Academic panel: Privacy, technology and surveillance in the digital age: the Big Brother scenario

This panel starts a MWAIS community conversation about privacy, technology and surveillance in the digital age: the Big Brother scenario. The Big Brother metaphor captures many of our concerns about a future scenario that is increasingly possible. Issues to be discussed by the panel include: 1. How do we define ‘privacy’ in the digital age? 2. Who gathers our information online, and why? 3. What is the scope of surveillance in our culture – governmental, corporate, and interpersonal? 4. How much can be learned about us from our online presence? 5. What are the risks, and how can we protect ourselves? 6. How can we avoid George Orwell’s warning about a totalitarian surveillance state? 7. What is the role of IS/T professionals in avoiding this scenario

Predictors of death without prior appropriate therapy in ICD recipients: the comorbidities, frailty and functional status (COMFFORT study)

Objective: Most patients who have an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) implant do not receive life-prolonging therapy from it. Little research has been undertaken to determine which patients benefit the least from ICD therapy. As patients age and accumulate comorbidities, the risk of death increases and the benefit of ICDs diminishes. We sought to evaluate the impact of comorbidity, frailty, functional status on death with no prior appropriate ICD therapy. Methods: A prospective, multicentre, observational study involving 12 English hospitals was undertaken. Patients were eligible for inclusion for the study if they were scheduled to have a de novo, upgrade to or replacement of a transvenous or subcutaneous ICD or cardiac resynchronisation therapy device and defibrillator (CRT-D). Baseline characteristics were collected. Participants were asked to complete a frailty assessment (Fried score) and a functional status questionnaire (EuroQol 5-Dimension 5-Level (EQ-5D-5L)). The Charlson Comorbidity Index was calculated. Patients were prospectively followed up for 2.5 years. The primary outcome was death with no prior appropriate therapy. Results: In total, 675 patients were enrolled, mean age 65.7 (IQR 65–75) years. A total of 63 patients (9.5%) died during follow-up, 58 without receiving appropriate ICD therapy. Frailty was present in 86/675 (12.7%) and severe comorbidity in 69/675 (10.2%). Multivariate predictors of death with no appropriate therapy were identified and a risk score comprising frailty, comorbidity, increasing age, estimated glomerular filtration rate and EQ-5D-5L was developed. Conclusion: Comorbidities, frailty and the EQ-5D-5L score are powerful, independent predictors of death with no prior appropriate therapy in ICD/CRT-D recipients

Predictors of death without prior appropriate therapy in ICD recipients: the comorbidities, frailty and functional status (COMFFORT study)

Objective: Most patients who have an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) implant do not receive life-prolonging therapy from it. Little research has been undertaken to determine which patients benefit the least from ICD therapy. As patients age and accumulate comorbidities, the risk of death increases and the benefit of ICDs diminishes. We sought to evaluate the impact of comorbidity, frailty, functional status on death with no prior appropriate ICD therapy. Methods: A prospective, multicentre, observational study involving 12 English hospitals was undertaken. Patients were eligible for inclusion for the study if they were scheduled to have a de novo, upgrade to or replacement of a transvenous or subcutaneous ICD or cardiac resynchronisation therapy device and defibrillator (CRT-D). Baseline characteristics were collected. Participants were asked to complete a frailty assessment (Fried score) and a functional status questionnaire (EuroQol 5-Dimension 5-Level (EQ-5D-5L)). The Charlson Comorbidity Index was calculated. Patients were prospectively followed up for 2.5 years. The primary outcome was death with no prior appropriate therapy. Results: In total, 675 patients were enrolled, mean age 65.7 (IQR 65–75) years. A total of 63 patients (9.5%) died during follow-up, 58 without receiving appropriate ICD therapy. Frailty was present in 86/675 (12.7%) and severe comorbidity in 69/675 (10.2%). Multivariate predictors of death with no appropriate therapy were identified and a risk score comprising frailty, comorbidity, increasing age, estimated glomerular filtration rate and EQ-5D-5L was developed. Conclusion: Comorbidities, frailty and the EQ-5D-5L score are powerful, independent predictors of death with no prior appropriate therapy in ICD/CRT-D recipients

