Challenges of the digital age for privacy and personal data protection.

Digital age can be described as a collection of different technological solutions as virtual environments, digital services, intelligent applications, machine learning, knowledge-based systems, etc., determining the specific characteristics of contemporary world globalization, e-communications, information sharing, virtualization, etc. However, there is an opportunity the technologies of the digital age to violate some basic principles of the information security and privacy by unregulated access to information and personal data, stored in different nodes of the global network.

Asynchronous quasi delay insensitive majority voters corresponding to quintuple modular redundancy for mission/safety-critical applications.

Electronic circuits and systems employed in mission- and safety-critical applications such as space, aerospace, nuclear plants etc. tend to suffer from multiple faults due to radiation and other harsh external phenomena. To overcome single or multiple faults from affecting electronic circuits and systems, progressive module redundancy (PMR) has been suggested as a potential solution that recommends the use of different levels of redundancy for the vulnerable portions of a circuit or system depending upon their criticality.

Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation: An Independent Risk Factor for Prothrombotic Conditions.

Objective: It remains unclear whether atrial fibrillation (AF) alone determines systemic changes in hemocoagulation. Our aim was to examine the prothrombin fragment F1+2 and fibrinopeptide A (FPA) as early markers of coagulation activity still in the first twenty-four hours of paroxysmal AF (PAF) and to correlate them with the arrhythmia onset.

Methods: 51 non-anticoagulated patients (26 men, 25 women, aged 59.

Paroxysmal atrial fibrillation: changes in factor VIII and von Willebrand factor impose early hypercoagulability.

Introduction: Paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) is a well-documented prothrombotic state that carries significant embolic risk. However, precise hemostatic changes in the very early stage of the disease are not completely studied. The aim of the study was to study von Willebrand factor (vWF) and coagulation factor VIII (FVIII) plasma levels and activity in the first hours (up to 24 h) of PAF clinical manifestation.

Intermittent occupancy combined with ventilation: An efficient strategy for the reduction of airborne transmission indoors.

It is important that efficient measures to reduce the airborne transmission of respiratory infectious diseases (including COVID-19) should be formulated as soon as possible to ensure a safe easing of lockdown. Ventilation has been widely recognized as an efficient engineering control measure for airborne transmission. Room ventilation with an increased supply of clean outdoor air could dilute the expiratory airborne aerosols to a lower concentration level.

High Energy Density Heteroatom (O, N and S) Enriched Activated Carbon for Rational Design of Symmetric Supercapacitors.

Carbon-based symmetric supercapacitors (SCs) are known for their high power density and long cyclability, making them an ideal candidate for power sources in new-generation electronic devices. To boost their electrochemical performances, deriving activated carbon doped with heteroatoms such as N, O, and S are highly desirable for increasing the specific capacitance. In this regard, activated carbon (AC) self-doped with heteroatoms is directly derived from bio-waste (lima-bean shell) using different KOH activation processes.

Paroxysmal atrial fibrillation is associated with early coagulation activity regardless of risk factors for embolism.

Background: Paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF) is associated with an increased incidence of embolic events, even in patients with no embologenic risk factors. This fact raises the question for the hypercoagulability in PAF as a state closely related to the arrhythmia itself, independent of other well established embologenic risk factors. The scarce data on that topic predisposed our aim that was to study coagulation activity in the early hours (up to the twenty-fourth hour) of the disease.

Optical Characterization of AsTe Films Grown by Plasma Deposition Based on the Advanced Optimizing Envelope Method.

Three AsTe films with different x and dissimilar average thickness are characterized mainly from one interference transmittance spectrum ( = 300 to 3000 nm) of such film on a substrate based on the advanced optimizing envelope method (AOEM). A simple dual transformation of () is proposed and used for increasing the accuracy of computation of its envelopes () and () accounting for the significant glass substrate absorption especially for > 2500 nm. The refractive index () of AsTe and AsTe films is determined with a relative error <0.

Integrated Computational Pipeline for Single-Cell Genomic Profiling.

