Image Classification using non-linear Support Vector Machines on Encrypted Data

In image processing, algorithms for object classification are typically based around machine learning. From the algorithm developer\u27s perspective, these can involve a considerable amount of effort and expertise to develop, which makes them commercially valuable. On the other hand, other parties may want to make use of these algorithms to classify their images, while protecting the privacy of their data. In this paper, we show how non-linear Support Vector Machines (SVMs) can be practically used for image classification on data encrypted with a Somewhat Homomorphic Encryption (SHE) scheme. Previous work has shown how an SVM with a linear kernel can be computed on encrypted data, but this only has limited applicability. By enabling SVMs with polynomial kernels, a much larger class of applications are possible with more accuracy in classification results

What is Community Operational Research?

Community Operational Research (Community OR) has been an explicit sub-domain of OR for more than 30 years. In this paper, we tackle the controversial issue of how it can be differentiated from other forms of OR. While it has been persuasively argued that Community OR cannot be defined by its clients, practitioners or methods, we argue that the common concern of all Community OR practice is the meaningful engagement of communities, whatever form that may take – and the legitimacy of different forms of engagement may be open to debate. We then move on to discuss four other controversies that have implications for the future development of Community OR and its relationship with its parent discipline: the desire for Community OR to be more explicitly political; claims that it should be grounded in the theory, methodology and practice of systems thinking; the similarities and differences between the UK and US traditions; and the extent to which Community OR offers an enhanced understanding of practice that could be useful to OR more generally. Our positions on these controversies all follow from our identification of ‘meaningful engagement’ as a central feature of Community OR

Be prepared: communism and the politics of scouting in 1950s Britain

This article examines the exposure, and in some cases dismissal, of Boy Scouts who belonged or sympathised with the Young Communist League in Britain during the early 1950s. A focus on the rationale and repercussions of the organisation's approach and attitudes towards ‘Red Scouts’ found within their ‘ranks’ extends our understanding of youth movements and their often complex and conflicting ideological foundations. In particular, the post-World War Two period presented significant challenges to these spaces of youth work in terms of broader social and political change in Britain. An analysis of the politics of scouting in relation to Red Scouts questions not only the assertion that British McCarthyism was ‘silent’, but also brings young people firmly into focus as part of a more everyday politics of communism in British society

Pelagic C:N:P stoichiometry in a eutrophied lake: responses to a whole-lake food-web manipulation.

ABSTRACT Changes in the ecological stoichiometry of C, N, and P in the pelagic zone are reported from a wholelake manipulation of the food web of Lake 227, an experimentally eutrophied lake at the Experimental Lakes Area, Canada. Addition of northern pike eliminated populations of planktivorous minnows by the third year (1995) after pike introduction, and in the fourth year after pike addition (1996), a massive increase in the abundance of the largebodied cladoceran Daphnia pulicaria occurred. Accompanying this increase in Daphnia abundance, zooplankton community N:P declined, seston concentration and C:P ratio decreased, and dissolved N and P pools increased. During peak abundance, zooplankton biomass comprised a significant proportion of total epilimnetic phosphorus (greater than 30%). During the period of increased Daphnia abundance, concentrations of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (TIN) increased more strongly than dissolved phosphorus (TDP), and thus TIN:TDP ratios were elevated. Sedimentation data indicated that increased grazing led to greatly reduced residence times of C, N, and especially P in the water column during 1996. Finally, previously dominant N-fixing cyanobacteria were absent during 1996. Our results show that strong effects of food-web structure can occur in eutrophic lakes and that stoichiometric mechanisms play a potentially important role in generating these effects

Transcriptional regulation of Culex pipiens mosquitoes by Wolbachia influences cytoplasmic incompatibility

Cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) induced by the endosymbiont Wolbachia pipientis causes complex patterns of crossing sterility between populations of the Culex pipiens group of mosquitoes. The molecular basis of the phenotype is yet to be defined. In order to investigate what host changes may underlie CI at the molecular level, we examined the transcription of a homolog of the Drosophila melanogaster gene grauzone that encodes a zinc finger protein and acts as a regulator of female meiosis, in which mutations can cause sterility. Upregulation was observed in Wolbachia-infected C. pipiens group individuals relative to Wolbachia-cured lines and the level of upregulation differed between lines that were reproductively incompatible. Knockdown analysis of this gene using RNAi showed an effect on hatch rates in a Wolbachia infected Culex molestus line. Furthermore, in later stages of development an effect on developmental progression in CI embryos occurs in bidirectionally incompatible crosses. The genome of a wPip Wolbachia strain variant from Culex molestus was sequenced and compared with the genome of a wPip variant with which it was incompatible. Three genes in inserted or deleted regions were newly identified in the C. molestus wPip genome, one of which is a transcriptional regulator labelled wtrM. When this gene was transfected into adult Culex mosquitoes, upregulation of the grauzone homolog was observed. These data suggest that Wolbachia-mediated regulation of host gene expression is a component of the mechanism of cytoplasmic incompatibility

Knockdown analysis of <i>CPIJ005623</i> in <i>C. molestus</i> Italy females.

