Anatomy

Anatomy of a disinformation campaign | The manipulation game on Twitter – News24

In recent years, the UKs Oxford Internet Institute has tracked the manipulation of public opinion online.

Since 2018, South Africa has featured on a growing list of countries where social media is used to spread disinformation and computational propaganda. Twitter is a prominent platform for social media manipulation in South Africa, the institutefound.

In this three-part series, fact-checking organisationAfrica Checkand the Atlantic Councils Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) take a closer look at disinformation on Twitter in South Africa.

Part one focuses on disinformation actors, their behaviour and content. In part two,the hashtag is examined and just how much damage it can cause?Part three gives advice on how to deal with disinformation on social media.

Anatomy of a disinformation campaign | The who, what and why of deliberate falsehoods on Twitter (Part 1)

The recently released 2020 edition of the Oxford Internet Institutes Global Inventory of Organised Social Media Manipulation identified77 countries where government or political party actors used disinformation on social media to manipulate public opinion. South Africa is among them, writes Liesl Pretorius.

Anatomy of a disinformation campaign | Any harm in a hashtag? Spotting disinformation in the wild (Part 2)

Unlike the spreaders of misinformation, who dont mean harm, disinformation actors knowingly cause damage to people, social groups, organisations and even countries. In the second of a three-part series examining falsehoods on Twitter,Jean le Rouxsorts misinformation from disinformation in three popular hashtags.

Anatomy of a disinformation campaign | How to avoid traps on Twitter (Part 3)

Bell Pottingeris dead, but disinformation that preys on divisions in South Africa remains. Some say social media users should ignore disinformation the deliberate spread of false information to cause harm because any engagement helps malicious actors spread their messages. But is doing nothing really the only option, particularly when disengagementis what some of these campaigns hope to achieve?Liesl Pretoriuslooked for answers.

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Anatomy of a disinformation campaign | The manipulation game on Twitter - News24

Anatomy

Anatomy of a disinformation campaign | Any harm in a hashtag? Spotting disinformation in the wild – News24

Unlike the spreaders of misinformation, who dont mean harm, disinformation actors knowingly cause damage to people, social groups, organisations and even countries. In the second of a three-part series examining falsehoods on Twitter, Jean le Roux sorts misinformation from disinformation in three popular hashtags.

1. #RamaphosaResigns: Parody turns political

When a young comedian from Sebokeng tweeted about giving people mini heart attacks with the hashtag #RamaphosaResigns, he might not have set out to cause harm.

But the viral hashtag was co-opted by anonymous accounts to drive a false politically motivated narrative that South African president Cyril Ramaphosa had resigned and misinformation turned into disinformation.

Missed part one in the series? Read it here. The final part is at this link.

Chief among the agitators was @Advovolicious, an anonymous Twitter account that was spun off the @AdvBarryRoux account. @Advovolicious falsely claimed that Ramaphosa would announce his resignation during a public address that evening, in July 2020. In reality, Ramaphosa would give a briefing on the governments Covid-19 relief efforts.

The @Advovolicious account repeatedly tweeted the falsehood that South Africas president would resign.(Screenshot)

The initial tongue-in-cheek jab from the Jan Van Potgieter (@SciTheComedist) parody account was lost in the resulting noise.

A social network graph of the original tongue-in-cheek tweet about Ramaphosas resignation, indicating how small it was compared to the larger conversation.

In a strange twist, the same @SciTheComedist account started the #VoetsekANC hashtag, apparently in response to an #ANCFriday campaign by ANC supporters.

2. #VoetsekANC: The campaign that wasnt

Like clockwork, #VoetsekANC surged on Fridays, as the regular spikes in mentions show. (The Afrikaans voetsek can be roughly translated as piss off.) On the surface, it appeared to be a coordinated campaign targeting the ANC.

Social media listening tools like Meltwater Explore show regular spikes in mentions of #VoetsekANC.

High-follower Twitter accounts engaged with the hashtag on a weekly basis, usually around service delivery or government-linked corruption.

But a deeper dive shows that the traffic is organic.

The #VoetsekANC hashtag found traction across the political spectrum.

The hashtag has been used by leaders in the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and Democratic Alliance political parties, as well as accounts from conservative, libertarian, liberal andnationalist groups. The diverse nature of these accounts, spanning the political and ideological spectrum, makes it unlikely that it is a coordinated and inauthentic disinformation operation. A snapshot of the use of #VoetsekANC on 6 December 2020 makes this clear.

Several communities, indicated in different colours, have actively engaged with the #VoetsekANC hashtag for their own reasons. They represent a broad spectrum of political ideologies.

3. #PutSouthAfricansFirst: A wide-ranging disinformation campaign

The #PutSouthAfricansFirst hashtag was used 945,000 times by slightly more than 115,000 individual users, and at times trended many times per week in 2020. (Note: The numbers have declined since the beginning of December, when there were 144,000 accounts and 1.15 million mentions. It appears Twitter has taken action against several of these accounts.)

