USING TRANSACTION COST ECONOMICS SAFEGUARDING TO REDUCE THE DIFFUSION OF DISINFORMATION ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Human users contribute to the spread of disinformation on Social Media. To reduce the spread, we apply Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) Safeguarding, which penalises the sharing of disinformation. Using the economic theory TCE positions Social Media platforms as free markets, in which actors are motivated to protect their assets and peer reputation. We conducted a study exploring TCE Safeguarding as a market correction mechanism to change the disinformation diffusion behaviour of users. Our findings show that users will be less likely to post a comment and more likely to correct their previous disinformation diffusion actions when TCE Safeguarding is applied. Focusing on Social Media as a market rather than its individual components may provide a mechanism to address the fake news phenomenon

USING TRANSACTION COST ECONOMICS SAFEGUARDING TO REDUCE THE DIFFUSION OF DISINFORMATION ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Human users contribute to the spread of disinformation on Social Media. To reduce the spread, we apply Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) Safeguarding, which penalises the sharing of disinformation. Using the economic theory TCE positions Social Media platforms as free markets, in which actors are motivated to protect their assets and peer reputation. We conducted a study exploring TCE Safeguarding as a market correction mechanism to change the disinformation diffusion behaviour of users. Our findings show that users will be less likely to post a comment and more likely to correct their previous disinformation diffusion actions when TCE Safeguarding is applied. Focusing on Social Media as a market rather than its individual components may provide a mechanism to address the fake news phenomenon

Three Preventative Interventions to Address the Fake News Phenomenon on Social Media

Fake news on social media undermines democracies and civil society. To date the research response has been message centric and reactive. This does not address the problem of fake news contaminating social media populations with disinformation, nor address the fake news producers and disseminators who are predominantly human social media users. Our research proposes three preventative interventions - two that empower social media users and one social media structural change to reduce the spread of fake news. Specifically, we investigate how i) psychological inoculation; ii) digital media literacy and iii) Transaction Cost Economy safeguarding through reputation ranking could elicit greater cognitive elaboration from social media users. Our research provides digital scalable preventative interventions to empower social media users with the aim to reduce the population size exposed to fake news

Testing a model of successful aging in a cohort of masters swimmers

Geard, DE ORCiD: 0000-0002-4292-9278; Rebar, A ORCiD: 0000-0003-3164-993XDue to their high physical functioning, masters athletes are regularly proposed to exemplify successful aging. However, successful aging research on masters athletes has never been undertaken using a multidimensional successful aging model. To determine the best model for future successful aging research on masters athletes, we had masters swimmers (N = 169, M age = 57.4 years, 61% women) self-report subjective successful aging, and physical, psychological, cognitive, and social functioning. Using this data we tested one hypothesized and three alternative successful aging models. The hypothesized model fit the data best (-2LL = 2052.32, AIC = 1717) with physical (β = 0.31, SE = 0.11), psychological (β = 0.25, SE = 0.11), and social (β = 1.20, SE = 0.63) functioning factors significantly loading onto a higher order successful aging latent factor. Successful aging should be conceptualized as a multidimensional phenomenon in future masters athlete research. © 2018 Human Kinetics, Inc

Effects of a 12-Week Cycling Intervention on Successful Aging Measures in Mid-Aged Adults

Purpose: To compare the effect of 12-weeks of cycling training and competition versus recreational cycling on successful aging across physical, psychological, cognitive, and social functioning domains in mid-aged adults. Methods: Recreational cyclists were randomly assigned to an intervention (n = 13, M age = 47.18 years) and comparison (n = 13, M age = 46.91 years) group. Analysis of Covariance was used on self-reported pre-post data to determine changes across time and differences between groups on outcomes. Results: The intervention group scored higher on the role limitation due to physical problems measure of physical functioning (p = .045) and the social activity measure of social functioning (p = .008) with large effect sizes (ηp2 > .14). The remaining physical, psychological, cognitive, and social functioning measures were not significantly different (p > .05) between groups with small to medium effect sizes (ηp2 > .01 to ≤ .06). Conclusion: Cycling training and competition promotes better physical and social functioning than recreational cycling. This finding indicates that an intervention that incorporates the training and competition aspects of sport may promote positive outcomes that are above and beyond those that can be gained from participation in recreational physical activity. Objective measurements on larger samples across a broader range of sports are required to confirm and extend these findings

