Inferring Accountability from Trust Perceptions

International audienceOpaque communications between groups of data processors leave individuals out of touch with the circulation and use of their personal information. Empowering individuals in this regard requires sup-plying them — or auditors on their behalf — with clear data handling guarantees. We introduce an inference model providing individuals with global (organization-wide) accountability guarantees which take into account user expectations and varying levels of usage evidence, such as data handling logs. Our model is implemented in the IDP knowledge base system and demonstrated with the scenario of a surveillance infrastructure used by a railroad company. We show that it is flexible enough to be adapted to any use case involving communicating stakeholders for which a trust hierarchy is defined. Via auditors acting for them, individuals can obtain global accountability guarantees, providing them with a trust-dependent synthesis of declared and proven data handling practices for an entire organization

The influence of different concentrations of flavanol chocolate bars under acute supplement conditions on exercise and performance

The purpose of this study was to assess the effects and acute dosage of different flavanol concentrations in a dark chocolate bar on physiological parameters during steady state (SS) and incremental exercise. In a double-blind, randomised, crossover study, 15 healthy participants with a mean ± SD age of 30 ± 7 years; stature 176.8 ± 8.6 cm and body mass 80.3 ± 8.4 kg supplemented with high flavanol (HF) (1060 mg), moderate flavanol (MF) (746 mg), low flavanol (LF) (406 mg), or a control (CON) (88 mg) chocolate bar (~ 34 g), 2 h prior to 40 min of SS cycling (80% gas-exchange threshold) followed by an incremental test to volitional fatigue. During the SS cycle oxygen consumption ([Formula: see text]), respiratory exchange ratio (RER) and heart rate (HR) were continuously monitored. Plasma samples were collected prior to commencing exercise to determine nitrate (NO ) and nitrite (NO ) levels under each condition. There was no observed effect between flavanol concentrations on [Formula: see text], RER, and HR during SS cycling (P > 0.05). [Formula: see text], peak power, HR peak, and RER peak also did not significantly differ between conditions (P > 0.05). There was a small trend for higher plasma NO levels following higher flavanol concentration; however, this did not reach statistical significance (P > 0.05). Acute supplementation with cocoa of differing flavanol concentrations does not appear to have any effect on exercise and performance. It is plausible that longer flavanol supplementation periods might have greater accumulative effects and thus may potentially elicit a larger effect

Cocoa-flavanols enhance moderate-intensity pulmonary [Formula: see text] kinetics but not exercise tolerance in sedentary middle-aged adults.

INTRODUCTION: Cocoa flavanols (CF) may exert health benefits through their potent vasodilatory effects, which are perpetuated by elevations in nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability. These vasodilatory effects may contribute to improved delivery of blood and oxygen (O2) to exercising muscle. PURPOSE: Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine how CF supplementation impacts pulmonary O2 uptake ([Formula: see text]) kinetics and exercise tolerance in sedentary middle-aged adults. METHODS: We employed a double-blind cross-over, placebo-controlled design whereby 17 participants (11 male, 6 female; mean ± SD, 45 ± 6 years) randomly received either 7 days of daily CF (400 mg) or placebo (PL) supplementation. On day 7, participants completed a series of 'step' moderate- and severe-intensity exercise tests for the determination of [Formula: see text] kinetics. RESULTS: During moderate-intensity exercise, the time constant of the phase II [Formula: see text] kinetics ([Formula: see text]) was decreased by 15% in CF as compared to PL (mean ± SD; PL 40 ± 12 s vs. CF 34 ± 9 s, P = 0.019), with no differences in the amplitude of [Formula: see text] (A[Formula: see text]; PL 0.77 ± 0.32 l min-1 vs. CF 0.79 ± 0.34 l min-1, P = 0.263). However, during severe-intensity exercise, [Formula: see text], the amplitude of the slow component ([Formula: see text]) and exercise tolerance (PL 435 ± 58 s vs. CF 424 ± 47 s, P = 0.480) were unchanged between conditions. CONCLUSION: Our data show that acute CF supplementation enhanced [Formula: see text] kinetics during moderate-, but not severe-intensity exercise in middle-aged participants. These novel effects of CFs, in this demographic, may contribute to improved tolerance of moderate-activity physical activities, which appear commonly present in daily life. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Registered under ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier no. NCT04370353, 30/04/20 retrospectively registered

German evidence-based guidelines for the treatment of Psoriasis vulgaris (short version)

Psoriasis vulgaris is a common and chronic inflammatory skin disease which has the potential to significantly reduce the quality of life in severely affected patients. The incidence of psoriasis in Western industrialized countries ranges from 1.5 to 2%. Despite the large variety of treatment options available, patient surveys have revealed insufficient satisfaction with the efficacy of available treatments and a high rate of medication non-compliance. To optimize the treatment of psoriasis in Germany, the Deutsche Dermatologische Gesellschaft and the Berufsverband Deutscher Dermatologen (BVDD) have initiated a project to develop evidence-based guidelines for the management of psoriasis. The guidelines focus on induction therapy in cases of mild, moderate, and severe plaque-type psoriasis in adults. The short version of the guidelines reported here consist of a series of therapeutic recommendations that are based on a systematic literature search and subsequent discussion with experts in the field; they have been approved by a team of dermatology experts. In addition to the therapeutic recommendations provided in this short version, the full version of the guidelines includes information on contraindications, adverse events, drug interactions, practicality, and costs as well as detailed information on how best to apply the treatments described (for full version, please see Nast et al., JDDG, Suppl 2:S1–S126, 2006; or http://www.psoriasis-leitlinie.de)

Synthesis of diversely functionalized pyrrolizidines and indolizidines using olefin ring-closing metathesis

International audienc

Particle-hole excitations in the interacting boson model (I) General structure and symmetries

A version of the interacting boson model (IBM) is introduced that includes particle-like and hole-like bosons and allows the description of excitations across closed shells. The formal, algebraic aspects of the model are worked out in detail, Reduction of the dynamical algebra U-p(6) x U-h(6) leads to the definition of intruder or I spin which labels the character of the bosons (particle-like or hole-like). The I-spin properties of the Hamiltonian and electromagnetic transition operators are discussed. Embedding of U-p(6) x U-h(6) into a larger dynamical algebra gives rise to multiplets that connect either states in different nuclei with the same I spin [U(12)], or states that differ by two particles and two holes [U(6,6)],or states that differ by four particles or four holes [Sp(12)]