Towards Coherent Regulation of Law Enforcement Surveillance in the Network Society

In this paper, we study the evolution of telecommunications technology and its impact on law enforcement surveillance. Privacy and the need for law enforcement to conduct investigations have not been at the center of the recent public policy debate. Yet, policy environments have approved law enforcement surveillance that can be and is intrusive. Law enforcement surveillance therefore deserves particular attention when discussing the basic human right to privacy. We illustrate that despite the gradual acceptance of the basic human right to privacy, in the digital age the United States (US) government continues its historical pattern of using technology to enhance its power of search . The most recent example is the installation of the Digital Collection System 1000 (DCS1000), formerly known as Carnivore, a classified packet sniffer, on American networks by the American federal law enforcement agency.NSF grant 9985433; HP equipment gran

Statistical properties of stock order books: empirical results and models

We investigate several statistical properties of the order book of three liquid stocks of the Paris Bourse. The results are to a large degree independent of the stock studied. The most interesting features concern (i) the statistics of incoming limit order prices, which follows a power-law around the current price with a diverging mean; and (ii) the humped shape of the average order book, which can be quantitatively reproduced using a `zero intelligence' numerical model, and qualitatively predicted using a simple approximation.Comment: Revised version, 10 pages, 4 .eps figures. to appear in Quantitative Financ

Life expectancy of persons receiving combination antiretroviral therapy in low-income countries: a cohort analysis from Uganda

Little is known about the effect of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) on life expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa

Passive and active roles of fat-free mass in the control of energy intake and body composition regulation

While putative feedback signals arising from adipose tissue are commonly assumed to provide the molecular links between the body’s long-term energy requirements and energy intake, the available evidence suggests that the lean body or fat-free mass (FFM) also plays a role in the drive to eat. A distinction must, however, be made between a ‘passive’ role of FFM in driving energy intake, which is likely to be mediated by ‘energy-sensing’ mechanisms that translate FFM-induced energy requirements to energy intake, and a more ‘active’ role of FFM in the drive to eat through feedback signaling between FFM deficit and energy intake. Consequently, a loss of FFM that results from dieting or sedentarity should be viewed as a risk factor for weight regain and increased fatness not only because of the impact of the FFM deficit in lowering the maintenance energy requirement but also because of the body’s attempt to restore FFM by overeating—a phenomenon referred to as ‘collateral fattening’. A better understanding of these passive and active roles of FFM in the control of energy intake will necessitate the elucidation of peripheral signals and energy-sensing mechanisms that drive hunger and appetite, with implications for both obesity prevention and its management

A Chinese Chan-based lifestyle intervention improves memory of older adults

This study aims to explore the potential benefits of a Chinese Chan-based lifestyle intervention on enhancing memory in older people with lower memory function. Forty-four aged 60–83 adults with various level of memory ability participated in the study. Their memories (including verbal and visual components) were assessed before and after 3 months intervention. The intervention consisted of 12 sessions, with one 90 min session per week. The intervention involved components of adopting a special vegetarian diet, practicing a type of mind–body exercises, and learning self-realization. Elderly with lower memory function at the baseline (i.e., their performance on standardized memory tests was within 25th percentile) showed a significant memory improvement after the intervention. Their verbal and visual memory performance has showed 50 and 49% enhancement, respectively. In addition, their improvement can be considered as a reliable and clinically significant change as reflected by their significant pre–post differences and reliable change indices. Such robust treatment effect was found to be specific to memory functions, but less influencing on the other cognitive functions. These preliminary encouraging results have shed some light on the potential applicability of the Chinese Chan-based lifestyle intervention as a method for enhancing memory in the elderly population

Heterogeneity in the energy cost of posture maintenance during standing relative to sitting: phenotyping according to magnitude and time-Course

