Optimal Pricing of Internet of Things: A Machine Learning Approach

© 1983-2012 IEEE. Internet of things (IoT) produces massive data from devices embedded with sensors. The IoT data allows creating profitable services using machine learning. However, previous research does not address the problem of optimal pricing and bundling of machine learning-based IoT services. In this paper, we define the data value and service quality from a machine learning perspective. We present an IoT market model which consists of data vendors selling data to service providers, and service providers offering IoT services to customers. Then, we introduce optimal pricing schemes for the standalone and bundled selling of IoT services. In standalone service sales, the service provider optimizes the size of bought data and service subscription fee to maximize its profit. For service bundles, the subscription fee and data sizes of the grouped IoT services are optimized to maximize the total profit of cooperative service providers. We show that bundling IoT services maximizes the profit of service providers compared to the standalone selling. For profit sharing of bundled services, we apply the concepts of core and Shapley solutions from cooperative game theory as efficient and fair allocations of payoffs among the cooperative service providers in the bundling coalition

Dramatic outcomes in epilepsy: depression, suicide, injuries, and mortality

In this narrative review, we will discuss some of the significant risks and dramatic consequences that are associated with epilepsy: depression, suicide, seizure-related injuries, and mortality, both in adults and in children. Considering the high prevalence of depression among people with epilepsy (PWE), routine and periodic screening of all PWE for early detection and appropriate management of depression is recommended. PWE should be screened for suicidal ideation regularly and when needed, patients should be referred for a psychiatric evaluation and treatment. When starting an antiepileptic drug (AED) or switching from one to another AED, patients should be advised to report to their treating physician any change in their mood and existence of suicidal ideation. The risk of injuries for the general epilepsy population is increased only moderately. The risk is higher in selected populations attending epilepsy clinics and referral centers. This being said, there are PWE that may suffer frequent, severe, and sometimes even life-threatening seizure-related injuries. The most obvious way to reduce risk is to strive for improved seizure control. Finally, PWE have a 2–3 times higher mortality rate than the general population. Deaths in PWE may relate to the underlying cause of epilepsy, to seizures (including sudden unexpected death in epilepsy [SUDEP] and seizure related injuries) and to status epilepticus, as well as to other conditions that do not appear directly related to epilepsy. Improving seizure control and patient education may be the most important measures to reduce epilepsy related mortality in general and SUDEP in particular

P2TA: Privacy-preserving task allocation for edge computing enhanced mobile crowdsensing

The final publication is available at Elsevier via https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sysarc.2019.01.005. © 2019. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/In conventional mobile crowdsensing (MCS) applications, the crowdsensing server (CS-server) needs mobile users’ precise locations for optimal task allocation, which raises privacy concerns. This paper proposes a privacy-preserving task allocation framework (called P2TA) for edge computing enhanced MCS, focusing on optimize task acceptance rate while protecting participants’ privacy by introducing edge nodes. The basic idea is that edge nodes act as task assignment agents with privacy protection that prevents an untrusted CS-server from accessing a user’s private data. We begin with a thorough analysis of the limitations of typical task allocation and obfuscation schemes. On this basis, the optimization problem about location obfuscation and task allocation is formulated in consideration of privacy constraints, travel distance and impact of location perturbation. Through problem decomposition, the location obfuscation subproblem is modeled as a leader-follower game between the designer of location obfuscation mechanism and the potential attacker. Against inference attack with background knowledge, a genetic algorithm is introduced to initialize an obfuscation matrix. With the matrix, an edge node makes task allocation decisions that maximize task acceptance rate subject to differential and distortion privacy constraints. The effectiveness and superiority of P2TA compared to exiting task allocation schemes are validated via extensive simulations.The authors gratefully acknowledge the support and financial assistance provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 61502230, 61501224 and 61073197, the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province under Grant No. BK20150960, the National Key R&D Program of China under Grant No. 2018YFC0808500, the Natural Science Foundation of the Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions of China under Grant No. 15KJB520015, and Nanjing Municipal Science and Technology Plan Project under Grant No. 201608009

