Understanding Citizens’ Vulnerabilities (II): From Disinformation to Hostile Narratives

This report analyses how disinformation campaigns have evolved into more complex hostile narratives, taking Italy, France, and Spain as case studies to prove what has been observed and determined from analytical and numerical research. During the last years, malicious actors have been able to rely on much more sophisticated and organized disinformation campaigns in an attempt to manipulate citizens’ perceptions. Technological advances have provided producers and sharer of distorted information with new powerful means to reach an ever-wider audience. One of the reasons this system of propaganda and disinformation is so effective and successful is that it deceives ordinary citizens into sharing false stories within their own circle of friends and acquaintances, while platforms’ algorithms have the capacity to pick these messages up very quickly and amplify it on an unprecedented scale. Most of this content is not designed to channel people into a particular direction, but to create confusion and erode the trust in our media, institutions and eventually, democracy itself. Hostile narratives target feelings and emotions and touch upon specific social vulnerabilities. They are made of true and false information, where the narration of facts counts more than the facts themselves. They rely on negatively charged emotions, like fear or anger, in order to lower the means of rational self-defence and trigger self-survival instincts, creating a psychological condition that makes the brain respond positively rather than negatively to bigoted statements and divisive rhetoric. It should be said that public figures and the media in recent years have played a key role in disseminating false and unsupported information. There has been a dramatic rise in the number and type of news programs available, including a troubling number of partisan programs that often feature false or exaggerated information. In the last decades, foreign interference has been pushed by the belief that by breaking the Euro-Atlantic link, the West would end as a strategic entity. Russian military interventions in Georgia in 2008 and in Crimea in 2014, China’s Massive Belt and Road Initiative in Eurasia and the mosaic of sovereigntist and populist parties that have revamped anti-Americanism and anti-globalism, combined with sudden asymmetric cyberwarfare, can describe the most formidable and dangerous challenge that democracies are facing since the fall of the Berlin Wall. This report will highlight in chapter 2 how hostile narratives target citizens’ vulnerabilities exploiting fear mongering using algorithmic content curation. In Chapter 3, the case studies will describe how different disinformation campaigns have been used in Italy, France and Spain, while chapter 4 will provide examples on how hostile disinformation narratives were employed in France and Italy.JRC.E.7-Knowledge for Security and Migratio

EHRO-N 2014 Annual Activity Report

The report summarises the activities that were conducted in 2014 by the European Human Resource Observatory for the Nuclear Energy Sector (EHRO-N). After a short introduction on the mission and structure of EHRO-N, the report presents the main activities done during the year. The most important decisions and conclusions delivered by the SAG meetings are reported, as well as the participation to major events in the nuclear sector to promote EHRO-N among interested stakeholders. The report explains also the studies and reports carried on during the year and EHRO-N contribution to the Second Situation Report on Education and Training in the Nuclear Energy Field in the European Union.JRC.F.4-Innovative Technologies for Nuclear Reactor Safet

How Blockchain-Based Technology Is Disrupting Migrants' Remittances: A Preliminary Assessment

Migrants' remittances represent one of the most important financial flows for developing countries: they contribute to improving the living conditions of families who live in poverty, supporting the development of the most backward economies, and have an immediate impact on families. Remittances are recognized by the UN Global Compact for Migration as an important source of private capital that cannot be equated with any other international financial flow. The cost of sending money abroad is still high, and the fees charged by the various money transfer agencies are particularly expensive and these costs are passed on to the already fragile migrant population. Thanks to the speed of innovation and subsequently declined cost of hardware, a vast number of developing countries are seeing an increase in smartphone ownership. This, connected with poor banking infrastructure and concern about national currency, has fuelled the exploitation of blockchain-backed digital payments. Considering the recent increased volume of online cross-border credit transfers, corporate payments and interbank transfers, blockchain-based technology promises to revolutionize the payments industry, speeding up processes and reducing transaction costs. This report aims at offering a first integrated approach to understanding the potential opportunities, risks and challenges arising from the rapid development of blockchain based technologies in the international remittance industry.JRC.E.7-Knowledge for Security and Migratio

Understanding Citizens' Vulnerabilities to Disinformation and Data-Driven Propaganda

Disinformation strategies have evolved from “hack and dump” cyber-attacks, and randomly sharing conspiracy or made-up stories, into a more complex ecosystem where narratives are used to feed people with emotionally charged true and false information, ready to be “weaponised” when necessary. Manipulated information, using a mix of emotionality and rationality, has recently become so pervasive and powerful to the extent of rewriting reality, where the narration of facts (true, partial or false) counts more than the facts themselves. Every day, an incredible amount of information is constantly produced on the web. Its diffusion is driven by algorithms, originally conceived for the commercial market, and then maliciously exploited for manipulative purposes and to build consensus. Citizens' vulnerability to disinformation operations is not only the result of the threats posed by hostile actors or psychometric profiling - which can be seen as both exploiters and facilitators - but essentially due to the effect of three different factors: Information overload; Distorted public perceptions produced by online platforms algorithms built for viral advertising and user engagement; The complex iteration of fast technology development, globalisation, and post-colonialism, which have rapidly changed the rules-based international order. In rapidly and dynamically evolving environments, increasing citizens' resilience against malicious attacks is, ultimately, of paramount importance to protect our open democratic societies, social values and individual rights and freedoms.JRC.E.7-Knowledge for Security and Migratio

