Social corrections act as a double-edged sword by reducing the perceived accuracy of false and real news in the UK, Germany, and Italy.

Corrective or refutational posts from ordinary users on social media have the potential to improve the online information ecosystem. While initial evidence of these social corrections is promising, a better understanding of the effects across different topics, formats, and audiences is needed. In three pre-registered experiments (N = 1944 UK, N = 2467 Italy, N = 2210 Germany) where respondents completed a social media post assessment task with false and true news posts on various topics (e.

When experts matter: Variations in consensus messaging for vaccine and genetically modified organism safety.

Does consensus messaging about contested science issues influence perceptions of consensus and/or personal beliefs? This question remains open, particularly for topics other than climate change and samples outside the United States. In a Spanish national sample (N = 5087), we use preregistered survey experiments to examine differential efficacy of variations in consensus messaging for vaccines and genetically modified organisms. We find that no variation of consensus messaging influences vaccine beliefs.

Correlates of support for international vaccine solidarity during the COVID-19 pandemic: Cross-sectional survey evidence from Germany.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many residents of high-income countries (HICs) were eligible for COVID-19 vaccine boosters, while many residents of lower-income countries (LICs) had not yet received a first dose. HICs made some efforts to contribute to COVID-19 vaccination efforts in LICs, but these efforts were limited in scale. A new literature discusses the normative importance of an international redistribution of vaccines.

Vaccine attributes and vaccine uptake in Hungary: evidence from a conjoint experiment.

Background: In an ongoing public health crisis, the question of why some people are unwilling to take vaccines with particular attributes is an especially pertinent one, since low rates of vaccination mean that it will take longer for many nations to exit the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Methods: In this article, we conduct a pre-registered conjoint experiment in Hungary (N = 2512), where respondents were asked about their attitudes towards hypothetical COVID-19 vaccines whose characteristics varied across a number of attributes.

Results: Results indicate that vaccine attributes matter for the likelihood of uptake when it comes to the prevalence of severe side effects, efficacy and country of origin.

Partisanship and anti-elite worldviews as correlates of science and health beliefs in the multi-party system of Spain.

In a national sample of 5087 Spaniards, we examine the prevalence of 10 specific misperceptions over five separate science and health domains (climate change, 5G technology, genetically modified foods, vaccines, and homeopathy). We find that misperceptions about genetically modified foods and general health risks of 5G technology are particularly widespread. While we find that partisan affiliation is not strongly associated with any of the misperceptions aside from climate change, we find that two distinct dimensions of an anti-elite worldview-anti-expert and conspiratorial mindsets-are better overall predictors of having science and health misperceptions in the Spanish context.

Stamping the vaccine passport? Public support for lifting COVID-19 related restrictions for vaccinated citizens in France, Germany, and Sweden.

During theCOVID-19pandemic,manycountries implementedrestrictionsto limit the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (e.g. travel restrictions and lockdowns).

The politics of vaccine hesitancy in Europe.

Background: Vaccine hesitancy threatens public health. Some evidence suggests that vaccine hesitancy in Europe may be linked with the success of populist parties, but more systematic analysis is needed.

Methods: We examine the prevalence of individual-level vaccine hesitancy across the European Union (EU) and its association with political orientations.

Which vaccine attributes foster vaccine uptake? A cross-country conjoint experiment.

Why do people prefer one particular COVID-19 vaccine over another? We conducted a pre-registered conjoint experiment (n = 5,432) in France, Germany, and Sweden in which respondents rated the favorability of and chose between pairs of hypothetical COVID-19 vaccines. Differences in effectiveness and the prevalence of side-effects had the largest effects on vaccine preferences. Factors with smaller effects include country of origin (respondents are less favorable to vaccines of Chinese and Russian origin), and vaccine technology (respondents exhibited a small preference for hypothetical mRNA vaccines).

Association of vaccine hesitancy and immunization coverage rates in the European Union.

While previous studies have validated vaccine hesitancy scales with uptake behavior at the individual level, the conditions under which aggregated survey data are useful are less clear. We show that vaccine public opinion data aggregated at the subnational level can serve as a valid indicator of aggregate vaccine behaviour. We use a public opinion survey (Eurobarometer EB 91.

Tetrathyridiosis in a domestic shorthair cat.

Case Summary: This report describes the clinical and parasitological findings in a domestic shorthair cat with isolated thoracic tetrathyridiosis. The cat was a stray from Malta that had lived in Germany for several years since as an indoor-only cat. Therefore, the process of infection remains very unusual.

Three-dimensional sensing based on a dynamically focused laser optical feedback imaging technique.

A new method analogous to three-dimensional confocally based sensing is proposed. This method uses the technique of laser optical feedback imaging, which takes advantage of the resonant sensitivity of a short-cavity laser to frequency-shifted optical feedback for highly sensitive detection, making it ideal for surface and volume measurements of noncooperative targets. Rapid depth scanning is made possible by use of an electrically controlled variable-focus lens.

High-sensitivity intracavity laser absorption spectroscopy with vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting semiconductor lasers.

We report the demonstration of high-sensitivity intracavity laser absorption spectroscopy with multiple-quantum-well vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting semiconductor lasers (VECSEL's). A detection limit of 3 x 10(-10) cm (-1) has been achieved. The spectrotemporal dynamics of a VECSEL in the 1030-nm wavelength region has been studied.

Laser optical feedback tomography.

