Position location and data collection system and method Patent

Development of telemetry system for position location and data acquisitio

An evaluation of helicopter noise and vibration ride qualities criteria

Two methods of quantifying helicopter ride quality; absorbed power for vibration only and the NASA ride comfort model for both noise and vibration are discussed. Noise and vibration measurements were obtained on five operational US Army helicopters. The data were converted to both absorbed power and DISC's (discomfort units used in the NASA model) for specific helicopter flight conditions. Both models indicate considerable variation in ride quality between the five helicopters and between flight conditions within each helicopter

C4b Binding Protein Binds to CD154 Preventing CD40 Mediated Cholangiocyte Apoptosis: A Novel Link between Complement and Epithelial Cell Survival

Activation of CD40 on hepatocytes and cholangiocytes is critical for amplifying Fas-mediated apoptosis in the human liver. C4b-Binding Protein (C4BP) has been reported to act as a potential surrogate ligand for CD40, suggesting that it could be involved in modulating liver epithelial cell survival. Using surface plasmon resonance (BiaCore) analysis supported by gel filtration we have shown that C4BP does not bind CD40, but it forms stable high molecular weight complexes with soluble CD40 ligand (sCD154). These C4BP/sCD154 complexes bound efficiently to immobilised CD40, but when applied to cholangiocytes they failed to induce apoptosis or proliferation or to activate NFkB, AP-1 or STAT 3, which are activated by sCD154 alone. Thus C4BP can modulate CD40/sCD154 interactions by presenting a high molecular weight multimeric sCD154/C4BP complex that suppresses critical intracellular signalling pathways, permitting cell survival without inducing proliferation. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated co-localisation and enhanced expression of C4BP and CD40 in human liver cancers. These findings suggest a novel pathway whereby components of the complement system and TNF ligands and receptors might be involved in modulating epithelial cell survival in chronic inflammation and malignant disease

Linear and Branched Glyco-Lipopeptide Vaccines Follow Distinct Cross-Presentation Pathways and Generate Different Magnitudes of Antitumor Immunity

Glyco-lipopeptides, a form of lipid-tailed glyco-peptide, are currently under intense investigation as B- and T-cell based vaccine immunotherapy for many cancers. However, the cellular and molecular mechanisms of glyco-lipopeptides (GLPs) immunogenicity and the position of the lipid moiety on immunogenicity and protective efficacy of GLPs remain to be determined.We have constructed two structural analogues of HER-2 glyco-lipopeptide (HER-GLP) by synthesizing a chimeric peptide made of one universal CD4(+) epitope (PADRE) and one HER-2 CD8(+) T-cell epitope (HER(420-429)). The C-terminal end of the resulting CD4-CD8 chimeric peptide was coupled to a tumor carbohydrate B-cell epitope, based on a regioselectively addressable functionalized templates (RAFT), made of four alpha-GalNAc molecules. The resulting HER glyco-peptide (HER-GP) was then linked to a palmitic acid moiety, attached either at the N-terminal end (linear HER-GLP-1) or in the middle between the CD4+ and CD8+ T cell epitopes (branched HER-GLP-2). We have investigated the uptake, processing and cross-presentation pathways of the two HER-GLP vaccine constructs, and assessed whether the position of linkage of the lipid moiety would affect the B- and T-cell immunogenicity and protective efficacy. Immunization of mice revealed that the linear HER-GLP-1 induced a stronger and longer lasting HER(420-429)-specific IFN-gamma producing CD8(+) T cell response, while the branched HER-GLP-2 induced a stronger tumor-specific IgG response. The linear HER-GLP-1 was taken up easily by dendritic cells (DCs), induced stronger DCs maturation and produced a potent TLR- 2-dependent T-cell activation. The linear and branched HER-GLP molecules appeared to follow two different cross-presentation pathways. While regression of established tumors was induced by both linear HER-GLP-1 and branched HER-GLP-2, the inhibition of tumor growth was significantly higher in HER-GLP-1 immunized mice (p<0.005).These findings have important implications for the development of effective GLP based immunotherapeutic strategies against cancers