Purpose: Copy-number profiling of multiple individual cells from sparse sequencing may be used to reveal a detailed picture of genomic heterogeneity and clonal organization in a tissue biopsy specimen. We sought to provide a comprehensive computational pipeline for single-cell genomics, to facilitate adoption of this molecular technology for basic and translational research.

Materials And Methods: The pipeline comprises software tools programmed in Python and in R and depends on Bowtie, HISAT2, Matplotlib, and Qt.

Progress in the Utilization of Coal Fly Ash by Conversion to Zeolites with Green Energy Applications.

Fly ash (FA) from lignite coal combusted in different Thermal Power Plants (TPPs) was used for the synthesis of zeolites (FAZs) of the Na-X type by alkaline activation via three laboratory procedures. FAZs were characterized with respect to their morphology, phase composition and surface properties, which predetermine their suitability for applications as catalysts and adsorbents. FAZs were subsequently modified with metal oxides (CuO) to improve their catalytic properties.

Sensing Ability of Ferroelectric Oxide Nanowires Grown in Templates of Nanopores.

Nanowires of ferroelectric potassium niobate were grown by filling nanoporous templates of both side opened anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) through radiofrequency vacuum sputtering for multisensor fabrication. The precise geometrical ordering of the AAO matrix led to well defined single axis oriented wire-shaped material inside the pores. The sensing abilities of the samples were studied and analyzed in terms of piezoelectric and pyroelectric response and the results were compared for different length of the nanopores (nanotubes)-1.

Stress-induced blood brain barrier disruption: Molecular mechanisms and signaling pathways.

Stress is a nonspecific response to a threat or noxious stimuli with resultant damaging consequences. Stress is believed to be an underlying process that can trigger central nervous system disorders such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Though the pathophysiological basis is not completely understood, data have consistently shown a pivotal role of inflammatory mediators and hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activation in stress induced disorders.

Structural Materials: Identification of the Constitutive Models and Assessment of the Material Response in Structural Elements Strengthened with Externally-Bonded Composite Material.

This article investigates the material behavior within multiple-component systems. Specifically, a structural concrete element strengthened to flexure with externally-bonded fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) material is considered. Enhancements of mechanical performances of the composite structural element resulting from synergies in the framework of the multiple-component system are studied.

Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation: Insight Into the Intimate Mechanisms of Coagulation.

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a hypercoagulable state. However, the intimate mechanisms leading to impaired coagulation and the timing of their activation are unclear. The aim of the study was to investigate the factors that initiate the coagulation cascade in the early hours (up to 48 h) of clinical manifestation of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF).

Speed, energy and area optimized early output quasi-delay-insensitive array multipliers.

Multiplication is a widely used arithmetic operation that is frequently encountered in micro-processing and digital signal processing. Multiplication is implemented using a multiplier, and recently, QDI asynchronous array multipliers were presented in the literature utilizing delay-insensitive double-rail data encoding and four-phase return-to-zero (RTZ) handshaking and four-phase return-to-one (RTO) handshaking. In this context, this article makes two contributions: (i) the design of a new asynchronous partial product generator, and (ii) the design of a new asynchronous half adder.

Gas Leakage Source Detection for Li-Ion Batteries by Distributed Sensor Array.

Lithium-based batteries operation is related to some safety risks of dangerous flaming, integrity destruction, or even explosion. Gas leakage is an early and reliable indicator for such irreversible malfunctioning of electrical accumulators. Often, accurate gas emission source location sensing is difficult especially in heavy operational conditions, related to temperature changes, vibrations, movements, accelerations, etc.

Speed and energy optimized quasi-delay-insensitive block carry lookahead adder.

We present a new asynchronous quasi-delay-insensitive (QDI) block carry lookahead adder with redundant carry (BCLARC) realized using delay-insensitive dual-rail data encoding and 4-phase return-to-zero (RTZ) and 4-phase return-to-one (RTO) handshaking. The proposed QDI BCLARC is found to be faster and energy-efficient than the existing asynchronous adders which are QDI and non-QDI (i.e.

