Hidden Influence Research Articles

Hidden influence? Unmasking conflicts of interest from randomized clinical trials on spinal cord stimulation for chronic pain

BackgroundRandomized clinical trials (RCTs) are considered the gold standard for evaluating the efficacy of healthcare interventions. However, conflicts of interest (COIs) can compromise the scientific integrity in these trials. This...

The hidden influence: how self-concealment shapes the effect of trauma centrality on PTSD symptoms and posttraumatic growth

The hidden influence: how self-concealment shapes the effect of trauma centrality on PTSD symptoms and posttraumatic growth

The hidden influence: exploring presence in human-synthetic interactions through ghostbots

Presence is a palpable sense of space, things and others that overlaps with matters of meaning, yet is not reducible to it: it is a dimension of things that hides in plain sight. This paper is motivated by observations that (1) presence is under-appreciated in questions of modern and nascent human-synthetic agent interaction, and (2) that presence matters because it affects and moves us. The paper’s goal is to articulate a multi-faceted understanding of presence, and why it matters, so the importance of presence may be readily understood by those who regulate media, digital and artificial intelligence (AI) industries. Novel forms of presence raise all sorts of questions of what it means to live with new forms of presences. Some of these are highly positive and others are resistant to simplistic moral diagnosis, a point explored through extended consideration of ‘thanatechnology’ and ‘ghostbots’. To clarify and foreground presence, this paper draws on continental philosophy and technologist ideas about presence to understand the significance and parameters of presence. It then puts these to work by considering a range of existing and emerging human-synthetic agent interactions, arguing that that presence is an underappreciated yet crucial factor in human-synthetic interactions, particularly involving AI and ghostbots. The paper concludes with points of focus for organisations charged with media, data protection and AI governance regarding facets of presence-based characteristics for emergent human-synthetic interaction. Foremost is consideration of open standards for a presence-based afterlife and suggestion of a temporal firewall, or a break of time before resurrection, to prevent harm to those who have recently lost someone.

The hidden influence on Kant: Pope’s presence inKant’s life and oeuvre

Midst of the recently growing attention and importance that poetry is gaining in the Studia Kantiana there is a hidden influence on Kant that this article unveils: Alexander Pope’s presence throughout Kants life and the influence of his Essay on Man on Kant’s philosophy. The relation between Kant and Pope is clarified based upon comparative examples of both works and their commentators, targeting specially Pope’s direct mentions; personal reference from Kant to Pope will be used to reassure the sizeof his admiration and therefore his subjective predisposition to be influenced by. The article unfolds proving that A) Kant had contact with the poem before even publishing his first article in 1746; B) there is sufficient evidence to confirm its direct influence on the initial phase of Kants work; C) Pope’s presence can be tracked throughout Kant’s life as an unshakeable and steady estate of personal reference; and that D) Popes mentions are equally distributed throughout Kants entire work. The paper concludes an undeniable and yet neglected influence of Pope on Kant and argues for an approach of Kant’s philosophy as a progressive andinterconnected whole based on a plan to combat human’s pride

Features of the use of cognitive biases in native advertising

The aim of the study is to detect cognitive biases embedded in native advertising articles and their hidden influence on the addressees in order to increase sales of their product. The identification of cognitive biases and the linguocognitive mechanisms behind them is aimed at combating manipulative practices in advertising and increasing awareness of a wide audience when perceiving advertising messages. This study is a development of the concept of effective communication and the technology of "Smart tuning". Cognitive biases in native advertising are chosen as the object of research, and the subject is the ways of verbalization of cognitive biases. The research material is selected from sponsored content articles in both Russian and English segments of online communication. The relevance of this research lies in the significance of analyzing native advertising in media discourse from the perspectives of cognitive linguistics within cognitive-discursive and biological approaches. The main research methods are the method of interpretation, the method of discourse analysis and random sampling statistical method. It is determined, that the use of cognitive biases to persuade addressees into making purchases is widespread in native advertising, particularly in the form of sponsored content. At least one cognitive bias was identified in 80% of the analyzed advertising articles. The following cognitive biases were identified: bandwagon effect, framing effect in various subclasses, authority effect, emotional reasoning, fear of missing out, narrative fallacy, halo effect, compromise effect, contrast and anchoring effect, confirmation bias, catastrophizing. These cognitive biases involve such linguocognitive mechanisms as framing, imagining in the form of intensification and positivization, focusing, inspiration, involvement in communication and in the game , pseudo-dialogue, personalization, spin doctoring, catastrophizing, which indicate a synergistic cognitive impact on the addressee.

