This paper examines how social media platforms X (Twitter) and Facebook algorithmically amplify financial disinformation and fraud, comparing two distinct archetypes: the relational deception of “Yahoo Boys” and the techno-utopian rhetoric of “Crypto Bros.” Using a mixed-methods approach—including algorithmic auditing, network analysis, and victim interviews—the research demonstrates that fraudulent content is amplified 67 times faster than legitimate content due to platform design that prioritizes high-arousal engagement. It reveals critical structural vulnerabilities in content moderation, including severe scale limitations and systemic biases that disproportionately fail non-English and African-language communities. The findings show that micro-targeting tools originally designed for advertisers are weaponized to prey on vulnerable users. The study concludes that platforms are active architects of digital financial risk, necessitating fundamental reforms in algorithmic design and moderation practices.
Alastair James Morton,1,2 Colin J Crooks,1– 3 Joe West,2,4,5 Brian D Nicholson,6 David J Humes1– 3 1School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK; 2National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and the University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK; 3Nottingham Digestive Diseases Centre, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Nottingham, UK; 4Lifespan and Population Health - School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK; 5Department of Clinical Medicine - Hepatology and Gastroenterology, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; 6Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UKCorrespondence: Alastair James Morton, Email alastair.morton1@nottingham.ac.ukBackground/Objectives: Faecal Immunochemical Testing (FIT) is recommended for patients presenting to primary care with symptoms suggestive of colorectal cancer. This study quantified variations in use across England.Methods: Retrospective cohort of English patients (≥ 18 years) with a FIT result reported in routinely collected primary care records, 2019– 2023. Rates of FIT testing by age, sex, year and region were adjusted using Poisson regression. Multivariate logistic regression compared the effect of factors on the proportion of results exceeding the recommended referral threshold (10μgHb/g).Results: Between 01/01/2019 and 05/06/2023 there were 531,735 FIT results among 495,121 patients. Rates of testing increased from 0.69 per thousand person-years in 2019 (95% CI 0.68– 0.71) to 27.70 in 2023 (95% CI 27.56– 27.85). There were large variations in testing between regions, with rates > 3-fold higher in the Northeast than the West Midlands: 17.05 (95% CI 16.87– 17.23) versus 4.72 (95% CI 4.67– 4.76) per thousand person-years. About 20.4% of FIT results were ≥ 10μgHb/g. Despite increased testing, this did not change over time. The proportion of FIT ≥ 10μgHb/g was lower in regions with higher rates of testing, from 16.7% (Southwest) to 25.3% (Southeast; rates of testing 14.62 and 8.00 per thousand person-years respectively). This difference in proportion of FIT ≥ 10μgHb/g persisted after adjusting for year, sex and age (OR 0.57, 95% CI 0.55– 0.58).Conclusion: Rapid increases in FIT testing in primary care show large, persistent variations between English regions, which correlate with the proportion of results meeting the criteria for onward referral. Differences in the population tested and FIT’s implementation between regions are likely to explain these variations.Plain Language Summary: 1) Why was this study done?A simple test for blood in the poo, called FIT, can help decide whether a person with bowel symptoms seeing their primary care doctor should be referred to a hospital for further bowel investigations.Currently, a FIT result of 10 μgHb/g faeces or more is recommended to guide referral for bowel tests.No study has reported how FIT use, or results, differs across England. 2) What did the researchers find?This is the first study on national patterns of FIT testing, showing a rapid but unequal increase across England.There is large variation in the proportion of FIT results exceeding the referral criteria of 10 μgHb/g faeces between English regions that is associated with the rate of testing in each region. 3) What do these results mean?Using a single FIT value as a threshold for onwards referral may work differently in different regions of England. As FIT is adopted more widely and rates of testing increase, primary care services may see a decrease in the proportion of patients with a FIT result reported over the referral threshold.Keywords: colorectal cancer, faecal immunochemical testing, health inequalities
BackgroundHead and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) represents the largest proportion of head and neck cancers (HNCs). Despite new treatment modalities, the 5-year survival rate has not improved much. Identifying the factors affecting the prognosis and survival of patients is the first step in trying to improve the prognosis of these patients. The aim of this review was to investigate prognostic factors of HNSCC in Iran.MethodsA web-based search of all original articles conducted in Iran until October 2022 on prognostic factors of HNSCC was done using English and Persian language databases such as Google Scholar, PubMed, IranMedex, etc. The data were categorized according to clinical, histopathological and treatment parameters.ResultsA total of 7 articles related to the aim of this study were found. Age and regular periodic follow-ups were common prognostic factors in three studies. The results about factors such as the tumor staging and treatment method were contradictory among different studies. It seems that some factors such as gender, microscopic grading, and patient and professional delay in cancer management have no effect on the prognosis of this group of patients. Conclusions on some factors, such as P53 and EGFR expression and body mass index, also seem to require further investigation.ConclusionAge and regular periodic follow-ups are among the common prognostic factors that have been mentioned in different studies. In order to improve the survival of HNSCC patients, diagnosis at lower ages and early stages of the tumor along with periodic evaluations after cancer treatment, seems necessary.
