Recommending Privacy Settings for Internet-of-Things

Privacy concerns have been identified as an important barrier to the growth of IoT. These concerns are exacerbated by the complexity of manually setting privacy preferences for numerous different IoT devices. Hence, there is a demand to solve the following, urgent research question: How can we help users simplify the task of managing privacy settings for IoT devices in a user-friendly manner so that they can make good privacy decisions? To solve this problem in the IoT domain, a more fundamental understanding of the logic behind IoT users’ privacy decisions in different IoT contexts is needed. We, therefore, conducted a series of studies to contextualize the IoT users’ decision-making characteristics and designed a set of privacy-setting interfaces to help them manage their privacy settings in various IoT contexts based on the deeper understanding of users’ privacy decision behaviors. In this dissertation, we first present three studies on recommending privacy settings for different IoT environments, namely general/public IoT, household IoT, and fitness IoT, respectively. We developed and utilized a “data-driven” approach in these three studies—We first use statistical analysis and machine learning techniques on the collected user data to gain the underlying insights of IoT users’ privacy decision behavior and then create a set of “smart” privacy defaults/profiles based on these insights. Finally, we design a set of interfaces to incorporate these privacy default/profiles. Users can apply these smart defaults/profiles by either a single click or by answering a few related questions. The biggest limitation of these three studies is that the proposed interfaces have not been tested, so we do not know what level of complexity (both in terms of the user interface and the in terms of the profiles) is most suitable. Thus, in the last study, we address this limitation by conducting a user study to evaluate the new interfaces of recommending privacy settings for household IoT users. The results show that our proposed user interfaces for setting household IoT privacy settings can improve users’ satisfaction. Our research can benefit IoT users, manufacturers, and researchers, privacy-setting interface designers and anyone who wants to adopt IoT devices by providing interfaces that put their most prominent concerns in the forefront and that make it easier to set settings that match their preferences

On Translative Packing Densities in E2E^2 and E3E^3

The theory of packing and covering is an essential part of discrete geometry. In this dissertation we focus on and contribute to the knowledge on the densities of translative and lattice packings in $E^{2}$ and $E^{3}$. $d_{T}(C)$ and $d_{L}(C)$ will be used to denote the largest translative packing density and the largest lattice packing density of a planar disc or three dimensional body $C$, and for short, we will call them the translative packing density and the lattice packing density, respectively. In 1892, Thue solved the problem of the densest packing of congruent circular discs in the plane. In 1950s, Rogers proved that for any convex disc $C$, $d_{T}(C) = d_{L}(C)$. This result was generalized by L. Fejes T\'{o}th in 1985 to limited semi-convex domains. Besides, Fejes T\'{o}th posed the question whether Rogers's equality remains true for non-convex domains. A. Bezdek answered this question negatively by providing a nonconvex disc, resembling a wrench. Bezdek determined the lattice packing density of his wrench and showed a non lattice-like translative packing of the wrench with a larger density. Note that Bezdek did not have to prove that the later packing has the largest density among translative packings, and this is the point where I joined this research area and proved the following: A. First, I proved what Bezdek already conjectured. Specifically, I showed that the translative packing, which Bezdek included in his paper, is in fact a densest translative packing of his wrench. B. Once A) was proved I could complete a new proof of Bezdek’s result. This time all I had to prove was that lattice packings of the wrench cannot have a density equal to the largest translative packing density of the wrench. C. As a preparation for studying lattice packings in $E^3$, I proved a geometric property of point lattices. The one I proved could be interesting on its own. Let us assume that a point lattice contains all points whose position vectors are integer linear combinations of three independent vectors. One cannot expect that $8$ of these lattice points form the vertices of a cube whose faces are parallel to coordinate planes. But for every $\varepsilon$, we can guarantee the existence of 8 lattice points which are vertices of a large parallelepiped, so that after proper scaling it is in the $\varepsilon$-neighborhood of a unit cube. We call such parallelepipeds $\varepsilon$-cubes. D. It would be interesting to explore translative packing densities in $E^3$, so I revisited Rogers's equality $d_{T}(C) = d_{L}(C)$, where $C$ denotes a convex disc in the plane. The question whether the same equality holds in $E^{3}$ is still open today for convex bodies. I proved that the equality holds for cylinders with convex base. E. Naturally, we would like to determine the largest translative packing density of cylinders whose base is Bezdek’s wrench (called 3D-wrench). It was conjectured that stacking 3D-wrenches vertically over the densest planar lattice will give the densest 3D lattice. Surprisingly, this was not the case. It turned out that there is a different lattice packing of a single 3D-wrench, whose density is equal to the 3D-wrench's translative packing density

MicroRNA-483 amelioration of experimental pulmonary hypertension.

