Online Privacy Policy of the Thirty Dow Jones Corporations: Compliance with FTC Fair Information Practice Principles and Readability Assessment

Privacy policy in corporation’s business refers to a statement or a legal document that discloses some or all of the ways a party gathers, uses, discloses and manages a customer or client\u27s personal data such as name, age, address, gender, email, etc. (“Privacy Policy,” 2012). In 1998, the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported a study of online privacy concerns to Congress, which described a widely-accepted Fair Information Practice Principles (FIPs) of Notice, Choice, Access, and Security (Landesberg, Levin, Curtin, & Lev, 1998). This project conducted a statistical study by examining the FIPs compliance for each Dow Jones Corporation’s (DJC’s) online privacy policy. In addition, a study by George Milne, Mary Culnan, and Henry Greene showed that online privacy had grown in length as well as had declined in readability (Milne, Culnan, & Greene, 2006). Therefore, this research assessed also the readability of DJC’s online privacy policy by measuring widely adopted Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES) and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL). Furthermore, in order to better understand the practical situations regarding privacy concerns and policy readability from a customer’s point of view, a customer survey was given to business students at the College of Business and Public Administration at California State University, San Bernardino

Identification of Novel Compounds That Increase SMN Protein Levels Using an Improved SMN2 Reporter Cell Assay

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a neurodegenerative disorder that is characterized by progressive loss of motor neuron function. It is caused by the homozygous loss of the SMN1 (survival of motor neuron 1) gene and a decrease in full-length SMN protein. SMN2 is a nearly identical homolog of SMN1 that, due to alternative splicing, expresses predominantly truncated SMN protein. SMN2 represents an enticing therapeutic target. Increasing expression of full-length SMN from the SMN2 gene might represent a treatment for SMA. We describe a newly designed cell-based reporter assay that faithfully and reproducibly measures full-length SMN expression from the SMN2 gene. This reporter can detect increases of SMN protein by an array of compounds previously shown to regulate SMN2 expression and by the overexpression of proteins that modulate SMN2 splicing. It also can be used to evaluate changes at both the transcriptional and splicing level. This assay can be a valuable tool for the identification of novel compounds that increase SMN2 protein levels and the optimization of compounds already known to modulate SMN2 expression. We present here preliminary data from a high-throughput screen using this assay to identify novel compounds that increase expression of SMN2

High-Mobility and High-Optical Quality Atomically Thin WS 2

The rise of atomically thin materials has the potential to enable a paradigm shift in modern technologies by introducing multi-functional materials in the semiconductor industry. To date the growth of high quality atomically thin semiconductors (e.g. WS2) is one of the most pressing challenges to unleash the potential of these materials and the growth of mono- or bi-layers with high crystal quality is yet to see its full realization. Here, we show that the novel use of molecular precursors in the controlled synthesis of mono- and bi-layer WS2 leads to superior material quality compared to the widely used direct sulfidization of WO3-based precursors. Record high room temperature charge carrier mobility up to 52 cm2/Vs and ultra-sharp photoluminescence linewidth of just 36 meV over submillimeter areas demonstrate that the quality of this material supersedes also that of naturally occurring materials. By exploiting surface diffusion kinetics of W and S species adsorbed onto a substrate, a deterministic layer thickness control has also been achieved promoting the design of scalable synthesis routes

Climate Resilience is Possible: Assessing Hoosier Communities’ Climate Preparedness

The Hoosier Resilience Index Readiness Assessment was developed by Indiana University’s Environmental Resilience Institute (ERI). The tool helps local governments understand the gravity of climate change, that adaptation and mitigation are important, and that preparedness is necessary, feasible, and unique to each community. In summer 2020, ERI – together with the Indiana Political Analysis Workshop (IPAW) -- worked with six undergraduate research assistants to administer the HRI to communities throughout Indiana. The project found that 1) communities want to be resilient, 2) climate change does not care about Hoosiers' political attitudes, and 3) climate resilience depends on risk and resources - not jut politics.Indiana University Office of Undergraduate Research, Indiana University Center for Rural Engagement, Illinois-Indiana Sea Gran

Discovery of inhibitors that elucidate the role of UCH-L1 activity in the H1299 lung cancer cell line

Neuronal ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase (UCH-L1) has been linked to Parkinson's disease (PD), the progression of certain nonneuronal tumors, and neuropathic pain. Certain lung tumor-derived cell lines express UCH-L1 but it is not expressed in normal lung tissue, suggesting that this enzyme plays a role in tumor progression, either as a trigger or as a response. Small-molecule inhibitors of UCH-L1 would be helpful in distinguishing between these scenarios. By utilizing high-throughput screening (HTS) to find inhibitors and traditional medicinal chemistry to optimize their affinity and specificity, we have identified a class of isatin O-acyl oximes that selectively inhibit UCH-L1 as compared to its systemic isoform, UCH-L3. Three representatives of this class (30, 50, 51) have IC(50) values of 0.80-0.94 micro M for UCH-L1 and 17-25 micro M for UCH-L3. The K(i) of 30 toward UCH-L1 is 0.40 micro M and inhibition is reversible, competitive, and active site directed. Two isatin oxime inhibitors increased proliferation of the H1299 lung tumor cell line but had no effect on a lung tumor line that does not express UCH-L1. Inhibition of UCH-L1 expression in the H1299 cell line using RNAi had a similar proproliferative effect, suggesting that the UCH-L1 enzymatic activity is antiproliferative and that UCH-L1 expression may be a response to tumor growth. The molecular mechanism of this response remains to be determined

Small-Molecule Activators of Insulin-Degrading Enzyme Discovered through High-Throughput Compound Screening

Background: Hypocatabolism of the amyloid β-protein (Aβ) by insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE) is implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease (AD), making pharmacological activation of IDE an attractive therapeutic strategy. However, it has not been established whether the proteolytic activity of IDE can be enhanced by drug-like compounds. Methodology/Principal Findings: Based on the finding that ATP and other nucleotide polyphosphates modulate IDE activity at physiological concentrations, we conducted parallel high-throughput screening campaigns in the absence or presence of ATP and identified two compounds—designated Ia1 and Ia2—that significantly stimulate IDE proteolytic activity. Both compounds were found to interfere with the crosslinking of a photoaffinity ATP analogue to IDE, suggesting that they interact with a bona fide ATP-binding domain within IDE. Unexpectedly, we observed highly synergistic activation effects when the activity of Ia1 or Ia2 was tested in the presence of ATP, a finding that has implications for the mechanisms underlying ATP-mediated activation of IDE. Notably, Ia1 and Ia2 activated the degradation of Aβ by ∼700% and ∼400%, respectively, albeit only when Aβ was presented in a mixture also containing shorter substrates. Conclusions/Significance: This study describes the first examples of synthetic small-molecule activators of IDE, showing that pharmacological activation of this important protease with drug-like compounds is achievable. These novel activators help to establish the putative ATP-binding domain as a key modulator of IDE proteolytic activity and offer new insights into the modulatory action of ATP. Several larger lessons abstracted from this screen will help inform the design of future screening campaigns and facilitate the eventual development of IDE activators with therapeutic utility

A Survey of Bayesian Statistical Approaches for Big Data

The modern era is characterised as an era of information or Big Data. This has motivated a huge literature on new methods for extracting information and insights from these data. A natural question is how these approaches differ from those that were available prior to the advent of Big Data. We present a review of published studies that present Bayesian statistical approaches specifically for Big Data and discuss the reported and perceived benefits of these approaches. We conclude by addressing the question of whether focusing only on improving computational algorithms and infrastructure will be enough to face the challenges of Big Data

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data