A growing interest in second-language learning has resulted in remarkable empirical studies that attempts to explore the approach of improving reading abilities. English reading learning occupies an essential position in the curriculum in college, which requires the students to acquire a higher inferential competence of the reading comprehension. Compared with the traditional reading studies, it can be said that great progress has been made in studies of English reading learning if we take it as an independent subject in language use and language production. However, much evidence indicates that we should probe the exact and implied meaning in depth of the reading materials. Thus, in our study, we offer a practical application of Indirect Speech Act Theory into English reading learning, demonstrating that the theory can help students to decide the tactful meaning intended in the reading.
Ali Abdulhussain Fadhil, Qasim Khlaif Kadhim, Abdullah Shakir
et al.
Background: Lung cancer is one of the most prevalent types of cancer and one of the world's leading causes of death. The purpose of the current study is to evaluate how well acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) treats distress tolerance and death anxiety in patients with lung cancer.
Methods: The current research was practical in terms of purpose and quasi-experimental in terms of method with a pre-test, post-test, and follow-up design with a control group. The statistical population consisted of 317 patients with lung cancer referred to the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in 2021. Simple random sampling was utilized to select 70 patients from the group. The participants were separated randomly into experimental and control groups (35 in each group). In order to collect information, questionnaires of distress tolerance and death anxiety were used. The SPSS software was used to perform repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA).
Results: The experimental and control groups differed in the post-test death anxiety measures and distress tolerance components (P < 0.001). In addition, the outcomes remained constant across the follow-up period (P < 0.001).
Conclusion: This study showed that in patients with lung cancer, ACT raised distress tolerance and decreased anxiety about death. In addition to medical programs to lessen and manage discomfort and death anxiety, educational and psychological programs must be offered to patients with lung cancer in order to improve their mental health.
BackgroundGestational diabetes (GDM) affects approximately 14% of pregnancies globally and is associated with short- and long-term complications for both the mother and child. In addition, GDM has been linked to chronic low-grade inflammation with recent research indicating a potential immune dysregulation in pathophysiology and a disparity in regulatory T cells.ObjectiveThis systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to determine whether there is an association between GDM and the level of Tregs in the peripheral blood.MethodsLiterature searches were conducted in PubMed, Embase, and Ovid between the 7th and 14th of February 2022. The inclusion criteria were any original studies published in the English language, measuring differentiated Tregs in women with GDM compared with glucose-tolerant pregnant women. Meta-analysis was performed between comparable Treg markers. Statistical tests were used to quantify heterogeneity: τ2, χ2, and I2. Study quality was assessed using a modified version of the Newcastle-Ottawa scale.ResultsThe search yielded 223 results: eight studies were included in the review and seven in the meta-analysis (GDM = 228, control = 286). Analysis of Tregs across all trimesters showed significantly lower Treg numbers in women with GDM (SMD, −0.76; 95% CI, −1.37, −0.15; I2 = 90%). This was reflected in the analysis by specific Treg markers (SMD −0.55; 95% CI, −1.04, −0.07; I2 = 83%; third trimester, five studies). Non-significant differences were found within subgroups (differentiated by CD4+FoxP3+, CD4+CD127−, and CD4+CD127−FoxP3) of both analyses.ConclusionGDM is associated with lower Treg numbers in the peripheral maternal blood. In early pregnancy, there is clinical potential to use Treg levels as a predictive tool for the subsequent development of GDM. There is also a potential therapeutic intervention to prevent the development of GDM by increasing Treg populations. However, the precise mechanism by which Tregs mediate GDM remains unclear.Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero, identifier CRD42022309796.
