End-to-End Privacy for Open Big Data Markets

The idea of an open data market envisions the creation of a data trading model to facilitate exchange of data between different parties in the Internet of Things (IoT) domain. The data collected by IoT products and solutions are expected to be traded in these markets. Data owners will collect data using IoT products and solutions. Data consumers who are interested will negotiate with the data owners to get access to such data. Data captured by IoT products will allow data consumers to further understand the preferences and behaviours of data owners and to generate additional business value using different techniques ranging from waste reduction to personalized service offerings. In open data markets, data consumers will be able to give back part of the additional value generated to the data owners. However, privacy becomes a significant issue when data that can be used to derive extremely personal information is being traded. This paper discusses why privacy matters in the IoT domain in general and especially in open data markets and surveys existing privacy-preserving strategies and design techniques that can be used to facilitate end to end privacy for open data markets. We also highlight some of the major research challenges that need to be address in order to make the vision of open data markets a reality through ensuring the privacy of stakeholders.Comment: Accepted to be published in IEEE Cloud Computing Magazine: Special Issue Cloud Computing and the La

Detection of Isolated Vibration Spectrum Patterns Generated in Hull and Shafting Lines which Result Shipboard Faults

The origin of shipboard hull vibrations is dominantly determined by vessels propulsion system, main machinery, auxiliary systems, pumps, breaking of the waves at the ship hull, etc. When the ships are classified on various sizes and limitations, they demonstrate multiple characteristics of vibration signatures mainly based on the functionality of main machinery and ships’ hull. The vibration signatures generated from hull is a clear representation of the ships health and crew habitability.  The paper is focused on to a case study that the hull of a naval vessel which had undergone a major repair was inspected for suitability for further use in terms of vibration and habitability. The transferred vibration signature of the vessel was analyzed using vibration spectra in machinery and hull aspects. The measuring was done simultaneously with multi-channel measurements of the vessels vibrations at few characteristic positions.  Sea trials at following variable conditions had been carried out onboard the selected vessel. Sea State : 2-3; Loading Condition : Half Load; Wind Condition : Moderate< 15 knots; Sea Direction : Ahead, Aster

City Data Fusion: Sensor Data Fusion in the Internet of Things

Internet of Things (IoT) has gained substantial attention recently and play a significant role in smart city application deployments. A number of such smart city applications depend on sensor fusion capabilities in the cloud from diverse data sources. We introduce the concept of IoT and present in detail ten different parameters that govern our sensor data fusion evaluation framework. We then evaluate the current state-of-the art in sensor data fusion against our sensor data fusion framework. Our main goal is to examine and survey different sensor data fusion research efforts based on our evaluation framework. The major open research issues related to sensor data fusion are also presented.Comment: Accepted to be published in International Journal of Distributed Systems and Technologies (IJDST), 201

Privacy-knowledge modeling for the Internet of Things: a look back

Together, the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing give us the ability to gather, process, and even trade data to better understand users' behaviors, habits, and preferences. However, future IoT applications must address the significant potential threats to privacy posed by such knowledge-discovery activities

Big data privacy in the Internet of Things era

Over the last few years, we've seen a plethora of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, products, and services make their way into the industry's marketplace. All such solutions will capture large amounts of data pertaining to the environment as well as their users. The IoT's objective is to learn more and better serve system users. Some IoT solutions might store data locally on devices ('things'), whereas others might store it in the cloud. The real value of collecting data comes through data processing and aggregation on a large scale, where new knowledge can be extracted. However, such procedures can lead to user privacy issues. This article discusses some of the main challenges of privacy in the IoT as well as opportunities for research and innovation. The authors also introduce some of the ongoing research efforts that address IoT privacy issues

Blockchain-Enabled Provenance Tracking for Sustainable Material Reuse in Construction Supply Chains

The growing complexity of construction supply chains and the significant impact of the construction industry on the environment demand an understanding of how to reuse and repurpose materials. In response to this critical challenge, research gaps that are significant in promoting material circularity are described. Despite its potential, the use of blockchain technology in construction faces challenges in verifiability, scalability, privacy, and interoperability. We propose a novel multilayer blockchain framework to enhance provenance tracking and data retrieval to enable a reliable audit trail. The framework utilises a privacy-centric solution that combines decentralised and centralised storage, security, and privacy. Furthermore, the framework implements access control to strengthen security and privacy, fostering transparency and information sharing among the stakeholders. These contributions collectively lead to trusted material circularity in a built environment. The implementation framework aims to create a prototype for blockchain applications in construction supply chains

