alpha-Information-theoretic Privacy Watch- dog and Optimal Privatization Scheme

This paper proposes an α -lift measure for data privacy and determines the optimal privatization scheme that minimizes the α -lift in the watchdog method. To release useful data X that is correlated with sensitive data S , the ratio of the posterior belief to the prior belief on sensitive data with respect to the useful data is called ‘lift’, which quantifies privacy risk. The α -lift denoted by ℓα(x) is proposed as the Lα -norm of the lift for a given realization x . This is a tunable measure: when α<∞ , each lift is weighted by its likelihood of appearing in the dataset (w.r.t. the marginal probability p(s) ); for α=∞, α -lift reduces to the existing maximum lift. To generate the sanitized data Y , we adopt the privacy watchdog method using α -lift: obtain realizations of useful data such that the α -lift is greater than a threshold eϵ ; apply a randomization mechanism to these ‘high-risk’ realizations, while all other realizations of X are published directly. For the resulting α -lift denoted by ℓα(y) , it is shown that the Sibson mutual information ISα(S;Y) is proportional to E[ℓα(y)] . We further define a stronger privacy measure denoted I¯¯¯Sα(S;Y) using the worst-case α -lift: I¯Sα(S;Y)∝maxyℓα(y) . We prove that the optimal watchdog randomization that minimizes both ISα(S;Y) and I¯¯¯Sα(S;Y) is X -invariant. Numerical experiments show that α -lift can provide flexibility in the privacy-utility tradeoff

Effects of alimentary intact proteins and their oligopeptide hydrolysate on growth, nitrogen retention, and small bowel adaptation in inflammatory turpentine rat.

The effects of dietary proteins given as whole proteins (WP) or as a peptide hydrolysate (PH) on growth, nitrogen retention, and small bowel adaptation were assessed using two groups of male Wistar rats. Measurements were made 18, 42, and 66 h after acute inflammation induced by subcutaneous injections of 0.125 mL turpentine and in two control groups (n = 12). The two diets had the same caloric, nitrogen, vitamin, and mineral content. The WP diet resulted in better weight gain, nitrogen retention, and small intestinal adaptation by control rats than did the PH diet. Loss of body weight after 18 h of acute inflammation was significantly lower and nitrogen retention significantly higher in animals on the WP diet than in those on the PH diet. Small intestine morphology was maintained with the WP diet, whereas villus height was significantly lower after 66 h, and there were fewer mitoses per crypt in the rats on the PH diet. Glucoamylase activity at all times, and N-aminopeptidase activity at 18 h, were significantly higher in rats on the WP diet. The putrescine (at 42 h) and spermidine (at 18 h) concentrations in the mucosa were higher in the rats on the WP diet. These data suggest that synthetic diets should be tested for their nutritional value during acute inflammation before they are used in human nutrition

Adherence to cysteamine in nephropathic cystinosis: A unique electronic monitoring experience for a better understanding. A prospective cohort study: CrYSTobs

International audienceINTRODUCTION: In nephropathic cystinosis (NC), adherence to cysteamine remains challenging; poor adherence is worsening the disease progression with a decline of kidney function and increase of extrarenal morbidities. Our objective was to describe adherence to cysteamine in NC patients, using electronic monitoring systems. METHODS: Patients with confirmed NC, aged \textgreater 4 years and receiving oral cysteamine (short acting or delayed release formulation as standard of care) from 3 French reference centers, were included. Adherence to treatment was primarily assessed as the percentage of days with a good adherence score, adherence score rating from 0 (poor) to 2 (good). A descriptive analysis was performed after 1-year follow-up. RESULTS: Seventeen patients (10 girls, median age: 13.9 (5.4-33.0) years) were included. Median age at diagnosis was 17.0 (3.0-76.9) months and age at start of cysteamine was 21.0 (15.5-116.3) months. Median daily dose of cysteamine was 1.05 (0.55-1.63) g/m(2)/day. Over the year, the median percentage of days with a good adherence score was 80 (1-99)% decreasing to 68 (1-99)% in patients \textgreater 11 years old. The median of average number of hours covered by treatment in a day was 22.5 (6.1-23.9) versus 14.9 (9.2-20.5) hours for delayed release versus short acting cysteamine. CONCLUSION: Our data are the first describing a rather good adherence to cysteamine, decreasing in adolescents and adults. We described a potential interest of the delayed release formulation. Our data highlight the need for a multidisciplinary approach including therapeutic education and individualized approaches in NC patients transitioning to adulthood. Graphical abstract