Explore the vast range of titles available.

Incels (involuntary celibates), a subgroup of the so called ‘manosphere,’ have become an increasing security concern for policymakers, researchers, and practitioners following their association with several violent attacks. Once mostly contained on niche men’s forums, redpilled and blackpilled communities and theories are gaining prominence on mainstream social media platforms. However, whilst previous research considerably enhanced our understanding of the incel phenomenon and their presence on Reddit and secluded incel forums, incel’s presence on mainstream social media platforms is understudied and their presence on TikTok is yet to be addressed. The present paper examines the incel subculture on TikTok, through an analysis of incel accounts, videos and their respective comments, to understand the role mainstream social media platforms play in the ‘normiefication’ and normalisation of incel ideology and discourse. The findings suggest that on TikTok the expression of incel ideology takes a covert form, employing emotional appeals and pseudo-science to disseminate common incelosphere tropes. Further, we demonstrate how the process of mainstreaming incel beliefs is facilitated by their interconnectedness with wider sexism and structural misogyny. The harms generating from this association are conducive to the normalisation of blackpill beliefs and the reinforcement of misogyny, sexism and justification of rape culture.

Learning a second language (L2) proceeds with individual approaches to proficiency in the language. Individual differences including sex, as well as working memory (WM) function appear to have strong effects on behavioral performance and cortical responses in L2 processing. Thus, by considering sex and WM capacity, we examined neural responses during L2 sentence processing as a function of L2 proficiency in young adolescents. In behavioral tests, girls significantly outperformed boys in L2 tests assessing proficiency and grammatical knowledge, and in a reading span test (RST) assessing WM capacity. Girls, but not boys, showed significant correlations between L2 tests and RST scores. Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and event-related potential (ERP) simultaneously, we measured cortical responses while participants listened to syntactically correct and incorrect sentences. ERP data revealed a grammaticality effect only in boys in the early time window (100-300 ms), implicated in phrase structure processing. In fNIRS data, while boys had significantly increased activation in the left prefrontal region implicated in syntactic processing, girls had increased activation in the posterior language-related region involved in phonology, semantics, and sentence processing with proficiency. Presumably, boys implicitly focused on rule-based syntactic processing, whereas girls made full use of linguistic knowledge and WM function. The present results provide important fundamental data for learning and teaching in L2 education.

This contribution discusses a series of methodological, ethical, and ontological challenges encountered by the authors during a series of recent socio-criminological studies based on digital ethnography and investigating sensitive and emotive issues. Particularly, we will discuss the practical difficulties we encountered in navigating several increasingly blurred boundaries, such as those among: (1) the researchers' private and public academic/personal selves online; (2) the shifting of the traditional power imbalances between the researcher and research participants; (3) concerns over impartiality in research; and (4) elements of ethnography and autoethnography becoming obfuscated. We consider these dilemmas in the context of the pervasiveness of digital technologies within contemporary social life, such that we as researchers are always simultaneously on and offline, with our studies at risk of becoming all-consuming and encroaching on all areas of our lives. We will see how these blurred boundaries entail an inescapable continuous negotiation of researcher identity and positionality, and some of their practical consequences. We aim to encourage further discussion about these novel challenges faced whilst undertaking online research, and re-examination of the related ethical principles regarding these contexts.

Following several deadly attacks in recent years, misogynist incels have piqued academic interest. However, attempts by terrorism scholars to understand incels’ radicalisation, ideology, and mental health raise concerns. In this article, we illustrate these concerns with the example of the Incel Radicalisation Scale (IRS), which relies on survey data and claims to help identify, measure, and prevent radicalisation among incels. First, drawing on a growing feminist knowledge base on incels and male supremacy, masculinity, and violence, we question the definition of core concepts (radicalisation, violence, misogyny) and incels in the IRS. Second, we criticise the methods used for sampling and concept validation, including reliance on incels’ self-representation and the dismissal of their harmful online activity. Third, we assess what these shortcomings mean for the IRS’ conclusions regarding the violent potential of incels, and the role of mental health and misogyny for male supremacist incel movements. We argue such conclusions are prone to legitimising misogynist incel narratives of victimhood, and overlooking broader harms such as normalising misogynist violence and male and white supremacism. We therefore caution against using the IRS and emphasise the importance of having a comprehensive picture of incel radicalisation. Future studies must be more rigorous about addressing the problematic effects resulting from research designs of uncritical epistemologies in male supremacist research.

This thesis explores online medicine purchasing and provides insight into how people account for this activity via the application of the concept of respectable deviance. Drawing together established deviance theories; respectable deviance considers the construction of online medicine purchasing, the justifications presented to challenge how it is labelled, and how the behaviour is managed. Those purchasing medicine online are not necessarily criminalised, however, the behaviour has been constructed as risky. This is because people can buy medicines that traditionally require prescription from registered practitioners. These new opportunities to purchase illicit medicines have implications for the pharmaceutical marketplace, regulation and governance, and healthcare expertise. The specific risks associated with online medicine purchasing, namely counterfeit medicines, criminal activity, and health implications, merge with the challenges to the marketplace, the challenges to regulation and governance, and the challenges to healthcare expertise. People purchasing medicines online acknowledge these ‘risks’, and redefine them in terms of justifications. Utilising an interpretivist mixed- methods study encompassing forum observations, online survey, and interviews, this research allows an understanding into how those engaging in‘risky’ behaviour breaking with accustomed practices (i.e. purchasing prescription/unauthorised medicine online), manage their performances with techniques of neutralizations, specifically challenging governance and medical expertise. At the same time, as the Web provides a space for deviance, it also provides a space for people to manage how their actions are perceived. Respectable deviance highlights how people respond to the unique risks and opportunities afforded in online medicine purchasing.

