“Passwords protect my stuff” - a study of children’s password practices

Children use technology from a very young age and often have to authenticate. The goal of this study is to explore children’s practices, perceptions, and knowledge regarding passwords. Given the limited work to date and that the world’s cyber posture and culture will be dependent on today’s youth, it is imperative to conduct cyber-security research with children. We conducted surveys of 189 3rd to 8th graders from two Midwest schools in the USA. We found that children have on average two passwords for school and three to four passwords for home. They kept their passwords private and did not share with others. They created passwords with an average length of 7 (3rd to 5th graders) and 10 (6–8th graders). But, only about 13% of the children created very strong passwords. Generating strong passwords requires mature cognitive and linguistic capabilities which children at this developmental stage have not yet mastered. They believed that passwords provide access control, protect their privacy and keep their “stuff” safe. Overall, children had appropriate mental models of passwords and demonstrated good password practices. Cyber-security education should strive to reinforce these positive practices while continuing to provide and promote age-appropriate developmental security skills. Given the study’s sample size and limited generalizability, we are expanding our research to include children from 3rd to 12th graders across multiple US school districts

Permeability of Twenty-Two Small Diameter Hardwoods Growing on Southern Pine Sites

Gas permeability of hardwoods growing on southern pine sites is significantly affected by moisture content in the longitudinal direction. The ratio of permeability in the transverse to longitudinal directions is from 12,000:1 for post oak to over 1,000,000:1 for other oaks, but it is not affected by moisture. Although variation in longitudinal permeability varies greatly between and among species, for most species there was no height effect. A significant difference was detected between sapwood and corewood only in the longitudinal direction. Gas permeability tended to be somewhat less than liquid permeability

Effect of Steaming and Hot-Water Soaking on Extractive Distribution and Moisture Diffusivity in Southern Pine During Drying

Samples of southern pine sapwood and heartwood were treated five different ways: steaming in the saturated condition for 1 h and 5 h, respectively, steaming at a moisture content near the fiber saturation point (FSP) for 1 h, hot-water soaking for 10 h, and steaming near 95% relative humidity at an equilibrium moisture content (EMC) slightly below the FSP for 1 h at 100°C. The samples were dried from near saturation condition to an EMC slightly below the FSP, and then to final 12% EMC. The results indicate that the amount of extractives removed tended to be evenly distributed along the flow direction before drying and after drying to near FSP, which suggests that extractives move with water in wood in response to moisture gradient during drying. Hot-water soaking and prolonged steaming increased the moisture diffusivities above and below the FSP. The variation in diffusion coefficient was partially due to changes in the extractive distribution profile

Effect of Hardwood Vessels on Longitudinal Moisture Diffusion

The hypothesis that the longitudinal moisture content profile follows the shape of the sorption isotherm under steady-state diffusion condition was confirmed. This phenomenon was explained in terms of the unrestricted flow of water vapor from the lumen of one vessel element to the lumen of the next vessel element. Despite the assumed high vapor transport efficiency of the vessels, other cell types were believed to contribute substantially to longitudinal moisture movement. The diffusion coefficients of three different hardwood species were found to vary with moisture content

Shrinkage of Outerwood, Middlewood, and Corewood of Two Sweetgum Trees

Two sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua L.) trees were used to determine the shrinkage properties of green outerwood, middlewood, and corewood. Samples were taken at various heights along the boles from each side of a disk. Shrinkage displayed the following general pattern: corewood > middlewood > outerwood. This pattern was reversed for the specific gravity of samples from each of these wood types from tree 1, but tree 2 maintained a relatively uniform specific gravity among wood types

Efficacy of Continuously Administered PEDF-Derived Synthetic Peptides against Osteosarcoma Growth and Metastasis

The potent antiangiogenic pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) has shown promise against osteosarcoma, a tumour that originates in the bone and metastasises to the lungs. Neurotrophic, antiangiogenic, antiproliferative, and antimetastatic properties of PEDF have been attributed to a number of functional epitopes on the PEDF glycoprotein. StVOrth-2 (residues 78–102) and StVOrth-3 (residues 90–114) are two PEDF-derived peptides based on these functional epitopes. StVOrth-2 has previously been shown to inhibit osteosarcoma cell proliferation, while StVOrth-3 increased osteosarcoma cell adhesion to collagen I in vitro. In this paper, we have evaluated systemically and continuously delivered StVOrth-2 and StVOrth-3 using a clinically relevant murine model of osteosarcoma with spontaneous metastasis. Treatment with StVOrth-2 or StVOrth-3 with microosmotic pumps was initiated after primary osteosarcoma was established in the tibia. While treatment with StVOrth-2 and StVOrth-3 did not appear to affect local tumour invasion, tumour necrosis or apoptosis, StVOrth-2 predominantly restricted the growth of primary tumours, while StVOrth-3 restricted the burden of pulmonary metastatic disease. No peptide caused gross toxicity in mouse tissues as assessed by measuring weight of animals, serum biochemistry, and gross tissue observation. The differential effects exhibited by StVOrth-2 and StVOrth-3 in this orthotopic model of osteosarcoma may be related to the functional epitopes on the PEDF glycoprotein that they represent

Genetics-Based Population Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Risperidone in a Psychiatric Cohort.