AI driven B-cell Immunotherapy Design

Antibodies, a prominent class of approved biologics, play a crucial role in detecting foreign antigens. The effectiveness of antigen neutralisation and elimination hinges upon the strength, sensitivity, and specificity of the paratope-epitope interaction, which demands resource-intensive experimental techniques for characterisation. In recent years, artificial intelligence and machine learning methods have made significant strides, revolutionising the prediction of protein structures and their complexes. The past decade has also witnessed the evolution of computational approaches aiming to support immunotherapy design. This review focuses on the progress of machine learning-based tools and their frameworks in the domain of B-cell immunotherapy design, encompassing linear and conformational epitope prediction, paratope prediction, and antibody design. We mapped the most commonly used data sources, evaluation metrics, and method availability and thoroughly assessed their significance and limitations, discussing the main challenges ahead

Mechanism of Radiation-Induced Bystander Effects: A Unifying Model

The radiation-induced bystander effect represents a paradigm shift in our understanding of the radiobiological effects of ionizing radiation, in that extranuclear and extracellular events may also contribute to the final biological consequences of exposure to low doses of radiation. Although radiation-induced bystander effects have been well documented in a variety of biological systems, the mechanism is not known. It is likely that multiple pathways are involved in the bystander phenomenon, and different cell types respond differently to bystander signalling. Using cDNA microarrays, a number of cellular signalling genes, including cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), have been shown to be causally linked to the bystander phenomenon. The observation that inhibition of the phosphorylation of extracellular signal-related kinase (ERK) suppressed the bystander response further confirmed the important role of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signalling cascade in the bystander process. Furthermore, cells deficient in mitochondrial DNA showed a significantly reduced response to bystander signalling, suggesting a functional role of mitochondria in the signalling process. Inhibitors of nitric oxide (NO) synthase (NOS) and mitochondrial calcium uptake provided evidence that NO and calcium signalling are part of the signalling cascade. The bystander observations imply that the relevant target for various radiobiological endpoints is larger than an individual cell. A better understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms of the bystander phenomenon, together with evidence of their occurrence in-vivo, will allow us to formulate a more accurate model for assessing the health effects of low doses of ionizing radiation

Masters athletes: Exemplars of successful adult aging?

Geard, DE ORCiD: 0000-0002-4292-9278The aging global population and the associated health issues that inevitably emerge in later life positions “successful aging” research as a public health priority. Although not definitively defined within the multidisciplinary gerontology literature, successful aging is broadly conceptualized as a multidimensional health-related phenomenon that adults desire as they age chronologically. Masters athletes systematically train for and regularly compete in masters sporting events that are specifically designed for adults who exceed the age at which elite, winning, open-age sport performances are typically achieved. Based on their capacity to continue participating in sport well into later life, sports science researchers have regularly characterized masters athletes as models or exemplars of successful aging, and suggested that it was the sport that masters athletes trained for and competed in that was promoting their successful aging. The successful aging research on masters athletes that has been conducted to date has consisted of literature reviews, typically focused on older (age > 60 years) masters athletes who participate in individual endurance-oriented masters sport, and characterized successful aging narrowly as high physiological functioning. Therefore, to determine if masters sport promotes, and masters athletes exemplify, successful aging from a multidimensional perspective, primary research on a broader range of masters athletes with respect to their age and the sports they participate in, using a multidimensional model of successful aging, is required. To address this gap in knowledge, the current thesis presents four related studies (manuscripts 1 to 4) that investigated the following research questions, respectively: (1) How is successful aging defined within the multidisciplinary gerontology literature, and can masters athletes be considered to be exemplars of successful aging according to the identified definition? (2) Is the model of successful aging that is comprised of physical, psychological, cognitive, and social functioning factors an appropriate approach to use in future successful aging research on masters athletes? (3) Is the model of successful aging that is comprised of physical, psychological, cognitive, and social functioning factors an appropriate approach to use in future experimental successful aging research on masters athletes and non-sporting adults, and do masters athletes have higher functioning across the specified domains than non-sporting adults? (4) Does a 12-week masters cycling intervention promote successful aging across physical, psychological, cognitive, and social functioning domains compared to a recreational cycling control condition? Chapter 2 (manuscript 1) is a literature review which concludes that successful aging could be operationally defined as a late-life process of change characterized by high physical, psychological, cognitive, and social functioning. Moreover, masters athletes were found to be likely exemplars of successful aging according to this multidimensional model of successful aging. Chapter 3 (manuscript 2) indicates that the model of successful aging that was comprised of physical, psychological, cognitive, and social functioning factors (proposed in chapter 2) was stronger than three plausible alternative models to use in future successful aging research on masters swimmers. Chapter 4 (manuscript 3) suggests that the model of successful aging that was confirmed in chapter 3 as an appropriate approach to conduct successful aging research on masters swimmers was also well suited to the measurement of a representative sample of masters athletes and a convenience sample of non-sporting adults. Moreover, masters athletes had significantly higher physical and social functioning, but not higher psychological and cognitive functioning than non-sporting adults. Finally, in line with the cross-sectional data from chapter 4, chapter 5 (manuscript 4) found that engagement in masters cycling by mid-aged recreational cyclists promoted significantly higher physical and social functioning, but not higher cognitive or psychological functioning, compared to recreational cycling controls. The findings suggest that masters sport participation promotes high physical and social functioning throughout adulthood, and potentially high cognitive and psychological functioning later in life. Therefore, the masters athletes studied within the present thesis were not exemplars of successful aging relative to non-sporting adults across all of the physical, psychological, cognitive, and social functioning domains simultaneously. However, this thesis indicates that it is valuable and necessary to conduct further experimental research on the effects of a broader range of masters sports on aging trajectory. Such research should employ larger samples and more objective measures of the four domains of successful aging to more comprehensively investigate if masters athletes are exemplars of successful adult aging

