Explorando o Ciberespaço Russo: Ação Coletiva Digitalmente Mediada e a Esfera Pública Interconectada

Propósito – Este artigo sintetiza os principais achados de um projeto de pesquisa de três anos para investigar o impacto da Internet sobre a política, a mídia e a sociedade russa. Metodologia/abordagem/design – Empregamos múltiplos métodos para estudar atividades online: o mapeamento e estudo da estrutura, das comunidades e do conteúdo da blogosfera; um análogo mapeamento e estudo do Twitter; a análise de conteúdo de diferentes fontes midiáticas, utilizando tanto abordagens automatizadas quanto abordagens baseadas em avaliação humana; e uma enquete com blogueiros; métodos esses expandidos por mapeamento de infraestrutura, por entrevistas e por investigações de contexto. Resultados – Constatamos a emergência de uma vibrante e diversa esfera pública interconectada, que constitui uma alternativa independente ao mais rigidamente controlado espaço midiático e político offline, e verificamos o uso crescente de plataformas digitais na mobilização social e na ação cívica. Implicações práticas – Apesar da existência de vários esforços indiretos para conformar o ciberespaço como um ambiente mais amigável ao governo, constatamos que a Internet russa permanece, em geral, aberta e livre, embora o atual grau de liberdade na Internet de forma alguma possa representar previsão acerca do futuro desse espaço contestado

The Double Tidal Disruption Event AT 2022dbl Implies that at Least Some “Standard” Optical Tidal Disruption Events Are Partial Disruptions

Flares produced following the tidal disruption of stars by supermassive black holes can reveal the properties of the otherwise dormant majority of black holes and the physics of accretion. In the past decade, a class of optical-ultraviolet tidal disruption flares has been discovered whose emission properties do not match theoretical predictions. This has led to extensive efforts to model the dynamics and emission mechanisms of optical-ultraviolet tidal disruptions in order to establish them as probes of supermassive black holes. Here we present the optical-ultraviolet tidal disruption event AT 2022dbl, which showed a nearly identical repetition 700 days after the first flare. Ruling out gravitational lensing and two chance unrelated disruptions, we conclude that at least the first flare represents the partial disruption of a star, possibly captured through the Hills mechanism. Since both flares are typical of the optical-ultraviolet class of tidal disruptions in terms of their radiated energy, temperature, luminosity, and spectral features, it follows that either the entire class are partial rather than full stellar disruptions, contrary to the prevalent assumption, or some members of the class are partial disruptions, having nearly the same observational characteristics as full disruptions. Whichever option is true, these findings could require revised models for the emission mechanisms of optical-ultraviolet tidal disruption flares and a reassessment of their expected rates

A Future for the Dead Sea Basin: Water Culture among Israelis, Palestinians and Jordanians

The Dead Sea basin plays a major role for regional economic development (industry, tourism and agriculture) in the Middle East. This potential is threatened by the steady disappearance of the Dead Sea. Since around 1930 the water level of the Dead Sea has fallen by about 25 m, about half of this alone in the last 20 years. The Dead Sea is a transboundary resource shared by Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan. The Dead Sea is the terminal point of the Jordan River watershed and as such, it serves as a barometer for the health of the overall system. Its rapid decline reflects the present water management strategies of the riparian and upstream countries. This includes the different water cultures of the three countries. Throughout history, the Dead Sea basin has served as a source of refuge and inspiration for followers of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Today, the religious significance of the Dead Sea is being overshadowed by its rapid disappearance. This may be explained in part by the water cultures of the three countries that influence water policy in the region. Ideology, together with culture and tradition, such as that of Zionism in Israel, has played a central role in water development in the region. In many cases, this has been at the expense of the environment. Elements pertaining to environmental security and water culture and tradition, whereby a sustainably managed environment provides for social, economic as well as environmental benefits are evident with regards the Dead Sea. The decline for example, undermines its potential as a tourist destination, despite the enormous investment in hotel and resort infrastructures in Israel and in Jordan. The decline also raises ethical issues about the exploitation of water resources by present generations at the expense of this natural heritage to future generations. This paper provides an analysis of a European Union funded project whose aims are to synthesize and assess existing physical and socio-economic data and to assess options for a better future for the Dead Sea. It will identify the patterns of water supply and use in the region, and the factors that control these patterns, including those of water culture. The underlying assumption is that solutions for a more sustainable development than todays scenario will not come from simply providing more water for more development, but from a new land and water management system, indeed ethic, that is sensitive to social, cultural and ecological resources thereby providing security and stability across cultures, economic sectors and nations

The impact of surgical delay on resectability of colorectal cancer: An international prospective cohort study

