A glance of child’s play privacy in smart toys

© Springer International Publishing AG 2016. A smart toy is defined as a device consisting of a physical toy component that connects to one or more toy computing services to facilitate gameplay in the Cloud through networking and sensory technologies to enhance the functionality of a traditional toy. A smart toy in this context can be effectively considered an Internet of Things (IoT) with Artificial Intelligence (AI) which can provide Augmented Reality (AR) experiences to users. Referring to the direction of the United States Federal Trade Commission Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the European Union Data Protection Directive (EUDPD), this study adopts the definition of a child to be an individual under the age of 13 years old. In this study, the first assumption is that children do not understand the concept of privacy. The second assumption is that children will disclose as much information to smart toys as they can trust. Breaches of privacy can result in physical safety of child user, e.g., child predators. While the parents/legal guardians of a child strive to ensure their child’s physical and online safety and privacy, there is no common approach for these parents/guardians to study the information flow between their child and the smart toys they interact with. This paper discusses related privacy requirements for smart toys in a toy computing environment with a case study on a commercial smart toy called Hello Barbie from Mattel

Crystallographic origin of cycle decay of the high-voltage LiNi\u3csub\u3e0.5\u3c/sub\u3eMn\u3csub\u3e1.5\u3c/sub\u3eO\u3csub\u3e4\u3c/sub\u3e spinel lithium-ion battery electrode

High-voltage spinel LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 (LNMO) is considered a potential high-power-density positive electrode for lithium-ion batteries, however, it suffers from capacity decay after extended charge-discharge cycling, severely hindering commercial application. Capacity fade is thought to occur through the significant volume change of the LNMO electrode occurring on cycling, and in this work we use operando neutron powder diffraction to compare the structural evolution of the LNMO electrode in an as-assembled 18650-type battery containing a Li4Ti5O12 negative electrode with that in an identical battery following 1000 cycles at high-current. We reveal that the capacity reduction in the battery post cycling is directly proportional to the reduction in the maximum change of the LNMO lattice parameter during its evolution. This is correlated to a corresponding reduction in the MnO6 octahedral distortion in the spinel structure in the cycled battery. Further, we find that the rate of lattice evolution, which reflects the rate of lithium insertion and removal, is ∼9 and ∼10% slower in the cycled than in the as-assembled battery during the Ni2+/Ni3+ and Ni3+/Ni4+ transitions, respectively

Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) induces cell proliferation, fusion, and chemokine expression in swine monocytic cells in vitro

Granulomatous lymphadenitis is one of the pathognomonic lesions in post-weaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS)-affected pigs. This unique lesion has not been reported in direct association with viral infection in pigs. The objective of the present study was to evaluate whether porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) alone is able to induce functional modulation in porcine monocytic cells in vitro to elucidate its possible role in the development of granulomatous inflammation. It was found that the proliferation activity of blood monocytes (Mo) and monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM) was significantly enhanced by PCV2. During monocyte-macrophage differentiation, the PCV2 antigen-containing rate and formation of multinucleated giant cells (MGC) were significantly increased in MDM when compared to those in Mo. The MDM-derived MGC displayed a significantly higher PCV2 antigen-containing rate than did the mono-nucleated MDM. Supernatants from PCV2-inoculated MDM at 24 h post-inoculation induced an increased tendency of chemotactic activity for blood Mo. At the same inoculation time period, levels of mRNA expression of the monocytic chemokines, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 and macrophage inflammatory protein-1, also significantly increased in PCV2-inoculated MDM. The results suggest that PCV2 alone may induce cell proliferation, fusion, and chemokine expression in swine monocytic cells. Thus, PCV2 itself may play a significant role in the induction of granulomatous inflammation in PMWS-affected pigs

Clinical Efficacy and Post-Treatment Seromarkers Associated with the Risk of Hepatocellular Carcinoma among Chronic Hepatitis C Patients

This follow-up study enrolled chronic hepatitis C patients to evaluate the treatment efficacy and to identify post-treatment seromarkers associated with risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) among patients with a sustained virological response (SVR) or nonsustained virological response (NSVR). A total of 4639 patients who received pegylated interferon and ribavirin during 2004–2013 were followed until December 2014. HCC was confirmed through health examinations and data linkage with a national database. A total of 233 HCC cases were reported after 26,163 person-years of follow-up, indicating an incidence of 8.9 per 1000 person-years: 6.9 for SVR and 21.6 for NSVR per 1000 person-years. The associated risk of HCC in patients with SVR was 0.37 (0.22–0.63) for those without cirrhosis and 0.54 (0.31–0.92) for those with cirrhosis compared with their respective counterparts with NSVR. Among patients with SVR, advanced age, male gender, cirrhosis, decreased platelet count, and increased aspartate aminotransferase and α-fetoprotein levels were associated with HCC (p < 0.001). The treatment of chronic hepatitis C patients before they developed cirrhosis showed a higher efficacy than did the treatment of those who had already developed cirrhosis. Patients with SVR may still have a risk of HCC and need to be regularly monitored

Search for eccentric black hole coalescences during the third observing run of LIGO and Virgo