<p><b>A</b>. Diagram representing experimental design of knockdown (KD) experiments, d-day post pupal eclosion, T-time point. <b>B</b>. KD assessment of i<i>CPIJ005623</i> in Italy ovaries. Reduction of <i>CPIJ005623</i> mRNA levels similar to uninfected ovaries was observed in infected ovaries when CI developmental progression was seen. <b>C</b>. Picture examples of developmental progression in <i>Culex</i> embryos undergoing CI, Stage I: early arrest, Stage II and III: late arrest. <b>D</b>. Increased percentage of unhatched embryos mimic a reduced rescue function. Also increased early embryo (stageI) developmental arrest is detected after i<i>CPIJ005623</i> in compatible Italy male cross.</p

Transcription analysis of <i>CPIJ005623</i> in the <i>Culex pipiens</i> complex.

<p><b>A–B</b>. <i>CPIJ005623</i> transcription in adult female (A) and male (B) <i>Culex quinquefasciatus</i>, Pel (<i>Wolbachia</i>-infected) line relative to the Wolbachia-uninfected PelU, over time (days post pupal eclosion). Similar decreasing expression dynamics was seen in both sexes. <b>C–D</b>. Tissue analysis of <i>CPIJ005623</i> transcription at 4 d in ovaries (C) and 1 d in testes (D) in <i>C. quinquefasciatus Wolbachia</i>-infected lines Pel and Cxq (<i>30</i>), their <i>Wolbachia</i>-free counterparts PelU and CxqT, and <i>Wolbachia</i>-infected Italy line <i>C. molestus</i>. Upregulation of <i>CPIJ005623</i> expression is seen in all <i>Wolbachia</i>-infected lines. Average of the mean values of four biological repeats (+/− standard error-SE) are presented. Two-way ANOVA statistical analysis was used to determine effect of <i>Wolbachia</i> infection status (wis) and time on <i>CPIJ005623</i> expression. Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used to determine differences between <i>Wolbachia</i> infection status in <i>CPIJ005623</i> expression (C–D): *<i>p</i><0.05, **<i>p</i><0.01, ***<i>p</i><0.001.</p

Knockdown analysis of <i>CPIJ005623</i> in <i>C. quinquefasciatus</i> Pel females.

<p><b>A</b>. Diagram representing experimental design of knockdown (KD) experiments, d-day post pupal eclosion, BF-Blood feed, T-time point. <b>B</b>. KD assessment of i<i>CPIJ005623</i> in Pel ovaries. Reduction of <i>CPIJ005623</i> mRNA levels similar to uninfected ovaries was observed in infected ovaries when CI developmental progression was seen. <b>C</b>. Increased early embryo (stageI) developmental arrest is detected after i<i>CPIJ005623</i> in compatible Pel male cross.</p

Knockdown analysis of <i>CPIJ005623</i> in <i>C. pipiens</i> males.

<p><b>A</b>. Diagram representing experimental design of knockdown (KD) experiments, d-day post pupal eclosion, BF- Blood feed, T-time point. <b>B</b>. KD assessment of i<i>CPIJ005623</i> in Pel testis. Reduction of <i>CPIJ005623</i> mRNA levels was observed in testis when CI developmental progression was seen. <b>C–F</b> Embryo developmental progression after i<i>CPIJ005623</i> males in an incompatible Italy female cross. Timepoints under dsRNA early effect (C-T1; D-T2) show an increased proportion of Stage II&III embryos compared to control KDs. No effect was seen at later time points (E-T3; F-T4). <b>G</b>. KD assessment of i<i>CPIJ005623</i> in Italy testes. <b>H</b>. Double KD analysis of <i>CPIJ005623</i> in Pel females crossed to Italy males. Increased developmental progression is detected in female, male and double <i>iCPIJ005623</i>.</p