The phrase Put South Africans First was used by the African Transformation Movement during its campaign ahead of the 2019 national election. But the hashtag became prominent in April 2020, when the @ulerato_pillay Twitter account used it to take a swipe at EFF leader Julius Malema.

The tweet that put #PutSouthAfricansFirst on the map.

The account was deactivated after the DFRLab identified its owner as Sfiso Gwala, a dismissed South African National Defence Force member from Richards Bay in KwaZulu-Natal. It has since been replaced with the @lerato_pillay account. This was likely done to erase the accounts history and associated evidence.

The network consists of a core of accounts aggressively retweeting and engaging with narratives that tap into South Africans discontent with crime, unemployment and poor service delivery.

The largest share of this traffic consists of retweets (65%) and quote tweets (21%) with only 6% of tweets using the hashtag being original. This low share could indicate that a small number of accounts are coordinating original tweets, while the rest simply amplify their message.

The bulk of #PutSouthAfricansFirst content on Twitter is retweets.

Real issues, false content

The narratives spread by the proponents of the hashtag touch on real issues such as unemployment, crime and lack of service delivery. What makes it disinformation is the disproportionate blame these tweets place on foreign nationals in some cases based on made-up facts.

For example, on 14 August 2020 the @uLerato_pillay account posted a photo of a crowded hospital with patients sleeping on the floor. The tweet claimed that South African patients were suffering because foreign nationals were taking up hospital beds. A reverse image search revealed that the photo was taken at a Nigerian hospital in April 2019 almost 16 months before Gwalas tweet.

An example of false context one of seven types of mis- and disinformation identified by anti-misinformation organisation First Draft. The photo is genuine but it is shared with false contextual information.

Several #PutSouthAfricansFirst tweets that used made-up statistics have since been deleted. For example, in September 2020 Gwala claimed that 70% of the University of South Africas employees were foreign nationals. But Unisa says 97% of its full-time and fixed-term staff are South Africans.

Examples of fabricated content used in the #PutSouthAfricansFirst campaign.

Despite hashtag users claims that it is a patriotic movement, much of the content is openly xenophobic. Users have described foreign nationals as cockroaches a term reminiscent of the Rwandan genocide.

Accounts that interacted with #PutSouthAfricansFirst content have called foreign nationals leeches, parasites and cockroaches.

All this had the effect of serving, for several months, as a dog whistle for people who buy into xenophobic narratives or become convinced that the real problem is foreign nationals. The result is clear: replies to Gwalas tweets urge violence against foreigners. (Gwala failed to respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.)

Coordinated behaviour

The network consists of a core set of accounts that create and share xenophobic narratives. Other accounts, some operated by real individuals who buy into the narratives, then retweet and engage with the content. The disproportionate amount of traffic that comes from a small share of accounts points to coordination and disinformation.

A representation of the number of original tweets versus the total number of tweets (including retweets and replies) using #PutSouthAfricansFirst. The total volume closely tracks the original tweets during large spikes, suggesting some level of coordination.

For example, in July 2020 #PutSouthAfricansFirst was mentioned 165,120 times by 32,044 authors. But the top 10 accounts that used the hashtag only about 0.03% of the total accounts were responsible for 1.25% of the tweets. The same disproportionate volumes were seen in November 2020, when the top 10 accounts were responsible for 5.6% of the tweets despite making up only 0.04% of the unique accounts that used the hashtag.

In November 2020, #PutSouthAfricansFirst was used in 122,000 tweets and by about 24,800 Twitter users. But the 10 most vocal accounts were responsible for a disproportionately high number of mentions.

A network graph using 3,200 recent tweets from each of the 10 most active users of #PutSouthAfricansFirst (as at 4 December 2020) shows who they interacted with most often.

A social network graph of the 10 most vocal accounts that used #PutSouthAfricansFirst (left) and the accounts they interact with the most (right), suggesting that the vocal accounts were propping up the accounts in the middle.

When you strip away some of the noise, it is clear that these 10 accounts engage with, retweet and reply to many of the accounts involved in the #PutSouthAfricansFirst network. In essence, this means a small cluster of accounts are aggressively engaging with the accounts in the centre and each other in an attempt to create the perception of a legitimate movement.

Prolific retweeters

A closer look at the accounts engaging with and retweeting this content reveals suspicious behaviour such as a high volume of retweets on a single topic.

One of the most vocal accounts in November 2020 was @Hlabezulu3, created on 30 October 2020. Despite being a brand new account, it tweeted 7,387 times, peaking at 380 tweets in a single day on 24 November 2020. That is an average of almost one tweet every four minutes. Most of these tweets were retweets from several #PutSouthAfricansFirst accounts.

Twitter has since suspended the account.

An analysis of the @HlabeZule3 Twitter account while it was still active. The account mainly retweeted accounts within the #PutSouthAfricansFirst network (right), and posted large volumes while doing so.