AIM: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has provided a unique opportunity to explore the impact of surgical delays on cancer resectability. This study aimed to compare resectability for colorectal cancer patients undergoing delayed versus non-delayed surgery. METHODS: This was an international prospective cohort study of consecutive colorectal cancer patients with a decision for curative surgery (January-April 2020). Surgical delay was defined as an operation taking place more than 4 weeks after treatment decision, in a patient who did not receive neoadjuvant therapy. A subgroup analysis explored the effects of delay in elective patients only. The impact of longer delays was explored in a sensitivity analysis. The primary outcome was complete resection, defined as curative resection with an R0 margin. RESULTS: Overall, 5453 patients from 304 hospitals in 47 countries were included, of whom 6.6% (358/5453) did not receive their planned operation. Of the 4304 operated patients without neoadjuvant therapy, 40.5% (1744/4304) were delayed beyond 4 weeks. Delayed patients were more likely to be older, men, more comorbid, have higher body mass index and have rectal cancer and early stage disease. Delayed patients had higher unadjusted rates of complete resection (93.7% vs. 91.9%, P = 0.032) and lower rates of emergency surgery (4.5% vs. 22.5%, P < 0.001). After adjustment, delay was not associated with a lower rate of complete resection (OR 1.18, 95% CI 0.90-1.55, P = 0.224), which was consistent in elective patients only (OR 0.94, 95% CI 0.69-1.27, P = 0.672). Longer delays were not associated with poorer outcomes. CONCLUSION: One in 15 colorectal cancer patients did not receive their planned operation during the first wave of COVID-19. Surgical delay did not appear to compromise resectability, raising the hypothesis that any reduction in long-term survival attributable to delays is likely to be due to micro-metastatic disease

Sex, social mores, and keyword filtering: Microsoft Bing in the &#039;Arabian Countries&#039;

&nbsp; Microsoft recently added a new layer of complexity to the ongoing debate regarding the filtering and censorship practices of U.S. search engines via its own search engine, Bing. ONI testing reveals liberal filtering by Bing in one of the most censored regions in the world: the Arab countries. Microsoft’s Bing, which tailors its search engine to serve different countries and regions and offers its services in 41 languages, has a filtering system at the keyword level for users in several countries. Users in the Arab countries—or, as termed by Microsoft—“Arabian countries”—are prevented from conducting certain search queries in both English and Arabic. ONI testing reveals that Microsoft filters Arabic and English keywords that could yield sex- or LGBT-related images and content

Incidence and Dynamics of CRC Stage Migration: A Regional vs. a National Analysis

Background/Objectives: Due to an increased rate of surveillance colonoscopy, we aim to determine the impact of stage migration on the incidence and overall survival (OS) of patients who underwent pathological staging of colorectal cancer (CRC) at our Health Network System. Methods: Two datasets were included: subjects from the tumor registry at a regional Comprehensive Cancer Center (n = 1385) and subjects from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) national database (n = 202,391). Results: A significant increase in the diagnosis of CRC Stage 1 and 4 was observed, with a decrease in stage 2, and no change in Stage 3 in the National datasets (p &lt; 0.01). There was an increase in Stage 4 CRC diagnosis, with a concurrent decrease in stage 2, and no changes in stages 1 and 3 in the regional dataset (p &lt; 0.05). OS followed the expected and progressive decrease in OS by stage (from 1 to 4, p &lt; 0.01). Conclusions: The present findings confirmed CRC stage migration in our Health Network System, along with a national trend conducive to an increased OS for early CRC stages

Explorando o Ciberespaço Russo: Ação Coletiva Digitalmente Mediada e a Esfera Pública Interconectada

Propósito – Este artigo sintetiza os principais achados de um projeto de pesquisa de três anos para investigar o impacto da Internet sobre a política, a mídia e a sociedade russa.&#x0D; Metodologia/abordagem/design – Empregamos múltiplos métodos para estudar atividades online: o mapeamento e estudo da estrutura, das comunidades e do conteúdo da blogosfera; um análogo mapeamento e estudo do Twitter; a análise de conteúdo de diferentes fontes midiáticas, utilizando tanto abordagens automatizadas quanto abordagens baseadas em avaliação humana; e uma enquete com blogueiros; métodos esses expandidos por mapeamento de infraestrutura, por entrevistas e por investigações de contexto.&#x0D; Resultados – Constatamos a emergência de uma vibrante e diversa esfera pública interconectada, que constitui uma alternativa independente ao mais rigidamente controlado espaço midiático e político offline, e verificamos o uso crescente de plataformas digitais na mobilização social e na ação cívica.&#x0D; Implicações práticas – Apesar da existência de vários esforços indiretos para conformar o ciberespaço como um ambiente mais amigável ao governo, constatamos que a Internet russa permanece, em geral, aberta e livre, embora o atual grau de liberdade na Internet de forma alguma possa representar previsão acerca do futuro desse espaço contestado.</jats:p