Rendering an Account: An Open-State Archive in Postgraduate Supervision

The paper begins with a brief account of the transformation of research degree studies under the pressures of global capitalism and neo-liberal governmentality. A parallel transformation is occurring in the conduct of research through the use of information and communication technologies. Yet the potential of ICTs to shape practices of surveillance or to produce new student-supervisor relations and enhance the processes of developing the dissertation has received almost no critical attention. As doctoral supervisor and student, we then describe the features and uses of a web-based open state archive of the student's work-in-progress, developed by the student and accessible to his supervisor. Our intention was to encourage more open conversations between data and theorising, student and supervisor, and ultimately between the student and professional community. However, we recognise that relations of accountability, as these have developed within a contemporary "audit revolution" (Power, 1994, 1997) in universities, create particular "lines of visibility" (Munro, 1996). Thus while the open-state archive may help to redefine in less managerial terms notions of quality, transparency, flexibility and accountability, it might also make possible greater supervisory surveillance. How should we think about the panoptical potential of this archive? We argue that the diverse kinds of interactional patterns and pedagogical intervention it encourages help to create shifting subjectivities. Moreover, the archive itself is multiple, in bringing together an array of diverse materials that can be read in various ways, by following multiple paths. It therefore constitutes a collage, which we identify as a mode of cognition and of accounting distinct from but related to argument and narrative. As a more "open" text (Iser, 1978) it has an indeterminacy which may render it less open to abuse for the technologies of managerial accountability

Effect of Biodiversity Changes in Disease Risk: Exploring Disease Emergence in a Plant-Virus System

The effect of biodiversity on the ability of parasites to infect their host and cause disease (i.e. disease risk) is a major question in pathology, which is central to understand the emergence of infectious diseases, and to develop strategies for their management. Two hypotheses, which can be considered as extremes of a continuum, relate biodiversity to disease risk: One states that biodiversity is positively correlated with disease risk (Amplification Effect), and the second predicts a negative correlation between biodiversity and disease risk (Dilution Effect). Which of them applies better to different host-parasite systems is still a source of debate, due to limited experimental or empirical data. This is especially the case for viral diseases of plants. To address this subject, we have monitored for three years the prevalence of several viruses, and virus-associated symptoms, in populations of wild pepper (chiltepin) under different levels of human management. For each population, we also measured the habitat species diversity, host plant genetic diversity and host plant density. Results indicate that disease and infection risk increased with the level of human management, which was associated with decreased species diversity and host genetic diversity, and with increased host plant density. Importantly, species diversity of the habitat was the primary predictor of disease risk for wild chiltepin populations. This changed in managed populations where host genetic diversity was the primary predictor. Host density was generally a poorer predictor of disease and infection risk. These results support the dilution effect hypothesis, and underline the relevance of different ecological factors in determining disease/infection risk in host plant populations under different levels of anthropic influence. These results are relevant for managing plant diseases and for establishing conservation policies for endangered plant species

New Insights into the Structure of (1→3,1→6)-β-D-Glucan Side Chains in the Candida glabrata Cell Wall

β-glucan is a (1→3)-β-linked glucose polymer with (1→6)-β-linked side chains and a major component of fungal cell walls. β-glucans provide structural integrity to the fungal cell wall. The nature of the (1–6)-β-linked side chain structure of fungal (1→3,1→6)-β-D-glucans has been very difficult to elucidate. Herein, we report the first detailed structural characterization of the (1→6)-β-linked side chains of Candida glabrata using high-field NMR. The (1→6)-β-linked side chains have an average length of 4 to 5 repeat units spaced every 21 repeat units along the (1→3)-linked polymer backbone. Computer modeling suggests that the side chains have a bent curve structure that allows for a flexible interconnection with parallel (1→3)-β-D-glucan polymers, and/or as a point of attachment for proteins. Based on these observations we propose new approaches to how (1→6)-β-linked side chains interconnect with neighboring glucan polymers in a manner that maximizes fungal cell wall strength, while also allowing for flexibility, or plasticity

Dialectic tensions in the financial markets: a longitudinal study of pre- and post-crisis regulatory technology

This article presents the findings from a longitudinal research study on regulatory technology in the UK financial services industry. The financial crisis with serious corporate and mutual fund scandals raised the profile of compliance as governmental bodies, institutional and private investors introduced a ‘tsunami’ of financial regulations. Adopting a multi-level analysis, this study examines how regulatory technology was used by financial firms to meet their compliance obligations, pre- and post-crisis. Empirical data collected over 12 years examine the deployment of an investment management system in eight financial firms. Interviews with public regulatory bodies, financial institutions and technology providers reveal a culture of compliance with increased transparency, surveillance and accountability. Findings show that dialectic tensions arise as the pursuit of transparency, surveillance and accountability in compliance mandates is simultaneously rationalized, facilitated and obscured by regulatory technology. Responding to these challenges, regulatory bodies continue to impose revised compliance mandates on financial firms to force them to adapt their financial technologies in an ever-changing multi-jurisdictional regulatory landscape

A genus in the bacterial phylum Aquificota appears to be endemic to Aotearoa-New Zealand.

