Political Authenticity: Conceptualization of a Popular Term

Authenticity is a prominent concept in current political discourse. Its popularity in political communication has also inspired a growing but still fragmented body of research in communication science. Since this field lacks an integrative conceptualization, this article aims to clarify political authenticity for academic discourse and as a research object for communication science. The article provides a narrative review of research on authenticity in political communication and proposes an understanding of political authenticity as a social construction which is created and negotiated in complex communication processes among politicians, the media, and the audience. I propose performed, mediated, and perceived political authenticity as three analytic perspectives to deconstruct these complex processes and to link political authenticity with media and communication literature. Finally, I derive four dimensions of political authenticity (consistency, intimacy, ordinariness, and immediacy) and corresponding indicators that will help to operationalize it as a strategy by politicians, a product from mediation processes, and as an audience perception

Effects of news factors on users’ news attention and selective exposure on a news aggregator website

Do journalistic relevance criteria still matter in digital news environments where news is selected and aggregated by algorithms? This article investigates how news factors (e.g., conflict, power elite) influence users’ news attention and selective exposure on the news aggregator website Google News. Alongside direct effects, the study also examines indirect effects of news factors on users’ news selection processes via media cues of news items on the news aggregator website (e.g., picture, position, and recency). The study relies on the news value theory and analyzes observations of users’ news attention and selective exposure on Google News via eye tracking (N = 47 participants, N = 751 news items). We conducted a content analysis on all news items on Google News that users paid attention to. The results show that news factors do not have direct effects on news attention and selective exposure, but rather indirect effects mediated via media cues of news items. Consequently, the traditional idea of newsworthiness based on professional journalistic norms continues to play a role on a news aggregator where news is selected by algorithms

26th Annual Computational Neuroscience Meeting (CNS*2017): Part 3 - Meeting Abstracts - Antwerp, Belgium. 15–20 July 2017

This work was produced as part of the activities of FAPESP Research,\ud Disseminations and Innovation Center for Neuromathematics (grant\ud 2013/07699-0, S. Paulo Research Foundation). NLK is supported by a\ud FAPESP postdoctoral fellowship (grant 2016/03855-5). ACR is partially\ud supported by a CNPq fellowship (grant 306251/2014-0)

25th annual computational neuroscience meeting: CNS-2016

The same neuron may play different functional roles in the neural circuits to which it belongs. For example, neurons in the Tritonia pedal ganglia may participate in variable phases of the swim motor rhythms [1]. While such neuronal functional variability is likely to play a major role the delivery of the functionality of neural systems, it is difficult to study it in most nervous systems. We work on the pyloric rhythm network of the crustacean stomatogastric ganglion (STG) [2]. Typically network models of the STG treat neurons of the same functional type as a single model neuron (e.g. PD neurons), assuming the same conductance parameters for these neurons and implying their synchronous firing [3, 4]. However, simultaneous recording of PD neurons shows differences between the timings of spikes of these neurons. This may indicate functional variability of these neurons. Here we modelled separately the two PD neurons of the STG in a multi-neuron model of the pyloric network. Our neuron models comply with known correlations between conductance parameters of ionic currents. Our results reproduce the experimental finding of increasing spike time distance between spikes originating from the two model PD neurons during their synchronised burst phase. The PD neuron with the larger calcium conductance generates its spikes before the other PD neuron. Larger potassium conductance values in the follower neuron imply longer delays between spikes, see Fig. 17.Neuromodulators change the conductance parameters of neurons and maintain the ratios of these parameters [5]. Our results show that such changes may shift the individual contribution of two PD neurons to the PD-phase of the pyloric rhythm altering their functionality within this rhythm. Our work paves the way towards an accessible experimental and computational framework for the analysis of the mechanisms and impact of functional variability of neurons within the neural circuits to which they belong

Perceiving politicians as true to themselves: Development and validation of the perceived political authenticity scale.

