Overcoming Cloud Concerns with Trusted Execution Environments? Exploring the Organizational Perception of a Novel Security Technology in Regulated Swiss Companies

Trusted execution environments are a new approach for isolating data, specific parts of code, or an entire application within untrusted cloud environments. This emerging security technology could also enable the migration to cloud infrastructures for organizations working with highly sensitive data. As current research does not address the organizational perception of trusted execution environments (TEEs), we conducted an explorative study to clarify the technological, environmental, and organizational views on this technology by health care, life sciences, and banking companies in Switzerland. The interview findings show that in these industries, missing technological knowledge as well as privacy and process regulation are perceived to be the most critical driver for organizational adoption of TEEs. The identified low intrinsic motivation to adopt novel technologies permits us to conclude that clarifying the regulatory impact of TEEs could drive future adoption by organizations

Denying bogus skepticism in climate change and tourism research

This final response to the two climate change denial papers by Shani and Arad further highlights the inaccuracies, misinformation and errors in their commentaries. The obfuscation of scientific research and the consensus on anthropogenic climate change may have significant long-term negative consequences for better understanding the implications of climate change and climate policy for tourism and create confusion and delay in developing and implementing tourism sector responses

Critical overview of Nitinol surfaces and their modifications for medical applications

Nitinol, a group of nearly equiatomic shape memory and superelastic NiTi alloys, is being extensively explored for medical applications. Release of Ni in the human body, a potential problem with Nitinol implant devices, has stimulated a great deal of research on its surface modifications and coatings. In order to use any of the developed surfaces in implant designs, it is important to understand whether they really have advantages over bare Nitinol. This paper overviews the current situation, discusses the advantages and disadvantages of new surfaces as well as the limitations of the studies performed. It presents a comprehensive analysis of surface topography, chemistry, corrosion behavior, nickel release and biological responses to Nitinol surfaces modified mechanically or using such methods as etching in acids and alkaline solutions, electropolishing, heat and ion beam treatments, boiling in water and autoclaving, conventional and ion plasma implantations, laser melting and bioactive coating deposition. The analysis demonstrates that the presently developed surfaces vary in thickness from a few nanometers to micrometers, and that they can effectively prevent Ni release if the surface integrity is maintained under strain and if no Ni-enriched sub-layers are present. Whether it is appropriate to use various low temperature pretreatment protocols (≤ 160 °C) developed originally for pure titanium for Nitinol surface modifications and coatings is also discussed. The importance of selection of original Nitinol surfaces with regard to the performance of coatings and comparative performance of controls in the studies is emphasized. Considering the obvious advantages of bare Nitinol surfaces for superelastic implants, details of their preparation are also outlined.status: publishe

Recent observations of particulates in Nitinol

In spite of 40 years of history of Nitinol, the issues regarding its inclusions have been poorly explored. In our brief studies, conducted within the projects on surface design using Auger, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and scanning electrons microscopy, we discovered that particulates in NiTi medical alloys were always based on Ti: either ∼Ti₂NiO oxide, titanium dioxide, titanium carbide or oxidized titanium carbide. Nonmetallic particles were rather brittle, had various shapes and sizes, and revealed different solubility in chemical solutions. The matrix material surrounding inclusions showed a tendency to localized corrosion. It was hypothesized that release of inclusion debris in the human body due to corrosion might compromise biocompatibility of Nitinol.status: publishe

Fair enough? Decreased equity of dyadic coping across the transition to parenthood associated with depression of first-time parents

The transition to parenthood (TTP) is a stressful life event for most couples. Therefore, the way both partners jointly cope with stress (i.e., dyadic coping) is important for the prevention of individual adjustment problems (e.g., depression). For dyadic coping to be effective in reducing depressive symptoms, efforts of both partners should be equal. However, many couples experience a decrease of equity in task division within the domestic sphere across the TTP. The current study investigates the equity of a specific skill within the 'relationship sphere', because similarly to a decreased equity in household and childcare, a decreased equity of dyadic coping is likely to be associated with poorer individual adjustment. We collected longitudinal self-report data on dyadic coping and depressive symptoms from 104 mixed-gender first-time parents (n = 208 individuals) from pregnancy until 40 weeks postpartum. We created an equity score for men and women that measured their perceived difference between received and provided dyadic coping. On average, women reported providing more and receiving less dyadic coping than men. While both genders agreed on this distribution, men did perceive a higher equity of dyadic coping than women. Furthermore, the decrease of equity perceived by women across TTP was not visible in men. In line with our assumptions based on the equity theory, perceived equity of dyadic coping was associated with depressive symptoms in a curvilinear manner: Decreases in women's perceived equity in either direction (over- or underbenefit) were associated with more depressive symptoms in women and their male partners. This association was found above and beyond the beneficial effect of dyadic coping itself. This implies that not only how well partners support each other in times of stress, but also how equal both partners' efforts are, is important for their individual adjustment across TTP