Radial Artery as a Coronary Artery Bypass Conduit:20-Year Results

BACKGROUND: There is a lack of evidence for the choice of the second conduit in coronary surgery. The radial artery (RA) is a possible option, but few data on very-long-term outcomes exist. OBJECTIVES: This study describes 20-year results of RA grafts used for coronary artery bypass grafting and the effects of RA removal on forearm circulation. METHODS: We report the results of the prospective 20-year follow-up of the first 100 consecutive patients who received the RA as a coronary bypass conduit at our institution. RESULTS: Follow-up was 100% complete. There were 64 deaths, 23 (35.9%) from cardiovascular causes. Kaplan-Meier 20-year survival was 31%. Of the 36 survivors, 33 (91.6%) underwent RA graft control at a mean of 19.0 \ub1 2.5 years after surgery. The RA was found to be patent in 24 cases (84.8% patency). In the overall population, probability of graft failure at 20 years was 19.0 \ub1 0.2% for the left internal thoracic artery (ITA), 25.0 \ub1 0.2% for the RA, and 55.0 \ub1 0.2% for the saphenous vein (p = 0.002 for RA vs. saphenous vein, 0.11 for RA vs. ITA, and p 90%, but not location of distal anastomosis, significantly influenced long-term RA graft patency. No patients reported hand or forearm symptoms. The ulnar artery diameter was increased in the operated arm (2.44 \ub1 0.43 mm vs. 2.01 \ub1 0.47 mm; p < 0.05) and correlated with the peak systolic velocity of the second palmar digital artery (Pearson coefficient: 0.621; p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The 20-year patency rate of RA grafts is good, and not inferior to the ITA, especially when the conduit is used to graft a vessel with >90% stenosis. RA harvesting does not lead to hand or forearm symptoms, even at a very-long-term follow-up

Security and defence research in the European Union: a landscape review

This landscape report describes the state of play of the European Union’s policies and activities in security and defence and the EU-funded research aimed at supporting them, with an exclusive focus on intentional harm. It is organised around several thematic building blocks under the umbrella of the three core priorities defined in the European agenda on security. The report reviews the current main risks and threats but also those that may emerge within the next 5 years, the policy and operational means developed to combat them, the main active stakeholders and the EU legislation in force. In this context, a short history of EU research on security and defence is presented, followed by an inventory of relevant research and development projects funded under the Horizon 2020 framework programme during the period 2014-2018. The specific contributions of the Joint Research Centre to security research are also highlighted. Finally, future avenues for security and defence research and development are discussed. Please note that the executive summary of this landscape report has been published simultaneously as a companion document.JRC.E.7-Knowledge for Security and Migratio

[Life threatening asthma associated to severe pneumonia and acute myopathy].

A young male was transferred to our intensive care unit (ICU) from the intensive care unit of a local hospital where he was admitted for life-threatening asthma ten days before. As severe hypoxemia, we immediately started inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) that improved significantly pulmonary gas exchange. The first day after admission in our ICU, a chest computed tomography showed a three-lobar pneumonia and, therefore, a broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy was decided. iNO therapy was withdrawn 96 hours after the beginning because of a stable improvement of pulmonary gas exchange and a relative loss of efficacy. Five days after arrival in our ICU, sedative and neuromuscular blocking drugs initiated 15 days before were stopped and, after the awakening, the patient presented tetra-paresis. Muscle biopsy and electromyography indicated an acute myopathy that was probably caused by the association between large doses of steroids and neuromuscular blocking agents. In spite of an intensive physiotherapy program, the patient was extubated only 15 days after admission and he underwent non-invasive mechanical ventilation for further 7 days. The patient was discharged from our ICU 10 days after extubation with a good restore of muscle functioning which was complete two months later

Muscle perfusion and oxygen consumption by near-infrared spectroscopy in septic-shock and non-septic-shock patients

Objective. To measure muscle blood flow (Qtis) and oxygen consumption (VO(2)tis) in septic and non-septic critically ill patients by near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Setting. Surgical intensive care unit of a university hospital. Patients and participants. Four patients with septic shock, eight post-surgical critically ill patients and ten healthy volunteers. Measurements and results. Oxyhaemoglobin (HbO(2)) and deoxyhaemoglobin (HbH) variations after venous occlusion were measured by NIRS in the brachioradialis muscle. We calculated Qtis by the rate of HbO(2) and HbH increase in the first 30 s of venous occlusion divided by haemoglobin blood concentration. VO(2)tis was calculated by subtraction of the arterial HbH from the initial increase of HbH after venous occlusion extrapolated to 1 min. Tissue oxygenation index [TOI = HbO(2)/(HbO(2)+HbH)] was also measured before venous occlusion. Two measurements in patients with septic shock, and one measurement in non-septic-shock patients and healthy subjects, were obtained. Of the measurements, 35% were repeated because of low-quality NIRS signal. VO(2)tis and Qtis were two times larger (P<0.05) in patients with septic shock than in patients without and in healthy subjects. The TOI was very similar among the three groups. Conclusion. In septic-shock patients the increase in VO(2)tis was associated with an equivalent increase in Qtis. Therefore, tissue O-2 supply does not seem to be a limiting factor for muscle O-2 consumption. NIRS combined with venous occlusion allows a rapid, non-invasive and simultaneous assessment of regional perfusion and oxygen consumption. In case of microcirculatory shunt occurrence, the TOI should be cautiously used to assess tissue oxygenation state