Beyond Fish and Bicycles: Exploring the Varieties of Online Women’s Ideological Spaces

The Internet has been instrumental in connecting under-represented and vulnerable groups of people. Platforms built to foster social interaction and engagement have enabled historically disenfranchised groups to have a voice. One such vulnerable group is women. In this paper, we explore the diversity in online women’s ideological spaces using a multi-dimensional approach. We perform a large-scale, data-driven analysis of over 6M Reddit comments and submissions from 14 subreddits. We elicit a diverse taxonomy of online women’s ideological spaces, ranging from counterparts to the so-called Manosphere to Gender-Critical Feminism. We then perform content analysis, finding meaningful differences across topics and communities. Finally, we explore two platforms, namely, ovarit.com and thepinkpill.co, where two toxic communities of online women’s ideological spaces (Gender-Critical Feminism and Femcels) migrated after their ban on Reddit

Beyond fish and bicycles: exploring the varieties of online women’s ideological spaces

CNS-1942610 - National Science Foundationhttps://arxiv.org/pdf/2303.07099.pdfAccepted manuscrip

The relationship between physical activity and polypharmacy with Ikigai in a population

The aim: The Japanese word “ikigai” indicates “something to live for” and “having a purpose in life”. Ikigai or well-being, has been associated with many positive outcomes in the physical and mental health of elderly people. In this study, the relationship between ikigai and level of physical activity and polypharmacy was examined in a Turkish population. Material and methods: Both telephonic interviews and face-to-face interviews were conducted with 307 participants (59.2 % women) who completed the Ikigai-9 Turkey Scale and provided demographic information. Results: Correlations between groups (polypharmacy vs. non-polypharmacy) were analyzed with an independent t-test and analysis of variance. The means of the ikigai scores were statistically significant in the polypharmacy (24.04±8.72) and non-polypharmacy 32.64±7.53) groups (p<0.05). The number of drugs used was negatively correlated with duration of exercise per week (1.32±1.82, correlation coefficient = 0.538, p<0.05). Conclusions: The level of ikigai was negatively correlated with polypharmacy and positively correlated with duration of physical activity. An individual’s ikigai should be assessed by healthcare providers to maximize positive outcomes later in lif

A first look at zoombombing

We conducted the first data-driven study of calls for zoombombing attacks. We analyzed 223 calls for zoombombing posted on Twitter and 4chan. We found that most calls for zoombombing come from insiders who have legitimate access to the meetings, calling into question widely adopted mitigation techniques to secure online meetings.Accepted manuscrip

A Distinct Esophageal mRNA Pattern Identifies Eosinophilic Esophagitis Patients With Food Impactions

Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), a Th2-type allergic immune disorder characterized by an eosinophil-rich esophageal immune infiltrate, is often associated with food impaction (FI) in pediatric patients but the molecular mechanisms underlying the development of this complication are not well understood. We aim to identify molecular pathways involved in the development of FI. Due to large variations in disease presentation, our analysis was further geared to find markers capable of distinguishing EoE patients that are prone to develop food impactions and thus expand an established medical algorithm for EoE by developing a secondary analysis that allows for the identification of patients with food impactions as a distinct patient population. To this end, mRNA patterns from esophageal biopsies of pediatric EoE patients presenting with and without food impactions were compared and machine learning techniques were employed to establish a diagnostic probability score to identify patients with food impactions (EoE+FI). Our analysis showed that EoE patients with food impaction were indistinguishable from other EoE patients based on their tissue eosinophil count, serum IgE levels, or the mRNA transcriptome-based p(EoE). Irrespectively, an additional analysis loop of the medical algorithm was able to separate EoE+FI patients and a composite FI-score was established that identified such patients with a sensitivity of 93% and a specificity of 100%. The esophageal mRNA pattern of EoE+FI patients was typified by lower expression levels of mast cell markers and Th2 associated transcripts, such as FCERIB, CPA3, CCL2, IL4, and IL5. Furthermore, lower expression levels of regulators of esophageal motility (NOS2 and HIF1A) were detected in EoE+FI. The EoE+FI -specific mRNA pattern indicates that impaired motility may be one underlying factor for the development of food impactions in pediatric patients. The availability of improved diagnostic tools such as a medical algorithm for EoE subpopulations will have a direct impact on clinical practice because such strategies can identify molecular inflammatory characteristics of individual EoE patients, which, in turn, will facilitate the development of individualized therapeutic approaches that target the relevant pathways affected in each patient

A Distinct Esophageal mRNA Pattern Stamp Identifies a Subpopulation of EoE Patients With Food Impactions

Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is a chronic, immune-mediated inflammatory disorder of esophagus characterized by eosinophil-rich infiltrates. A significant portion of EoE patients suffer from esophageal food impactions. The underlying mechanism of food impactions is not well understood. Food impactions can happen in the absence of an anatomical problem in the esophagus. Previous literature shows evidence for abnormal esophageal motility in EoE patients. This implies that impaired motility of the esophagus is likely the cause of food impactions in EoE patients. Motility in the gastrointestinal tract is under the control of the nervous system. Nitric oxide (NO) is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter that causes relaxation of the smooth muscle in the gastrointestinal tract. NO is synthesized by nitric oxide synthases (NOS). Inducible NOS (iNOS) is an isoform of NOS that is induced in immune cells upon stimulation by proinflammatory cytokines. We hypothesized that low levels of NO due to low expression of iNOS might cause the impaired motility in EoE and result in food impactions. Using a digital mRNA profiling method, we identify a distinct subpopulation of EoE that is characterized by low transcript levels of iNOS and suffers from food impactions. In addition, we show that the esophageal mRNA pattern stamp of this low-iNOS patient subpopulation shows lower expression levels of Th2-type inflammatory markers IL-4, IL-5, eotaxin-1, carboxypeptidase A3, Fc receptors for IgE and OX40L; along with lower expression levels of other inflammatory markers such as IFN-γ, CD14, IL-2, IL-12β, IFN-β1, IL-10, Fc receptors for IgG, CCL2 and CCR3. The ability to prospectively define the subpopulation of EoE patients that is prone to food impactions has important direct implications for clinical practice. Identification of these patients can help clinicians to inform them about the likely course of their EoE phenotype, which can improve their quality of lives. Furthermore, therapeutic strategies for food impactions targeting NO can be developed for future use in this subpopulation

İsrail-Filistin çatışmasındaki dinamikler: Birinci İntifada'dan ikinci İntifada'ya

İsrail - Filistin sorunu, bilinen diğer adıyla İsrail Arap çatışması, uzun yıllardır süre gelen bir çekişmenin eseri olan, çözümsüz kalmış bir konudur. Bu sorun, Orta Doğu politikalarının ve siyasi aktörlerinin içerisinde bulunduğu çekişmenin de temelini oluşturur. Uzun yıllar boyunca Orta Doğu bölgesi, farklı güçlerin elinde bulunmuştur ve bu güçlerin varlığı, bölgede bir otoritenin varlığından ziyade, otorite eksikliği ile birlikte, çözümü olmayan sorunları da beraberinde getirmiştir. Öncelikle İngiltere, daha sonar Amerika ve son olarak da Soğuk Savaşın varlığı ile ortaya çıkan Amerika Sovyetler Birliği çekişmesi bölgedeki çözümsüz yapıyı körüklemiştir. Bu çözümsüzlüğün içerisinde, İsrail'in politik ve askeri etkinliğine direnen Filistin halkının bir sembolü olarak görülen İntifada olgusu, konuya farklı bir boyut katmaktadır. İsrail tarafının var olan etkinliği her ne kadar sınırsız olsa da, İntifada meselesi Filistin'in kendi haklarını savunması, varlığını sürdürebilmek adına kendini dünya kamuoyuna gösterebilmesi ve de olayın, zaman içerisinde insanlık boyutlarını da aşan noktalarını insanların gözü önüne serebilmesi açısından ciddi bir önem taşımaktadır. İntifada'yı sadece bir kesime ya da dünyada yaygın görüş olarak benimsenen bir terör örgütüne mal etmek, onunla özdeşleştirmek ve de bir kesimi bunun için suçlamak yanlış olacaktır. İntifada, nasıl İsrail'in, konu ile ilgili askeri boyutlarda kendini savunma hakkını kullanırken elinde bulundurduğu yollar ve haklar varsa, o da, Filistin halkının elinde bulunan imkânlarla sürdürdüğü bir süreçtir. Tüm bu tarihsel sorunlu sürecinde arasına sıkışan İsrail Filistin sorunu da, genel olarak bu çekişmelerin izlerini taşır ve bugün hala varlığını sürdürmektedir. Bu tartışma ile 20. y.y.'ın ortalarından bu yana her geçen gün tırmanan bölgesel gerginlik, Orta Doğu'nun bugünkü durumuna gelmesine neden olmuştur. Geçmişten gelen çekişmeler, bugün, İsrail Arap sorununda vücut bulmaktadır.The Israeli Palestinian conflict, also known as the Israeli Arab conflict, is the basis of debate within the Middle East. Throughout the ages, major powers have tried to take control of the Middle East, which eventually lead to conflict between nation states. Control in the region has passed from one dominant power to the next over the course of time. Each transitional period left a power vacuum in its wake that was filled by the next dominant power. First the British took control of the region. Afterwards U.S. policies shifted its focus on the Middle East. The Cold War clash between the U.S. and Soviet Union had increased the importance of the region. However there was no peace, at this point the Intifada began to materialize and was an important factor for the Palestinians to make their voice heard and influence world public opinion, The Intifada is not only a process which includes political and military facets, additionally it is concerned with the social and humanitarian dimensions of the Palestinian plight, to show the realities of the Israeli Palestinian conflict which were left behind in the background. On the other hand, the Intifada is a symbol of the Palestinian resistance and rebellion to their situation in the region. The Intifada had directed the process of the Israeli Palestinian conflict since the time it began which was towards the end of the 1980s. In 2000, the situation had not changed and the efficiency of the Intifada had rarely increased. The Intifada is the centerpiece of the Israeli Palestinian conflict and it is the most important instrument on the Palestinian side and it will never belong to a specific terrorist group. So, the Intifada is an important, valuable, and multidimensional issue which will be seen in the next lines of this research. Between this historical period, Israels foundation and the Arab opposition to its presence, emerged a different type of conflict and is the basis of the Israeli Palestinian conflict. The problems in the Middle East had reached a different and long term clash environment at truth. The footprints of this historical conflict, affect the Israel Palestine conflict today