Introduction to Special Issue on Advancing Health Equity Among Black Communities

The current paper serves as an introduction to this special issue, Advancing Health Equity among Black Communities, in which we provide an overview of the papers included. Specifically, we summarize the papers covered in the special issue and highlight some of the common themes. The impetus for this special issue originated from a culmination of the COVID-19 pandemic, continued murders of Black people by police officers, and an unsettling political climate (e.g., Galea & Abdalla, 2020). While the impact of individual racism has been studied extensively, the insidious and pervasive impact of structural racism is less understood. Structural racism is a system in which embedded values, practices and policies facilitate and perpetrate the continued differential treatment of people based on race and becomes an almost hidden influence on the way an institution functions. For this special issue, prevention scientists were invited to submit conceptual and empirical research reflecting their understandings of structural racism as it operates in U.S. systems (e.g., education, justice, housing, workforce) and contributes to health inequities in the lives of Black Americans. The submissions also demonstrate how prevention scientists can leverage translational science to impact policies, practices, and procedures to promote equitable and sustainable change for Black communities.

Use of artificial intelligence during elections, practice, threats to the right to vote and ways to overcome them

This article explores the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in elections and its impact on the right to votr. It examines the practical aspects of the application of AI in the electoral process, as well as the potential threats it may pose to democratic principles and human rights.
 The paper analyzes various aspects of the use of AI during elections, including the automation of vote counting, election forecasting, and the impact of social media and crowdsourcing on political advertising. It also explores the potential of using AI to detect electoral fraud and manipulation, such as disinformation and falsification of results.
 However, the article also draws attention to the threats that arise in connection with the use of AI during elections. These threats include the possibility of manipulation of election results, violations of the privacy, and the possibility of creating artificial accounts or bots to mass influence public opinion.
 Finally, the article examines ways to overcome these threats and protect human electoral rights. It discusses the need to develop effective laws and regulations to ensure the transparency, auditability and security of electoral processes that use AI. It also considers the importance of educating voters and politicians about these technologies and the conscious use of AI in political processes. In addition, the article considers the importance of international cooperation and the creation of standards for the ethical use of AI by electoral bodies and political actors. However, the use of artificial intelligence during elections can also pose threats to citizens' right to vote. For example, there may be a lack of transparency and accountability of the algorithms used to analyze election data and make decisions. This can lead to unfair or hidden influence on the election process and voting results.
 In addition, there is a risk of artificial intelligence being misused to manipulate voters by spreading false information or manipulating political sentiment. Algorithms can be configured to enhance certain views or suppress others, which can expose the electoral process and violate the principles of democratic elections.
 Effective legal regulation is necessary to overcome the threats associated with the use of artificial intelligence during elections.
 It is important to establish mandatory norms regarding the transparency and accountability of algorithms used during election processes. This may include requiring disclosure of the underlying principles and logic underlying algorithms, as well as mandatory testing and independent verification of their effectiveness and lack of bias.
 It is necessary to consider the introduction of restrictions on the use of artificial intelligence in the field of political advertising and information campaign. This may include restrictions on the use of personalized advertising, mandatory identification and disclosure of sources of funding for political advertising campaigns, as well as regulation of the use of social networks.

Warming and microplastic pollution shape the carbon and nitrogen cycles of algae

Oceans absorb most excess heat from anthropogenic activities, leading to ocean warming. Moreover, microplastic pollution from anthropogenic activities is serious in marine environments and is accessible to various organisms. However, the combined effects of environmentally realistic ocean warming and microplastic pollution (OW+MP) on dominant marine species phytoplankton and related biochemical cycles are unclear. We investigated the combined effects on the dominant genera of diatoms (Chaetoceros gracilis, C. gracilis) over 100 generations. As a biological adjustment strategy, the growth rates of C. gracilis were nonsignificantly changed by OW+MP, body size decreased, and the chlorophyll a (Chl a) content and photosynthetic efficiency significantly decreased by 32.5% and 10.86%, respectively. The OW+MP condition inhibited carbon and nitrogen assimilation and sequestration capacity and allocated carbon into flexible forms of carbohydrates instead of proteins. Furthermore, the decrease in Si:C and Si:N ratios affected carbon transport to both the mesopelagic layer and deep ocean. Integrated transcriptomics and metabolomics showed that OW+MP disturbed ribosome and nitrogen metabolism. Given the rising concurrence of warming and MP pollution, the changes in metabolism suggest that the covariation in carbon, nitrogen and silicon biochemical cycles and the hidden influence on biodiversity and food web changes in the ocean should be reconsidered.