Another prominent account in this network, @bsfs1212, tweeted 578 times on 26 November and 564 times on 27 November 2020 alone. Not even the departed were off limits in this campaign. The Twitter account of Faith Gwedashe-Ndamase, a former Mrs South Africa finalist and Alex FM radio host who died in a car accident in September 2017, was repurposed to target journalist and author Nechama Brodie* with antisemitic tweets. Gwedashe-Ndamases profile pictures and user handle were changed, her bio altered and her previous tweets deleted before rebranding as the @MProphet101 account.

Archived replies to Faith Gwedashe-Ndamases tweets show that @ndamsexf and @MProphet101 share the same Twitter user ID.

What these case studies show is that a small, coordinated group of individuals can take real issues, taint them with their own agendas and then spread the repurposed narrative with relative ease on social media. A joke quickly turned into a negative PR campaign against Ramaphosa based on the actions of one influential account that twisted the #RamaphosaResigns hashtag. A small, active and coordinated group of accounts distorted facts and maligned foreign nationals under the auspices of a patriotic #PutSouthAfricansFirst movement.

The success of such campaigns mainly hinge on tapping into existing prejudices against a political party, organisation or a group of people to exploit it for the disinformers agenda.

By contrast, #VoetsekANC developed organically. It transcended political and ideological boundaries to become an event that was almost celebrated weekly.

*Brodie is a former head of Africa Checks training and research arm, TRi Facts.

- Jean le Roux is a former forensic investigator, investigative journalist and disinformation researcher with theDigital Forensic Research Lab. This is the second part in a three-part explainer about disinformation on Twitter the result of a collaboration between Africa Check and the Atlantic Councils Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab).

Part one covers disinformation actors, their behaviour and content. The final part considers how individual social media users could respond.

The series was first published by Africa Check, a non-partisan fact-checking organisation. View the original piece on their website.

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Anatomy of a disinformation campaign | Any harm in a hashtag? Spotting disinformation in the wild - News24

Neuroscience

Neuroscience Explains What Happens to the Brain When One is in Love – Science Times

Love makes someone feel euphoric, foolish, happy, distracted, exhausted, obsessed, passionate, and many more. In other words, love does so much that in the brain that it can control one's behavior.

There are a lot of changes in the brain of a person in love that affects the body, making the person feel both desirable and undesirable feelings at the same time.

As Valentine's Day comes close, take a moment to marvel and appreciate the incredible effect of your partner on your brain! Here are the things that happen within your brain when you are in love according to neuroscience.

According to Science Focus, scientists use functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) and Event-related potentials (ERPs), two brain scanning techniques, to understand what is happening inside the brain when a person is in love.

The fMRI creates an image of the brain that shows which parts of the brain are activated when in love and when a person is in different circumstances.

Meanwhile, the ERPs measure the changes in brain activity as it responds to different stimuli. It is very time-specific that gives signals on a millisecond timescale.

Behavioral neuroscientist Dr. Sandra Langeslagexplains that the ERPs are mostly used to study attention. In an experiment to see how brains work when the person is in love, the researchers presented a photo of the participant's partner and recorded the brainwaves present.

They found two brainwaves with ERP components that indicate immediate and sustained attention and are usually larger in people who are in love.

"This is the example of 'if you know your beloved drives a red Ford, you'll see those everywhere because they remind you of them'. We're getting a picture of the brain to help us understand these experiences," Langeslag explains.

In another experiment, she measured the influence of love on one's attention on tasks and found out thatattention tends to be diverted to the other person, slowing the performance of tasks.

Then a 2017 study also found "neural synchrony" was higher in romantic couples compared to those paired with strangers. The researchers found synchronized patterns between the brains of people in a romantic relationship.

ALSO READ: Infidelity From the Previous Relationship Lowers Quality in Current Relationship

According to HuffPost, falling in love causes a major hormone rush. That means that when people first fall in love, they experience a Bush of their hormones to the brain. These hormones are oxytocin, dopamine, and adrenaline.

Oxytocin is said to be the love hormone that mediates the reward and motivation systems in the brain. It is also associated to be the reason for forming longer bonds with other people.

While dopamine is called the pleasure hormone that that fire up relationships and maintain them. In the love language, this hormone responds to falling in love, staying in love, and breaking up.

Meanwhile, other hormones activated when in love are adrenaline that makes the heart beat faster, creating that fluttery excitement, attraction, and euphoria.

RELATED TOPIC: Forever Lovers: Lemurs Shed Some Light On Monogamous Relationships

Check out more news and information on Neuroscienceand Relationshipon Science Times.

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Neuroscience Explains What Happens to the Brain When One is in Love - Science Times

Neuroscience

Laboratory of programmable functional materials headed by Kostya Novoselov is to open at MIPT – Newswise

Newswise The laboratory of MIPT alumnus, 2010 Nobel Prize laureate Kostya Novoselov will become the first project of the new center for research in the field of brain, neuroscience and consciousness under the leadership of Professor Tagir Aushev, head of the MIPT Laboratory of High Energy Physics, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS). The goal of the center is to carry out fundamental research about the functioning of the human brain, the nature of consciousness, and development of appropriate technologies. The activities of the laboratory of Novoselov, which will be operating at MIPT, will be focused on inventing new methods to study the human brain. Among them there are high-sensitivity sensors, brain-computer interfaces, as well as development of a technological basis for future neuromorphic processors.

