Privacy on Facebook Brand Pages: A Content Analysis Study of New Zealand Organisations

With a significant number of organisations using a Facebook brand page to connect with users, the privacy issues that arise should not be ignored. In New Zealand, organisations have the obligation to protect the data privacy of their clients. For organisations using Facebook pages, it is essential to make sure users know how personally identifiable data gathered through these pages is being treated. This study develops a content analysis questionnaire that can be used to test privacy on organisational Facebook pages. The questionnaire determines the tools and features organisation brand pages use, as well as testing how the organisation communicates its data handling practices in respect of the data it gathers. The study concludes that the Facebook pages of top New Zealand organisations are making common use of Facebook tools, but are very poor in communicating their data handling practices with only a few pages examined having any form of privacy notification

An Optimization Approach for Pricing of Sherpa Target Redemption Notes

Based on the one-factor CIR interest rate model, the pricing of Sherpa Target Redemption Notes (STARN) with early-excise features is investigated in this paper. Firstly, the characteristics of Sherpa target redemption notes were described and the partial differential equation was proposed. Secondly, both non-arbitrage jump conditions on the coupon date and early-excise policy on the redemption date were provided; furthermore, the boundary conditions of partial differential equations were also discussed. Thirdly, a numerical method for solving the partial differential equation was obtained based on the control volume in the theory of finite volume by making use of the upwind weighting scheme to avoid the numerical oscillation phenomenon. Finally, the sensitivity of the model parameters was analyzed. The results show that the STARN value decreases rapidly with the increase in short-term interest rates, furthermore, when short-term interest rates reached a turning point the rate of decline slowed. As volatility increases, the value of the Notes is increased; increasingly as the proportion redeemed is large, STARN value increases

Unified nonequilibrium dynamical theory for exchange bias and training effects

We investigate the exchange bias and training effects in the FM/AF heterostructures using a unified Monte Carlo dynamical approach. This real dynamical method has been proved reliable and effective in simulating dynamical magnetization of nanoscale magnetic systems. The magnetization of the uncompensated AF layer is still open after the first field cycling is finished. Our simulated results show obvious shift of hysteresis loops (exchange bias) and cycling dependence of exchange bias (training effect) when the temperature is below 45 K. The exchange bias fields decrease with decreasing the cooling rate or increasing the temperature and the number of the field cycling. With the simulations, we show the exchange bias can be manipulated by controlling the cooling rate, the distributive width of the anisotropy energy, or the magnetic coupling constants. Essentially, these two effects can be explained on the basis of the microscopical coexistence of both reversible and irreversible moment reversals of the AF domains. Our simulated results are useful to really understand the magnetization dynamics of such magnetic heterostructures. This unified nonequilibrium dynamical method should be applicable to other exchange bias systems.Comment: Chin. Phys. B, in pres

Investigations on birefringence effects in polymer optical fiber Bragg gratings

Step-index polymer optical fiber Bragg gratings (POFBGs) and microstructured polymer optical fiber Bragg gratings (mPOFBGs) present several attractive features, especially for sensing purposes. In comparison to FBGs written in silica fibers, they are more sensitive to temperature and pressure because of the larger thermo-optic coefficient and smaller Young's modulus of polymer materials. (M)POFBGs are most often photowritten in poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) materials using a continuous-wave 325 nm HeCd laser. For the first time to the best of our knowledge, we study photoinduced birefringence effects in (m)POFBGs. To achieve this, highly reflective gratings were inscribed with the phase mask technique. They were then monitored in transmission with polarized light. For this, (m)POF sections a few cm in length containing the gratings were glued to angled silica fibers. Polarization dependent loss (PDL) and differential group delay (DGD) were computed from the Jones matrix eigenanalysis using an optical vector analyser. Maximum values exceeding several dB and a few picoseconds were obtained for the PDL and DGD, respectively. The response to lateral force was finally investigated. As it induces birefringence in addition to the photo-induced one, an increase of the PDL and DGD values were noticed. © 2014 Copyright SPIE

Leader-following coordination of multi-agent systems with coupling time delays

In this paper, we consider a leader-following consensus problem of a group of autonomous agents with time-varying coupling delays. Two different cases of coupling topologies are investigated. At first, a necessary and sufficient condition is proved in the case when the interconnection topology is fixed and directed. Then a sufficient condition is proposed in the case when the coupling topology is switched and balanced. Numerical examples are also given to illustrate our results.Comment: 16 pages,5 figure

Low-cost cell-based production platform for seasonal and pandemic influenza vaccines

Influenza-related illnesses have caused an estimated over million cases of severe illness, and it has about hundred thousands of deaths worldwide annually. Traditionally these vaccines are produced in embryonated chicken eggs. However, in the case of a pandemic outbreak, this egg-based production system may not be quickly enough to meet the surging demand. The efficacy associated with egg-based vaccines are low in recently years. The raising concerns with egg-derived vaccines is resulting in the spurred exploration of alternatives. MDCK cells are becoming as an alternative host to embryonated eggs for influenza virus propagation. Although MDCK cells were considered to be a suitable host for the virus production, their inability to grow in suspension still limits the process of scale-up and their production capability. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract