An Economic Study of the Effect of Android Platform Fragmentation on Security Updates

Vendors in the Android ecosystem typically customize their devices by modifying Android Open Source Project (AOSP) code, adding in-house developed proprietary software, and pre-installing third-party applications. However, research has documented how various security problems are associated with this customization process. We develop a model of the Android ecosystem utilizing the concepts of game theory and product differentiation to capture the competition involving two vendors customizing the AOSP platform. We show how the vendors are incentivized to differentiate their products from AOSP and from each other, and how prices are shaped through this differentiation process. We also consider two types of consumers: security-conscious consumers who understand and care about security, and na\"ive consumers who lack the ability to correctly evaluate security properties of vendor-supplied Android products or simply ignore security. It is evident that vendors shirk on security investments in the latter case. Regulators such as the U.S. Federal Trade Commission have sanctioned Android vendors for underinvestment in security, but the exact effects of these sanctions are difficult to disentangle with empirical data. Here, we model the impact of a regulator-imposed fine that incentivizes vendors to match a minimum security standard. Interestingly, we show how product prices will decrease for the same cost of customization in the presence of a fine, or a higher level of regulator-imposed minimum security.Comment: 22nd International Conference on Financial Cryptography and Data Security (FC 2018

Cable-driven parallel robot assisted confocal imaging of the larynx

LaryngoTORS, a transoral laryngeal surgery robot, can manipulate instruments accurately. Confocal imaging has potentials in laryngeal cancer diagnosis but suffer from high scanning requirement. This work studies using LaryngoTORS to assist confocal imaging of larynx

N-glycans of human amniotic fluid transferrin stimulate progesterone production in human first trimester trophoblast cells in vitro

Aims: During pregnancy, the placenta produces a variety of steroid hormones and proteins. Several of these substances have been shown to exert immunomodulatory effects. Progesterone is thought to mediate some of these effects by regulating uterine responsiveness. The aim of this study was to clarify the effect of amniotic fluid transferrin and its N-glycans on the release of progesterone by first trimester trophoblast cells in vitro. Methods: Cytotrophoblast cells were prepared from human first trimester placentae by trypsin-DNAse dispersion of villous tissue followed by a percoll gradient centrifugation and depletion of CD45 positive cells by magnetic cell sorting. Trophoblasts were incubated with varying concentrations (50-300 mug/ml) of transferrin from human amniotic fluid and serum as well as with N-glycans obtained from amniotic fluid transferrin. Culture supernatants were assayed for progesterone by enzyme-immunometric methods. Results: The release of progesterone increased in amniotic fluid transferrin- and N-glycan-treated trophoblast cell cultures compared to untreated trophoblast cells. There was no stimulating effect of serum transferrin on the progesterone production of trophoblast cells. Conclusions: The results suggest that amnion-transferrin and especially its N-glycans modulate the endocrine function of trophoblasts in culture by up regulating progesterone secretion

Human amniotic fluid glycoproteins expressing sialyl Lewis carbohydrate antigens stimulate progesterone production in human trophoblasts in vitro

Background: Progesterone is thought to mediate immune modulator effects by regulating uterine responsiveness. The aim of the study was to clarify the effect of transferrin and glycodelin A (former name PP14) as sialyl Lewis X-expressing glycoproteins on the release of progesterone by trophoblast cells in vitro. Methods: Cytotrophoblast cells were prepared from human term placentas by standard dispersion of villous tissue followed by a Percoll gradient centrifugation step. Trophoblasts were incubated with varying concentrations (50-300 mug/ml) of human amniotic fluid- and serum-transferrin as well as with glycodelin A. Culture supernatants were assayed for progesterone, human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and cortisol by enzyme immunometric methods. Results: The release of progesterone is increased in amniotic fluid transferrin- and glycodelin A-treated trophoblast cell cultures compared to untreated trophoblast cells. There is no relation between transferrin and the hCG or cortisol production of trophoblast cells. Conclusion: The results suggest that sialyl Lewis carbohydrate antigen-expressing amniotic fluid glycoproteins modulate the endocrine function of trophoblasts in culture by upregulating progesterone production. Copyright (C) 2004 S. Karger AG, Basel

The key neuroendocrine regulators of the onset of puberty in the Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus)

