The role of bot squads in the political propaganda on Twitter

Nowadays, Social Media are a privileged channel for news spreading, information exchange, and fact checking. Unexpectedly for many users, automated accounts, known as social bots, contribute more and more to this process of information diffusion. Using Twitter as a benchmark, we consider the traffic exchanged, over one month of observation, on the migration flux from Northern Africa to Italy. We measure the significant traffic of tweets only, by implementing an entropy-based null model that discounts the activity of users and the virality of tweets. Results show that social bots play a central role in the exchange of significant content. Indeed, not only the strongest hubs have a number of bots among their followers higher than expected, but furthermore a group of them, that can be assigned to the same political tendency, share a common set of bots as followers. The retweeting activity of such automated accounts amplifies the hubs’ messages

“I Do Not Like Being Me”: the Impact of Self-hate on Increased Risky Sexual Behavior in Sexual Minority People

Background: Increased risky sexual behaviors (RSB) in sexual minority people relative to heterosexual individuals are well documented. However, the role of trans-diagnostic factors that are not sexual orientation-specific, such as self-criticism, in predicting RSB was understudied. The present study aimed to test participants’ gender and sexual orientation as moderators between self-criticism and RSB. Methods: Data were collected during 2019. The total sample included 986 sexual minority people (Nwomen = 51%) and 853 heterosexual people (Nwomen = 46%), ranging from 18 to 35 years of age. Self-criticism dimensions (self-hate, self-inadequacy, self-reassurance), types of positive affect (relaxed, safe/content, and activated affect), and RSB were assessed. Bivariate, multivariate analyses, and moderated regression analyses were conducted. Results: Sexual minority participants showed higher levels of RSB, self-hate, and self-inadequacy than heterosexual people. Only in sexual minority men, RSB correlated positively with self-hate and negatively with safe/content positive affect. Moderated regressions showed that only for sexual minority participants, higher RSB were predicted by higher levels of self-hate. At the same time, this association was not significant for heterosexual people controlling the effects of age, presence of a stable relationship, other self-criticism dimensions, and activation safe/content affect scale. The two-way interaction between sexual orientation and gender was significant, showing that regardless of self-hate, the strength of the association between sexual orientation and RSB is stronger for sexual minority men than sexual minority women and heterosexual participants. Conclusions: Findings highlight the distinctive role of self-hate in the occurrence of RSB in sexual minority people and support the usefulness of developing a compassion-focused intervention to target self-hate in sexual minority people

The interplay between risk and protective factors during the initial height of the COVID-19 crisis in Italy: The role of risk aversion and intolerance of ambiguity on distress

The present study aimed to test a model of relations to ascertain the determinants of distress caused by lockdown for COVID- 19. It was hypothesized that the exposure to the COVID-19 increased distress directly and through the mediation of worry, health-related information seeking, and perception of the utility of the lockdown. It was also expected that higher levels of ambiguity intolerance corresponded to higher distress directly and through the mediation of worry, health information seeking behaviors, and perceived utility of the lockdown. Finally, it was expected that risk aversion positively influenced distress directly and through the increasing of worry, health-related information seeking behavior, and more positive perception of the utility of the lockdown The study was conducted in Italy during the mandatory lockdown for COVID-19 pandemic on 240 individuals (age range 18\u201376). Data recruitment was conducted via snowball sampling. COVID-19 exposure was positively associated with worry and health-related information seeking. Risk-aversion was positively associated with health-related information seeking and perceived utility of the lockdown to contain the spread of the virus. Worry and health-related information seeking were positively associated with distress, whereas the perceived utility of the lockdown was negatively associated with distress. Intolerance for the ambiguity was directly linked to distress with a positive sign. Findings suggest that risk aversion represents both a risk factor and a protective factor, based on what kind of variable mediates the relationship with distress, and that the intolerance to the ambiguity is a risk factor that busters distress

An ultra-wideband sensing board for IoT

In this paper, we present an ultra-wideband impedance sensing board for the radio-frequency front-ends used in wireless units for the Internet of Things and the fifth-generation wireless communication systems. We adopt as an impedance sensing board a six-port junction which was designed, fabricated, and tested experimentally in the frequency range from 5 GHz to 6 GHz. Moreover, the sensing board functionality was fully validated with load-pull measurements carried out in the same frequency range

How khipus indicated labour contributions in an Andean village: an explanation of colour banding, seriation and ethnocategories

This research was supported by a Global Exploration Grant from the National Geographic Society (GEFNE120-14).New archival and ethnographic evidence reveals that Inka style khipus were used in the Andean community of Santiago de Anchucaya to record contributions to communal labour obligations until the 1940s. Archival testimony from the last khipu specialist in Anchucaya, supplemented by interviews with his grandson, provides the first known expert explanation for how goods, labour obligations, and social groups were indicated on Inka style Andean khipus. This evidence, combined with the analysis of Anchucaya khipus in the Museo Nacional de Arqueología, Antropología y Historia Peruana, furnishes a local model for the relationship between the two most frequent colour patterns (colour banding and seriation) that occur in khipus. In this model, colour banding is associated with individual data whilst seriation is associated with aggregated data. The archival and ethnographic evidence also explains how labour and goods were categorized in uniquely Andean ways as they were represented on khipus.PostprintPeer reviewe

Patient Preferences for Lung Cancer Treatments: A Study Protocol for a Preference Survey Using Discrete Choice Experiment and Swing Weighting

