Automated extraction of single H atoms with STM: tip state dependency

The atomistic structure of the tip apex plays a crucial role in performing reliable atomic-scale surface and adsorbate manipulation using scanning probe techniques. We have developed an automated extraction routine for controlled removal of single hydrogen atoms from the H:Si(100) surface. The set of atomic extraction protocols detect a variety of desorption events during scanning tunneling microscope (STM)-induced modification of the hydrogen-passivated surface. The influence of the tip state on the probability for hydrogen removal was examined by comparing the desorption efficiency for various classifications of STM topographs (rows, dimers, atoms, etc). We find that dimer-row-resolving tip apices extract hydrogen atoms most readily and reliably (and with least spurious desorption), while tip states which provide atomic resolution counter-intuitively have a lower probability for single H atom removal

Public trust and 'ethics review' as a commodity: the case of Genomics England Limited and the UK's 100,000 genomes project.

The UK Chief Medical Officer's 2016 Annual Report, Generation Genome, focused on a vision to fully integrate genomics into all aspects of the UK's National Health Service (NHS). This process of integration, which has now already begun, raises a wide range of social and ethical concerns, many of which were discussed in the final Chapter of the report. This paper explores how the UK's 100,000 Genomes Project (100 kGP)-the catalyst for Generation Genome, and for bringing genomics into the NHS-is negotiating these ethical concerns. The UK's 100 kGP, promoted and delivered by Genomics England Limited (GEL), is an innovative venture aiming to sequence 100,000 genomes from NHS patients who have a rare disease, cancer, or an infectious disease. GEL has emphasised the importance of ethical governance and decision-making. However, some sociological critique argues that biomedical/technological organisations presenting themselves as 'ethical' entities do not necessarily reflect a space within which moral thinking occurs. Rather, the 'ethical work' conducted (and displayed) by organisations is more strategic, relating to the politics of the organisation and the need to build public confidence. We set out to explore whether GEL's ethical framework was reflective of this critique, and what this tells us more broadly about how genomics is being integrated into the NHS in response to the ethical and social concerns raised in Generation Genome. We do this by drawing on a series of 20 interviews with individuals associated with or working at GEL

Molecular mechanism of BMP signal control by Twisted gastrulation

Twisted gastrulation (TWSG1) is an evolutionarily conserved secreted glycoprotein which controls signaling by Bone Morphogenetic Proteins (BMPs). TWSG1 binds BMPs and their antagonist Chordin to control BMP signaling during embryonic development, kidney regeneration and cancer. We report crystal structures of TWSG1 alone and in complex with a BMP ligand, Growth Differentiation Factor 5. TWSG1 is composed of two distinct, disulfide-rich domains. The TWSG1 N-terminal domain occupies the BMP type 1 receptor binding site on BMPs, whereas the C-terminal domain binds to a Chordin family member. We show that TWSG1 inhibits BMP function in cellular signaling assays and mouse colon organoids. This inhibitory function is abolished in a TWSG1 mutant that cannot bind BMPs. The same mutation in the Drosophila TWSG1 ortholog Tsg fails to mediate BMP gradient formation required for dorsal-ventral axis patterning of the early embryo. Our studies reveal the evolutionarily conserved mechanism of BMP signaling inhibition by TWSG1

Erich Fromm and the Critical Theory of Communication

Erich Fromm (1900-1980) was a Marxist psychoanalyst, philosopher and socialist humanist. This paper asks: How can Fromm’s critical theory of communication be used and updated to provide a critical perspective in the age of digital and communicative capitalism? In order to provide an answer, the article discusses elements from Fromm’s work that allow us to better understand the human communication process. The focus is on communication (section 2), ideology (section 3), and technology (section 4). Fromm’s approach can inform a critical theory of communication in multiple respects: His notion of the social character allows to underpin such a theory with foundations from critical psychology. Fromm’s distinction between the authoritarian and the humanistic character can be used for discerning among authoritarian and humanistic communication. Fromm’s work can also inform ideology critique: The ideology of having shapes life, thought, language and social action in capitalism. In capitalism, technology (including computing) is fetishized and the logic of quantification shapes social relations. Fromm’s quest for humanist technology and participatory computing can inform contemporary debates about digital capitalism and its alternatives

Prognostic model to predict postoperative acute kidney injury in patients undergoing major gastrointestinal surgery based on a national prospective observational cohort study.

Background: Acute illness, existing co-morbidities and surgical stress response can all contribute to postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients undergoing major gastrointestinal surgery. The aim of this study was prospectively to develop a pragmatic prognostic model to stratify patients according to risk of developing AKI after major gastrointestinal surgery. Methods: This prospective multicentre cohort study included consecutive adults undergoing elective or emergency gastrointestinal resection, liver resection or stoma reversal in 2-week blocks over a continuous 3-month period. The primary outcome was the rate of AKI within 7 days of surgery. Bootstrap stability was used to select clinically plausible risk factors into the model. Internal model validation was carried out by bootstrap validation. Results: A total of 4544 patients were included across 173 centres in the UK and Ireland. The overall rate of AKI was 14·2 per cent (646 of 4544) and the 30-day mortality rate was 1·8 per cent (84 of 4544). Stage 1 AKI was significantly associated with 30-day mortality (unadjusted odds ratio 7·61, 95 per cent c.i. 4·49 to 12·90; P < 0·001), with increasing odds of death with each AKI stage. Six variables were selected for inclusion in the prognostic model: age, sex, ASA grade, preoperative estimated glomerular filtration rate, planned open surgery and preoperative use of either an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or an angiotensin receptor blocker. Internal validation demonstrated good model discrimination (c-statistic 0·65). Discussion: Following major gastrointestinal surgery, AKI occurred in one in seven patients. This preoperative prognostic model identified patients at high risk of postoperative AKI. Validation in an independent data set is required to ensure generalizability