Recently, significant progress on spawning induction in captive bluefin tuna (BFT, Thunnus thynnus), has been achieved providing the basis for the species' domestication. To further promote the development of a self- sustained BFT aquaculture, we investigated first sexual maturity in BFT reared from an immature stage in captivity. Accordingly, our major objectives were to evaluate: (i) maturational status of the brain-pituitary-gonadal (BPG) axis, and (ii) responsiveness of the BPG to exogenous hormones. Special emphasis was given to characterize the gonadotropins follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) that act as central regulators of gonadal development and gamete maturation. The growth parameters recorded for the captive BFT juveniles are consistent with the length-weight relationship established for wild Mediterranean BFT stocks. The histological analyses of the gonads indicate advanced sexual maturation in BFT males compared to females, yet it is not yet clear whether this phenomenon typifies wild stocks or is induced due to the culture conditions. The hormone measurements show expression and accumulation of both gonadotropins in the pituitaries of immature and mature BFT. The pituitary LH content increased concomitantly with the age of the fish, exhibiting sex dimorphic patterns (i.e. 3-fold higher levels in females) in adult but not in juvenile BFT. The pituitary FSH levels, however, were elevated in 2Y immature males and in fully mature adults. Comparable to mammals, the intra-pituitary FSH/LH ratio was found to be higher (>1) in sexually immature than in maturing or pubertal BFT. Nevertheless, in the 3Y BFT females, which were all immature, the onset of puberty appears to require some other prerequisites, such as a rise in the LH storage above a minimal threshold. Our in vitro trials further demonstrated the capacity of rFSH and to a lesser extent that of rLH to stimulate cell proliferation in the immature ovarian and testicular fragments. Both rFSH and rLH have failed to stimulate steroidogenesis, yet pre-treatment with KiSS containing EVAc implants appeared to potentiate FSH-stimulated steroidogenesis in the immature testes. On the other hand, the expression levels of both the GtH-R and IGF I genes in the testicular fragments, derived from BFT juveniles and further exposed to the rLH treatment, showed dose-dependent pattern. Future studies testing the effects of captivity and hormone-based treatments on precocious maturity at relatively small body size are expected to facilitate the handling in confined environments, and to greatly improve the cost-efficiency of BFT farming.Postprin

A Game Theoretical Method for Cost-Benefit Analysis of Malware Dissemination Prevention

Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. Literature in malware proliferation focuses on modeling and analyzing its spread dynamics. Epidemiology models, which are inspired by the characteristics of biological disease spread in human populations, have been used against this threat to analyze the way malware spreads in a network. This work presents a modified version of the commonly used epidemiology models Susceptible Infected Recovered (SIR) and Susceptible Infected Susceptible (SIS), which incorporates the ability to capture the relationships between nodes within a network, along with their effect on malware dissemination process. Drawing upon a model that illustrates the network’s behavior based on the attacker’s and the defender’s choices, we use game theory to compute optimal strategies for the defender to minimize the effect of malware spread, at the same time minimizing the security cost. We consider three defense mechanisms: patch, removal, and patch and removal, which correspond to the defender’s strategy and use probabilistically with a certain rate. The attacker chooses the type of attack according to its effectiveness and cost. Through the interaction between the two opponents we infer the optimal strategy for both players, known as Nash Equilibrium, evaluating the related payoffs. Hence, our model provides a cost-benefit risk management framework for managing malware spread in computer networks

Claimed Co-ethnics and Kin-State Citizenship in Southeastern Europe

The paper introduces the often neglected concept of 'claimed co-ethnics' in the analysis of citizenship policies. It argues that this is an interstitial category that further complicates the triadic nexus between national minorities, nationalising states and kin-states. The 'claimed co-ethnics' are defined as people who are recognised by the citizenship (or ethnizenship) conferring state as belonging to its main ethnic group, although they themselves do not embrace that definition. In addition to bringing the issue of claimed co-ethnics into focus, the paper elucidates how citizenship policies can affect groups that challenge the exact fit between ethnicity and nation, showing how national governments through particular citizenship policies and categorisation practices engage in the construction of these groups. The paper shows that the triadic nexus framework, which has had a strong influence on citizenship and minorities scholarship, needs to be revised to include unidirectional relations between the elements of the triadic nexus. The paper is based on the comparison between the cases of ethnic Vlachs (in the context of Albania and Greece) and Bunjevci (in the context of Serbia and Croatia).European Commission - Seventh Framework Programme (FP7