Objective: Domestic abuse cases have risen significantly over the last four years, in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges for victims and survivors in accessing support. In this study, we investigate the role that chatbots - Artificial Intelligence (AI) and rule-based - may play in supporting victims/survivors in situations such as these or where direct access to help is limited. Methods: Interviews were conducted with experts working in domestic abuse support services and organizations (e.g., charities, law enforcement) and the content of websites of related support-service providers was collected. Thematic content analysis was then applied to assess and extract insights from the interview data and the content on victim-support websites. We also reviewed pertinent chatbot literature to reflect on studies that may inform design principles and interaction patterns for agents used to support victims/survivors. Results: From our analysis, we outlined a set of design considerations/practices for chatbots that consider potential use cases and target groups, dialog structure, personality traits that might be useful for chatbots to possess, and finally, safety and privacy issues that should be addressed. Of particular note are situations where AI systems (e.g., ChatGPT, CoPilot, Gemini) are not recommended for use, the value of conveying emotional support, the importance of transparency, and the need for a safe and confidential space. Conclusion: It is our hope that these considerations/practices will stimulate debate among chatbots and AI developers and service providers and - for situations where chatbots are deemed appropriate for use - inspire efficient use of chatbots in the support of survivors of domestic abuse.

Supersulphides are inorganic and organic sulphides with sulphur catenation with diverse physiological functions. Their synthesis is mainly mediated by mitochondrial cysteinyl-tRNA synthetase (CARS2) that functions as a principal cysteine persulphide synthase (CPERS). Here, we identify protective functions of supersulphides in viral airway infections (influenza and COVID-19), in aged lungs and in chronic lung diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). We develop a method for breath supersulphur-omics and demonstrate that levels of exhaled supersulphides increase in people with COVID-19 infection and in a hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Lung damage and subsequent lethality that result from oxidative stress and inflammation in mouse models of COPD, IPF, and ageing were mitigated by endogenous supersulphides production by CARS2/CPERS or exogenous administration of the supersulphide donor glutathione trisulphide. We revealed a protective role of supersulphides in airways with various viral or chronic insults and demonstrated the potential of targeting supersulphides in lung disease. The physiological roles of supersulphides and the enzymes that trigger their production in various airway diseases are not fully understood. Here, the authors show in animal models of viral and chronic lung diseases that supersulphide production can mitigate lung pathology and lethal effects, highlighting their protective role and potential as a therapeutic target.

BackgroundA small aortic annulus is associated with increased risk of prosthesis–patient mismatch (PPM) after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). Whether specific transcatheter heart valve (THV) designs yield superior hemodynamic performance in these small anatomies remains unclear.MethodsData from 8411 consecutive patients treated with TAVI from May 2012 to April 2019 at four German centers were retrospectively evaluated. A small aortic annulus was defined as multidetector computed tomography-derived annulus area < 400 mm2. TAVI was performed with a balloon-expanding intra-annular (Sapien-3, n = 288), self-expanding intra-annular (Portico, n = 110), self-expanding supra-annular (Evolut, n = 179 and Acurate-Neo, n = 428) and mechanically expanding infra-annular (Lotus, n = 64) THV according to local practice. PPM was defined as indexed effective orifice area ≤ 0.85cm2/m2.ResultsA small annulus was found in 1069 (12.7%) patients. PPM was detected in 38.3% overall with a higher prevalence after implantation of a balloon-expanding intra-annular or mechanically expanding infra-annular THV compared to self-expanding intra- and supra-annular THV. Multivariable analysis linked self-expanding THV (Evolut: Odds ratio [OR] 0.341, Acurate-Neo: OR 0.436, Portico: OR 0.291), postdilatation (OR 0.648) and age (OR 0.968) to lower rates of PPM, while aortic valve calcification was associated with an increased risk (OR 1.001). Paravalvular regurgitation > mild was more frequent after TAVI with self-expanding THV (p = 0.04).ConclusionIn this large contemporary multicenter patient population, a substantial number of patients with a small aortic anatomy were left with PPM after TAVI. Self-expanding supra- and intra-annular THV demonstrated superior hemodynamics in these patients at risk, however at the cost of higher rates of residual paravalvular regurgitation.Graphic abstract

In many cancers, high proliferation rates correlate with elevation of rRNA and tRNA levels, and nucleolar hypertrophy. However, the underlying mechanisms linking increased nucleolar transcription and tumorigenesis are only minimally understood. Here we show that IMP dehydrogenase-2 (IMPDH2), the rate-limiting enzyme for de novo guanine nucleotide biosynthesis, is overexpressed in the highly lethal brain cancer glioblastoma. This leads to increased rRNA and tRNA synthesis, stabilization of the nucleolar GTP-binding protein nucleostemin, and enlarged, malformed nucleoli. Pharmacological or genetic inactivation of IMPDH2 in glioblastoma reverses these effects and inhibits cell proliferation, whereas untransformed glia cells are unaffected by similar IMPDH2 perturbations. Impairment of IMPDH2 activity triggers nucleolar stress and growth arrest of glioblastoma cells even in the absence of functional p53. Our results reveal that upregulation of IMPDH2 is a prerequisite for the occurance of aberrant nucleolar function and increased anabolic processes in glioblastoma, which constitutes a primary event in gliomagenesis. Kofuji et al. demonstrate that upregulation of IMPDH2 promotes nucleostemin stabilization and nucleoli malformation, and its inactivation induces growth arrest in glioblastoma.