Controlling the Balance of Fibroblast Proliferation and Differentiation: Impact of Thy-1

Fibroblasts provide matrix and regulatory mediators to the microenvironment and thereby contribute to maintenance of tissue homeostasis, wound healing, and tumor progression. In the present study, we addressed the functional relevance of Thy-1 for fibroblast functions in vitro and in vivo. Using fibroblasts from Thy-1(-/-) and wild-type mice, recombinant expression of Thy-1, and analysis of the interaction of fibroblasts with immobilized Thy-1, we showed that Thy-1 has a crucial role in the control of cell growth by suppressing proliferation and promoting apoptosis and differentiation of dermal fibroblasts. Function-blocking studies revealed that Thy-1 mediates the control of apoptosis and proliferation via modulation of beta 3 integrin function. Interestingly, Thy-1-mediated growth control appears to be a more general mechanism because it also regulates growth of tumor cells of different origin dependent on their beta 3 integrin expression. In summary, our findings point to an important role of Thy-1 in controlling the balance between proliferation and differentiation in dermal fibroblasts

The influence of surface oxides on the distribution and release of nickel from Nitinol wires

The patterns of Ni release from Nitinol vary depending on the type of material (Ni-Ti alloys with low or no processing versus commercial wires or sheets). A thick TiO₂ layer generated on the wire surface during processing is often considered as a reliable barrier against Ni release. The present study of Nitinol wires with surface oxides resulting from production was conducted to identify the sources of Ni release and its distribution in the surface sublayers. The chemistry and topography of the surfaces of Nitinol wires drawn using different techniques were studied with XPS and SEM. The distribution of Ni into surface depth and the surface oxide thickness were evaluated using Auger spectroscopy, TEM with FIB and ELNES. Ni release was estimated using either ICPA or AAS. Potentiodynamic potential polarization of selected wires was performed in as-received state with no strain and in treated strained samples. Wire samples in the as-received state showed low breakdown potentials (200 mV): the improved corrosion resistance of these wires after treatment was not affected by strain. It is shown how processing techniques affect surface topography, chemistry and also Ni release. Nitinol wires with the thickest surface oxide TiO₂ (up to 720 nM) showed the highest Ni release, attributed to the presence of particles of essentially pure Ni whose number and size increased while approaching the interface between the surface and the bulk. The biological implications of high and lasting Ni release are also discussed.status: publishe

Fair enough? Decreased equity of dyadic coping across the transition to parenthood associated with depression of first-time parents

The transition to parenthood (TTP) is a stressful life event for most couples. Therefore, the way both partners jointly cope with stress (i.e., dyadic coping) is important for the prevention of individual adjustment problems (e.g., depression). For dyadic coping to be effective in reducing depressive symptoms, efforts of both partners should be equal. However, many couples experience a decrease of equity in task division within the domestic sphere across the TTP. The current study investigates the equity of a specific skill within the ‘relationship sphere’, because similarly to a decreased equity in household and childcare, a decreased equity of dyadic coping is likely to be associated with poorer individual adjustment. We collected longitudinal self-report data on dyadic coping and depressive symptoms from 104 mixed-gender first-time parents (n = 208 individuals) from pregnancy until 40 weeks postpartum. We created an equity score for men and women that measured their perceived difference between received and provided dyadic coping. On average, women reported providing more and receiving less dyadic coping than men. While both genders agreed on this distribution, men did perceive a higher equity of dyadic coping than women. Furthermore, the decrease of equity perceived by women across TTP was not visible in men. In line with our assumptions based on the equity theory, perceived equity of dyadic coping was associated with depressive symptoms in a curvilinear manner: Decreases in women’s perceived equity in either direction (over- or underbenefit) were associated with more depressive symptoms in women and their male partners. This association was found above and beyond the beneficial effect of dyadic coping itself. This implies that not only how well partners support each other in times of stress, but also how equal both partners’ efforts are, is important for their individual adjustment across TTP