Endothelial dysfunction is critically involved in the pathogenesis of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and that exogenously administered microRNA may be of therapeutic benefit. Lower levels of miR-483 were found in serum from patients with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH), particularly those with more severe disease. RNA-seq and bioinformatics analyses showed that miR-483 targets several PAH-related genes, including transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), TGF-β receptor 2 (TGFBR2), β-catenin, connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and endothelin-1 (ET-1). Overexpression of miR-483 in ECs inhibited inflammatory and fibrogenic responses, revealed by the decreased expression of TGF-β, TGFBR2, β-catenin, CTGF, IL-1β, and ET-1. In contrast, inhibition of miR-483 increased these genes in ECs. Rats with EC-specific miR-483 overexpression exhibited ameliorated pulmonary hypertension (PH) and reduced right ventricular hypertrophy on challenge with monocrotaline (MCT) or Sugen + hypoxia. A reversal effect was observed in rats that received MCT with inhaled lentivirus overexpressing miR-483. These results indicate that PAH is associated with a reduced level of miR-483 and that miR-483 might reduce experimental PH by inhibition of multiple adverse responses

Improving alignment accuracy on homopolymer regions for semiconductor-based sequencing technologies

BACKGROUND: Ion Torrent and Ion Proton are semiconductor-based sequencing technologies that feature rapid sequencing speed and low upfront and operating costs, thanks to the avoidance of modified nucleotides and optical measurements. Despite of these advantages, however, Ion semiconductor sequencing technologies suffer much reduced sequencing accuracy at the genomic loci with homopolymer repeats of the same nucleotide. Such limitation significantly reduces its efficiency for the biological applications aiming at accurately identifying various genetic variants. RESULTS: In this study, we propose a Bayesian inference-based method that takes the advantage of the signal distributions of the electrical voltages that are measured for all the homopolymers of a fixed length. By cross-referencing the length of homopolymers in the reference genome and the voltage signal distribution derived from the experiment, the proposed integrated model significantly improves the alignment accuracy around the homopolymer regions. CONCLUSIONS: Besides improving alignment accuracy on homopolymer regions for semiconductor-based sequencing technologies with the proposed model, similar strategies can also be used on other high-throughput sequencing technologies that share similar limitations

Correlational Research on Mobile Phone Addiction and the Interpersonal Relationship Distress of Chinese College Students

In this essay, we utilized the following scales: Mobile and Internet Addiction Test, Basic Psychological Needs Scale, Negative Coping Style Questionnaire, and Interpersonal Relationships Assessment Scale. With those, we surveyed 1,730 college students, investigating the influence of mobile phone addiction on their interpersonal relationship distress and the mediating chain effect of basic psychological needs and negative coping styles on mobile phone addiction and interpersonal relationship distress. The results indicate that: (1) Mobile phone addiction can predict interpersonal relationship distress in college students; (2) Basic psychological needs serve as the mediating variables between mobile phone addiction and interpersonal relationship distress; (3) Negative coping styles prove to be the mediator between mobile phone addiction and interpersonal relationship distress; and (4) Basic psychological needs and negative coping styles establish a mediating chain effect between mobile phone addiction and interpersonal relationship distress

Deposition of Diamond-like Carbon Films by Liquid Electrochemical Technique

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films are amorphous carbon films that can be produced with or without hydrogen, depending on the deposition techniques and conditions. Besides the conventional vapor deposition, DLC films can be deposited by liquid electrochemical technique that utilizes the electrolysis of organic solution. Liquid electrochemical deposition of DLC films has gained growing interest because of the simplicity of experimental setup, the scalability of the process, low process temperature and the possibility of deposition on substrates with complex shape. Although some work has already been published, some important aspects are still missing. The aim of this dissertation is to investigate the influence of the experimental set-up and deposition parameters, as well as to evaluate possible technological applications of the process.Diamantähnliche Kohlenstoffschichten (DLC) sind amorphe Kohlenstoffschichten, die abhängig von der Abscheidetechnik und den Abscheidebedingungen, sowohl mit als auch ohne Wasserstoff hergestellt werden können. Neben der konventionellen Gasphasenabscheidung können DLC Schichten auch mittels elektrochemischer Abscheidung aus der flüssigen Phase hergestellt werden. Unter der angelegten Spannung reagieren die organischen Moleküle und werden zu DLC-Schichten auf dem Substrat. Die elektrochemische Abscheidung von DLC Schichten gewinnt aufgrund der Einfachheit des experimentellen Aufbaus, der Skalierbarkeit des Prozesses, der niedrigen Prozesstemperatur und der Möglichkeit auch geometrisch komplexe Strukturen zu beschichten zunehmend an Interesse. Obwohl bereits einige Arbeiten zu diesem Thema veröffentlicht wurden, fehlen noch entscheidende Aspekte. Das Ziel dieser Dissertation ist es daher, den Einfluss des experimentellen Aufbaus und der Abscheidebedingungen zu untersuchen und das technologische Potential des Verfahrens einzuschätzen

PLE-SLAM: A Visual-Inertial SLAM Based on Point-Line Features and Efficient IMU Initialization

Visual-inertial SLAM is crucial in various fields, such as aerial vehicles, industrial robots, and autonomous driving. The fusion of camera and inertial measurement unit (IMU) makes up for the shortcomings of a signal sensor, which significantly improves the accuracy and robustness of localization in challenging environments. This article presents PLE-SLAM, an accurate and real-time visual-inertial SLAM algorithm based on point-line features and efficient IMU initialization. First, we use parallel computing methods to extract features and compute descriptors to ensure real-time performance. Adjacent short line segments are merged into long line segments, and isolated short line segments are directly deleted. Second, a rotation-translation-decoupled initialization method is extended to use both points and lines. Gyroscope bias is optimized by tightly coupling IMU measurements and image observations. Accelerometer bias and gravity direction are solved by an analytical method for efficiency. To improve the system's intelligence in handling complex environments, a scheme of leveraging semantic information and geometric constraints to eliminate dynamic features and A solution for loop detection and closed-loop frame pose estimation using CNN and GNN are integrated into the system. All networks are accelerated to ensure real-time performance. The experiment results on public datasets illustrate that PLE-SLAM is one of the state-of-the-art visual-inertial SLAM systems

Surface defects repairing of sprayed Ca-P coating by the microwave-hydrothermal method

The increasing interest in decreasing the surface defects of sprayed Ca-P coating deposited on carbon/carbon (C/C) composites to enhance the bonding strength, bioactivity and corrosion resistance of the coating is justified by the growing evidence of its beneficial effect on the bone replacement fields. Microwave-hydrothermal (MH) method detailed in the previous study is successfully used to reduce the above coating defects and the MH mechanism is well studied here. Hence, five different treatment reagents involving calcium and phosphorus solution, sulfuric acid (H2SO4) solution, ammonium hydroxide (NH3·H2O) solution, only Ca2+ solution and deionized water are selected as the precursor solution. The surface, cross-sectional morphologies, phase and composition of the coatings are characterized by the scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), microscopy Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectra. Elastic modulus and coating hardness are measured by nanoindentation. Results reveal that the presence of calcium and phosphorus ions, as well as the H2SO4 in the precursor solution during the MH process, have a positive influence on the reduction of sprayed Ca-P coating surface defects. However, the coating treated by other three solutions cannot produce new phases on the basis of sprayed Ca-P coating and the surface defects of it are not decreased. Nevertheless, the elastic modulus and hardness of the coating treated by H2SO4 solution are very weak. MH treated coating by calcium and phosphorus ions in the precursor solution and in NH3·H2O solution, only Ca2+ solution and deionized water own the similar elastic modulus and hardness to that of the sprayed Ca-P coating. To conclude, in the MH process, the surface defects of the sprayed Ca-P coating are only lowered in calcium and phosphorus precursor solution and the coating strength is not dropped, which demonstrates the promoting mechanism of MH process