Społeczna i polityczna rola kobiet z kręgów władzy w państwach krzyżowych i Bizancjum w okresie od pierwszej do czwartej krucjaty, ss. 353

The PhD dissertation “Social and political roles of Women connected with power and authority in Crusader States and Byzantium from the first to the fourth Crusade” was written under the supervision of dr hab. Rafał Kosiński prof. UwB. The work concerns women’s participation in power and authority and their hidden influence in Crusader States and Byzantium in the twelfth century. Its purpose is to compare women’s roles in politics in Western Europe, Outremer and Byzantine Empire. Moreover this work is concentrated on establishing differences and similarities between overmentioned countries and it attempts to explain their causes. It uses mostly narrative sources in Latin and Greek. Sociological theory of social roles (created by Florian Znaniecki and Erving Goffman) was used as an analytical method. Thanks to it the work established nine basic tasks connected to the social role of queen, empress or generally female ruler. Based on that were created models of ideal female ruler in the West, Crusader states and Byzantium, which could be compared relatively easily.

The hidden influence of communities in collaborative funding of clinical science.

Every year the National Institutes of Health allocates $10.7 billion (one-third of its funds) for clinical science research while the pharmaceutical companies spend $52.9 billion (90% of its annual budget). However, we know little about funder collaborations and the impact of collaboratively funded projects. As an initial effort towards this, we examine the co-funding network, where a funder represents a node and an edge signifies collaboration. Our core data include all papers that cite and receive citations by the Cochrane Database of Systemic Reviews, a prominent clinical review journal. We find that 65% of clinical papers have multiple funders and discover communities of funders that are formed by national boundaries and funding objectives. To quantify success in funding, we use a g-index metric that indicates efficiency of funders in supporting clinically relevant research. After controlling for authorship, we find that funders generally achieve higher success when collaborating than when solo-funding. We also find that as a funder, seeking multiple, direct connections with various disconnected funders may be more beneficial than being part of a densely interconnected network of co-funders. The results of this paper indicate that collaborations can potentially accelerate innovation, not only among authors but also funders.

Diverging narratives: exploring the hidden influence of transquoting in framing the journalistic portrayal of Shiori Ito

ABSTRACT Japanese journalist Shiori Ito, known as a sexual assault survivor and icon of the #MeToo movement in Japan, has been depicted in many different lights by domestic and international media. This study illustrates the significant differences in the narrative the international media chose to (re)create, an act which involved translation from Japanese. Using this high-profile case, this study reveals the existence of culture- and institution-specific narratives as well as differences in the selection and deselection of information by each news producer to reinforce such narratives by applying framing as the theoretical framework for analysis.

Word-building means in a political leader’s speech portrait (implicit pragmalinguistics)

Abstraсt. The article is concerned with the implicit pragmalinguistics which studies a person’s unconscious choice of verbal means to maximize the impact on the listener. The principles of hidden or implicit pragmalinguistics are put forward. They reveal the dependence of the actualization of hidden grammatical meanings on the speech situation of communication. The present article focuses on the characteristics of blogging as a form of comprehensive political communication. The paper aims at examining the specific features of political online written diaries in open social networks. It is established that the implicit speech influence on mass addressee is carried out by means of speech signals. These verbal signals actualize the plans of emotive and conative-aimed implied speech strategies of the hidden influence of the text sender on its recipient, so the author’s speech portrait is drawn up. Grammatical and textual forms of grammatical and textual categories are considered as speech signals. Along with them implicitly influencing derived lexical units formed by various word-building means are presented as verbal signals in the paper. It is formed the concept of speech behavior. According to the key features of a New Zealand politician’s speech behavior his personality is revealed. It has been developed in the form of the political leader’s speech habits based in the conditions of his national culture.

ANTHROPOLOGICAL AND AXIOLOGICAL DIMENSIONS OF SOCIAL EXPECTATIONS AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON SOCIETY’S SELF-ORGANIZATION