Automating power: Social bot interference in global politics

Over the last several years political actors worldwide have begun harnessing the digital power of social bots — software programs designed to mimic human social media users on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit. Increasingly, politicians, militaries, and government-contracted firms use these automated actors in online attempts to manipulate public opinion and disrupt organizational communication. Politicized social bots — here ‘political bots’ — are used to massively boost politicians’ follower levels on social media sites in attempts to generate false impressions of popularity. They are programmed to actively and automatically flood news streams with spam during political crises, elections, and conflicts in order to interrupt the efforts of activists and political dissidents who publicize and organize online. They are used by regimes to send out sophisticated computational propaganda. This paper conducts a content analysis of available media articles on political bots in order to build an event dataset of global political bot deployment that codes for usage, capability, and history. This information is then analyzed, generating a global outline of this phenomenon. This outline seeks to explain the variety of political bot-oriented strategies and presents details crucial to building understandings of these automated software actors in the humanities, social and computer sciences

FEMINIST QUEEN OR CONSPIRACY THEORIST? FEMALE SPREADERS OF WOMEN'S HEALTH DISINFORMATION

Soon after the $2 decision overturned the federal right to abortion in the United States, an investigation revealed a disinformation campaign against birth control, driven by anti-abortion influencers. Disinformation targeting abortion and birth control is partially rooted in conspiracy, particularly the Great Replacement Theory, which plays on fears of white people being “replaced” by people of color. This notion is a long-standing issue of the anti-abortion movement, as early successes in banning abortion were partially motivated by fears of white people having fewer babies than people of color. Studies have shown that Black Americans believe in conspiracy theories about birth control, e.g., that it is deployed by the government as a form of genocide against Black people. Unfortunately, though, these beliefs are not entirely unfounded. This problematizes definitions of conspiracy theories as inherently false and unjustified—Black Americans, for instance, have long undergone inhumane experimentation by the American medical system. This illuminates a troubling connection—that between embodied oppression and conspiracy-believing. We query whether this overlap is weaponized by the anti-abortion community to spread disinformation campaigns. Through a critical technocultural discourse analysis of 14 hours of Instagram stories and posts from 154 members of the anti-abortion collected between February 14, 2023 and February 27, 2023, we find that the anti-abortion movement has weaponized feminist knowledge-production and relies on grains of embodied experience to spread disinformation campaigns, which at times snowball into racially-motivated conspiracy theories for political and/or financial gain

How pro- and anti-abortion activists use encrypted messaging apps in post- America

In a post- Roe America, abortion-rights activists are scrambling to protect reproductive rights. Communication on open social media platforms like Facebook can now be used to prosecute those seeking an illegal abortion in a frightening entanglement of technology corporations and the state. Building on surveillance studies and feminist scholarship, we analyze 22 interviews with pro- and anti-abortion activists and pro-encryption activists to answer: How will encrypted messaging apps be relevant for pro- and anti-abortion activists post- Roe? We find that while encrypted messaging apps are used by activists on either side of the abortion debate, their motivations for use range from mere convenience to supplanting state and corporate surveillance. We thus argue that encryption can act as a feminist tool to usurp patriarchal surveillance but must be used in combination with a holistic privacy framework. This framework may include care-motivated, community-centered, relational surveillance

The political use of encrypted messaging applications: Evidence from southeast Asia and its implications for the global public sphere

Global Internet users face rising challenges with well-organized disinformation and propaganda campaigns. Scholars have studied this challenge by examining political communication over social media platforms including Facebook, YouTube, and X (formerly Twitter). Much less work has examined the manipulative political role of encrypted messaging applications (EMAs), despite their massive popularity around the world. Our research examines EMAs as elements of the global public sphere through 16 qualitative interviews with people who design and track propaganda campaigns online in three ASEAN nations: Indonesia, Myanmar, and the Philippines. Interviewees report that: 1) politicians and political groups harness EMAs in coordinated efforts to inorganically amplify their own agendas; 2) disinformation proliferates on EMAs, but civil society works to address this; and, 3) while citizens see the encrypted aspect of EMAs as powerful for civic engagement, they also feel it presents unique barriers to addressing what has become a serious problem with disinformation on EMAs

Supplemental Material - Messaging Apps: A Rising Tool for Informational Autocrats

Supplemental Material for Messaging Apps: A Rising Tool for Informational Autocrats by Inga K. Trauthig, Zelly C. Martin, and Samuel C. Woolley in Political Research Quarterly</p