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

Clogging the machinery: the BBC's experiment in science coordination, 1949–1953

In 1949, physicist Mark Oliphant criticised the BBC’s handling of science in a letter to the Director General William Haley. It initiated a chain of events which led to the experimental appointment of a science adviser, Henry Dale, to improve the ‘coordination’ of science broadcasts. The experiment failed, but the episode revealed conflicting views of the BBC’s responsibility towards science held by scientists and BBC staff. For the scientists, science had a special status, both as knowledge and as an activity, which in their view obligated the BBC to make special arrangements for it. BBC staff, however, had their own professional procedures which they were unwilling to abandon. The events unfolded within a few years of the end of the Second World War, when social attitudes to science had been coloured by the recent conflict, and when the BBC itself was under scrutiny from the William Beveridge’s Committee. The BBC was also embarking on new initiatives, notably the revival of adult education. These contextual factors bear on the story, which is about the relationship between a public service broadcaster and the external constituencies it relies on, but must appear to remain independent from. The article therefore extends earlier studies showing how external bodies have attempted to manipulate the inner workings of the BBC to their own advantage (e.g. those by Doctor and Karpf) by looking at the little-researched area of science broadcasting. The article is largely based on unpublished archive documents

MAGE-C2/CT10 Protein Expression Is an Independent Predictor of Recurrence in Prostate Cancer

The cancer-testis (CT) family of antigens is expressed in a variety of malignant neoplasms. In most cases, no CT antigen is found in normal tissues, except in testis, making them ideal targets for cancer immunotherapy. A comprehensive analysis of CT antigen expression has not yet been reported in prostate cancer. MAGE-C2/CT-10 is a novel CT antigen. The objective of this study was to analyze extent and prognostic significance of MAGE-C2/CT10 protein expression in prostate cancer. 348 prostate carcinomas from consecutive radical prostatectomies, 29 castration-refractory prostate cancer, 46 metastases, and 45 benign hyperplasias were immunohistochemically analyzed for MAGE-C2/CT10 expression using tissue microarrays. Nuclear MAGE-C2/CT10 expression was identified in only 3.3% primary prostate carcinomas. MAGE-C2/CT10 protein expression was significantly more frequent in metastatic (16.3% positivity) and castration-resistant prostate cancer (17% positivity; p<0.001). Nuclear MAGE-C2/CT10 expression was identified as predictor of biochemical recurrence after radical prostatectomy (p = 0.015), which was independent of preoperative PSA, Gleason score, tumor stage, and surgical margin status in multivariate analysis (p<0.05). MAGE-C2/CT10 expression in prostate cancer correlates with the degree of malignancy and indicates a higher risk for biochemical recurrence after radical prostatectomy. Further, the results suggest MAGE-C2/CT10 as a potential target for adjuvant and palliative immunotherapy in patients with prostate cancer

Assessment of extraneous water inflow in separate sewer networks EXTRANEOUS WATER SOURCES IN SEPARATE SEWER SYSTEMS

ABSTRACT Separate sewer systems provide due to the separate transport and treatment of waste water and rain water an efficient sewerage technology. But the advantage compared to combined system technology gets lost if the input of extraneous water exceeds the capacity of the system. Especially the input of rainwater into the waste water pipes depending on the drained area is responsible for an overload of the sewer system and the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). In the paper the input of extraneous water induced by groundwater and rainwater in different rural catchments in the City of Dresden is assessed. On the base of a hydrodynamic network model a case study is carried out for one of these catchments. The analysis of the current status of the studied area allows the identification of rehabilitation activities and, furthermore, gives an indication on their extent and effects. KEYWORDS Extraneous water; infiltration; rehabilitation; separated sewer system EXTRANEOUS WATER SOURCES IN SEPARATE SEWER SYSTEMS In Germany often separate systems are situated in rural areas or on the periphery of cities. In these areas, characterised by single residential housing with a low population density, the boundary conditions are favourable for a two-pipe-system -i.e. the separate system. The main advantage of the separated systems is supposed to be that sewage water ought to be transported and treated separately from the rainwater and therefore the systems work with a high efficiency. But the real operation of a lot of separate sewer systems suffers from the inflow of extraneous water. In the sewage network of separate systems extraneous water includes two main fractions. Besides the groundwater inflow through leaky pipes or connected groundwater drainage pipes extraneous water consists of rainwater inflow. The groundwater inflow is related to the seasonal variation of the groundwater level REHABILITATION STRATEGIES In general rehabilitation activities in sewer systems to minimize the extraneous water are induced by acute and non acute problems. Non-acute problems are often increasing costs o