BACKGROUND: High interindividual variability in plasma concentrations of risperidone and its active metabolite, 9-hydroxyrisperidone, may lead to suboptimal drug concentration. OBJECTIVE: Using a population pharmacokinetic approach, we aimed to characterize the genetic and non-genetic sources of variability affecting risperidone and 9-hydroxyrisperidone pharmacokinetics, and relate them to common side effects. METHODS: Overall, 150 psychiatric patients (178 observations) treated with risperidone were genotyped for common polymorphisms in NR1/2, POR, PPARα, ABCB1, CYP2D6 and CYP3A genes. Plasma risperidone and 9-hydroxyrisperidone were measured, and clinical data and common clinical chemistry parameters were collected. Drug and metabolite concentrations were analyzed using non-linear mixed effect modeling (NONMEM(®)). Correlations between trough concentrations of the active moiety (risperidone plus 9-hydroxyrisperidone) and common side effects were assessed using logistic regression and linear mixed modeling. RESULTS: The cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2D6 phenotype explained 52% of interindividual variability in risperidone pharmacokinetics. The area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) of the active moiety was found to be 28% higher in CYP2D6 poor metabolizers compared with intermediate, extensive and ultrarapid metabolizers. No other genetic markers were found to significantly affect risperidone concentrations. 9-hydroxyrisperidone elimination was decreased by 26% with doubling of age. A correlation between trough predicted concentration of the active moiety and neurologic symptoms was found (p = 0.03), suggesting that a concentration >40 ng/mL should be targeted only in cases of insufficient, or absence of, response. CONCLUSIONS: Genetic polymorphisms of CYP2D6 play an important role in risperidone, 9-hydroxyrisperidone and active moiety plasma concentration variability, which were associated with common side effects. These results highlight the importance of a personalized dosage adjustment during risperidone treatment

A novel role for proliferin-2 in the ex vivo expansion of hematopoietic stem cells

AbstractA family of proliferin genes was discovered on a microarray analysis of hematopoiesis supportive stromal cell lines. Proliferin-2 (PLF2) increased the frequency of long-term culture-initiating cells (LTC-IC) from 1 in 340 to 1 in 256 of the primary hematopoietic stem cell (HSC)-enriched bone marrow cells grown on MS5.1 feeder layer. A repeat using AFT024 feeder layer also showed a similar increase in LTC-IC (from 1 in 386 cells to 1 in 260 cells). The clonogenic output of the LTC-ICs was also increased significantly. The growth of various hematopoietic and stromal cell lines treated with PLF2 was found to increase by 4–27%, as measured by cell count and DNA synthesis assay. These findings open up the possibility of using PLF2 as a new member of the growth factor cocktails for the ex vivo expansion of HSC

Bisphosphonates regulate cell growth and gene expression in the UMR 106-01 clonal rat osteosarcoma cell line

Local growth of osteosarcoma involves destruction of host bone by proteolytic mechanisms and/or host osteoclast activation. Osteoclast formation and activity are regulated by osteoblast-derived factors such as the osteoclast differentiating factor, receptor activator of NF-κB ligand (RANKL) and the inhibitor osteoprotegerin (OPG). We have investigated the in vitro effects of bisphosphonates on a clonal rat osteosarcoma cell line. The aminobisphosphonate pamidronate was added to UMR 106-01 cell cultures (10−8M to 10−4M up to 5 days). The non-aminobisphosphonate clodronate was administered for the same time periods (10−6M to 10−2M). Cell proliferation, apoptosis and mRNA expression was assessed. Both agents inhibited cell proliferation in a time- and dose-dependent manner. ELISA analysis demonstrated an increase in DNA fragmentation although there was no significant dose-related difference between the doses studied. Bisphosphonate-treated cultures had a greater subpopulation of cells exhibiting morphological changes of apoptosis. Expression of mRNA for osteopontin and RANKL was down-regulated by both agents, while the expression of mRNA for alkaline phosphatase, pro-α1(I) collagen and OPG was not altered. Out in vitro work suggests the bisphosphonates not only have direct effects on osteosarcoma cell growth and apoptosis, but also, by altering the relative expression of osteoclast-regulating factors, they may inhibit the activity of osteoclasts and their recruitment. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaignhttp://www.bjcancer.co