The authenticity of political candidates receives increasing attention in political and academic discourse. Although being perceived as authentic is seen as a success factor in contemporary political communication, little attention has been paid to how citizens evaluate politicians' authenticity. The state of research thus lacks a valid instrument to measure citizens' perceptions of politicians' authenticity. This article addresses this gap in the literature and proposes a new multidimensional scale of perceived political authenticity. We conducted three consecutive studies to test the instrument's composition, performance, and validity and present a final 12-item scale. Results from an expert panel and two online quota surveys (Sample 1: N = 556, Sample 2: N = 1,210) show that citizens rely on three political authenticity dimensions to judge politicians' authenticity: ordinariness, consistency, and immediacy. Factor analyses were used to establish construct validity and demonstrate that the new scale is a robust and reliable measure. Finally, we find that higher perceived political authenticity for specific politicians is positively associated with party identification and the intention to vote for politicians

Upregulation of Phosphatase 1 Nuclear-Targeting Subunit (PNUTS) Is an Independent Predictor of Poor Prognosis in Prostate Cancer

Protein phosphatase 1 nuclear-targeting subunit (PNUTS) is ubiquitously expressed and associates with PTEN and protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) to control its activity. The role of PNUTS overexpression has hardly been studied in cancer. In this study, we used immunohistochemistry to quantitate PNUTS expression on a tissue microarray containing 17,747 clinical prostate cancer specimens. As compared to normal prostate epithelium, PNUTS expression was often higher in cancer. Among 12,235 interpretable tumors, PNUTS staining was negative in 21%, weak in 34%, moderate in 35%, and strong in 10% of cases. High PNUTS expression was associated with higher tumor stage, classical and quantitative Gleason grade, nodal stage, surgical margin, Ki67 labeling index, and early biochemical recurrence (p<0.0001 each). PNUTS expression proved to be a moderate prognostic parameter with a maximal univariable Cox proportional hazard for PSA recurrence-free survival of 2.21 compared with 5.91 for Gleason grading. It was independent from established prognostic parameters in multivariable analysis. Comparison with molecular data available from earlier studies using the same TMA identified associations between high PNUTS expression and elevated androgen receptor expression (p<0.0001), presence of TMPRSS2:ERG fusion (p<0.0001), and 8 of 11 chromosomal deletions (3p13, 5q21, 8p21, 10q23, 12p13, 13q14, 16q24, and 17p13; p<0.05 each). Particularly strong associations with PTEN and 12p13 deletions (p<0.0001 each) may indicate a functional relationship, which has already been established for PNUTS and PTEN. PNUTS had no additional role on outcome in PTEN-deleted cancers. In conclusion, the results of our study identify high PNUTS protein levels as a predictor of poor prognosis possibly linked to increased levels of genomic instability. PNUTS measurement, either alone or in combination, might be of clinical utility in prostate cancers

Epithelial splicing regulatory protein 1 and 2 (ESRP1 and ESRP2) upregulation predicts poor prognosis in prostate cancer

Background!#!Epithelial splicing regulatory protein 1 (ESRP1) and 2 (ESRP2) regulate alternative splicing events of various pre-mRNAs. Some of these targets play a role in cancer-associated processes, including cytoskeleton reorganization and DNA-repair processes. This study was undertaken to estimate the impact of ESRP1 and ESRP2 alterations on prostate cancer patient prognosis.!##!Methods!#!A tissue microarray made from 17,747 individual cancer samples with comprehensive, pathological, clinical and molecular data was analyzed by immunohistochemistry for ESRP1 and ESRP2.!##!Results!#!Nuclear staining for ESRP1 was seen in 38.6% (36.0% low, 2.6% high) of 12,140 interpretable cancers and in 41.9% (36.4% low, 5.3% high) of 12,962 interpretable cancers for ESRP2. Nuclear protein expression was linked to advanced tumor stage, high Gleason score, presence of lymph node metastasis, early biochemical recurrence, and ERG-positive cancers (p &amp;lt; 0.0001 each). Expression of ESRPs was significantly linked to 11 (ESRP1)/9 (ESRP2) of 11 analyzed deletions in all cancers and to 8 (ESRP1)/9 (ESRP2) of 11 deletions in ERG-negative cancers portending a link to genomic instability. Combined ESRPs expression analysis suggested an additive effect and showed the worst prognosis for cancers with high ESRP1 and ESRP2 expression. Multivariate analyses revealed that the prognostic impact of ESRP1, ESRP2 and combined ESRP1/ESRP2 expression was independent of all established pre- and postoperative prognostic features.!##!Conclusions!#!Our data show a striking link between nuclear ESRP expression and adverse features in prostate cancer and identifies expression of ESRP1 and/or ESRP2 as independent prognostic markers with a potential for routine application