Allopatric speciation has been difficult to examine among microorganisms, with prior reports of endemism restricted to sub-genus level taxa. Previous microbial community analysis via 16S rRNA gene sequencing of 925 geothermal springs from the Taupō Volcanic Zone (TVZ), Aotearoa-New Zealand, revealed widespread distribution and abundance of a single bacterial genus across 686 of these ecosystems (pH 1.2-9.6 and 17.4-99.8 °C). Here, we present evidence to suggest that this genus, Venenivibrio (phylum Aquificota), is endemic to Aotearoa-New Zealand. A specific environmental niche that increases habitat isolation was identified, with maximal read abundance of Venenivibrio occurring at pH 4-6, 50-70 °C, and low oxidation-reduction potentials. This was further highlighted by genomic and culture-based analyses of the only characterised species for the genus, Venenivibrio stagnispumantis CP.B2T, which confirmed a chemolithoautotrophic metabolism dependent on hydrogen oxidation. While similarity between Venenivibrio populations illustrated that dispersal is not limited across the TVZ, extensive amplicon, metagenomic, and phylogenomic analyses of global microbial communities from DNA sequence databases indicates Venenivibrio is geographically restricted to the Aotearoa-New Zealand archipelago. We conclude that geographic isolation, complemented by physicochemical constraints, has resulted in the establishment of an endemic bacterial genus

Filling Key Gaps in Population and Community Ecology

We propose research to fill key gaps in the areas of population and community ecology, based on a National Science Foundation workshop identifying funding priorities for the next 5–10 years. Our vision for the near future of ecology focuses on three core areas: predicting the strength and context-dependence of species interactions across multiple scales; identifying the importance of feedbacks from individual interactions to ecosystem dynamics; and linking pattern with process to understand species coexistence. We outline a combination of theory development and explicit, realistic tests of hypotheses needed to advance population and community ecology

Are genetic risk factors for psychosis also associated with dimension-specific psychotic experiences in adolescence?

Psychosis has been hypothesised to be a continuously distributed quantitative phenotype and disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder represent its extreme manifestations. Evidence suggests that common genetic variants play an important role in liability to both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Here we tested the hypothesis that these common variants would also influence psychotic experiences measured dimensionally in adolescents in the general population. Our aim was to test whether schizophrenia and bipolar disorder polygenic risk scores (PRS), as well as specific single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) previously identified as risk variants for schizophrenia, were associated with adolescent dimension-specific psychotic experiences. Self-reported Paranoia, Hallucinations, Cognitive Disorganisation, Grandiosity, Anhedonia, and Parent-rated Negative Symptoms, as measured by the Specific Psychotic Experiences Questionnaire (SPEQ), were assessed in a community sample of 2,152 16-year-olds. Polygenic risk scores were calculated using estimates of the log of odds ratios from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium GWAS stage-1 mega-analysis of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The polygenic risk analyses yielded no significant associations between schizophrenia and bipolar disorder PRS and the SPEQ measures. The analyses on the 28 individual SNPs previously associated with schizophrenia found that two SNPs in TCF4 returned a significant association with the SPEQ Paranoia dimension, rs17512836 (p-value=2.57x10-4) and rs9960767 (p-value=6.23x10-4). Replication in an independent sample of 16-year-olds (N=3,427) assessed using the Psychotic-Like Symptoms Questionnaire (PLIKS-Q), a composite measure of multiple positive psychotic experiences, failed to yield significant results. Future research with PRS derived from larger samples, as well as larger adolescent validation samples, would improve the predictive power to test these hypotheses further. The challenges of relating adult clinical diagnostic constructs such as schizophrenia to adolescent psychotic experiences at a genetic level are discussed