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Abstract
Civic associations are expected to foster civic, pro-social behavior, but this optimistic view is increasingly contested. We argue that populist radical right parties can strategically target and infiltrate associations to diffuse anti-establishment rhetoric and anti-democratic attitudes. We illustrate this phenomenon by examining the relationship between civic associations and compliance with government rules during Germany's first Covid-19 lockdown with a difference-in-differences design. Results show that areas with denser sport, nature, and culture clubs recorded higher mobility under lockdown. We document the infiltration mechanism and the spreading of anti-democratic attitudes within associations, using survey and election data and qualitative evidence including interviews. In doing so, we shed light on a negative effect of social networks and an understudied strategy of challenger populist parties.

This study examines the effects of Ottoman imperial rule on long-run development in Europe. Using a novel geographical dataset that tracks territorial changes at the sub-national level over 600 years, we identify a negative effect of Ottoman rule on modern economic performance. Contemporary survey data provides strong support for a causal mechanism involving reduced human capital accumulation. This insight is confirmed by a regression discontinuity analysis using historical data from Romania. We uncover large causal effects of Ottoman rule on literacy rates from the 19th century, which persisted throughout the 20th century. We argue that the late adoption of the printing press in the empire was an important determinant of low human capital accumulation and illustrate this using data on the spread of the printing press.

In this paper, we analyze the relationship between ISIS propaganda content and ISIS-inspired attacks by those outside of the group's control. We examine the content of ISIS' English language magazines, as well as speeches by two of its top leaders. We find that statements made about enemy countries in most contexts are not associated with a higher likelihood of violence in those countries. However, when a country is mentioned in ISIS propaganda in the context of its participation in the air campaign, this corresponds to an increased likelihood that the country will experience a violent attack. This suggests that propaganda highlighting key military adversaries may play a role in directing attackers that are outside the control of the organization's hierarchy to the group's preferred targets.

In this paper, we analyze the relationship between ISIS propaganda content and ISIS-inspired attacks by those outside of the group's control. We examine the content of ISIS' English language magazines, as well as speeches by two of its top leaders. We find that statements made about enemy countries in most contexts are not associated with a higher likelihood of violence in those countries. However, when a country is mentioned in ISIS propaganda in the context of its participation in the air campaign, this corresponds to an increased likelihood that the country will experience a violent attack. This suggests that propaganda highlighting key military adversaries may play a role in directing attackers that are outside the control of the organization's hierarchy to the group's preferred targets.

Why do some political rulers engage in frequent shuffling of their governors while others allow their governors to serve longer? We argue that shuffling of governors reflects the level of a ruler's perception of insecurity. Building on perspectives about situational origins of distrust and paranoid cognition, we argue that democratic leaders, characterized by higher levels of existential security, practice less frequent shuffling of governors compared to authoritarian ones. We also suggest that governors in localities characterized by higher levels of ethnic conflict and poor electoral performance by a ruling government are more likely to be replaced. Utilizing an original dataset of all Ottoman and Turkish governors from 1875 to 2019, our empirical analyses show that governors last longer under more democratic governments, in provinces with lower levels of ethnic diversity conflict, and stronger electoral support for the government.

Robert Adam,1,2 Alice Munteanu,3 Raluca Mititelu,4 Sebastian Onciul,2,5 Dan Deleanu,1 Vlad Anton Iliescu,2,6 Bogdan A Popescu,1,2 Ruxandra Jurcut1,2 1Department of Cardiology, "Prof. Dr. C.C. Iliescu" Emergency Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases, Bucharest, Romania; 2"Carol Davila" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania; 3Department of Cardiology, Emergency University Central Military Hospital, Bucharest, Romania; 4Department of Nuclear Medicine, Emergency University Central Military Hospital, Bucharest, Romania; 5Department of Cardiology, Clinical Emergency Hospital, Bucharest, Romania; 6Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, "Prof. Dr. C.C. Iliescu" Emergency Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases, Bucharest, RomaniaCorrespondence: Ruxandra Jurcut Email rjurcut@gmail.comAbstract: Degenerative aortic valve (AV) disease is the most frequent valvular heart disease slowly progressing to severe aortic stenosis (AS) which usually requires aortic valve replacement. Another frequent condition, especially among elderly people, is cardiac amyloidosis (CA), particularly the wild-type transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis (ATTRwt). Since both of these diseases are considered a marker of ageing, there is a significant proportion of elderly patients who associate both severe AS and CA. Recent studies reported a high prevalence of both severe AS and CA (AS-CA) in elderly patients referred for TAVR of 13– 16%, carrying a worse prognosis. The present case illustrates the diagnostic algorithm and the management of ATTRwt CA in an elderly patient with severe paradoxical low-flow low-gradient AS, accompanied by a review of the current literature about the red flags which help identifying CA in patients with severe AS, as well as the prognosis and management of these disease association.Keywords: aortic stenosis, cardiac amyloidosis, wild-type ATTR, transcatheter aortic valve replacement, conduction disorders

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) due to atherosclerosis of the arterial vessel wall and to thrombosis is the foremost cause of premature mortality and of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) in Europe, and is also increasingly common in developing countries.1 In the European Union, the economic cost of CVD represents annually E192 billion1 in direct and indirect healthcare costs. The main clinical entities are coronary artery disease (CAD), ischaemic stroke, and peripheral arterial disease (PAD). The causes of these CVDs are multifactorial. Some of these factors relate to lifestyles, such as tobacco smoking, lack of physical activity, and dietary habits, and are thus modifiable. Other risk factors are also modifiable, such as elevated blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and dyslipidaemias, or non-modifiable, such as age and male gender. These guidelines deal with the management of dyslipidaemias as an essential and integral part of CVD prevention. Prevention and treatment of dyslipidaemias should always be considered within the broader framework of CVD prevention, which is addressed in guidelines of the Joint European Societies' Task forces on CVD prevention in clinical practice.2 - 5 The latest version of these guidelines was published in 20075; an update will become available in 2012. These Joint ESC/European Atherosclerosis Society (EAS) guidelines on the management of dyslipidaemias are complementary to the guidelines on CVD prevention in clinical practice and address not only physicians [e.g. general practitioners (GPs) and cardiologists] interested in CVD prevention, but also specialists from lipid clinics or metabolic units who are dealing with dyslipidaemias that are more difficult to classify and treat. ; Peer reviewed