The donation of 500 million rubles (6.7 million US dollars) of Vladimir Potanin, billionaire investor and philanthropist, allows to open the laboratory and cover all the costs of the first five years. During this period researchers plan to make the first simple devices based on two-dimensional materials and then continue with the physical imitation of neural communication, neuromorphic computing networks and "smart membranes". The development of these technologies will enrich our knowledge about the brain and the nature of consciousness, which can help a large number of people in the future.

The goal of the new center for research in the field of brain, neuroscience and consioucness is the development of one of the most prospective areas of research brain studies. It involves physics, mathematics, biology, psychology and other disciplines. The project is designed for the next 10-15 years, and the Center's laboratories will be formed in the next 2-3 years in various areas of neuroscience. The first one is the laboratory of programmable functional materials which will be located in the Phystech.Digit building of the MIPT Dolgoprudny campus . We are planning to cooperate closely with the MIPT Center for Photonics and Two-Dimensional Materials.. The laboratory will be set up by the end of this year, said Aushev.

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Laboratory of programmable functional materials headed by Kostya Novoselov is to open at MIPT - Newswise

Neuroscience

Can Robots Be Engineered To Actually Feel Pain? – Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence

Recently, an article in Neuroscience News made some confusing claims, especially the claim that robots can have experiences in the same sense as living entities can. Lets look at some of them:

In an article from HSE University in Russia about about developing robotic intelligence based on the human brain, we read:

Today, neuroscience and robotics are developing hand in hand. Mikhail Lebedev, Academic Supervisor at HSE Universitys Centre for Bioelectric Interfaces, spoke about how studying the brain inspires the development of robots.

One identified goal is to merge biological organisms with machines, to create cybernetic organisms (cyborgs). Given that the human brain does not really behave like a computer and that many functions of human thought are non-computational, there may be limits to how far that can go. But we shall see.

We then read,

In addition, a robot can experience the sense of touch just like a human a robot can have skin, it can feel touched. And then it doesnt just move randomly in space: if it touches an obstacle, it senses it and reacts to it just like a human does. It can also use this artificial tactile information to grip objects.

Robots can even simulate sensations of pain: some forms of physical contact feel normal and some cause pain, which drastically changes the robots behaviour. It starts to avoid pain and develop new behaviour patterns, i.e. it learns like a child who has been burned by something hot for the first time.

Note how the text slides effortlessly from can experience the sense of touch down to simulate sensations of pain.

Lets be clear about this: The robot feels no actual pain. A dog feels pain if you inadvertently step on his tail. That is because he is a living creature and pain is something his self experiences.

Granted, his is a minimal self, in the sense that he lacks reason and moral choice. But it is a self. He experiences life as a dog and he has feelings and opinions generated by that experience. A robot is not alive and does not have a self of any kind. There is no known way to cause a robot to have a subjective consciousness, which the dog naturally does. So roboticists resort to fudging between simulations of feeling and actual feeling.

Further from the same article:

In addition, robots can learn from humans. A robot can perform actions in an infinite number of ways, but if it wants to mimic a human, it must observe the human and try to repeat their movements. When it makes mistakes, it compares itself with how a human performs the same action.

Yes, provided that that is what the robot was programmed to do. There is no self in there. Not in the sense that, when a puppy is trained to heel or fetch, or avoid jumping up on guests, we are communicating with his self, to instill proper social behavior. We dont program the puppy. We teach him, the way his mother would except that we teach him different things.

A robot can interact with the nervous system through a bi-directional interface: the nervous system can send a command signal to the robot, and the robot from its sensors can return sensory information to the human, causing real sensations by stimulating nerves, nerve endings in the skin, or the sensory cortex itself. Such feedback mechanisms make it possible to restore the sensation of a limb if it has been lost. They are also necessary for more precise movements of the robotic limb, since it is on the basis of sensory information received from the arms and legs that we correct our movements.

Absolutely, and the discover that the human brain can manipulate electronic signals quite efficiently if the interface is delicate enough is the most promising development in prosthetics in many decades. But, to be clear, it is the human who is experiencing the sensation; the robotics is merely obeying commands from the central nervous system.

The paper requires a subscription.

Recently, a Japanese research team created a child robot called Affetto, for which claims are made that it can feel pain. The theory is that it could help robots understand and empathize with their human companions:

Scientists from Osaka University have developed a synthetic skin that contains sensors to subtly detect changes in pressure, whether its a light touch or a hard punch. This artificial pain nervous system was then hooked up to a life-like android robot child that was able to react to the sensations using a variety of facial expressions.

At least the report put feel in quotation marks.

