CCTV-Exposure: An open-source system for measuring user's privacy exposure to mapped CCTV cameras based on geo-location (Extended Version)

In this work, we present CCTV-Exposure -- the first CCTV-aware solution to evaluate potential privacy exposure to closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras. The objective was to develop a toolset for quantifying human exposure to CCTV cameras from a privacy perspective. Our novel approach is trajectory analysis of the individuals, coupled with a database of geo-location mapped CCTV cameras annotated with minimal yet sufficient meta-information. For this purpose, CCTV-Exposure model based on a Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking was applied to estimate individual privacy exposure in different scenarios. The current investigation provides an application example and validation of the modeling approach. The methodology and toolset developed and implemented in this work provide time-sequence and location-sequence of the exposure events, thus making possible association of the exposure with the individual activities and cameras, and delivers main statistics on individual's exposure to CCTV cameras with high spatio-temporal resolution

mtDNA Mutagenesis Disrupts Pluripotent Stem Cell Function by Altering Redox Signaling

mtDNA mutagenesis in somatic stem cells leads to their dysfunction and to progeria in mouse. The mechanism was proposed to involve modification of reactive oxygen species (ROS)/redox signaling. We studied the effect of mtDNA mutagenesis on reprogramming and stemness of pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) and show that PSCs select against specific mtDNA mutations, mimicking germline and promoting mtDNA integrity despite their glycolytic metabolism. Furthermore, mtDNA mutagenesis is associated with an increase in mitochondrial H2O2, reduced PSC reprogramming efficiency, and self-renewal. Mitochondria-targeted ubiquinone, MitoQ, and N-acetyl-L-cysteine efficiently rescued these defects, indicating that both reprogramming efficiency and stemness are modified by mitochondrial ROS. The redox sensitivity, however, rendered PSCs and especially neural stem cells sensitive to MitoQ toxicity. Our results imply that stem cell compartment warrants special attention when the safety of new antioxidants is assessed and point to an essential role for mitochondrial redox signaling in maintaining normal stem cell function.Peer reviewe

Inverse Scattering Solutions for Side-Band Signals

When a signal is recorded that has been physically generated by some scattering process (the interaction of electromagnetic waves with an inhomogeneous dielectric, for example), the `standard model\u27 for the signal (i.e. information content convolved with a characteristic Impulse Response Function) is usually based on a single scattering approximation. An additive noise term is introduced into the model to take into account a range of non-deterministic factors including multiple scattering that, along with electronic noise and other background noise sources, is assumed to be relatively weak. Thus, the standard model is based on a `weak field condition\u27 and the inverse scattering problem is often reduced to the deconvolution of a signal in the presence of additive noise. Attempts at solving the exact inverse scattering problem which take into account multiple scattering effects often prove to be intractable, particularly with regard to the goal of implementing algorithms that are computationally stable and/or compatible with standard signal analysis methods and Digital Signal Processing `toolkits\u27. This paper provides an approach to solving the multiple scattering problem for narrow side-band systems (typically, electromagnetic signal processing systems) that is compounded in the introduction of a single extra term to the standard model

Inverse Scattering Solutions with Applications to Electromagnetic Signal Processing

When a signal is recorded that has been physically generated by some scattering process (the interaction of electromagnetic, acoustic or elastic waves with inhomogeneous materials, for example), the ‘standard model’ for the signal (i.e. information content convolved with a characteristic Impulse Response Function) is usually based on a single scattering approximation. An additive noise term is introduced into the model to take into account a range of non-deterministic factors including multiple scattering that, along with electronic noise and other background noise sources, is assumed to be relatively weak. Thus, the standard model is based on a ‘weak field condition’ and the inverse scattering problem is often reduced to the deconvolution of a signal in the presence of additive noise. Attempts at solving the exact inverse scattering problem for equations such as the inhomogeneous Schr¨odinger equation in quantum mechanics and the inhomogeneous Helmholtz equation in electromagnetism often prove to be intractable, particularly with regard to the goal of implementing algorithms that are computationally stable and/or compatible with standard signal analysis methods and Digital Signal Processing ‘toolkits’. This paper provides an approach to solving the multiple scattering problem for narrow side-band systems (typically, electromagnetic signal processing systems) that is compounded in the introduction of a single extra term to the standard model. The approach is based on applying certain conditions to an exact solution of the inverse scattering problem rather than applying conditions to the forward scattering problem and then inverting the (conditional) result