Fixed lexical or syntactical expressions and formulae hallmark legal language. They serve both linguistic and legal purposes, and should be rendered accordingly in a target language and legal system. Most of the times, however, formulaic expressions are translated by resorting to calques, false cognates, or phrases that are uncommon in the target legal language (and legal system). This paper is aimed at exploring how and if corpus analysis can dispel doubts and help find acceptable translation candidates. As there are currently no publicly available legal corpora addressing corporate documents such as contracts and agreements, this paper wishes to bridge this gap by building and relying on an ad hoc corpus of authentic agreements written in English as a first language according to the laws of England and Wales. In this way, corpus evidence can help find equivalents and, possibly, address recurrent mistranslations from Italian into English. During the corpus analysis process, the paper shows and discusses search queries and how equivalents can be obtained. At the same time, it questions dictionary entries. The paper findings highlight that the consultation of the ad hoc corpus allows to find acceptable translations of Italian legal formulae and address recurrent mistranslations. English formulaic expressions, in fact, can be rendered satisfactorily thanks to the possibility of noticing word usages in context, keywords in contexts and collocations. Further research can encompass a wider variety of formulae and/or legal documents so that scholars and translators can be equipped with useful reference tools.
Language. Linguistic theory. Comparative grammar, Comparative law. International uniform law
Background. Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) is an instructional method in which students work together in a cooperative framework, jointly construct a model of text and come to its potential meaning through discussions.
Purpose. A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest non-equivalent control group research design was used to examine the effects of cooperative grouping within the framework of CSR, with the aim of determining whether cooperative grouping is effective in developing EFL students’ reading skills.
Method. The response variables included the students’ scores on questions testing Vocabulary, Factual Information, Prose Summary, Sentence Simplification, Reference Question and Insert text, whereas the explanatory variable was group membership (+/- cooperative), measured across three testing times (the beginning, middle and the end of the experimental intervention).
Results. The results indicate that the students exposed to CSR within cooperative groups significantly developed those reading skills which focus on the comprehension of global information – prose summary, insert text and reference question. A possible explanation is that, in order to answer these questions, readers must approach the text in a holistic manner and focus on its main ideas, which seems to be facilitated by discussions in heterogeneous teams and negotiations of meaning resulting from those discussions.
Conclusion. The main pedagogical implication of the results concerns the need for introducing cooperative grouping as an alternative to a typical university-level foreign language classroom, allowing teachers to organize an effective, interactive context for reading academic texts in English.
In this paper, a three-dimensional anisotropic diffusion equation is used to conduct an in-depth study and analysis of students’ concentration in video recognition in English teaching classrooms. A multifeature fusion face live detection method based on diffusion model extracts Diffusion Kernel (DK) features and depth features from diffusion-processed face images, respectively. DK features provide a nonlinear description of the correlation between successive face images and express face image sequences in the temporal dimension; depth features are extracted by a pretrained depth neural network model that can express the complex nonlinear mapping relationships of images and reflect the more abstract implicit information inside face images. To improve the effectiveness of the face image features, the extracted DK features and depth features are fused using a multicore learning method to obtain the best combination and the corresponding weights. The two features complement each other, and the fused features are more discriminative, which provides a strong basis for the live determination of face images. Experiments show that the method has excellent performance and can effectively discriminate the live nature of faces in images and resist forged face attacks. Based on the above face detection and expression recognition algorithms, the classroom concentration analysis system based on expression recognition is designed to achieve real-time acquisition and processing of classroom images, complete student classroom attendance records using face detection and face recognition methods, and analyze students’ concentration from the face integrity and facial expression of students facing the blackboard by combining face detection and expression recognition to visualize and display students’ classroom data for teachers, students, and parents with more data support and help.