The Dawn of Open Access to Phylogenetic Data

The scientific enterprise depends critically on the preservation of and open access to published data. This basic tenet applies acutely to phylogenies (estimates of evolutionary relationships among species). Increasingly, phylogenies are estimated from increasingly large, genome-scale datasets using increasingly complex statistical methods that require increasing levels of expertise and computational investment. Moreover, the resulting phylogenetic data provide an explicit historical perspective that critically informs research in a vast and growing number of scientific disciplines. One such use is the study of changes in rates of lineage diversification (speciation - extinction) through time. As part of a meta-analysis in this area, we sought to collect phylogenetic data (comprising nucleotide sequence alignment and tree files) from 217 studies published in 46 journals over a 13-year period. We document our attempts to procure those data (from online archives and by direct request to corresponding authors), and report results of analyses (using Bayesian logistic regression) to assess the impact of various factors on the success of our efforts. Overall, complete phylogenetic data for ~60% of these studies are effectively lost to science. Our study indicates that phylogenetic data are more likely to be deposited in online archives and/or shared upon request when: (1) the publishing journal has a strong data-sharing policy; (2) the publishing journal has a higher impact factor, and; (3) the data are requested from faculty rather than students. Although the situation appears dire, our analyses suggest that it is far from hopeless: recent initiatives by the scientific community -- including policy changes by journals and funding agencies -- are improving the state of affairs

Bulletin

https://openspace.dmacc.edu/bulletin/1104/thumbnail.jp

Genetic diversity at the Dhn3 locus in Turkish Hordeum spontaneum populations with comparative structural analyses

We analysed Hordeum spontaneum accessions from 21 different locations to understand the genetic diversity of HsDhn3 alleles and effects of single base mutations on the intrinsically disordered structure of the resulting polypeptide (HsDHN3). HsDHN3 was found to be YSK2-type with a low-frequency 6-aa deletion in the beginning of Exon 1. There is relatively high diversity in the intron region of HsDhn3 compared to the two exon regions. We have found subtle differences in K segments led to changes in amino acids chemical properties. Predictions for protein interaction profiles suggest the presence of a protein-binding site in HsDHN3 that coincides with the K1 segment. Comparison of DHN3 to closely related cereals showed that all of them contain a nuclear localization signal sequence flanking to the K1 segment and a novel conserved region located between the S and K1 segments [E(D/T)DGMGGR]. We found that H. vulgare, H. spontaneum, and Triticum urartu DHN3s have a greater number of phosphorylation sites for protein kinase C than other cereal species, which may be related to stress adaptation. Our results show that the nature and extent of mutations in the conserved segments of K1 and K2 are likely to be key factors in protection of cells

Comparison of the efficacy and safety of rosuvastatin 10 mg and atorvastatin 20 mg in high-risk patients with hypercholesterolemia – Prospective study to evaluate the Use of Low doses of the Statins Atorvastatin and Rosuvastatin (PULSAR)

BACKGROUND: Many patients at high risk of cardiovascular disease do not achieve recommended low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) goals. This study compared the efficacy and safety of low doses of rosuvastatin (10 mg) and atorvastatin (20 mg) in high-risk patients with hypercholesterolemia. METHODS: A total of 996 patients with hypercholesterolemia (LDL-C ≥ 3.4 and < 5.7 mmol/L [130 and 220 mg/dL]) and coronary heart disease (CHD), atherosclerosis, or a CHD-risk equivalent were randomized to once-daily rosuvastatin 10 mg or atorvastatin 20 mg. The primary endpoint was the percentage change from baseline in LDL-C levels at 6 weeks. Secondary endpoints included LDL-C goal achievement (National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III [NCEP ATP III] goal < 100 mg/dL; 2003 European goal < 2.5 mmol/L for patients with atherosclerotic disease, type 2 diabetes, or at high risk of cardiovascular events, as assessed by a Systematic COronary Risk Evaluation (SCORE) risk ≥ 5% or 3.0 mmol/L for all other patients), changes in other lipids and lipoproteins, cost-effectiveness, and safety. RESULTS: Rosuvastatin 10 mg reduced LDL-C levels significantly more than atorvastatin 20 mg at week 6 (44.6% vs. 42.7%, p < 0.05). Significantly more patients achieved NCEP ATP III and 2003 European LDL-C goals with rosuvastatin 10 mg compared with atorvastatin 20 mg (68.8% vs. 62.5%, p < 0.05; 68.0% vs. 63.3%, p < 0.05, respectively). High-density lipoprotein cholesterol was increased significantly with rosuvastatin 10 mg versus atorvastatin 20 mg (6.4% vs. 3.1%, p < 0.001). Lipid ratios and levels of apolipoprotein A-I also improved more with rosuvastatin 10 mg than with atorvastatin 20 mg. The use of rosuvastatin 10 mg was also cost-effective compared with atorvastatin 20 mg in both a US and a UK setting. Both treatments were well tolerated, with a similar incidence of adverse events (rosuvastatin 10 mg, 27.5%; atorvastatin 20 mg, 26.1%). No cases of rhabdomyolysis, liver, or renal insufficiency were recorded. CONCLUSION: In high-risk patients with hypercholesterolemia, rosuvastatin 10 mg was more efficacious than atorvastatin 20 mg at reducing LDL-C, enabling LDL-C goal achievement and improving other lipid parameters. Both treatments were well tolerated

