The study of terrorism informatics utilizing the Twitter microblogging service has not been given apt attention in the past few years. Twitter has been identified as both a potential facilitator and also a powerful deterrent to terrorism. Based on observations of Twitter's role in civilian response during the recent 2009 Jakarta and Mumbai terrorist attacks, we propose a structured framework to harvest civilian sentiment and response on Twitter during terrorism scenarios. Coupled with intelligent data mining, visualization, and filtering methods, this data can be collated into a knowledge base that would be of great utility to decision-makers and the authorities for rapid response and monitoring during such scenarios. Using synthetic experimental data, we demonstrated that the proposed framework has yielded meaningful graphical visualizations of information, to reveal potential response to terrorist threats. The novelty of this study is that microblogging has never been studied in the domain of terrorism informatics. This paper also contributes to the understanding of the capability of conjoint structured data and unstructured content mining in extracting deep knowledge from noisy twitter messages, through our proposed structured framework.

No abstract

Purpose To determine the short-term and long-term adherence rates with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy in sleep apnea patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) compared to matched controls. Methods A case-control retrospective analysis was performed in a veterans affairs hospital. All symptomatic patients with BPH (n = 107) ever started on CPAP therapy between 2006 and 2012 were compared with controls matched for severity of sleep apnea (AHI). Adherence measures were obtained at the third and twelfth month visits. The cases included symptomatic BPH patients on active medical therapy. Diuretic use among cases and controls, and severity of nocturia among the cases were also analyzed. Results The mean AHI among cases and controls was 35.6 ± 27.3 and 35.5 ± 31 (p = 0.96). The population was male and predominantly Caucasian. There was no statistically significant difference in percent days CPAP device use ≥4 h. between symptomatic BPH patients and controls at 3-month (51.6 ± 38 vs. 47.2 ± 36; p = 0.43) and 1-year (64 ± 40.5 vs. 64.7 ± 31.3; p = 0.90) visits. The use of diuretics in the cases and controls, and the severity of nocturia in the cases did not influence adherence with CPAP therapy. Conclusions BPH or diuretic use did not affect adherence with CPAP therapy in obstructive sleep apnea. Severity of nocturia did not have any influence on adherence among the cases. BPH, regardless of the severity of nocturia, and diuretic use does not influence CPAP adherence in patients with OSA.

Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) has the potential to secure indoor optical wireless links. In a typical room scenario, an indoor optical wireless link will have a transmitter on the ceiling and a receiver on a desk. Ambient light from room (typically LED) lighting on the ceiling and sunlight coming through the windows present a challenging environment for free-space QKD links to operate, and a key challenge is to mitigate the noise induced by ambient light, particularly sunlight. A combination of spectral and spatial filtering can be used to reduce the effect of ambient light, with a narrowband optical filter typically used. Moreover, the wavelength of operation is key to further reduce the impact of ambient light. Wavelengths in 'quiet' regions of the solar spectrum, such as the atmospheric absorption bands, are promising candidates. We are currently working on a system that operates at 1370 nm, where water and carbon dioxide absorption band in the atmosphere attenuate the solar spectrum substantially. This paper reports the design and modelling of the system, with a series of validation measurements to characterise the effect of solar radiation on a typical photon-counting detector as would be used in a QKD system. The aim of this work is to show the feasibility of the wavelength region around 1370 nm as a necessary step towards a low noise QKD receiver for indoor optical wireless links in a practical environment.

No abstract