Ethical Issues in the Big Data Industry

Big Data combines information from diverse sources to create knowledge, make better predictions and tailor services. This article analyzes Big Data as an industry, not a technology, and identifies the ethical issues it faces. These issues arise from reselling consumers\u27 data to the secondary market for Big Data. Remedies for the issues are proposed, with the goal of fostering a sustainable Big Data Industry.Click here for podcast summary (mp3)Click here for free 2-page executive summary (pdf)Click here for free presentation slides (pptx

How high schools teach quantum physics – a cross-national analysis of curricula in secondary education

Quantum physics (QP) changed our worldview, it brought us modern electronic devices, and its almost mythical image fascinates. Although QP is relatively new in secondary education, it is now part of the national curricula of many countries. To understand the current state of QP content in high schools, we scrutinised upper secondary school physics curriculum documents in 15 countries. In these countries, we identified a similar core curriculum of QP which contains the following seven main categories: discrete atomic energy levels, interactions between light and matter, wave-particle duality, de Broglie wavelength, technical applications, Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, and the probabilistic nature of QP. We also found differences in the focus of the listed topics of individual countries, which indicate different views on teaching QP. The thematic focus of QP items is related to the underlying goal of science education and to the way students' knowledge is tested. This overview shows which QP content is generally feasible at a secondary level and which pedagogical perspectives are possible. Therefore this study might lead to reflections on existing QP curricula, and inspire countries that do not have QP in their curriculum yet

Insights into Autotrophic Activities and Carbon Flow in Iron-Rich Pelagic Aggregates (Iron Snow)

Pelagic aggregates function as biological carbon pumps for transporting fixed organic carbon to sediments. In iron-rich (ferruginous) lakes, photoferrotrophic and chemolithoautotrophic bacteria contribute to CO2 fixation by oxidizing reduced iron, leading to the formation of iron-rich pelagic aggregates (iron snow). The significance of iron oxidizers in carbon fixation, their general role in iron snow functioning and the flow of carbon within iron snow is still unclear. Here, we combined a two-year metatranscriptome analysis of iron snow collected from an acidic lake with protein-based stable isotope probing to determine general metabolic activities and to trace 13CO2 incorporation in iron snow over time under oxic and anoxic conditions. mRNA-derived metatranscriptome of iron snow identified four key players (Leptospirillum, Ferrovum, Acidithrix, Acidiphilium) with relative abundances (59.6–85.7%) encoding ecologically relevant pathways, including carbon fixation and polysaccharide biosynthesis. No transcriptional activity for carbon fixation from archaea or eukaryotes was detected. 13CO2 incorporation studies identified active chemolithoautotroph Ferrovum under both conditions. Only 1.0–5.3% relative 13C abundances were found in heterotrophic Acidiphilium and Acidocella under oxic conditions. These data show that iron oxidizers play an important role in CO2 fixation, but the majority of fixed C will be directly transported to the sediment without feeding heterotrophs in the water column in acidic ferruginous lakes

Semiclassical Estimates of Electromagnetic Casimir Self-Energies of Spherical and Cylindrical Metallic Shells

The leading semiclassical estimates of the electromagnetic Casimir stresses on a spherical and a cylindrical metallic shell are within 1% of the field theoretical values. The electromagnetic Casimir energy for both geometries is given by two decoupled massless scalars that satisfy conformally covariant boundary conditions. Surface contributions vanish for smooth metallic boundaries and the finite electromagnetic Casimir energy in leading semiclassical approximation is due to quadratic fluctuations about periodic rays in the interior of the cavity only. Semiclassically the non-vanishing Casimir energy of a metallic cylindrical shell is almost entirely due to Fresnel diffraction.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figure

Frontal lobe connectivity and network community characteristics are associated with the outcome of subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation in patients with Parkinson's disease

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) is nowadays an evidence-based state of the art therapy option for motor and non-motor symptoms in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, the exact anatomical regions of the cerebral network that are targeted by STN–DBS have not been precisely described and no definitive pre-intervention predictors of the clinical response exist. In this study, we test the hypothesis that the clinical effectiveness of STN–DBS depends on the connectivity profile of the targeted brain networks. Therefore, we used diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and probabilistic tractography to reconstruct the anatomical networks and the graph theoretical framework to quantify the connectivity profile. DWI was obtained pre-operatively from 15 PD patients who underwent DBS (mean age = 67.87 ± 7.88, 11 males, H&Y score = 3.5 ± 0.8) using a 3T MRI scanner (Philips Achieva). The pre-operative connectivity properties of a network encompassing frontal, prefrontal cortex and cingulate gyrus were directly linked to the postoperative clinical outcome. Eccentricity as a topological-characteristic of the network defining how cerebral regions are embedded in relation to distant sites correlated inversely with the applied voltage at the active electrode for optimal clinical response. We found that network topology and pre-operative connectivity patterns have direct influence on the clinical response to DBS and may serve as important and independent predictors of the postoperative clinical outcome

A specific amino acid motif of HLA-DRB1 mediates risk and interacts with smoking history in Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease in which genetic risk has been mapped to HLA, but precise allelic associations have been difficult to infer due to limitations in genotyping methodology. Mapping PD risk at highest possible resolution, we performed sequencing of 11 HLA genes in 1,597 PD cases and 1,606 controls. We found that susceptibility to PD can be explained by a specific combination of amino acids at positions 70-74 on the HLA-DRB1 molecule. Previously identified as the primary risk factor in rheumatoid arthritis and referred to as the "shared epitope" (SE), the residues Q/R-K/R-R-A-A at positions 70-74 in combination with valine at position 11 (11-V) is highly protective in PD, while risk is attributable to the identical epitope in the absence of 11-V. Notably, these effects are modified by history of cigarette smoking, with a strong protective effect mediated by a positive history of smoking in combination with the SE and 11-V (P = 10-4; odds ratio, 0.51; 95% confidence interval, 0.36-0.72) and risk attributable to never smoking in combination with the SE without 11-V (P = 0.01; odds ratio, 1.51; 95% confidence interval, 1.08-2.12). The association of specific combinations of amino acids that participate in critical peptide-binding pockets of the HLA class II molecule implicates antigen presentation in PD pathogenesis and provides further support for genetic control of neuroinflammation in disease. The interaction of HLA-DRB1 with smoking history in disease predisposition, along with predicted patterns of peptide binding to HLA, provide a molecular model that explains the unique epidemiology of smoking in PD

CRP/anti-CRP Antibodies Assembly on the Surfaces of Cell Remnants Switches Their Phagocytic Clearance Toward Inflammation

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by the production of autoantibodies, formation of immune complexes (IC), and activation of complement that ultimately fuel acute and/or chronic inflammation. Accumulation in blood and tissues of post-apoptotic remnants is considered of etiological and pathological importance for patients with SLE. Besides receptors directly recognizing apoptotic cells, soluble opsonins of the innate immune system bind apoptotic material dependent on the stage of apoptosis. We describe the binding to the surface of secondary necrotic cells (SNEC) of the serum opsonin CRP and further opsonins. We show that anti-dsDNA and anti-CRP autoantibodies bind and sensitize SNEC. Autoantibody-sensitized SNEC were cleared by macrophages in vitro and induced a pro-inflammatory cytokine response. In conclusion, anti-CRP, CRP, and SNEC form a ternary pyrogen endowed with strong pro-inflammatory capabilities which is able to maintain and perpetuate chronic inflammation