INTRODUCTIONThe present study examines a specific type of constructions that are not intended to get information or receive an answer and the speaker confirms his/her denial or the impossibility of the case; these types of constructions are called negative Wh-constructions. The purpose of the present study is to get the features of these constructions in Persian. Research scope is a number of negative constructions that Persian speakers agree on their correctness. Data are analyzed from two semantic – pragmatic dimensions based on Cheung (2008 – 2009). 1-3 are English negative Wh-examples and 4-5 are Persian ones:Where did he eat anything in the library?! (Kiss, 2015, p. 4) Since when/ *from when/ *when is John watching TV now?! (Cheung, 2009, p.298) Since when/ *from when/ *when is John a professor?! (Cheung, 2008, p.48)Koja Mina ketab mi khune?! Where Mina book PRES- read Az key ta hala Maryam qazaye mahali dorost kardan balade?! From when (since) Mary food local cook to be able to Reviewing the research literature shows that so far this type of questions in Persian have been largely ignored linguistically and only rhetorical scholars in poetry and fiction have dealt with it. While the use of them is not limited to the field of literature and poetry, and are also used in a variety of Persian colloquial and discourse contexts. Therefore, in this paper, this type of constructions is studied based on the principles governing linguistics. We examine which wh-words are used in these Persian sentences. What are the special semantic - pragmatic features, and what are their differences or similarities with conventional interrogatives and other similar constructions.Our study has 3 parts: After reviewing the previous studies, presenting the framework, the features of this type of constructions are discussed semantically - pragmatically. We use different tests to determine their characteristics and distinguish them from other constructions such as conventional, emphatic, surprising and rhetorical ones. The final section deals with the results of Persian data and evidence. MATERIALS AND METHODSThe scope of the study consists of a number of negative wh-questions that Persian speakers agree on their correctness. The data have been gathered from speakers’ everyday conversations in natural contexts. They are analyzed from semantic - pragmatic dimensions. The method of research is descriptive – analytic. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONThe overall results of data indicate that despite the apparent similarity between wh-questions in Persian, the negative wh-questions are different from conventional, surprising, emphatic and rhetorical ones. The results show that conventional wh-constructions can be combined with some adverbs, but the combination of negative wh-ones with the adverbs leads to ungrammatical constructions. The examination of the data also shows that in Persian, some wh-words like where, when and who are unmarked wh-words in negative wh-constructions. Negative wh-question words do not refer to place, time, etc. Unlike conventional interrogative constructs, negative wh-ones are largely fixed in form and cannot be changed or replaced by a seemingly synonymous wh-word. Morphologically, wh-words of negative wh-constructs are restricted to a very limited set of wh-words, and semantically they are used only in the contexts that indicate disagreement. Also, reviewing data shows that in conventional wh-constructions, depending on the type of wh-word, it can be answered with a piece of fragment. While in negative wh-constructions, it is not possible to answer as a fragment.The examination of Persian data related to negative wh-constructions and rhetorical ones shows that both of them are related to non-interrogative interpretation and in both, the speaker does not follow the answer. Despite this similarity, negative wh-questions in any context show the meaning of at all and negation, but rhetoric shows both positive and negative states. Generally, the results show that negative wh-constructions are different from the other constructions mentioned above. CONCLUSIONSemantic - pragmatic study of these constructions show that the presence of a positive verb, lack of getting answers and limited use of wh-words are special features of these sentences that distinguish them from other similar ones. Syntactic tests including substitution, adjunct doubling, embedding, and negation dominance shows that, a) limited number of wh-words are used in these constructions. Therefore, substituting the synonymous wh-word makes these constructions ungrammatical. b) Adjunct doubling is acceptable and permissible. c) They aren't used in dependent clause positions. d) The dominance of negation in these constructions is one-sided and only the negation form dominates the whole sentence. The evaluation of syntactic features also shows the distinction between these constructions and the conventional ones.
