked websites

Identification of regulatory variants associated with genetic susceptibility to meningococcal disease

Non-coding genetic variants play an important role in driving susceptibility to complex diseases but their characterization remains challenging. Here, we employed a novel approach to interrogate the genetic risk of such polymorphisms in a more systematic way by targeting specific regulatory regions relevant for the phenotype studied. We applied this method to meningococcal disease susceptibility, using the DNA binding pattern of RELA - a NF-kB subunit, master regulator of the response to infection - under bacterial stimuli in nasopharyngeal epithelial cells. We designed a custom panel to cover these RELA binding sites and used it for targeted sequencing in cases and controls. Variant calling and association analysis were performed followed by validation of candidate polymorphisms by genotyping in three independent cohorts. We identified two new polymorphisms, rs4823231 and rs11913168, showing signs of association with meningococcal disease susceptibility. In addition, using our genomic data as well as publicly available resources, we found evidences for these SNPs to have potential regulatory effects on ATXN10 and LIF genes respectively. The variants and related candidate genes are relevant for infectious diseases and may have important contribution for meningococcal disease pathology. Finally, we described a novel genetic association approach that could be applied to other phenotypes

Plasma lipid profiles discriminate bacterial from viral infection in febrile children

Fever is the most common reason that children present to Emergency Departments. Clinical signs and symptoms suggestive of bacterial infection ar

Hydrologic data summary for the White Oak Creek watershed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee (January--December 1993)

Photograph of a scene at Pops, along Route 66

Annual hydrologic data summary for the White Oak Creek Watershed: Water Year 1990 (October 1989--September 1990)

This report summarizes, for the Water Year 1990 (October 1989-- September 1990), the dynamic hydrologic data collected on the Whiteoak Creek (WOC) Watershed's surface and subsurface flow systems. These systems affect the quality or quantity of surface water and groundwater. The collection of hydrologic data is one component of numerous, ongoing Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) environmental studies and monitoring programs and is intended to 1. characterize the quantity and quality of water in the flow system, 2. plan and assess remedial action activities, and 3. provide long-term availability of data and assure quality. Characterizing the hydrology of the WOC watershed provides a better understanding of the processes which drive contaminant transport in the watershed. Identifying of spatial and temporal trends in hydrologic parameters and mechanisms that affect the movement of contaminants supports the development of interim corrective measures and remedial restoration alternatives. Hydrologic monitoring supports long-term assessment of the effectiveness of remedial actions in limiting the transport of contaminants across Waste Area Grouping boundaries and ultimately to the off-site environment. The majority of the data summarized in this report are available from the Remedial Action Programs Data and Information Management System data base. Surface water data available within the WOC flow system include discharge and runoff, surface water quality, radiological and chemical contamination of sediments, and descriptions of the outfalls to the WOC flow system. Climatological data available for the Oak Ridge area include precipitation, temperature, humidity, wind speed, and wind direction. Information on groundwater levels, aquifer characteristics, and groundwater quality are presented. Anomalies in the data and problems with monitoring and accuracy are discussed. 58 refs., 54 figs., 15 tabs

Physical and genetic analysis of cosmids from the vicinity of the cystic fibrosis locus.

Cosmid libraries have been constructed from DNA of somatic cell hybrid cell lines, each containing a fragment of human chromosome seven and including sequences closely linked to cystic fibrosis (CF). Cosmids containing human DNA as insert were isolated from the library. Three cosmids, when used as probes to total genomic DNA, detected polymorphic loci, each of which was shown to be in strong linkage disequilibrium with CF. Restriction endonuclease digestion of cosmid clones and use of a new, rapid method of chromosome walking based on competitive hybridisation of cosmid inserts has allowed identification of several groups of overlapping cosmids ("contigs") from the vicinity of CF

Level of agreement between patient-reported EQ-5D responses and EQ-5D responses mapped from the SF-12 in an injury population

Background: Comparing health-related quality of life (HRQL) outcomes between studies is difficult due to the wide variety of instruments used. Comparing study outcomes and facilitating pooled data analyses requires valid "crosswalks" between HRQL instruments. Algorithms exist to map 12-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) responses to EQ-5D item responses and preference weights, but none have been validated in populations where disability is prevalent, such as injury. Methods: Data were extracted from the Validating and Improving injury Burden Estimates Study (Injury-VIBES) for 10,166 adult, hospitalized trauma patients, with both the three-level EQ-5D (EQ-5D-3L) and SF-12 data responses at six and 12-months postinjury. Agreement between actual (patient-reported) and estimated (mapped from SF-12) EQ-5D-3L item responses and preference weights was assessed using Kappa, Prevalence-Adjusted Bias-Adjusted Kappa statistics and Bland-Altman plots. Results: Moderate agreement was observed for usual activities, pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression. Agreement was substantial for mobility and self-care items. The mean differences in preference weights were -0.024 and -0.012 at six and 12 months (p < 0.001), respectively. The Bland-Altman plot limits of agreement were large compared to the range of valid preference weight values (-0.56 to 1.00). Estimated EQ-5D-3L responses under-reported disability for all items except pain/discomfort. Conclusions: Caution should be taken when using EQ-5D-3L responses mapped from the SF-12 to describe patient outcomes or when undertaking economic evaluation, due to the underestimation of disability associated with mapped values. The findings from this study could be used to adjust expected EQ-5D-3L preference weights when estimated from SF-12 item responses when combining data from studies that use either instrument