Despite the growing number of confident binary black hole coalescences observed through gravitational waves so far, the astrophysical origin of these binaries remains uncertain. Orbital eccentricity is one of the clearest tracers of binary formation channels. Identifying binary eccentricity, however, remains challenging due to the limited availability of gravitational waveforms that include effects of eccentricity. Here, we present observational results for a waveform-independent search sensitive to eccentric black hole coalescences, covering the third observing run (O3) of the LIGO and Virgo detectors. We identified no new high-significance candidates beyond those that were already identified with searches focusing on quasi-circular binaries. We determine the sensitivity of our search to high-mass (total mass M&gt;70 M⊙) binaries covering eccentricities up to 0.3 at 15 Hz orbital frequency, and use this to compare model predictions to search results. Assuming all detections are indeed quasi-circular, for our fiducial population model, we place an upper limit for the merger rate density of high-mass binaries with eccentricities 0&lt;e≤0.3 at 0.33 Gpc−3 yr−1 at 90\% confidence level

Ultralight vector dark matter search using data from the KAGRA O3GK run

Among the various candidates for dark matter (DM), ultralight vector DM can be probed by laser interferometric gravitational wave detectors through the measurement of oscillating length changes in the arm cavities. In this context, KAGRA has a unique feature due to differing compositions of its mirrors, enhancing the signal of vector DM in the length change in the auxiliary channels. Here we present the result of a search for U(1)B−L gauge boson DM using the KAGRA data from auxiliary length channels during the first joint observation run together with GEO600. By applying our search pipeline, which takes into account the stochastic nature of ultralight DM, upper bounds on the coupling strength between the U(1)B−L gauge boson and ordinary matter are obtained for a range of DM masses. While our constraints are less stringent than those derived from previous experiments, this study demonstrates the applicability of our method to the lower-mass vector DM search, which is made difficult in this measurement by the short observation time compared to the auto-correlation time scale of DM

SURVEY ON THE PERCEPTIONS OF SINGAPORE’S BUILT HERITAGE AND LANDMARKS

10.25818/jz4h-es561-71IPS Working Papers (Institute of Policy Studies

Hemodynamic and electromechanical effects of paraquat in rat heart.

Paraquat (PQ) is a highly lethal herbicide. Ingestion of large quantities of PQ usually results in cardiovascular collapse and eventual mortality. Recent pieces of evidence indicate possible involvement of oxidative stress- and inflammation-related factors in PQ-induced cardiac toxicity. However, little information exists on the relationship between hemodynamic and cardiac electromechanical effects involved in acute PQ poisoning. The present study investigated the effects of acute PQ exposure on hemodynamics and electrocardiogram (ECG) in vivo, left ventricular (LV) pressure in isolated hearts, as well as contractile and intracellular Ca2+ properties and ionic currents in ventricular myocytes in a rat model. In anesthetized rats, intravenous PQ administration (100 or 180 mg/kg) induced dose-dependent decreases in heart rate, blood pressure, and cardiac contractility (LV +dP/dtmax). Furthermore, PQ administration prolonged the PR, QRS, QT, and rate-corrected QT (QTc) intervals. In Langendorff-perfused isolated hearts, PQ (33 or 60 μM) decreased LV pressure and contractility (LV +dP/dtmax). PQ (10-60 μM) reduced the amplitudes of Ca2+ transients and fractional cell shortening in a concentration-dependent manner in isolated ventricular myocytes. Moreover, whole-cell patch-clamp experiments demonstrated that PQ decreased the current amplitude and availability of the transient outward K+ channel (Ito) and altered its gating kinetics. These results suggest that PQ-induced cardiotoxicity results mainly from diminished Ca2+ transients and inhibited K+ channels in cardiomyocytes, which lead to LV contractile force suppression and QTc interval prolongation. These findings should provide novel cues to understand PQ-induced cardiac suppression and electrical disturbances and may aid in the development of new treatment modalities

Healthy Life Expectancies by the Effects of Hypertension and Diabetes for the Middle Aged and Over in Taiwan

(1) Introduction: This study aims to investigate the disparity in the healthy life expectancy of the elderly with hypertension and diabetes mellitus. (2) Materials and Methods: This study used survey data collected in five waves (1996, 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2011) of the &ldquo;Taiwan Longitudinal Study on Aging&rdquo; (TLSA) to estimate the life expectancy and healthy life expectancy of different age groups. The activities of daily living, the health condition of hypertension and diabetes and the survival statuses of these cases were analyzed by the IMaCh (Interpolated Markov Chain) and logistic regression model. (3) Results: As regards the elderly between age 50 and 60 with hypertension and diabetes, women with hypertension only exhibited the longest life expectancy, and the healthy life expectancy and the percentage of remaining life with no functional incapacity were 33.74 years and 87.11%, respectively. In contrast, men with diabetes only showed the shortest life expectancy, and the healthy life expectancy and the percentage of remaining life with no functional incapacity were 22.51 years and 93.16%, respectively. We also found that people with diabetes showed a lower percentage of remaining life with no functional incapacity. (4) Conclusions: We suggest that policymakers should pay special attention to publicizing the importance of health control behavior in order to decrease the risk of suffering diseases and to improve the elderly&rsquo;s quality of life