The child's right to protection against economic exploitation in the digital world

Abstract Children face significant consumer risks when surfing online, related to, inter alia, embedded advertisements and privacy-invasive practices, as well as the exploitation of their incredulity and inexperience resulting in overspending or online fraudulent transactions. Behind the fun and playful activities available for children online lie complex revenue models, creating value for companies by feeding children's data into algorithms and self-learning models to profile them and offer personalised advertising or by nudging children to buy or try to win in-app items to advance in the games they play. In this article we argue that specific measures against these forms of economic exploitation of children in the digital world are urgently needed. We focus on three types of exploitative practices that may have a significant impact on the well-being and rights of children - profiling and automated decision-making, commercialisation of play, and digital child labour. For each type, we explain what the practice entails, situate the practice within the existing legislative and children's rights framework and identify concerns in relation to those rights. Keyword

Comparison of immature and mature bone marrow-derived dendritic cells by atomic force microscopy

A comparative study of immature and mature bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BMDCs) was first performed through an atomic force microscope (AFM) to clarify differences of their nanostructure and adhesion force. AFM images revealed that the immature BMDCs treated by granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor plus IL-4 mainly appeared round with smooth surface, whereas the mature BMDCs induced by lipopolysaccharide displayed an irregular shape with numerous pseudopodia or lamellapodia and ruffles on the cell membrane besides becoming larger, flatter, and longer. AFM quantitative analysis further showed that the surface roughness of the mature BMDCs greatly increased and that the adhesion force of them was fourfold more than that of the immature BMDCs. The nano-features of the mature BMDCs were supported by a high level of IL-12 produced from the mature BMDCs and high expression of MHC-II on the surface of them. These findings provide a new insight into the nanostructure of the immature and mature BMDCs

Identification of the Er1 resistence gene and RNase S-alleles in Malus prunifolia var. ringo rootstock

Woolly apple aphid (WAA; Eriosoma lanigerum Hausm.) is a major insect pest that has significant economic impact on apple growers worldwide. Modern breeding technologies rely on several molecular tools to help breeders select genetic determinants for traits of interest. Consequently, there is a need for specific markers linked to the genes of interest. Apple scions and rootstocks have an additional barrier to the introduction of pest resistance genes due to the presence of self-incompatibility S-RNase alleles. The genetic characterization and early identification of these alleles can amplify the contribution of a breeding program to the selection of resistant genitors that are as compatible as possible. In this study, we identified the Er1 gene involved in the resistance to WAA in Malus prunifolia var. ringo, also known as ‘Maruba Kaido’ rootstock, and we analyzed the inheritance pattern of the WAA resistance Er1 gene in a segregant population derived from Malus pumila ‘M.9’ and ‘Maruba Kaido’ rootstocks. The self-incompatibility of S-RNase alleles S6S26 of ‘Maruba Kaido’ were also identified along with their inheritance pattern. We also confirmed the identification of the S1S3 alleles in the ‘M.9’ rootstock. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to characterize WAA resistance and RNase S-alleles in ‘Maruba Kaido’. Furthermore, we discuss the potential use of the genetic markers for these genes and their potential impact on apple breeding programs

Global patient outcomes after elective surgery: prospective cohort study in 27 low-, middle- and high-income countries.

BACKGROUND: As global initiatives increase patient access to surgical treatments, there remains a need to understand the adverse effects of surgery and define appropriate levels of perioperative care. METHODS: We designed a prospective international 7-day cohort study of outcomes following elective adult inpatient surgery in 27 countries. The primary outcome was in-hospital complications. Secondary outcomes were death following a complication (failure to rescue) and death in hospital. Process measures were admission to critical care immediately after surgery or to treat a complication and duration of hospital stay. A single definition of critical care was used for all countries. RESULTS: A total of 474 hospitals in 19 high-, 7 middle- and 1 low-income country were included in the primary analysis. Data included 44 814 patients with a median hospital stay of 4 (range 2-7) days. A total of 7508 patients (16.8%) developed one or more postoperative complication and 207 died (0.5%). The overall mortality among patients who developed complications was 2.8%. Mortality following complications ranged from 2.4% for pulmonary embolism to 43.9% for cardiac arrest. A total of 4360 (9.7%) patients were admitted to a critical care unit as routine immediately after surgery, of whom 2198 (50.4%) developed a complication, with 105 (2.4%) deaths. A total of 1233 patients (16.4%) were admitted to a critical care unit to treat complications, with 119 (9.7%) deaths. Despite lower baseline risk, outcomes were similar in low- and middle-income compared with high-income countries. CONCLUSIONS: Poor patient outcomes are common after inpatient surgery. Global initiatives to increase access to surgical treatments should also address the need for safe perioperative care. STUDY REGISTRATION: ISRCTN5181700

Children’s rights and advertising literacy in the digital era: towards an empowering regulatory framework for commercial communication

On a daily basis, children are exposed to a broad variety of new digital advertising techniques. These new forms of commercial communication have specific features (i.e. immersive, interactive, personalised) that make them particularly appealing to children, but also raise concerns as children often do not recognise or understand the persuasive intent of these new forms. Accordingly, these new forms raise significant legal and ethical questions from a children's rights perspective (e.g. their right to development, privacy and data protection, participation). However, currently a wide array of provisions regulates commercial communication aimed at children, across various channels. The research starts from the observation that the regulatory framework is fragmented into both legislative and alternative regulatory instruments (i.e. self- and co-regulation) and takes as its working hypothesis that this potentially may lead to gaps or overlaps such as inter alia a lack of clear and uniform definitions and even contradicting rules, which in turn may have a negative impact on children's development and advertising literacy. Therefore, the project questions what substantive and procedural elements a regulatory framework on commercial communication needs for children to be educated and empowered to cope with commercial communication (i.e. ad literate), so that they can grow up to be critical, informed consumers who make their own conscious choices in today's new media environment.status: publishe