China's Use of Cyber Warfare: Espionage Meets Strategic Deterrence

This article presents three reasons for states to use cyber warfare and shows that cyberspace is—and will continue to be—a decisive element in China's strategy to ascend in the international system. The three reasons are: deterrence through infiltration of critical infrastructure; military technological espionage to gain military knowledge; and industrial espionage to gain economic advantage. China has a greater interest in using cyberspace offensively than other actors, such as the United States, since it has more to gain from spying on and deterring the United States than the other way around. The article also documents China's progress in cyber warfare and shows how it works as an extension of its traditional strategic thinking and the current debate within the country. Several examples of cyber attacks traceable to China are also presented. This includes cyber intrusions on a nuclear arms laboratory, attacks on defense ministries (including the Joint Strike Fighter and an airbase) and the U.S. electric grid, as well as the current Google affair, which has proved to be a small part of a broader attack that also targeted the U.S. Government. There are, however, certain constraints that qualify the image of China as an aggressive actor in cyberspace. Some believe that China itself is the victim of just as many attacks from other states. Furthermore, certain actors in the United States and the West have an interest in overestimating China's capabilities in cyberspace in order to maintain their budgets

Fibrocellular Contraction of a Lamellar Posterior Corneal Graft

Purpose: To report a case of progressive fibrotic contraction of the posterior lamellar graft after initially successful Descemet’s stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK). Methods: Retrospective report of clinical data and histopathological analysis of excised corneal tissue. Results: A 63-year-old woman underwent uncomplicated DSAEK in her left eye due to endothelial dystrophy. During the first months after surgery, her visual acuity was 0.3, and a semilunar contraction gradually appeared at the edge of the graft. Over the following months, the fibrotic changes progressed and visual acuity decreased, with no improvement after uncomplicated cataract surgery. A successful penetrating keratoplasty was performed, and the excised corneal button with an attached posterior lamellar graft was histologically examined. The affected part of the graft consisted of a thickened fibrocellular tissue positive for glycosaminoglycans and smooth muscle actin. Conclusions: The present case demonstrates asymmetric fibrotic contraction of a DSAEK graft

Pre-activation negativity (PrAN) : A neural index of predictive strength of phonological cues

We propose that a recently discovered event-related potential (ERP) component—the pre-activation negativity (PrAN)—indexes the predictive strength of phonological cues, including segments, word tones, and sentence-level tones. Specifically, we argue that PrAN is a reflection of the brain’s anticipation of upcoming speech (segments, morphemes, words, and syntactic structures). Findings from a long series of neurolinguistic studies indicate that the effect can be divided into two time windows with different possible brain sources. Between 136 and 200 ms from stimulus onset, it indexes activity mainly in the primary and secondary auditory cortices, reflecting disinhibition of neurons sensitive to the expected acoustic signal, as indicated by the brain regions’ response to predictive certainty rather than sound salience. After ~200 ms, PrAN is related to activity in Broca’s area, possibly reflecting inhibition of irrelevant segments, morphemes, words, and syntactic structures

Understanding the role of performance targets in transport policy

The measurement of performance in the public sector has become increasingly important in recent years and it is now commonplace for transport organisations, and local and national governments, to publish performance goals for service supply and quality. Such commitments, when time referenced, are known as targets. This paper explain how changes in management style, consumer rights legislation, contractual obligations and other factors have combined to make management-by targets increasingly common in the public sector. The advantages and disadvantages of management-by-targets are illustrated through discussion of the processes and experience of setting transport targets in UK national transport policy. We conclude that while some of the targets have had a significant impact on policy makers, managers and their agents, the effects have not always been as intended

Toric Intraocular Lenses in the Correction of Astigmatism During Cataract Surgery A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

TopicWe performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the benefit and harms associated with implantation of toric intraocular lenses (IOLs) during cataract surgery. Outcomes were postoperative uncorrected distance visual acuity (UCDVA) and distance spectacle independence. Harms were evaluated as surgical complications and residual astigmatism.Clinical RelevancePostoperative astigmatism is an important cause of suboptimal UCDVA and need for distance spectacles. Toric IOLs may correct for preexisting corneal astigmatism at the time of surgery.MethodsWe performed a systematic literature search in the Embase, PubMed, and CENTRAL databases within the Cochrane Library. We included randomized clinical trials (RCTs) if they compared toric with non-toric IOL implantation (± relaxing incision) in patients with regular corneal astigmatism and age-related cataracts. We assessed the risk of bias using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool. We assessed the quality of evidence across studies using the GRADE profiler software (available at: www.gradeworkinggroup.org).ResultsWe included 13 RCTs with 707 eyes randomized to toric IOLs and 706 eyes randomized to non-toric IOLs; 225 eyes had a relaxing incision. We found high-quality evidence that UCDVA was better in the toric IOL group (logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution [logMAR] mean difference, −0.07; 95% confidence interval [CI], −0.10 to −0.04) and provided greater spectacle independence (risk ratio [RR], 0.51; 95% CI, 0.36–0.71) and moderate quality evidence that toric IOL implantation was not associated with an increased risk of complications (RR, 1.73; 95% CI, 0.60–5.04). Residual astigmatism was lower in the toric IOL group than in the non-toric IOL plus relaxing incision group (mean difference, 0.37 diopter [D]; 95% CI, −0.55 to −0.19).ConclusionsWe found that toric IOLs provided better UCDVA, greater spectacle independence, and lower amounts of residual astigmatism than non-toric IOLs even when relaxing incisions were used

Gross Cystic Disease Fluid Protein-15/Prolactin-Inducible Protein as a Biomarker for Keratoconus Disease

Keratoconus (KC) is a bilateral degenerative disease of the cornea characterized by corneal bulging, stromal thinning, and scarring. The etiology of the disease is unknown. In this study, we identified a new biomarker for KC that is present in vivo and in vitro. In vivo, tear samples were collected from age-matched controls with no eye disease (n = 36) and KC diagnosed subjects (n = 17). Samples were processed for proteomics using LC-MS/MS. In vitro, cells were isolated from controls (Human Corneal Fibroblasts-HCF) and KC subjects (Human Keratoconus Cells-HKC) and stimulated with a Vitamin C (VitC) derivative for 4 weeks, and with one of the three transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) isoforms. Samples were analyzed using real-time PCR and Western Blots. By using proteomics analysis, the Gross cystic disease fluid protein-15 (GCDFP-15) or prolactin-inducible protein (PIP) was found to be the best independent biomarker able to discriminate between KC and controls. The intensity of GCDFP-15/PIP was significantly higher in healthy subjects compared to KC-diagnosed. Similar findings were seen in vitro, using a 3D culture model. All three TGF-β isoforms significantly down-regulated the expression of GCDFP-15/PIP. Zinc-alpha-2-glycoprotein (AZGP1), a protein that binds to PIP, was identified by proteomics and cell culture to be highly regulated. In this study by different complementary techniques we confirmed the potential role of GCDFP-15/PIP as a novel biomarker for KC disease. It is likely that exploring the GCDFP-15/PIP-AZGP1 interactions will help better understand the mechanism of KC disease