At Science News, we learn more: If robots can experience pain themselves, they might understand human pain better, too:

Sensors embedded in soft, artificial skin that can detect both a gentle touch and a painful thump have been hooked up to a robot that can then signal emotions, Minoru Asada reported February 15 at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. This artificial pain nervous system, as Asada calls it, may be a small building block for a machine that could ultimately experience pain (in a robotic sort of way). Such a feeling might also allow a robot to empathize with a human companions suffering.

Agan, empathize is in quotation marks. Because, the reality, unwilling as the roboticists are to admit it, is that only life forms can empathize because only life forms can actually suffer. A robot can be programmed cleverly to appear to empathize or suffer. But there is nothing in there but programming.

The most recent project with Affetto is a body, complete with artificial skin covered-skeleton covered in the new tactile sensor.

Why do this?

Japan has already rolled out robots in nursing homes, offices, and schools as a way to deal with its aging population and shrinking workforce The theory goes that these robots will able to communicate with humans more authentically and effectively if they give the impression they are capable of feeling like us.

Life forms human, animal, plant, fungus communicate in various ways, usually with others of their kind. They are alive and they have needs. The robots will not communicate at all. They only carry out their programming. Its unfortunate if seniors living in institutions are stuck with robots for company but lets not delude ourselves about what is happening.

One person who senses this is prominent University of Southern California neuroscientist Antonio Damasio:

A robot with tactile sensors that can detect touch and pain is along the lines of having a robot, for example, that smiles when you talk to it, Damasio says. Its a device for communication of the machine to a human. While thats an interesting development, its not the same thing as a robot designed to compute some sort of internal experience, he says.

Damasio believes that it might be possible to program a robot to actually have feelings, through homeostasis. But there is no known way to give something that isnt alive the actual experiences of liveness, only ever more clever simulations.

Expect, however, to see a good deal of carefully articulated confusion on that point.

You may also enjoy: How far have we come in giving robots feelings? Pretty far in our own imagination.

and

Consumers were not buying robots as friends this year. (2018) But robotic pets are helpful for patients with dementia in long-term care. A live animal might not be safe or well-looked after in that situation.

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Can Robots Be Engineered To Actually Feel Pain? - Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence

Neuroscience

UTEP Professors Study May Lead to Solutions for Overeating – Newswise

Newswise EL PASO, Texas Science is a step closer to a new response to obesity, thanks in part to a study conducted by a team that included Sergio Iiguez, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology at The University of Texas at El Paso.

The 10-member team led by Brandon Warren, Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmacodynamics at the University of Florida, made discoveries about a specific area of the brain tied to recollection and the desire to seek and consume food. It could lead to a way to inhibit the desire to overeat.

Iiguez, who directs UTEPs Iiguez Behavioral Neuroscience Lab and helped design novel experimental techniques for the research, said that people tend to overeat when exposed to cues or environments that remind them of treats, which is one reason why people opt for dessert even after a filling meal. The study showed that neurons in a specific part of the brain control the link between the cue (seeing the dessert) and the action (ordering the dessert). Iiguez and team found that animal subjects consumed fewer treats when they regulated that region of the animals brain.

The techniques and the data eventually could help overcome some issues linked to obesity such as stroke, Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high levels of bad cholesterol, and coronary heart disease.

This is a big discovery because we now have experimental tools that allow us to turn off neurons while the subjects engage in a specific behavior, Iiguez said. This research shows that a specific part of the prefrontal cortex of the brain is important for the initial stages of learning to seek food.

Research results were published recently in eNeuro, a journal of the Society for Neuroscience.

The latest journal publication comes on the heels of a successful 2020 for Iiguez, when his research was published in three top journals: Neuropsychopharmacology, Biological Psychiatry and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

The University of Texas at El Paso is one of the largest and most successful Hispanic-serving institutions in the country, with a student body that is 83% Hispanic. It enrolls nearly 25,000 students in 166 bachelors, masters and doctoral programs in 10 colleges and schools. With more than $100 million in total annual research expenditures, UTEP is ranked in the top 5% of research institutions nationally and fifth in Texas for federal research expenditures at public universities.

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UTEP Professors Study May Lead to Solutions for Overeating - Newswise

Neuroscience

BioXcel Therapeutics to Host Virtual Key Opinion Leader Event to Highlight BXCL501 as a Potential Treatment for Agitation and Opioid Withdrawal…

NEW HAVEN, Conn., Feb. 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BioXcel Therapeutics, Inc. (BioXcel or the Company) (Nasdaq: BTAI), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company utilizing artificial intelligence approaches to develop transformative medicines in neuroscience and immuno-oncology, today announced that the Company will host a virtual Key Opinion Leader (KOL) event on Friday, February 19, 2021 from 11:00 am ET to 2:00 pm ET. The event aims to highlight BXCL501, the Companys investigational, proprietary, orally dissolving thin film formulation of dexmedetomidine (Dex), and its potential as a treatment option for multiple neuropsychiatric conditions.

BioXcels management team will be joined by leading experts for each indication to discuss the significant unmet medical need and BXCL501s potential to change the treatment paradigm.