Background: Reducing sitting-time may decrease risk of disease and increase life-span. In the search for approaches to reduce sitting-time, research often compares sitting to standing and ambulation, but the energetic cost of standing alone versus sitting is equivocal, with large variation in reported mean values (0% to > 20% increase in energy expenditure (EE) during standing).Objective: To determine the magnitude and time-course of changes in EE and respiratory quotient (RQ) during steady-state standing versus sitting.Design: Min-by-min monitoring using a posture-adapted ventilated-hood indirect calorimetry system was conducted in 22 young adults with normal BMI during 10 min of steady-state standing versus sitting comfortably.Results: This study reveals three distinct phenotypes based on the magnitude and time-course of the EE response to steady-state standing. One-third of participants (8/22) showed little or no change in EE during standing relative to sitting (ΔEE < 5%; below first quartile). Of the 14 responders (ΔEE 7–21%), 4 showed sustained, elevated EE during standing, while 10 decreased their EE to baseline sitting values during the second half of the standing period. These EE phenotypes were systematically mirrored by alterations in RQ (a proxy of substrate oxidation), with ΔEE inversely correlated with ΔRQ (r = 0.6–0.8, p < 0.01).Conclusion: This study reveals different phenotypes pertaining to both energy cost and fuel utilization during standing, raising questions regarding standing as a strategy to increase EE and thermogenesis for weight control, and opening new avenues of research towards understanding the metabolic and psychomotor basis of variability in the energetics of standing and posture maintenance

Oral contraceptive pill alters acute dietary protein‐induced thermogenesis in young women

Objective: There is much interest in the role of dietary protein for weight control. However, there remains a need to characterize individual determinants of the thermogenic effects of protein. This study aimed to investigate the influence of menstrual cycle phase and the combined, monophasic oral contraceptive pill on the thermogenic response to a standardized high-protein (HP) versus normal-protein (NP) meal.Methods: Following an overnight fast, resting energy expenditure (EE) was measured in 16 healthy young women (8 taking and 8 not taking the pill) and 8 men for 30 minutes pre ingestion and 3 hours post ingestion of a NP (11%) or HP (24%) meal.Results: There was no effect of menstrual phase or contraceptive pill use on fasting EE or NP response. However, HP increased EE significantly more than NP in women not taking the oral contraceptive pill and in men, but not in women taking the pill.Conclusions: This study shows an absence of the greater thermic effect of HP versus NP in women taking the oral contraceptive pill and has important implications regarding the effectiveness of HP for body weight regulation in women. With current obesity treatment/prevention strategies remaining largely ineffective, understanding the relationship between oral contraceptive pill use and protein-induced thermogenesis may enable the successful recalibration of existing dietary recommendations

BMI and cardiovascular function in children and adolescents of Mauritius Island

Among countries which have undergone a rapid socio-economic and nutrition transition over the past few decades, the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius is among those with the greatest surge in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes and CVD. The aim of the present study was to characterise the BMI and cardiovascular functions of children and adolescents of this at-risk population. Data were collected through measurements of anthropometry, resting heart rate and blood pressure in a nationally representative sample (n 2489) of children (5-10 years) and adolescents (11-18 years), and analysed according to sex and ethnic identity: South Asian Hindus and Muslims (both of Indian ancestry), Creole (of varying degrees of African ancestry) and Chinese (of mainland China ancestry). Based on standards of the WHO or International Obesity Task Force, one in six of these young individuals exhibit a high BMI-for-age. Analysis by ethnicity revealed that Creole males and females show higher BMI-for-age but also lower heart rate (P<0·001) even after adjustment for BMI. Additionally, Chinese males and females show higher systolic blood pressure (P<0·01), independently of BMI. None of these ethnic differences could be related to household income, diet type (vegetarian v. non-vegetarian) or to fruit consumption. This study in children and adolescents of this multi-ethnic at-risk population for CVD reveal ethnic differences in BMI-for-age as well as consistent BMI-independent ethnic differences in heart rate and systolic blood pressure. These findings underscore the need to establish the BMI-fat % relationship across the various ethnic groups and for more detailed investigations about their differences in lifestyle and dietary habits that might explain their differential cardiovascular functions prior to adulthoo