Ethics, Fashion, and Film in the 1950s and 60s

To truly understand the nature of identity, autonomy, and morality in the 1950s and 60s, one must look at what artifacts of humanity have been left behind. More specifically, clothes and fashion capture, represent, and immortalize the human experience through each stitch and seam. By analyzing clothing from an anthropologic lens, one can discover the socio-cultural reality of a time long past. Known for intense culmination of social and political movements, the 1950s and 60s contain many radical shifts. Ranging from social movements like Civil Rights, Women’s Liberation, Black Feminism, and others, to the political metamorphosis as a result of post-war American life through the invention of credit, Vietnam War, and the first televised presidential debate, period is rich with symbols of change and evolution, much like many others in history. As a significant ideological machine in the articulation of notions of freedom, individuality, autonomy (which are each profoundly linked to commodification and consumerism), Hollywood fashions are deeply implicated in western cultural discourses around notions of individualism and free expression. Hollywood offers fantasies of freedom through the desire for and consuming of the images and materials of fashion. Notions of individualism and freedom were not invented by Hollywood, but reflect the Enlightenment traditions of individualism, autonomy, and self-determination. By understanding the economic effects of capitalism and consumerism, the societal effects of autonomy and gender, and the cultural effects of adornment and dress, one can see how clothing becomes a language of expression, access, conformity, and counterculture during this period. And although sometimes at odds with the public spotlight, through diamonds, ruffles, and stardust, clothing is a means by which one can declare identity and even fight for individual autonomy

Concurrency Semantics for the Geiger-Paz-Pearl Axioms of Independence

Independence between two sets of random variables is a well-known relation in probability theory. Its origins trace back to Abraham de Moivre\u27s work in the 18th century. The propositional theory of this relation was axiomatized by Geiger, Paz, and Pearl. Sutherland introduced a relation in information flow theory that later became known as "nondeducibility." Subsequently, the first two authors generalized this relation from a relation between two arguments to a relation between two sets of arguments and proved that it is completely described by essentially the same axioms as independence in probability theory. This paper considers a non-interference relation between two groups of concurrent processes sharing common resources. Two such groups are called non-interfering if, when executed concurrently, the only way for them to reach deadlock is for one of the groups to deadlock internally. The paper shows that a complete axiomatization of this relation is given by the same Geiger-Paz-Pearl axioms

Hypergraphs of Multiparty Secrets

The article considers interdependencies between secrets in a multiparty system. Each secret is assumed to be known only to a certain fixed set of parties. These sets can be viewed as edges of a hypergraph whose vertices are the parties of the system. The properties of interdependencies are expressed through a multi-argument relation called independence, which is a generalization of a binary relation also known as nondeducibility. The main result is a complete and decidable logical system that describes interdependencies that may exist on a fixed hypergraph. Additionally, the axioms and inference rules in this system are shown to be independent in the standard logical sense

Forward Security in Threshold Signature Schemes

We consider the usage of forward security with threshold signature schemes. This means that even if more than the threshold number of players are compromised, some security remains: it is not possible to forge signatures relating to the past. In this paper, we describe the first forward-secure threshold signature schemes whose parameters (other than signing or verifying time) do not vary in length with the number of time periods in the scheme. Both are threshold versions of the Bellare-Miner forward-secure signature scheme, which is Fiat-Shamir-based. One scheme uses multiplicative secret sharing, and tolerates mobile eavesdropping adversaries. The second scheme is based on polynomial secret sharing, and we prove it forward-secure based on the security of the Bellare-Miner scheme. We then sketch modifications which would allow this scheme to tolerate malicious adversaries. Finally, we give several general constructions which add forward security to any existing threshold scheme

Information Flow on Directed Acyclic Graphs

Abstract. The paper considers a multi-argument independence relation between messages sent over the edges of a directed acyclic graph. This relation is a generalization of a relation known in information flow as nondeducibility. A logical system that describes the properties of this relation for an arbitrary fixed directed acyclic graph is introduced and proven to be complete and decidable

A ternary knowledge relation on secrets

ABSTRACT The paper introduces and studies the ternary relation "secret a reveals at least as much information about secret c as secret b ." In spite of its seeming simplicity, this relation has many non-trivial properties. The main result is a complete infinite axiomatization of the propositional theory of this relation

Sclerostin neutralization unleashes the osteoanabolic effects of Dkk1 inhibition

The WNT pathway has become an attractive target for skeletal therapies. High-bone-mass phenotypes in patients with loss-of-function mutations in the LRP5/6 inhibitor Sost (sclerosteosis), or in its downstream enhancer region (van Buchem disease), highlight the utility of targeting Sost/sclerostin to improve bone properties. Sclerostin-neutralizing antibody is highly osteoanabolic in animal models and in human clinical trials, but antibody-based inhibition of another potent LRP5/6 antagonist, Dkk1, is largely inefficacious for building bone in the unperturbed adult skeleton. Here, we show that conditional deletion of Dkk1 from bone also has negligible effects on bone mass. Dkk1 inhibition increases Sost expression, suggesting a potential compensatory mechanism that might explain why Dkk1 suppression lacks anabolic action. To test this concept, we deleted Sost from osteocytes in, or administered sclerostin neutralizing antibody to, mice with a Dkk1-deficient skeleton. A robust anabolic response to Dkk1 deletion was manifest only when Sost/sclerostin was impaired. Whole-body DXA scans, μCT measurements of the femur and spine, histomorphometric measures of femoral bone formation rates, and biomechanical properties of whole bones confirmed the anabolic potential of Dkk1 inhibition in the absence of sclerostin. Further, combined administration of sclerostin and Dkk1 antibody in WT mice produced a synergistic effect on bone gain that greatly exceeded individual or additive effects of the therapies, confirming the therapeutic potential of inhibiting multiple WNT antagonists for skeletal health. In conclusion, the osteoanabolic effects of Dkk1 inhibition can be realized if sclerostin upregulation is prevented. Anabolic therapies for patients with low bone mass might benefit from a strategy that accounts for the compensatory milieu of WNT inhibitors in bone tissue

Returning Individual Research Results from Digital Phenotyping in Psychiatry

Psychiatry is rapidly adopting digital phenotyping and artificial intelligence/machine learning tools to study mental illness based on tracking participants’ locations, online activity, phone and text message usage, heart rate, sleep, physical activity, and more. Existing ethical frameworks for return of individual research results (IRRs) are inadequate to guide researchers for when, if, and how to return this unprecedented number of potentially sensitive results about each participant’s real-world behavior. To address this gap, we convened an interdisciplinary expert working group, supported by a National Institute of Mental Health grant. Building on established guidelines and the emerging norm of returning results in participant-centered research, we present a novel framework specific to the ethical, legal, and social implications of returning IRRs in digital phenotyping research. Our framework offers researchers, clinicians, and Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) urgently needed guidance, and the principles developed here in the context of psychiatry will be readily adaptable to other therapeutic areas