We describe a new method for imaging in three-dimensional turbid media, laser optical feedback tomography. This technique is based on the resonant sensitivity of a short-cavity laser to frequency-shifted optical feedback from ballistic photons retrodiffused from the medium. The advantage of the method is that the detector is the laser source itself, which provides optical amplification with self-aligned spatial and temporal coherent detection.

Laser relaxation-oscillation frequency imaging.

We describe a new imaging technique based on modification of laser relaxation frequency induced by coherent optical feedback from an external target. A direct comparison (both theoretical and experimental) is made with laser feedback interferometry techniques, in which there is a modification of the laser's steady state. We show that, for a laser with a cavity damping rate gamma(c) higher than the population damping rate, gamma(1) , the modification of the laser relaxation frequency can be several orders of magnitude more sensitive than the perturbation of the laser's output power.

Bypassing tumor-associated immune suppression with recombinant adenovirus constructs expressing membrane bound or secreted GITR-L.

Recent evidence has resurrected the concept of specialized populations of T lymphocytes that are able to suppress an antigen-specific immune response. T-regulatory cells (T-reg) have been characterized as CD4+ CD25+ T cells. Previous reports describing differential gene expression analysis have shown that the glucocorticoid-induced tumor necrosis family receptor family-related gene (GITR) is upregulated in these cells.

Inhibition of costimulation allows for repeated systemic administration of adenoviral vector in rhesus monkeys.

Immunogenicity of recombinant adenoviral (Ad) vectors severely hampers the clinical development of gene therapy protocols using repeated vector administrations. Inhibition of costimulation by APCs was explored as a strategy to circumvent the immune response against Ad particles. This strategy was tested in rhesus monkeys, treated transiently with chimeric anti-human CD40 and anti-human CD86 antagonist monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) at the time of systemic administration of a recombinant Ad vector.

Transient blocking of both B7.1 (CD80) and B7.2 (CD86) in addition to CD40-CD40L interaction fully abrogates the immune response following systemic injection of adenovirus vector.

Blockade of the CD40-CD40L and CD80/CD86-CD28 costimulatory pathways represents a strategy to inhibit the immune response against Ad vectors designed for gene therapy applications. Since most previous studies have used a CTLA4-Ig fusion molecule binding to both CD80 and CD86, the respective roles of these B7 molecules remained undefined. We have studied the effect of blocking monoclonal Abs (mAbs) directed against the costimulatory molecules CD40L, CD80 and CD86, alone or in different combinations, on the humoral and cellular immune responses against Ad.

Tumor gene therapy by MVA-mediated expression of T-cell-stimulating antibodies.

Immune responses to tumor-associated antigens are often dampened by a tumor-induced state of immune anergy. Previous work has attempted to overcome tumor-induced T-cell anergy by the direct injection of vectors carrying the genes encoding one of a variety of cytokines. We hypothesised that the polyclonal stimulation of T cells, preferably through the TCR complex, would result in a cascade of cytokines associated with T-cell activation and would be best able to overcome T-cell anergy.

Jet-discharge cavity ring-down spectroscopy of ionized polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: progress in testing the PAH hypothesis for the diffuse interstellar band problem.

Naphthalene cations (C10H+8) were produced in a slit jet coupled with an electronic discharge, and cavity ring down was used to obtain its absorption spectrum in the region 645-680 nm. Two of the strongest C10H+8 bands previously characterized by matrix isolation spectroscopy were found, both with a fractional blue shift of about 0.5%.

Modulation of the inflammatory properties and hepatotoxicity of recombinant adenovirus vectors by the viral E4 gene products.

Liver toxicity and inflammation were assessed in C57BL/6, CBA, and BALB/c mice injected intravenously with a series of recombinant adenoviruses deleted simultaneously in E1/E3, in E1/E3/E2A, or in E1/E3/E4. All vectors were either devoid of transgenes or carried in E1 the human CFTR cDNA under the control of the CMV promoter. Injection of the E1/E3-deleted vector induced a significant liver dystrophy and inflammatory responses that were accompanied by an increased serum transaminase concentration.

In vitro and in vivo biology of recombinant adenovirus vectors with E1, E1/E2A, or E1/E4 deleted.

Isogenic, E3-deleted adenovirus vectors defective in E1, E1 and E2A, or E1 and E4 were generated in complementation cell lines expressing E1, E1 and E2A, or E1 and E4 and characterized in vitro and in vivo. In the absence of complementation, deletion of both E1 and E2A completely abolished expression of early and late viral genes, while deletion of E1 and E4 impaired expression of viral genes, although at a lower level than the E1/E2A deletion. The in vivo persistence of these three types of vectors was monitored in selected strains of mice with viral genomes devoid of transgenes to exclude any interference by immunogenic transgene-encoded products.

Intracavity laser absorption measurements at ultrahigh spectral resolution.

Intracavity laser absorption spectroscopy with ultrahigh sensitivity and enhanced spectral resolution is demonstrated. It entails use of an intracavity étalon that selects equally spaced modes of the cavity. These modes are reduced in intensity when they occur at spectral locations where absorption that is due to intracavity species also occurs.

Gene therapy with recombinant adenovirus vectors: evaluation of the host immune response.

E1, E3-deleted, replication-deficient recombinant adenoviruses are widely studied as vectors for their capacity to transfer therapeutic genes in vivo. They can infect a wide variety of dividing and quiescent cells from different organs and possess a large packaging capacity. One of the major limitations in the use of these vectors for gene therapy is the transient expression of the transgene in vivo and the poor transduction efficiency when re-administered.