Performance Modeling and Reporting for the UML 2.0 Design of Embedded Systems

Abstract- This paper presents a new performance modeling approach for the design of embedded real-time systems using UML 2.0. The approach responds to the lack of specific semantics for the performance modeling. The existing UML metamodel is extended by defining stereotypes to include the message latency and execution time in UML statecharts. The information may contain both the real-time constraints and measured values that are back-annotated to the UML model. Further, fully automated model transformation is used to visualize this information with sequence diagrams. The modeling approach has been prototyped with the UML implementation of a WLAN medium access control protocol. The experiences proved the approach to be practical and intuitive. I

A Survey on Technologies Which Make Bitcoin Greener or More Justified

According to recent estimates, one bitcoin transaction consumes as much energy as 1.5 million Visa transactions. Why is bitcoin using so much energy? Most of the energy is used during the bitcoin mining process, which serves at least two significant purposes: a) distributing new cryptocurrency coins to the cryptoeconomy and b) securing the Bitcoin blockchain ledger. In reality, the comparison of bitcoin transactions to Visa transactions is not that simple. The amount of transactions in the Bitcoin network is not directly connected to the amount of bitcoin mining power nor the energy consumption of those mining devices; for example, it is possible to multiply the number of bitcoin transactions per second without increasing the mining power and the energy consumption. Bitcoin is not only “digital money for hackers”. It has very promising future potential as a global reserve currency and a method to make the World Wide Web (WWW) immune to cyberattacks such as the Distributed Denial-of-Service attacks. This survey approached cryptocurrencies’ various technological and environmental issues from many different perspectives. To make various cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH), greener and more justified, what technological solutions do we have? We found that cryptocurrency mining might be cleaner than is generally expected. There is also a plan to make a vast renewable energy source available by combining Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion and Bitcoin mining. There are plans to use unconventional computing methods (quantum computing, reversible computing, ternary computing, optical computing, analog computing) to solve some of the issues regarding the vast energy consumption of conventional computing (including cryptocurrency mining). We think using spare computing cycles for grid computing efforts is justified. For example, there are billions of smartphones in the world. Many smartphones are being recharged every day. If this daily recharging period of twenty to sixty minutes would be used for grid computing, for example, finding new cures to cancer, it would probably be a significant breakthrough for medical research simulations. We call on the cryptocurrency communities to research and develop grid computing and unconventional computing methods for the most significant cryptocurrencies: bitcoin (BTC)and ether (ETH)

GCPH Seminar Series 7: Silent Transformation of Well-Being

The fifth seminar in Series 7 took place on Wednesday 13th April 2011 at the Trades Hall of Glasgow. Public policy debates in industrialized societies tend to evolve around two instrumental subsystems: the economy and the welfare state. The ultimate goal of these subsystems - the well-being of citizens - receives very little attention. It seems as if policy makers assume that they understand it so well that it needs no special reflection. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The determinants of well-being have changed considerably in recent decades as societies have become wealthier, cultural norms and regulations have become more liberal, and the influence of the markets in everyday life has grown. Instead of scarcity and deprivation, the majority of people in affluent societies suffer from the "problem of choice" – an inability to make good choices for their own and others' well-being. Increasing concerns surrounding work-life balance, mental health, obesity, personal finances and children's development, as well as the rapidly growing markets for life management and well-being magazines, TV programmes and personal consulting services, suggest that this problem is real and has major societal impacts. This underlines the need to develop a better and more holistic understanding of everyday wellbeing that could serve as a basis for better individual decisions and public policy making. Improving knowledge about wellbeing is also crucial for innovating products and services to improve it. The more you know about the determinants of wellbeing in everyday life, the better products and services you can develop. Hence, wellbeing and competitiveness are not contradictory, rather they are consistent with each other