Masters athletes: Exemplars of successful adult aging?

The aging global population and the associated health issues that inevitably emerge in later life positions “successful aging” research as a public health priority. Although not definitively defined within the multidisciplinary gerontology literature, successful aging is broadly conceptualized as a multidimensional health-related phenomenon that adults desire as they age chronologically. Masters athletes systematically train for and regularly compete in masters sporting events that are specifically designed for adults who exceed the age at which elite, winning, open-age sport performances are typically achieved. Based on their capacity to continue participating in sport well into later life, sports science researchers have regularly characterized masters athletes as models or exemplars of successful aging, and suggested that it was the sport that masters athletes trained for and competed in that was promoting their successful aging. The successful aging research on masters athletes that has been conducted to date has consisted of literature reviews, typically focused on older (age > 60 years) masters athletes who participate in individual endurance-oriented masters sport, and characterized successful aging narrowly as high physiological functioning. Therefore, to determine if masters sport promotes, and masters athletes exemplify, successful aging from a multidimensional perspective, primary research on a broader range of masters athletes with respect to their age and the sports they participate in, using a multidimensional model of successful aging, is required. To address this gap in knowledge, the current thesis presents four related studies (manuscripts 1 to 4) that investigated the following research questions, respectively: (1) How is successful aging defined within the multidisciplinary gerontology literature, and can masters athletes be considered to be exemplars of successful aging according to the identified definition? (2) Is the model of successful aging that is comprised of physical, psychological, cognitive, and social functioning factors an appropriate approach to use in future successful aging research on masters athletes? (3) Is the model of successful aging that is comprised of physical, psychological, cognitive, and social functioning factors an appropriate approach to use in future experimental successful aging research on masters athletes and non-sporting adults, and do masters athletes have higher functioning across the specified domains than non-sporting adults? (4) Does a 12-week masters cycling intervention promote successful aging across physical, psychological, cognitive, and social functioning domains compared to a recreational cycling control condition? Chapter 2 (manuscript 1) is a literature review which concludes that successful aging could be operationally defined as a late-life process of change characterized by high physical, psychological, cognitive, and social functioning. Moreover, masters athletes were found to be likely exemplars of successful aging according to this multidimensional model of successful aging. Chapter 3 (manuscript 2) indicates that the model of successful aging that was comprised of physical, psychological, cognitive, and social functioning factors (proposed in chapter 2) was stronger than three plausible alternative models to use in future successful aging research on masters swimmers. Chapter 4 (manuscript 3) suggests that the model of successful aging that was confirmed in chapter 3 as an appropriate approach to conduct successful aging research on masters swimmers was also well suited to the measurement of a representative sample of masters athletes and a convenience sample of non-sporting adults. Moreover, masters athletes had significantly higher physical and social functioning, but not higher psychological and cognitive functioning than non-sporting adults. Finally, in line with the cross-sectional data from chapter 4, chapter 5 (manuscript 4) found that engagement in masters cycling by mid-aged recreational cyclists promoted significantly higher physical and social functioning, but not higher cognitive or psychological functioning, compared to recreational cycling controls. The findings suggest that masters sport participation promotes high physical and social functioning throughout adulthood, and potentially high cognitive and psychological functioning later in life. Therefore, the masters athletes studied within the present thesis were not exemplars of successful aging relative to non-sporting adults across all of the physical, psychological, cognitive, and social functioning domains simultaneously. However, this thesis indicates that it is valuable and necessary to conduct further experimental research on the effects of a broader range of masters sports on aging trajectory. Such research should employ larger samples and more objective measures of the four domains of successful aging to more comprehensively investigate if masters athletes are exemplars of successful adult aging