Purpose. The paper aimed at analyzing the anthropological and axiological dimensions of human social expectations in the aspect of the self-organization processes of social phenomena and revealing their essence. Theoretical basis. The research is based on the synergetic paradigm, the theory of shared intentionality as well as the concept of hidden influence on the processes of socialization, synchronization of social influence on moral decisions, benefits of the cooperative learning, interpretation of social expectations as epistemological norms and standards, and the concept of social support. Originality. Social expectations are considered in a synergistic relationship to their anthropological and axiological nature. The anthropological dimension of social expectations based on human nature as a mortal and rational being is outlined. The paper highlights the axiological dimension of social expectations on the ground of the need for socialization and imitation of systems of material and spiritual values in the group. The concept of stereotype and the thanatology of social expectations is substantiated. It is proved that the stereotype of social expectations is dependent on its axiological dimension, and the thanatology of social expectations is dependent on its anthropological dimension, which is based on human mortality. It has been studied out that the stereotypical and thanatological nature of social expectations significantly influences the processes of social self-organization. Conclusions. The social expectations of a person are oriented mainly toward the anthropological dimension of values since by nature a human is a mortal being. Human social expectations are mainly related to life, health, and safety showing the priority of the thanatological nature of social expectations and their futuristic content. Social expectations are also oriented towards social values. The latter is related to the collective rational nature of a person who is prone to social imitation, which affects the stereotypical nature of social expectations. Any social expectation is an axiological one. It is an expectation of material and spiritual values. The axiological dimension of social expectations has a stereotypical nature since it is linked to the specificity of collective socialization and coexistence. The anthropological dimension of social expectations has a thanatological character and is based on human nature as a mortal and at the same time rational being forming own rationality in the group. The concept of stereotypical and thanatological social expectations is promising for further scientific exploration as its methodological basis.

Social Media Manipulation, Autonomy and Capabilities

To understand why social media platforms’ potency as a tool for manipulation is inadequately apprehended through content-neutral, autonomy-focused analyses, this paper starts with an overview of the structural conditions that allowed such platforms to acquire their considerable regulatory power. Among these conditions, two elements stand out: the hidden -rather than non-deliberative- influence as well as its precise and comprehensive scope. While the hidden influence is what sets social media apart from other, non-manipulatory tools of influence, it is the comprehensive scope that exposes the limits of ‘value-neutral’ autonomy-based frameworks. When we are manipulated into acquiring a certain trait, there is normally enough left of us that is free of manipulatory influence to anchor some after-the-fact endorsement or alienation test. As an alternative to ‘value-neutral’ autonomy-based analyses, this paper analyses the harm that stems from such systematic manipulation through a capability account of autonomy. Of all the capabilities that are essential to what von Humboldt would call ‘self-realisation’, the capacity to imagine oneself as a different person is critical. It is also the capability that is most endangered by social media’s drive to optimise our online (and offline) environment to maximise user engagement.

N.Ya. Danilevsky’s Historiosophy and the Problem of the Significance of Russian Philosophy

The article is devoted to the understanding of N.Ya. Danilevsky’s historiosophical concept in the context of the results and prospects of researching the history of Russian philosophy. The article substantiates the thesis about the significance of Russian thought, which developed in the 19th – early 20th century the methodological approach based on the principles of lax systematization, rejection of extremes and content completeness. The author brings forward the problem of insufficient research into the hidden influence of Russian thought on Western philosophy of the non-classical period by comparing the philosophical and historical views of N.Ya. Danilevsky and O. Spengler. The author states his vision of the goals and results of further research work of the community of Russian philosophy historians in the context of the deep crisis of modern Western philosophy, which has not only theoretical, but also practical orientation, associated with the actu

A new metric for understanding hidden political influences from voting records.

Inspired by the increasing attention of the scientific community towards the understanding of human relationships and actions in social sciences, in this paper we address the problem of inferring from voting data the hidden influence on individuals from competing ideology groups. As a case study, we present an analysis of the closeness of members of the Italian Senate to political parties during the XVII Legislature. The proposed approach is aimed at automatic extraction of the relevant information by disentangling the actual influences from noise, via a two step procedure. First, a sparse principal component projection is performed on the standardized voting data. Then, the projected data is combined with a generative mixture model, and an information theoretic measure, which we refer to as Political Data-aNalytic Affinity (Political DNA), is finally derived. We show that the definition of this new affinity measure, together with suitable visualization tools for displaying the results of analysis, allows a better understanding and interpretability of the relationships among political groups.

Regional policy for cooperation with international trade-economic organizations formation in the context of government decentrali zation

The article examines the hidden influence of regional cooperation policy on the processes ofdevelopment of transformation countries. The purpose of the article is to determine the peculiaritiesof forming a regional policy of cooperation with international trade and economic organizations inthe context of decentralization of public administration.The tasks of cross-border cooperation in the context of ethno-cultural peculiarities, as wellas institutional and procedural prerequisites for modernization of economic cooperation at theregional level are analyzed. The processes of consolidation of informal decision-making centers asfactors of increasing the number of effective representatives of cooperation policy are presentedAttention is drawn to the economic type of the territory, which determines the trans-regional policyof cooperation and its leading economic actors. At the same time, it emphasized the features of theempirical basis of regional policy of cooperation with international economic organizations.The discrepancy between the main sectors of economic participation and the criteria for theeffectiveness of the policy of interregional cooperation with international economic organizationsare emphasized. On the basis of the conducted analysis the bureaucratic and managerial tendenciesof development of regional policy of cross-border cooperation in modern Ukraine and directionsof its evolution are revealed. It is determined that the bureaucratic and managerial tendenciesof the development of regional policy of cross-border cooperation are also one of the objectivecriteria for evaluating the direction of its evolution and its progressive or regressive state. Theanalysis of institutional levers has shown that in the conditions of socio-economic transformation,high-level officials may not be part of the state institutions responsible for developing regionalcooperation policies.