An agent-based model of the response to angioplasty and bare-metal stent deployment in an atherosclerotic blood vessel

Purpose: While animal models are widely used to investigate the development of restenosis in blood vessels following an intervention, computational models offer another means for investigating this phenomenon. A computational model of the response of a treated vessel would allow investigators to assess the effects of altering certain vessel- and stent-related variables. The authors aimed to develop a novel computational model of restenosis development following an angioplasty and bare-metal stent implantation in an atherosclerotic vessel using agent-based modeling techniques. The presented model is intended to demonstrate the body's response to the intervention and to explore how different vessel geometries or stent arrangements may affect restenosis development. Methods: The model was created on a two-dimensional grid space. It utilizes the post-procedural vessel lumen diameter and stent information as its input parameters. The simulation starting point of the model is an atherosclerotic vessel after an angioplasty and stent implantation procedure. The model subsequently generates the final lumen diameter, percent change in lumen cross-sectional area, time to lumen diameter stabilization, and local concentrations of inflammatory cytokines upon simulation completion. Simulation results were directly compared with the results from serial imaging studies and cytokine levels studies in atherosclerotic patients from the relevant literature. Results: The final lumen diameter results were all within one standard deviation of the mean lumen diameters reported in the comparison studies. The overlapping-stent simulations yielded results that matched published trends. The cytokine levels remained within the range of physiological levels throughout the simulations. Conclusion: We developed a novel computational model that successfully simulated the development of restenosis in a blood vessel following an angioplasty and bare-metal stent deployment based on the characteristics of the vessel crosssection and stent. A further development of this model could ultimately be used as a predictive tool to depict patient outcomes and inform treatment options. © 2014 Curtin, Zhou

Non-Communicable Disease Risk Factors among Employees and Their Families of a Saudi University: An Epidemiological Study

Objectives:To assess the prevalence of non-communicable disease (NCD) risk factors among Saudi university employees and their families; to estimate the cardiovascular risk (CVR) amongst the study population in the following 10years. Methods:The NCD risk factors prevalence was estimated using a cross-sectional approach for a sample of employees and their families aged ≥ 18 years old, in a Saudi university (Riyadh in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; KSA). WHO STEPwise standardized tools were used to estimate NCD risk factors and the Framingham Coronary Heart Risk Score calculator was used to calculate the CVR. Results:Five thousand and two hundred subjects were invited, of whom 4,500 participated in the study, providing a response rate of 87%. The mean age of participants was 39.3±13.4 years. The majority of participants reported low fruit/vegetables consumption (88%), and physically inactive (77%). More than two thirds of the cohort was found to be either overweight or obese (72%), where 36% were obese, and 59% had abdominal obesity. Of the total cohort, 22–37% were found to suffer from dyslipidaemia, 22% either diabetes or hypertension, with rather low reported current tobacco use (12%). One quarter of participants was estimated to have >10% risk to develop cardiovascular disease within the following 10-years. Conclusion:The prevalence of NCD risk factors was found to be substantially high among the university employees and their families in this study