The long noncoding RNA SPRIGHTLY acts as an intranuclear organizing hub for pre-mRNA molecules

Molecular mechanisms by which long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) molecules may influence cancerous condition are poorly understood. The aberrant expression of SPRIGHTLY lncRNA, encoded within the drosophila gene homolog Sprouty-4 intron, is correlated with a variety of cancers, including human melanomas. We demonstrate by SHAPE-seq and dChIRP that SPRIGHTLY RNA secondary structure has a core pseudoknotted domain. This lncRNA interacts with the intronic regions of six pre-mRNAs: SOX5, SMYD3, SND1, MEOX2, DCTN6, and RASAL2, all of which have cancer-related functions. Hemizygous knockout of SPRIGHTLY by CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)/Cas9 in melanoma cells significantly decreases SPRIGHTLY lncRNA levels, simultaneously decreases the levels of its interacting pre-mRNA molecules, and decreases anchorage-independent growth rate of cells and the rate of in vivo tumor growth in mouse xenografts. These results provide the first demonstration of an lncRNA’s three-dimensional coordinating role in facilitating cancer-related gene expression in human melanomas

Protein-coding and non-coding gene expression analysis in differentiating human keratinocytes using a three-dimensional epidermal equivalent

The epidermal compartment is complex and organized into several strata composed of keratinocytes (KCs), including basal, spinous, granular, and corniWed layers. The continuous process of self-renewal and barrier formation is dependent on a homeostatic balance achieved amongst KCs involving proliferation, diVerentiation, and cell death. To determine genes responsible for initiating and maintaining a corniWed epidermis, organotypic cultures comprised entirely of stratiWed KCs creating epidermal equivalents (EE) were raised from a submerged state to an air/liquid (A/L) interface. Compared to the array proWle of submerged cultures containing KCs predominantly in a proliferative (relatively undiVerentiated) state, EEs raised to an A/L interface displayed a remarkably consistent and distinct proWle of mRNAs. Cultures lifted to an A/L interface triggered the induction of gene groups that regulate proliferation, diVerentiation, and cell death. Next, diVerentially expressed microRNAs (miRNAs) and long noncoding (lncRNA) RNAs were identiWed in EEs. Several diVerentially expressed miRNAs were validated by qRT-PCR and Northern blots. miRNAs 203, 205 and Let-7b were up-regulated at early time points (6, 18 and 24 h) but downregulated by 120 h. To study the lncRNA regulation in EEs, we proWled lncRNA expression by microarray and validated the results by qRT-PCR. Although the diVerential expression of several lncRNAs is suggestive of a role in epidermal diVerentiation, their biological functions remain to be elucidated. The current studies lay the foundation for relevant model systems to address such fundamentally important biological aspects of epidermal structure and function in normal and diseased human skin

The functional characterization of long noncoding RNA SPRY4-IT1 in human melanoma cells

Expression of the long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) SPRY4-IT1 is low in normal human melanocytes but high in melanoma cells. siRNA knockdown of SPRY4-IT1 blocks melanoma cell invasion and proliferation, and increases apoptosis. To investigate its function further, we affinity purified SPRY4-IT1 from melanoma cells and used mass spectrometry to identify the protein lipin 2, an enzyme that converts phosphatidate to diacylglycerol (DAG), as a major binding partner. SPRY4-IT1 knockdown increases the accumulation of lipin2 protein and upregulate the expression of diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase 2 (DGAT2) an enzyme involved in the conversion of DAG to triacylglycerol (TAG). When SPRY4-IT1 knockdown and control melanoma cells were subjected to shotgun lipidomics, an MS-based assay that permits the quantification of changes in the cellular lipid profile, we found that SPRY4-IT1 knockdown induced significant changes in a number of lipid species, including increased acyl carnitine, fatty acyl chains, and triacylglycerol (TAG). Together, these results suggest the possibility that SPRY4-IT1 knockdown may induce apoptosis via lipin 2-mediated alterations in lipid metabolism leading to cellular lipotoxicity