Reprogenetics, reproductive risks and cultural awareness: what may we learn from Israeli and Croatian medical students?

BackgroundPast studies emphasized the possible cultural influence on attitudes regarding reprogenetics and reproductive risks among medical students who are taken to be “future physicians.” These studies were crafted in order to enhance the knowledge and expand the boundaries of cultural competence. Yet such studies were focused on MS from relatively marginalized cultures, namely either from non-Western developing countries or minority groups in developed countries. The current study sheds light on possible cultural influences of the dominant culture on medical students in two developed countries, potentially with different dominant cultures regarding reprogenetics and reproductive risks: Israel and Croatia.MethodsQuantitative-statistical analyses were employed, based on anonymous questionnaires completed by 150 first year medical students in Israel and Croatia. The questionnaires pertained to the knowledge and attitudes regarding genetics, reproduction and reproductive risks. These questionnaires were completed before the students were engaged in learning about these topics as part of the curriculum in their medical school.ResultsSubstantial differences were revealed between the two groups of medical students. Israeli medical students were less tolerant regarding reproductive risks and more knowledgeable about genetics and reproductive risks than Croatian medical students. For example, while nearly all Israeli medical students (96%) disagreed with the idea that “Screening for reproductive risks in prospective parents is wrong,” less than 40% of their Croatian counterparts shared a similar stance. Similarly, all (100%) Israeli medical students correctly observed that “A carrier of a recessive genetic disease actually has the disease” was wrong, as opposed to only 82% of Croatian students.ConclusionsBy linking applicable theoretical literature to these findings, we suggest that they may reflect the hidden influence of the dominant culture in each country, disguised as part of the “culture of medicine.” Acknowledging and learning about such influence of the dominant culture, may be an important addition to the training of medical students in cultural competence, and specifically their cultural awareness. Such an acknowledgement may also pave the road to drawing the attention of existing physicians regarding a less known yet an important aspect of their cultural competence, insofar as the cultural awareness component is concerned.

‘Everything is designed to make an impression’: The moralisation of aesthetic judgement and the hedonistic ethic of authenticity

Viewing both ethics and aesthetics as reflections of the social, cultural sociologists fail to thoroughly account for the complex interrelations between these realms. This article explores this relationship through a study of ‘farterism’, a discursive category that emerged in Israel during the 1990s and is used to denounce vain pretence. Not only do aesthetic surfaces operate as emotionally-laden shortcuts to deeper layers of ethical meaning, the very act of aesthetic judgement is moralized, subjected to normative regulation. The article analyses the use of ‘farterism’ in the lay evaluation of architecture, restaurants and films, while reconstructing its implied ethic of aesthetic, ‘the hedonistic ethic of authenticity’. I discuss this ethic’s philosophical-cultural roots (including the performative contribution of critical social science) and the continuities between its application in cultural evaluation and in wider moral contexts. The pattern that emerges in the data relies on the Emperor’s New Clothes tale: uncovering the hidden influence of the social on the aesthetic is at the centre of the normative regulation of aesthetic judgement. This allows laypersons to challenge cultural hierarchies shaped by cultural fields, experts and markets, and denounce them as corrupted by the social.

The Effect of Marketing Communication on the Performance of Academy of Secretary and Management of Taruna Bakti (ASMTB)

This research describes the influence of marketing communication on the promotional team's performance at the Academy of Secretary and Management of Taruna Bakti. The research aims to measure the effectiveness of marketing communication to the getting of students and to know if there is a hidden influence between marketing communication and its execution in ASMTB. The method used in this research is descriptive analysis. Further, this research is equipped with path analysis to analyze the data. The results show some staggering findings. First, there is a strong relationship between marketing communication and the business world that used ASMTB's alumnae. The relation is 0.997, and if it is interpreted, the connection is solid. Second, there is also a relationship between marketing communication and potential students that will enter ASMTB. The relation is 0.151, and if it is interpreted, the relation is very weak. The last is, there is a close relationship between marketing communication and the alumnae. The relation is 0.345, and if it is interpreted, the relation is very week.