The Perils and Promises of Self-Disclosure on Social Media

In addition to their professional social media accounts, individuals are increasingly using their personal profiles and casual posts to communicate their identities to work colleagues. They do this in order to ‘stand out from the crowd’ and to signal attributes that are difficult to showcase explicitly in a work setting. Existing studies have tended to treat personal posts viewed in a professional context as a problem, since they can threaten impression management efforts. These accounts focus on the attempts of individuals to separate their life domains on social media. In contrast, we present the narratives of professional IT workers in India who intentionally disrupt the boundaries between personal and professional profiles in order to get noticed by their employers. Drawing on the dramaturgical vocabulary of Goffman (1959) we shed light on how individuals cope with increased levels of self-disclosure on social media. We argue that their self-presentations can be likened to post-modern performances in which the traditional boundaries between actor and audience are intentionally unsettled. These casual posts communicate additional personal traits that are not otherwise included in professional presentations. Since there are no strict boundaries between formal front-stage and relaxed back-stage regions in these types of performance, a liminal mental state is often used, which enables a better assessment of the type of information to present on social media

Th17-skewed immune response and cluster of differentiation 40 ligand expression in canine steroid-responsive meningitis-arteritis, a large animal model for neutrophilic meningitis

Background: Steroid-responsive meningitis-arteritis (SRMA) is an immune-mediated disorder characterized by neutrophilic pleocytosis and an arteritis particularly in the cervical leptomeninges. Previous studies of the disease have shown increased levels of IL-6 and TGF-beta(1) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). In the presence of these cytokines, naive CD4+ cells differentiate into Th17 lymphocytes which synthesize interleukin 17 (IL-17). It has been shown that IL-17 plays an active role in autoimmune diseases, it induces and mediates inflammatory responses and has an important role in recruitment of neutrophils. The hypothesis of a Th17-skewed immune response in SRMA should be supported by evaluating IL-17 and CD40L, inducing the vasculitis. Methods: An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed to measure IL-17 and CD40L in serum and CSF from a total of 79 dogs. Measurements of patients suffering from SRMA in the acute state (SRMA A) were compared with levels of patients under treatment with steroids (SRMA T), recurrence of the disease (SRMA R), other neurological disorders, and healthy dogs, using the two-part test. Additionally, secretion of IL-17 and interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) from the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was confirmed by an enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISpot) assay. Results: Significant higher levels of IL-17 were found in CSF of dogs with SRMA A compared with SRMA T, other neurological disorders and healthy dogs (p < 0.0001). In addition, levels of CD40L in CSF in dogs with SRMA A and SRMA R were significantly higher than in those with SRMA T (p = 0.0004) and healthy controls (p = 0.014). Furthermore, CSF concentrations of IL-17 and CD40L showed a strong positive correlation among each other (rSpear = 0.6601;p < 0.0001) and with the degree of pleocytosis (rSpear = 0.8842;p < 0.0001 and rSpear = 0.6649;p < 0.0001, respectively). IL-17 synthesis from PBMCs in SRMA patients was confirmed;however, IL-17 is mainly intrathecally produced. Conclusions: These results imply that Th17 cells are inducing the autoimmune response in SRMA and are involved in the severe neutrophilic pleocytosis and disruption of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). CD-40L intrathecal synthesis might be involved in the striking vasculitis. The investigation of the role of IL-17 in SRMA might elucidate important pathomechanism and open new therapeutic strategies