The Synthetic Development of the Antiinfluenza Neuraminidase Inhibitor Oseltamivir Phosphate (Tamiflu): A Challenge for Synthesis & Process Research

The evolution of the synthesis of oseltamivir phosphate (Tamiflu®), used for the oral treatment and prevention of influenza virus infections (viral flu) is described. Oseltamivir phosphate is the ethyl ester prodrug of the corresponding acid, a potent and selective inhibitor of influenza neuraminidase. The discovery chemistry route and scalable routes used for kilo laboratory production as well as the technical access to oseltamivir phosphate from (–)-shikimic acid proceeding via a synthetically well-developed epoxide building block followed by azide transformations are reviewed. Synthesis and process research investigations towards azide-free conversions of the key epoxide building block to oseltamivir phosphate are discussed. The search for new routes to oseltamivir phosphate independent of shikimic acid including Diels-Alder approaches and transformations of aromatic rings employing a desymmetrization concept are presented in view of large-scale production requirements

The Synthetic Development of the Anti-Influenza Neuraminidase Inhibitor Oseltamivir Phosphate (Tamiflu®): A Challenge for Synthesis & Process Research

The evolution of the synthesis of oseltamivir phosphate (Tamiflu®), used for the oral treatment and prevention of influenza virus infections (viral flu) is described. Oseltamivir phosphate is the ethyl ester prodrug of the corresponding acid, a potent and selective inhibitor of influenza neuraminidase. The discovery chemistry route and scalable routes used for kilo laboratory production as well as the technical access to oseltamivir phosphate from (–)-shikimic acid proceeding via a synthetically well-developed epoxide building block followed by azide transformations are reviewed. Synthesis and process research investigations towards azide-free conversions of the key epoxide building block to oseltamivir phosphate are discussed. The search for new routes to oseltamivir phosphate independent of shikimic acid including Diels-Alder approaches and transformations of aromatic rings employing a desymmetrization concept are presented in view of large-scale production requirements

Vascular endothelial expression of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 forms a positive gradient towards the feto-maternal interface.

We describe the distribution of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1) in vascular endothelium of human first-trimester and term placenta. Expression of IDO1 protein on the fetal side of the interface extended from almost exclusively sub-trophoblastic capillaries in first-trimester placenta to a nearly general presence on villous vascular endothelia at term, including also most bigger vessels such as villous arteries and veins of stem villi and vessels of the chorionic plate. Umbilical cord vessels were generally negative for IDO1 protein. In the fetal part of the placenta positivity for IDO1 was restricted to vascular endothelium, which did not co-express HLA-DR. This finding paralleled detectability of IDO1 mRNA in first trimester and term tissue and a high increase in the kynurenine to tryptophan ratio in chorionic villous tissue from first trimester to term placenta. Endothelial cells isolated from the chorionic plate of term placenta expressed IDO1 mRNA in contrast to endothelial cells originating from human umbilical vein, iliac vein or aorta. In first trimester decidua we found endothelium of arteries rather than veins expressing IDO1, which was complementory to expression of HLA-DR. An estimation of IDO activity on the basis of the ratio of kynurenine and tryptophan in blood taken from vessels of the chorionic plate of term placenta indicated far higher values than those found in the peripheral blood of adults. Thus, a gradient of vascular endothelial IDO1 expression is present at both sides of the feto-maternal interface