Measuring Individuals\u27 Concerns over Collective Privacy on Social Networking Sites

With the rise of social networking sites (SNSs), individuals not only disclose personal information but also share private information concerning others online. While shared information is co-constructed by self and others, personal and collective privacy boundaries become blurred. Thus there is an increasing concern over information privacy beyond the individual level. Drawing on the Communication Privacy Management theory, we conceptualize individuals\u27 concerns over collective privacy on SNSs, with three distinctive dimensions—collective information access, control and diffusion, and develop a scale of collective SNS privacy concern (SNSPC) through empirical validation. Structural model analyses confirm the three-dimension structure of collective SNSPC and indicate perceived risk and propensity to value privacy as two antecedents. We discuss key findings, implications and future research directions for theorizing and examining privacy as a collective issue

Design and analysis of a novel long-distance double tendon-sheath transmission device for breast intervention robots under MRI field

Cancer represents a major threat to human health. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provides superior performance to other imaging-based examination methods in the detection of tumors and offers distinct advantages in biopsy and seed implantation. However, because of the MRI environment, the material requirements for actuating devices for the medical robots used in MRI are incredibly demanding. This paper describes a novel double tendon-sheath transmission device for use in MRI applications. LeBus grooves are used in the original transmission wheels, thus enabling the system to realize long-distance and large-stroke transmission with improved accuracy. The friction model of the transmission system and the transmission characteristics model of the novel tendon-sheath structure are then established. To address the problem that tension sensors cannot be installed in large-stroke transmission systems, a three-point force measurement method is used to measure and set an appropriate preload in the novel tendon-sheath transmission system. Additionally, experiments are conducted to verify the accuracy of the theoretical model and multiple groups of tests are performed to explore the transmission characteristics. Finally, the novel tendon-sheath transmission system is compensated to improve its accuracy and the experimental results acquired after compensation show that the system satisfies the design requirements

Mechanisms of Acquired Resistance to Anti-VEGF Therapy for Neovascular Eye Diseases

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate clinical reports of response-loss in patients with neovascular eye diseases, such as neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic macular edema (DME), after repeated anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy. To assess experimental evidence of associations of other angiogenic growth factors and endothelial glycolytic pathways with the diseases and to propose the underlying mechanisms. METHODS: Review of published clinical studies and experimental investigations. RESULTS: Intravitreal injection of anti-VEGF biologic drugs (e.g. bevacizumab, ranibizumab, and aflibercept) is the front-line treatment for neovascular AMD and DME, and acts by halting the progression of excess blood vessel growth and leakage. Despite favorable clinical results, exudation returns in a number of patients after repeated administrations over time. Patients suffering from disease recurrence may have developed an acquired resistance to anti-VEGF therapy. We have analyzed clinical and preclinical findings on changes to angiogenic signaling pathways following VEGF-targeted treatment and hypothesize that switching to alternative pathways could potentially bypass VEGF blockade, accounting for development of resistance to anti-VEGF therapy. We have also discussed potential reprogramming of ocular endothelial glycolysis in response to VEGF antagonism and proposed that metabolic adaptations could impair blood-retinal barrier function, counteracting the clinical efficacy of VEGF-targeted therapies and contributing to a decline of response to them. CONCLUSIONS: Future studies of the mechanisms proposed in this review may shed some light on how these adaptations result in the development of acquired resistance to anti-VEGF therapy, which should help discover new therapeutic strategies for overcoming anti-VEGF resistance and improving clinical efficacy

Do We Blame it on the Machine? Task Outcome and Agency Attribution in Human-Technology Collaboration

With the growing functionality and capability of technology in human-technology interaction, humans are no longer the only autonomous entity. Automated machines increasingly play the role of agentic teammates, and through this process, human agency and machine agency are constructed and negotiated. Previous research on “Computers are Social Actors (CASA)” and self-serving bias suggest that humans might attribute more technology agency and less human agency when the interaction outcome is undesirable, and vice versa. We conducted an experiment to test this proposition by manipulating task outcome of a game co-played by a user and a smartphone app, and found partially contradictory results. Further, user characteristics, sociability in particular, moderated the effect of task outcome on agency attribution, and affected user experience and behavioral intention. Such findings suggest a complex mechanism of agency attribution in human-technology collaboration, which has important implications for emerging socio-ethical and socio-technical concerns surrounding intelligent technology

Increased Affinity for RNA Targets Evolved Early in Animal and Plant Dicer Lineages through Different Structural Mechanisms

Understanding the structural basis for evolutionary changes in protein function is central to molecular evolutionary biology and can help determine the extent to which functional convergence occurs through similar or different structural mechanisms. Here, we combine ancestral sequence reconstruction with functional characterization and structural modeling to directly examine the evolution of sequence-structure-function across the early differentiation of animal and plant Dicer/DCL proteins, which perform the first molecular step in RNA interference by identifying target RNAs and processing them into short interfering products. We found that ancestral Dicer/DCL proteins evolved similar increases in RNA target affinities as they diverged independently in animal and plant lineages. In both cases, increases in RNA target affinities were associated with sequence changes that anchored the RNA's 5'phosphate, but the structural bases for 5'phosphate recognition were different in animal versus plant lineages. These results highlight how molecular-functional evolutionary convergence can derive from the evolution of unique protein structures implementing similar biochemical mechanisms

Employing a Narrow-Band-Gap Mediator in Ternary Solar Cells for Enhanced Photovoltaic Performance.

Ternary organic solar cells (OSCs) provide a convenient and effective means to further improve the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of binary ones via composition control. However, the role of the third component remains to be explored in specific binary systems. Herein, we report ternary blend solar cells by adding the narrow-band-gap donor PCE10 as the mediator into the PBDB-T:IDTT-T binary blend system. The extended absorption, efficient fluorescence resonance energy transfer, enhanced charge dissociation, and induced tighter molecular packing of the ternary blend films enhance the photovoltaic properties of devices and deliver a champion PCE of 10.73% with an impressively high open-circuit voltage (VOC) of 1.03 V. Good miscibility and similar molecular packing behavior of the components guarantee the desired morphology in the ternary blend films, leading to solar cell devices with over 10% PCEs at a range of compositions. Our results suggest that ternary systems with properly aligned energy levels and overlapping absorption among the components hold great promises to further enhance the performance of corresponding binary ones

Commodifying Non-English Foreign Language via Chinese University Websites

This paper examines the commodification of non-English foreign languages through the official websites of 42 China’s double first-class universities. Informed by the concepts of language as commodity (Heller 2010), this study examines how non-English foreign languages are ideologically constructed as valued resources exchange for decent job, advanced education and China’s regional integration. However, the study also finds that even these websites try their best to portray non-English foreign languages as valuable commodity, the concept of English as the default language still permeates in the whole promoting process. Therefore, there is still some tensions between ideal promoting vision and actual practices. This study can shed lights on the valorization of multilingual education in China and the promotion of non-English foreign languages to the world