Simulating Users in a Social Media Platform Using Multi-agent Systems

[EN] The massive use of social media makes it increasingly easy to find highly sensitive information about almost anyone on the Internet. Despite the efforts of social media platforms to provide their users with tools to manage their privacy, these are proving insufficient due to their complexity. For this reason, it has been considered necessary to develop a software tool based on a multi-agent system to help users to improve and correct their bad behavior by using automation mechanisms and transmitting the information in a natural way for them, replicating the behavior of a human being. The aim of our work is to implement a multi- agent system where agents interact organically with each other and with human users on the PESEDIA social network, so that they can support user in a non-intrusive manner, using paternalistic techniques through actions available on the social network.This work has been funded thanks to the Spanish Government through project TIN2017-89156-R and predoctoral contract PRE2018-084940.Pérez-García, D.; Argente, E. (2020). Simulating Users in a Social Media Platform Using Multi-agent Systems. Springer Nature. 486-498. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-61705-9_40S486498Alemany, J., del Val, E., Alberola, J., García-Fornes, A.: Enhancing the privacy risk awareness of teenagers in online social networks through soft-paternalism mechanisms. Int. J. Hum.-Comput. Stud. 129, 27–40 (2019)Argente, E., Vivancos, E., Alemany, J., García-Fornes, A.: Educando en privacidad en el uso de las redes sociales. Educ. Knowl. Soc. 18(2), 107–126 (2017)Bell, L., Gustafson, J.: Interaction with an animated agent in a spoken dialogue system. In: 6th European Conference on Speech Communication and Technology (1999)Cassell, J., Thorisson, K.R.: The power of a nod and a glance: envelope vs. emotional feedback in animated conversational agents. Appl. Artif. Intell. 13(4–5), 519–538 (1999)Cerrato, L., Ekeklint, S.: Different ways of ending human-machine dialogues. In: Proceedings of the Embodied Conversational Agents (2002)Franchi, E., Poggi, A.: Multi-agent systems and social networks. In: Handbook of Research on Business Social Networking: Organizational, Managerial, and Technological Dimensions, pp. 84–97. IGI Global (2012)Hollenbaugh, E.E., Ferris, A.L.: Facebook self-disclosure: examining the role of traits, social cohesion, and motives. Comput. Hum. Behav. 30, 50–58 (2014)Hubal, R.C., Fishbein, D.H., Sheppard, M.S., Paschall, M.J., Eldreth, D.L., Hyde, C.T.: How do varied populations interact with embodied conversational agents? Findings from inner-city adolescents and prisoners. Comput. Hum. Behav. 24(3), 1104–1138 (2008)Inc., F.: Facebook reports third quarter 2019 results (2019). https://investor.fb.com/investor-news/press-release-details/2019/Facebook-Reports-Third-Quarter-2019-Results/default.aspx . Accessed 27 Jan 2020Inc., F.: Instagram for business (2019). https://www.facebook.com/business/marketing/instagram . Accessed 27 Jan 2020Inc., T.: Twitter q3 ’19 investor fact sheet (2019). https://s22.q4cdn.com/826641620/files/doc_financials/2019/q3/Q3_19_InvestorFactSheet.pdf . Accessed 27 Jan 2020Kökciyan, N., Yolum, P.: PriGuardTool: a tool for monitoring privacy violations in online social networks. In: AAMAS, pp. 1496–1497 (2016)Lewis, K.: The co-evolution of social network ties and online privacy behavior. In: Trepte, S., Reinecke, L. (eds.) Privacy Online, pp. 91–109. Springer, Heidelberg (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-21521-6_8Madden, M., et al.: Teens, social media, and privacy. Pew Res. Cent. 21, 2–86 (2013)Patkos, T., et al.: Privacy-by-norms privacy expectations in online interactions. In: 2015 IEEE International Conference on Self-Adaptive Self-Organizing Systems, pp. 1–6 (2015)Ruiz Dolz, R.: An argumentation system for assisting users with privacy management in online social networks (2019)Spottswood, E.L., Hancock, J.T.: Should I share that? Prompting social norms that influence privacy behaviors on a social networking site. J. Comput-Mediat. Commun. 22(2), 55–70 (2017)Stutzman, F., Kramer-Duffield, J.: Friends only: examining a privacy-enhancing behavior in facebook. In: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pp. 1553–1562 (2010)Waters, S., Ackerman, J.: Exploring privacy management on Facebook: motivations and perceived consequences of voluntary disclosure. J. Comput-Mediat. Commun. 17(1), 101–115 (2011)Wisniewski, P.J., Knijnenburg, B.P., Lipford, H.R.: Making privacy personal: profiling social network users to inform privacy education and nudging. Int. J. Hum.-Comput. Stud. 98, 95–108 (2017

Securing national e-ID infrastructures: Tor networks as a source of threats

Securing national electronic identification (e-ID) systems requires an in depth understanding of the associated threats. The trade of identity related ar- tefacts in the darknet facilitates illegal activities such as identity theft in both physical and virtual worlds. This paper reports the findings of an exploratory analysis of identity trading in the darknet. We capture the key features of three major markets of fake IDs in Tor networks, and apply attack-defense trees to show how the security of an e-ID infrastructure is affected by this phenomenon