Background: Advanced treatment options for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) consist of immunotherapy, chemotherapy, or a combination of both. Decisions surrounding NSCLC can be considered as preference-sensitive because multiple treatments exist that vary in terms of mode of administration, treatment schedules, and benefit–risk profiles. As part of the IMI PREFER project, we developed a protocol for an online preference survey for NSCLC patients exploring differences in preferences according to patient characteristics (preference heterogeneity). Moreover, this study will evaluate and compare the use of two different preference elicitation methods, the discrete choice experiment (DCE) and the swing weighting (SW) task. Finally, the study explores how demographic (i.e., age, gender, and educational level) and clinical (i.e., cancer stage and line of treatment) information, health literacy, health locus of control, and quality of life may influence or explain patient preferences and the usefulness of a digital interactive tool in providing information on preference elicitation tasks according to patients. Methods: An online survey will be implemented with the aim to recruit 510 NSCLC patients in Belgium and Italy. Participants will be randomized 50:50 to first receive either the DCE or the SW. The survey will also collect information on participants' disease-related status, health locus of control, health literacy, quality of life, and perception of the educational tool. Discussion: This protocol outlines methodological and practical steps to quantitatively elicit and study patient preferences for NSCLC treatment alternatives. Results from this study will increase the understanding of which treatment aspects are most valued by NSCLC patients to inform decision-making in drug development, regulatory approval, and reimbursement. Methodologically, the comparison between the DCE and the SW task will be valuable to gain information on how these preference methods perform against each other in eliciting patient preferences. Overall, this protocol may assist researchers, drug developers, and decision-makers in designing quantitative patient preferences into decision-making along the medical product life cycle

The factor structure of the Forms of Self-Criticising/Attacking & Self-Reassuring Scale in thirteen distinct populations

There is considerable evidence that self-criticism plays a major role in the vulnerability to and recovery from psychopathology. Methods to measure this process, and its change over time, are therefore important for research in psychopathology and well-being. This study examined the factor structure of a widely used measure, the Forms of Self-Criticising/Attacking & Self-Reassuring Scale in thirteen nonclinical samples (N = 7510) from twelve different countries: Australia (N = 319), Canada (N = 383), Switzerland (N = 230), Israel (N = 476), Italy (N = 389), Japan (N = 264), the Netherlands (N = 360), Portugal (N = 764), Slovakia (N = 1326), Taiwan (N = 417), the United Kingdom 1 (N = 1570), the United Kingdom 2 (N = 883), and USA (N = 331). This study used more advanced analyses than prior reports: a bifactor item-response theory model, a two-tier item-response theory model, and a non-parametric item-response theory (Mokken) scale analysis. Although the original three-factor solution for the FSCRS (distinguishing between Inadequate-Self, Hated-Self, and Reassured-Self) had an acceptable fit, two-tier models, with two general factors (Self-criticism and Self-reassurance) demonstrated the best fit across all samples. This study provides preliminary evidence suggesting that this two-factor structure can be used in a range of nonclinical contexts across countries and cultures. Inadequate-Self and Hated-Self might not by distinct factors in nonclinical samples. Future work may benefit from distinguishing between self-correction versus shame-based self-criticism.Peer reviewe

MTH1 inhibitor TH588 disturbs mitotic progression and induces mitosis-dependent accumulation of genomic 8-oxodG

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) oxidize nucleotide triphosphate pools (e.g., 8-oxodGTP), which may kill cells if incorporated into DNA. Whether cancers avoid poisoning from oxidized nucleotides by preventing incorporation via the oxidized purine diphosphatase MTH1 remains under debate. Also, little is known about DNA polymerases incorporating oxidized nucleotides in cells or how oxidized nucleotides in DNA become toxic. Here we show that replacement of one of the main DNA replicases in human cells, DNA polymerase delta (Pol δ), with an error-prone variant allows increased 8-oxodG accumulation into DNA following treatment with TH588, a dual MTH1 inhibitor (MTH1i) and microtubule targeting agent. The resulting elevated genomic 8-oxodG correlated with increased cytotoxicity of TH588. Interestingly, no substantial perturbation of replication fork progression was observed, but rather mitotic progression was impaired and mitotic DNA synthesis triggered. Reducing mitotic arrest by reversin treatment prevented accumulation of genomic 8-oxodG and reduced cytotoxicity of TH588, in line with the notion that mitotic arrest is required for ROS buildup and oxidation of the nucleotide pool. Furthermore, delayed mitosis and increased mitotic cell death was observed following TH588 treatment in cells expressing the error-prone but not wild type Pol δ variant, which is not observed following treatments with anti-mitotic agents. Collectively, these results link accumulation of genomic oxidized nucleotides with disturbed mitotic progression

MTH1 deficiency selectively increases non-cytotoxic oxidative DNA damage in lung cancer cells: more bad news than good?

Representative images of “Comets” and the corresponding intensity profiles, showing (i) ~ 5% Tail DNA damage, typical of the NSCLC cells treated with no siRNA or scramble siRNA, and analysed by regular Fpg-modified alkaline comet assay (0.8 U Fpg/gel); and (ii) comets showing ~ 10% tail DNA, typical of the NSCLC cells treated with MTH1 siRNA. Superimposed on the Comet images are the image analysis software (Komet 5.5, Andor Technology) determined boundaries demarcating the ‘Comet head’ (pink circle) and ‘tail extent’ (vertical orange line) (Barber RC, Hickenbotham P, Hatch T, Kelly D, Topchiy N, Almeida GM, et al. Radiation-induced transgenerational alterations in genome stability and DNA damage. Oncogene. 2006;25(56):7336–7342). % tail DNA = 100 - % head DNA; % head DNA = (integrated optical head intensity / (integrated optical head intensity + integrated optical tail intensity)) × 100. (PDF 1431 kb