KOL Presenters Include:

Schizophrenia/Bipolar Related Agitation

Dementia Related Agitation

Opioid Withdrawal Symptoms

Delirium Related Agitation

A live webcast of the event will be accessible through the Investors section of the Companys website at http://www.bioxceltherapeutics.com on February 19th at 11:00 am ET. Following the event, the webcast will be archived on the Companys website for at least 30 days.

About BXCL501

BXCL501 is an investigational, proprietary, orally dissolving thin film formulation of dexmedetomidine, a selective alpha-2a receptor agonist for the treatment of agitation and opioid withdrawal symptoms. BioXcel believes that BXCL501 directly targets a causal agitation mechanism, and the Company has observed anti-agitation results in multiple clinical studies across several neuropsychiatric disorders. BXCL501 has been granted Fast Track Designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the acute treatment of agitation in patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, and dementia. BXCL501 has been studied in two Phase 3 trials (SERENITY I and II) for the acute treatment of schizophrenia related agitation and bipolar disorder related agitation, respectively, and in a Phase 1b/2 trial (TRANQUILITY) for the acute treatment of dementia related agitation. This product candidate is also currently being evaluated in a Phase 1b/2 study (RELEASE) for the treatment of opioid withdrawal symptoms, with plans to initiate a Phase 2 trial in hospitalized patients suffering from delirium related agitation within the next several months.

BioXcel Therapeutics, Inc.

BioXcel Therapeutics, Inc. is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company utilizing artificial intelligence approaches to develop transformative medicines in neuroscience and immuno-oncology. BioXcels drug re-innovation approach leverages existing approved drugs and/or clinically validated product candidates together with big data and proprietary machine learning algorithms to identify new therapeutic indices. BioXcels two most advanced clinical development programs are BXCL501, an investigational, proprietary, orally dissolving thin film formulation of dexmedetomidine for the treatment of agitation and opioid withdrawal symptoms, and BXCL701, an investigational, orally administered, systemic innate immunity activator in development for the treatment of aggressive forms of prostate cancer and advanced solid tumors that are refractory or treatment nave to checkpoint inhibitors. For more information, please visit http://www.bioxceltherapeutics.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements in this press release include but are not limited to BXCL501s potential as a treatment option for multiple neuropsychiatric conditions. When used herein, words including anticipate, being, will, plan, may, continue, and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. In addition, any statements or information that refer to expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, performance, or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking. All forward-looking statements are based upon BioXcels current expectations and various assumptions. BioXcel believes there is a reasonable basis for its expectations and beliefs, but they are inherently uncertain.

BioXcel may not realize its expectations, and its beliefs may not prove correct. Actual results could differ materially from those described or implied by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including, without limitation, its limited operating history; its incurrence of significant losses; its need for substantial additional funding and ability to raise capital when needed; its limited experience in drug discovery and drug development; its dependence on the success and commercialization of BXCL501 and BXCL701 and other product candidates; the failure of preliminary data from its clinical studies to predict final study results; failure of its early clinical studies or preclinical studies to predict future clinical studies; its ability to receive regulatory approval for its product candidates; its ability to enroll patients in its clinical trials; undesirable side effects caused by BioXcels product candidates; its approach to the discovery and development of product candidates based on EvolverAI is novel and unproven; its exposure to patent infringement lawsuits; its ability to comply with the extensive regulations applicable to it; impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic; its ability to commercialize its product candidates; and the other important factors discussed under the caption Risk Factors in its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2020, as such factors may be updated from time to time in its other filings with the SEC, which are accessible on the SECs website at http://www.sec.gov and the Investors section of our website at http://www.bioxceltherapeutics.com.

These and other important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this press release. Any such forward-looking statements represent managements estimates as of the date of this press release. While BioXcel may elect to update such forward-looking statements at some point in the future, except as required by law, it disclaims any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing BioXcels views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

Contact Information:

BioXcel Therapeutics, Inc.

http://www.bioxceltherapeutics.com

Investor Relations:

Mary ColemanBioXcel Therapeutics, VP of Investment RelationsMColeman@bioxceltherapeutics.com1.475.238.6837

John GrazianoSolebury Troutjgraziano@soleburytrout.com1.646.378.2942

Media:

Julia DeutschSolebury Troutjdeutsch@soleburytrout.com1.646.378.2967

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BioXcel Therapeutics to Host Virtual Key Opinion Leader Event to Highlight BXCL501 as a Potential Treatment for Agitation and Opioid Withdrawal...

Neuroscience

Neuroscience Market Growth Factor with Key Drivers Analysis till 2026 | GE Healthcare, Siemens Healthineers, Noldus Information Technology, Mightex…

The Global Neuroscience Market share held by the notable professionals of the business and conveys a full perspective on the focused scene. This Neuroscience market is ordered into various sections with the complete examination of each concerning the topography for the investigation time frame. In focus of the verifiable investigation and evaluations of future prospects depend on top to bottom research. This Neuroscience report quickly gives the market patterns, size, development, and estimation for the period 2021-2026.

