Some dare call it conspiracy:Labeling something a conspiracy theory does not reduce belief in it.

“Conspiracy theory” is widely acknowledged to be a loaded term. Politicians use it to mock and dismiss allegations against them, while philosophers and political scientists warn that it could be used as a rhetorical weapon to pathologize dissent. In two empirical studies conducted on Amazon Mechanical Turk, I present an initial examination of whether this concern is justified. In Experiment 1, 150 participants judged a list of historical and speculative theories to be no less likely when they were labeled “conspiracy theories” than when they were labeled “ideas.” In Experiment 2 (N5802), participants who read a news article about fictitious “corruption allegations” endorsed those allegations no more than participants who saw them labeled “conspiracy theories.” The lack of an effect of the conspiracy-theory label in both experiments was unexpected and may be due to a romanticized image of conspiracy theories in popular media or a dilution of the term to include mundane speculation regarding corruption and political intrigue

Epithelial Immunization Induces Polyfunctional CD8+ T Cells and Optimal Mousepox Protection.

We assessed several routes of immunization with vaccinia virus (VACV) in protecting mice against ectromelia virus (ECTV). By a wide margin, skin scarification provided the greatest protection. Humoral immunity and resident-memory T cells notwithstanding, several approaches revealed that circulating, memory CD8(+) T cells primed via scarification were functionally superior and conferred enhanced virus control. Immunization via the epithelial route warrants further investigation, as it may also provide enhanced defense against other infectious agents

Prophets and loss: how "soft facts" on social media influenced the Brexit campaign and social reactions to the murder of Jo Cox MP

This article examines “soft facts” about security issues in the 2016 Brexit referendum campaign. Soft facts arise when information provenance is uncertain, and are forms of malleable and contingent knowledge, such as rumors, conspiracy theories, and propaganda. There is a growing appreciation that digital communications environments are especially conducive to the dissemination of these kinds of information. Informed by empirical data comprising forty‐five thousand nine hundred and fifty‐seven data points collected by monitoring social media before and after the UK Brexit referendum campaign (June 16–October 12, 2016), the analysis examines how and why a series of soft facts concerning Brexit were mobilized. By developing the concept of “digital prophecy,” the article explores how influence is exerted by online prophets who were connecting current events to past grievances, to advance negative predictions about the future. This starts to capture the tradecraft of digital influencing, in ways that move beyond the structural topologies of communication networks. In policy terms, the analysis reminds us of the need to attend not just to how influence is achieved through fake news (e.g., using social media bots to amplify a message), but also why influence is sought in the first place

Knee stability assessment on anterior cruciate ligament injury: Clinical and biomechanical approaches

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury is common in knee joint accounting for 40% of sports injury. ACL injury leads to knee instability, therefore, understanding knee stability assessments would be useful for diagnosis of ACL injury, comparison between operation treatments and establishing return-to-sport standard. This article firstly introduces a management model for ACL injury and the contribution of knee stability assessment to the corresponding stages of the model. Secondly, standard clinical examination, intra-operative stability measurement and motion analysis for functional assessment are reviewed. Orthopaedic surgeons and scientists with related background are encouraged to understand knee biomechanics and stability assessment for ACL injury patients

The limits of permissible change in US politics and policy: learning from the Obama presidency

Barack Obama\u27s election to the presidency offers scholars a rare opportunity to test their theories of modern representative democracy and US government. Different theories imply different trajectories for US politics and policy under Obama\u27s leadership. In this article, the authors present one such theory, draw out its prognosis for the new administration, and contrast their predictions with those that follow from other, competing perspectives. In so doing, they are making some predictions for the record and hoping others will do likewise. It should be noted at the start that none of the many theoretical traditions currently active in political science and public administration would predict that Obama\u27s policies will depart dramatically from those of his predecessor. The one area where Obama may be forced by his position as president to confront the treasonous guardians of American militarism, imperialism, and capitalism is in dealing with the war crimes of the Bush administration

Pairwise linkage analysis of 11 loci on human chromosome 4.

New RFLPs are described for INP10 and interleukin 2. The 55 pairwise genetic linkage relationships for these two loci and nine additional loci on the long arm of chromosome 4 (4q) are reported. Fifteen new linkages are established, and new data are added to the four previously reported linkages on 4q. Tight linkage of interleukin 2 (T-cell growth factor), epidermal growth factor, and alcohol dehydrogenase is described. Significant differences were observed between male and female recombination rates. The female rate was estimated to be 1.27 times the male rate. On the basis of these pairwise results, the order for the 11 loci is D4S35-GC-(ALB/AFP)-MT2P1-D4S1-INP10-ADH3-( EGF/IL2)-(FBB/FBA/FBG)-MNS. This preliminary order can serve as a starting point for more detailed multipoint analysis

Synergistic effects of hydrogen and halogen bonding in co-crystals of dipyridylureas and diiodotetrafluorobenzenes

<p>Herein, we investigate co-crystallization of three linear co-formers that contain urea and pyridyl groups with three regioisomers of diiodotetrafluorobenzene (DITFB) to afford eleven co-crystals. The linear <i>o</i>-<i>, m</i>-<i>,</i> and <i>p</i>- dipyridylureas vary distance and geometry between the urea carbonyl oxygen and two pyridyl nitrogen acceptors, while the donors consist of urea NH groups and the activated halides in DITFB. Electrostatic potential calculations suggest that the <i>o</i>-dipyridylurea co-former presents two significantly different acceptors. In comparison, the acceptors in the <i>m</i>- and <i>p</i>-dipyridylurea co-formers display electrostatic potentials within 5–6 kJ/mol and should be competitive, potentially leading to altered assembly motifs. Overall, ten of the co-crystals consistently display the urea assembly motif as the best acceptor/donor pair. Seven structures were obtained as the predicted 1:1 ratio with halogen bonding interactions linking ditopic halogen bond donors and the pyridyl units through N···I interactions ranging from 78.4 to 83.1% of the van der Waals radii. Modified structures were more likely when there was a structural mismatch with the geometrically challenging <i>o</i>-DITFB donor and <i>m</i>- or <i>p</i>-dipyridylurea co-former. The majority of the co-crystal structures (10/11) demonstrated fully satisfied hydrogen and halogen bonding interactions suggesting that these synthons can be used synergistically to generate complex solid-state structures.</p