Abstract Background The Ebola communication crisis of 2014 generated widespread fear and attention among Western news media, social media users, and members of the United States (US) public. Health communicators need more information on misinformation and the social media environment during a fear-inducing disease outbreak to improve communication practices. The purpose of this study was to describe the content of Ebola-related tweets with a specific focus on misinformation, political content, health related content, risk framing, and rumors. Methods We examined tweets from a random 1% sample of all tweets published September 30th - October 30th, 2014, filtered for English-language tweets mentioning “Ebola” in the content or hashtag, that had at least 1 retweet (N = 72,775 tweets). A randomly selected subset of 3639 (5%) tweets were evaluated for inclusion. We analyzed the 3113 tweets that meet inclusion criteria using public health trained human coders to assess tweet characteristics (joke, opinion, discord), veracity (true, false, partially false), political context, risk frame, health context, Ebola specific messages, and rumors. We assessed the proportion of tweets with specific content using descriptive statistics and chi-squared tests. Results Of non-joke tweets, 10% of Ebola-related tweets contained false or partially false information. Twenty-five percent were related to politics, 28% contained content that provoked reader response or promoted discord, 42% contained risk elevating messages and 72% were related to health. The most frequent rumor mentioned focused on government conspiracy. When comparing tweets with true information to tweets with misinformation, a greater percentage of tweets with misinformation were political in nature (36% vs 15%) and contained discord-inducing statements (45% vs 10%). Discord-inducing statements and political messages were both significantly more common in tweets containing misinformation compared with those without(p < 0.001). Conclusions Results highlight the importance of anticipating politicization of disease outbreaks, and the need for policy makers and social media companies to build partnerships and develop response frameworks in advance of an event. While each public health event is different, our findings provide insight into the possible social media environment during a future epidemic and could help optimize potential public health communication strategies.
A short story published first in the New Yorker as ‘The Shirt in Mexico’ on 4 January 1941, and later as ‘My Shirt Is in Mexico’ in A Garland of Straw (1943).
Named Entity Recognition (NER) research based on rule is widely investigated and is used in various languages mainly English. However, the English NER rules are different with Malay language due to different morphology. Some of challenging issue in Malay is cross reference between named entities, and entity repetition. This paper proposes to solve the issues in Malay NER. This study starts by providing Malay online news corpus, gazeteer development, rules development and evaluation. This study focus on nine name entities i.e person, organization, position, date, time, currency, measurement and percentage. Overall the experimental result shows 90.23% precision, 92.13% recall and 91.05% f-measure. The outcome from this research is expected to help other researchers in implementing the Malay NER using rule based approach through the addition of new rules to achieve higher accuracy.
Hossein Farshidi, Marzieh Nikparvar, Iran Rostami-Qeshmi
et al.
<div><p><strong>BACKGROUND:</strong> Hypertension is a common risk factor for developing cardiovascular, brain, and kidney disorders; and today, it affects about one billion people worldwide. Insufficient clinical knowledge of the practitioners and family physicians and not following the guidelines has led to the improper control of hypertension. This study intended to investigate the knowledge, attitude, and practice of general practitioners (GPs) about hypertension in Hormozgan province, Iran.</p><p><strong>METHODS:</strong> This cross-sectional study used consecutive sampling method. A three-part researcher-made questionnaire was used to collect data on demographic, attitude, knowledge, and practice information from 220<strong> </strong>GPs working in Hormozgan province.</p><p><strong>RESULTS:</strong><strong> </strong>The mean and standard deviation (SD) of scores on knowledge, practice, and attitude of GPs about hypertension management were (5.00 ± 0.50), (10.00 ± 0.02) and (9.00 ± 0.15), respectively; which present a proper state. Attending training courses and increased work experience have statistically significant effects on the knowledge and attitude of GPs <br /> (P < 0.050). The only exception was the area of practice, where there was no significant relationship between the practitioners’ work experience and their practice (P = 0.266).</p><p><strong>CONCLUSION:</strong> The results of this study can be utilized by decision-makers and general medicine curriculum designers to plan effective training courses for medical graduates to be used in clinical settings for health promotions.</p><p> </p></div>
Diseases of the circulatory (Cardiovascular) system
The paper investigates the interaction of conceptual blending and conceptual metaphor in producing figurative creativity in discourse. The phenomenon of figurative creativity is defined by Kövecses (2005) as creativity arising through the cognitive mechanisms of metonymy, metaphor, and blending. Specifically, the paper examines the use of creative figurative language in the British public discourse on the topic on Brexit. The aim of this paper is to show that conventional metaphors can be creatively stretched through conceptual blending, producing instances of creative figurative language. Specifically, applying blending theory, we will analyse innovative conceptual blends, motivated by the conventional marriage/divorce metaphor. In addition, the paper also examines the way in which creative figurative language produced in metaphorical blends provides discourse coherence at intertextual and intratextual levels.