The report identifies the market share/size and factors controlling the evolution of the market. Additionally, the Neuroscience market research report studies the market scope, industry segment, key drivers for development, major segments, and SWOT Analysis. Moreover, this complete research report provides value in terms of segmental analysis and estimations on the market across regional levels as well as from a universal perspective. Additionally, this report provides insights on the factors that are driving and restraining the demand of Neuroscience market.

Major players covered in this report:

GE HealthcareSiemens HealthineersNoldus Information TechnologyMightex BioscienceThomas RECORDING GmbHBlackrock MicrosystemsTucker-Davis TechnologiesPlexonPhoenix Technology GroupNeuroNexusAlpha Omega

Get a Sample Copy of the report @https://www.reporthive.com/request_sample/2298403

Neuroscience Market Competitive Landscape:The Report on Neuroscience depicts the current & future growth trends of this business besides outlining details pertaining to the myriad geographies that are a part of the regional landscape of Market. The report further elucidates intricate details regarding the supply and demand analysis, Market share, growth statistics and contributions by leading industry players of Market.

Segmentation by Product:

Whole Brain ImagingNeuro-MicroscopyElectrophysiology TechnologiesNeuro-Cellular ManipulationStereotaxic SurgeriesAnimal BehaviorOthers

Segmentation by Application:

HospitalsDiagnostic LaboratoriesResearch InstitutesOthers

Major regions covered in the report:

North America [U.S., Canada, Mexico]Europe [Germany, UK, France, Italy, Rest of Europe]Asia-Pacific [China, India, Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, Australia, Rest of Asia Pacific]South America [Brazil, Argentina, Rest of Latin America]Middle East & Africa [GCC, North Africa, South Africa, Rest of Middle East and Africa]

Why buy a market analysis report on Neuroscience?: Comprehensive and comfortable for our viewers to understand the market report Neuroscience by offering in-depth information through in-depth analysis: The report includes a market scenario, a market structure, market constraints, a study statistics in a market-based market.: It allows tank buffer stainless steel key players to obtain informative data on market trends, upstream and downstream of the upcoming market.: Historical and futuristic information taken into account when running on the Neuroscience types of products, applications and geographical areas: Detailed information on market classification, main opportunities and market developments, as well as on market restrictions and the major challenges facing the market.: Neuroscience Report includes events associated with manufacturing and distribution networks, as well as cost analysis.

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Table of Contents Chapter 1: The report starts with an overview of the global Neuroscience market and highlights of the research study. Chapter 2: Here, the report provides a detailed study of growth driving factors, market challenges, trends, and opportunities. Chapter 3: This chapter offers complete segmental analysis where product and application segments are analyzed in detail. Chapter 4: This section of the report deals with key regions and their potential for growth in the global Neuroscience market. Chapter 5: Here, the report provides deep company profiling of leading players. This chapter also provides an extensive study of the competitive landscape. Chapter 6: Readers are provided with accurate forecasts of production and production value growth in the global Neuroscience market. Chapter 7: The report also provides projections related to consumption in different regions and across the globe. Chapter 8: Here, the authors of the report have discussed about key sales channels and the industry value chain. This chapter also includes comprehensive customer and distributor analysis. Chapter 9: This part of the report sheds light on significant aspects of the global Neuroscience market through Porters Five Forces analysis and PESTLE analysis. Chapter 10: Finally, the report concludes with a summary of important findings about the global Neuroscience market.

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Our research base consists of a wide spectrum of premium market research reports. Apart from comprehensive syndicated research reports, our in-house team of research analysts leverages excellent research capabilities to deliver highly customized tailor-made reports. The market entry strategies presented in our reports has helped organizations of all sizes to generate profits by making timely business decisions. The research information including market size, sales, revenue, and competitive analysis offered, is the product of our excellence in the market research domain.

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Neuroscience Market Growth Factor with Key Drivers Analysis till 2026 | GE Healthcare, Siemens Healthineers, Noldus Information Technology, Mightex...

Genetics

People in the News: New Appointments at Sema4, Sophia Genetics, Qiagen, More – GenomeWeb

Sema4: Isaac Ro

Isaac Ro has been appointed as CFO of Sema4. Previously, he was CFO of Thrive Earlier Detection, which was recently acquired by Exact Sciences. Prior to that, he led the US medical technology team at Goldman Sachs, where he covered life science tools, diagnostics, and medical technology. Before that, he held a similar role at SVB Leerink.

Sophia Genetics: Ross Muken

Originally posted here:
People in the News: New Appointments at Sema4, Sophia Genetics, Qiagen, More - GenomeWeb

Genetics

Celebrate the Third Annual Medical Genetics Awareness Week April 13-16, 2021 – PRNewswire

BETHESDA, Md., Feb. 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --The third annual Medical Genetics Awareness Week will be celebrated April 1316, 2021. Through Medical Genetics Awareness Week, the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) aims to promote awareness of the importance of medical genetics professionals on the healthcare team, including medical geneticists, laboratory geneticists, genetic counselors, nurses and physician assistants. The theme of Medical Genetics Awareness Week is "Celebrating the Contributions of the Entire Medical Genetics Team to Patient Care and Public Health."