Upregulation of the heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein hnRNPA1 is an independent predictor of early biochemical recurrence in TMPRSS2:ERG fusion-negative prostate cancers

Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A1 (hnRNPA1) is a ubiquitous RNA splicing factor that is overexpressed and prognostically relevant in various human cancer types. To study the impact of hnRNPA1 expression in prostate cancer, we analyzed a tissue microarray containing 17,747 clinical prostate cancer specimens by immunohistochemistry. hnRNPA1 was expressed in normal prostate glandular cells but often overexpressed in cancer cells. hnRNPA1 immunostaining was interpretable in 14,258 cancers and considered strong in 33.4%, moderate in 45.9%, weak in 15.3%, and negative in 5.4%. Moderate to strong hnRNPA1 immunostaining was strongly linked to adverse tumor features including high classical and quantitative Gleason score, lymph node metastasis, advanced tumor stage, positive surgical margin, and early biochemical recurrence (p &amp;lt; 0.0001 each). The prognostic impact of hnRNPA1 immunostaining was independent of established preoperatively or postoperatively available prognostic parameters (p &amp;lt; 0.0001). Subset analyses revealed that all these associations were strongly driven by the fraction of cancers lacking the TMPRSS2:ERG gene fusion. Comparison with other key molecular data that were earlier obtained on the same TMA showed that hnRNPA1 overexpression was linked to high levels of androgen receptor (AR) expression (p &amp;lt; 0.0001) as well as presence of 9 of 11 chromosomal deletions (p &amp;lt; 0.05 each). A strong association between hnRNPA1 upregulation and tumor cell proliferation that was independent from the Gleason score supports a role for tumor cell aggressiveness. In conclusion, hnRNPA1 overexpression is an independent predictor of poor prognosis in ERG-negative prostate cancer. hnRNPA1 measurement, either alone or in combination, might provide prognostic information in ERG-negative prostate cancer

Diagnostic and prognostic impact of cytokeratin 18 expression in human tumors: a tissue microarray study on 11,952 tumors

Background!#!Cytokeratin 18 (CK18) is an intermediate filament protein of the cytokeratin acidic type I group and is primarily expressed in single-layered or 'simple' epithelial tissues and carcinomas of different origin.!##!Methods!#!To systematically determine CK18 expression in normal and cancerous tissues, 11,952 tumor samples from 115 different tumor types and subtypes (including carcinomas, mesenchymal and biphasic tumors) as well as 608 samples of 76 different normal tissue types were analyzed by immunohistochemistry in a tissue microarray format.!##!Results!#!CK18 was expressed in normal epithelial cells of most organs but absent in normal squamous epithelium. At least an occasional weak CK18 positivity was seen in 90 of 115 (78.3%) tumor types. Wide-spread CK18 positivity was seen in 37 (31.9%) of tumor entities, including adenocarcinomas of the lung, prostate, colon and pancreas as well as ovarian cancer. Tumor categories with variable CK18 immunostaining included cancer types arising from CK18 positive precursor cells but show CK18 downregulation in a fraction of cases, tumor types arising from CK18 negative precursor cells occasionally exhibiting CK18 neo-expression, tumors derived from normal tissues with variable CK18 expression, and tumors with a mixed differentiation. CK18 downregulation was for example seen in renal cell cancers and breast cancers, whereas CK18 neo-expression was found in squamous cell carcinomas of various origins. Down-regulation of CK18 in invasive breast carcinomas of no special type and clear cell renal cell carcinomas (ccRCC) was related to adverse tumor features in both tumors (p ≤ 0.0001) and poor patient prognosis in ccRCC (p = 0.0088). Up-regulation of CK18 in squamous cell carcinomas was linked to high grade and lymph node metastasis (p &amp;lt; 0.05). In summary, CK18 is consistently expressed in various epithelial cancers, especially adenocarcinomas.!##!Conclusions!#!Down-regulation or loss of CK18 expression in cancers arising from CK18 positive tissues as well as CK18 neo-expression in cancers originating from CK18 negative tissues is linked to cancer progression and may reflect tumor dedifferentiation