New for 2021 are high-quality face masks and a Zoom virtual background to help individuals "Share Your Medical Genetics Pride." Participants can share their pictures to social media wearing a Medical Genetics Awareness Week face mask (free for ACMG members) or a Medical Genetics Awareness Week hashtag button; using a new Medical Genetics Awareness Week Zoom virtual background; or displaying a Medical Genetics Awareness Week sticker.

Since 2019, Medical Genetics Awareness Week has brought together people from across the globe to celebrate the important work of medical genetics professionals. Medical Genetics Awareness Week is celebrated to recognize the critical contributions that medical genetics healthcare professionals make in the diagnosis, management and prevention of genetic diseases, and the difference these professionals make in the lives of patients and families. Medical Genetics Awareness Week is also intended to educate other healthcare professionals and students and trainees on who medical geneticists are, how they are trained and what they do in the clinic and laboratory.

Also new for 2021 are themed days that will include a Diversity Day and a Student and Trainee Day. Follow Medical Genetics Awareness Week on social media by searching the #MedicalGeneticsAwareness hashtagand sign up to receive news and updates about Medical Genetics Awareness Week by clicking here. Log in (or create a free ACMG account) and, on the privacy preferences page, opt in to receive news and updates about Medical Genetics Awareness Week.

"Medical genetics and genomics is now deeply wedged into nearly all disciplines of medicine," said ACMG President Anthony R. Gregg, MD, MBA, FACOG, FACMG. "It is a natural extension that we remind the public and all healthcare professionals that those of us who practice medical genetics in clinics, clinical laboratories and research environments work tirelessly and with great enthusiasm. Our singular common goal is to bring accurate genetic information to the bedside that will improve people's lives."

Events related to Medical Genetics Awareness Week will be held during the ACMG Annual Clinical Genetics Meeting A Virtual Experience, April 1316, 2021, but participants don't need to be a meeting registrant to participate in the week's activities. The ACMG Annual Meeting is the largest conference specifically for clinical and laboratory geneticists in the United States. Those interested in collaborating with ACMG to celebrate Medical Genetics Awareness Week, holding their own events or becoming an "ambassador" for medical genetics are invited to email ACMG Communications Coordinator Reymar Santos at [emailprotected]for more information.

"Medical genetics is for all of us," said Max Muenke, MD, FACMG, ACMG'schief executive officer. "I am delighted to celebrate my colleagues in this important field: genetic counselors, laboratory geneticists, medical geneticists, and other allied healthcare professionals who are committed to optimal patient care."

Visit the Medical Genetics Awareness Week web pageson ACMG's website for resources and tips designed to support the week's celebrationsand to join the Medical Genetics Awareness Week email list. When posting on social media, participants are encouraged to tag @TheACMG and include the following hashtags in posts related to Medical Genetics Awareness Week:

#MedicalGeneticsAwareness#IamaMedicalGeneticist#FutureGeneticsProfessional#IamaLabGeneticist#IamaGeneticCounselor#IamaGeneticsPA#IamaNurseinGenetics#IamaGeneticsNP

About the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) and ACMG Foundation

Founded in 1991, the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) is the only nationally recognized medical society dedicated to improving health through the clinical practice of medical genetics and genomics and the only medical specialty society in the US that represents the full spectrum of medical genetics disciplines in a single organization. The ACMG is the largest membership organization specifically for medical geneticists, providing education, resources and a voice for more than 2,400 clinical and laboratory geneticists, genetic counselors and other healthcare professionals, nearly 80% of whom are board certified in the medical genetics specialties. ACMG's mission is to improve health through the clinical and laboratory practice of medical genetics as well as through advocacy, education and clinical research, and to guide the safe and effective integration of genetics and genomics into all of medicine and healthcare, resulting in improved personal and public health. Four overarching strategies guide ACMG's work: 1) to reinforce and expand ACMG's position as the leader and prominent authority in the field of medical genetics and genomics, including clinical research, while educating the medical community on the significant role that genetics and genomics will continue to play in understanding, preventing, treating and curing disease; 2) to secure and expand the professional workforce for medical genetics and genomics; 3) to advocate for the specialty; and 4) to provide best-in-class education to members and nonmembers. Genetics in Medicine, published monthly, is the official ACMG journal. ACMG's website (www.acmg.net) offers resources including policy statements, practice guidelines, educational programs and a 'Find a Genetic Service' tool. The educational and public health programs of the ACMG are dependent upon charitable gifts from corporations, foundations and individuals through the ACMG Foundation for Genetic and Genomic Medicine.

Kathy Moran, MBA[emailprotected]

SOURCE American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics

http://www.acmg.net

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Celebrate the Third Annual Medical Genetics Awareness Week April 13-16, 2021 - PRNewswire