LORETA With Cortical Constraint: Choosing an Adequate Surface Laplacian Operator.

Low resolution electromagnetic tomography (LORETA) is a well-known method for the solution of the l2-based minimization problem for EEG/MEG source reconstruction. LORETA with a volume-based source space is widely used and much effort has been invested in the theory and the application of the method in an experimental context. However, it is especially interesting to use anatomical prior knowledge and constrain the LORETA's solution to the cortical surface.

Studies on non-modified and copper-modified coal ash zeolites as heterogeneous catalysts for VOCs oxidation.

The present study is aimed at investigations on the catalytic activity for total oxidation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), such as toluene, acetone, n-hexane and dichlorobenzene onto zeolite-like materials synthesized from coal fly ash (FA) directed to development of an economically efficient approach for degradation of VOCs. Fly ash zeolites (FAZ) were prepared by alkaline conversion of FA collected from Thermal Power Plants supplied with lignite coal from "Maritza-East" basin in Bulgaria. Different synthesis procedures double stage fusion-hydrothermal activation, fusion-atmospheric crystallization and atmospheric aging were applied.

Environmental, energy, and economic analysis of integrated treatment of municipal solid waste and sewage sludge: A case study in China.

Incineration is well used to treat municipal solid wastes (MSW) but is difficult to treat sewage sludge (SS) because it requires a large amount of heat to remove high content of moisture in SS. Over 50 billion tons of SS are discharged annually in China, and the need for a better waste treatment strategy is urgent. This paper is to introduce a waste disposal technology referring to the integrated treatment of MSW and SS.

Role of the Autonomic Nervous System and Vascular Endothelial Factors in the Development of Primary Arterial Hypotension in Paediatric Patients.

Background: There is a dearth and inconsistency of data on the role of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) in the development of arterial hypotension. Also, little is known about the involvement of endothelial factors in the development of this disease. The aim of the study was to investigate the role of the ANS and endothelial factors or vasoregulators in the development of primary arterial hypotension (PAH) in children.

Emerging Concepts in Brain Glucose Metabolic Functions: From Glucose Sensing to How the Sweet Taste of Glucose Regulates Its Own Metabolism in Astrocytes and Neurons.

The astrocyte-neuron lactate shunt (ANLS) hypothesis is the most widely accepted model of brain glucose metabolism. However, over the past decades, research has shown that neuronal and astrocyte plasma membrane receptors, in particular, GLUT2, Kir6.2 subunit of the potassium ATP-channel, SGLT-3 acting as glucosensors, play a pivotal role in brain glucose metabolism.

Femtosecond laser ablation of dentin and enamel for fast and more precise dental cavity preparation.

Purpose: The purpose of the present work was to achieve fast and more precise ablation in dentin and enamel by using a commercial femtosecond laser system with high repetition rate, whilst avoiding any collateral irreversible damages in the hard tissue and pulp area.

Methods: We used fluence of the incident laser pulses which was marginally higher than the ablation threshold for dentin and enamel. The study was based on the hypothesis that femtosecond laser operating with a repetition rate in the range of 100-500 kHz can controllably ablate dental tissue obtaining sufficiently high removal rate whilst avoiding any collateral irreversible damages in the hard tissue and pulp area.

Engineering of III-Nitride Semiconductors on Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramics.

This work presents results in the field of advanced substrate solutions in order to achieve high crystalline quality group-III nitrides based heterostructures for high frequency and power devices or for sensor applications. With that objective, Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramics has been used, as a non-crystalline substrate. Structures like these have never been developed before, and for economic reasons will represent a groundbreaking material in these fields of Electronic.

Hamiltonian models for the propagation of irrotational surface gravity waves over a variable bottom.

A single incompressible, inviscid, irrotational fluid medium bounded by a free surface and varying bottom is considered. The Hamiltonian of the system is expressed in terms of the so-called Dirichlet-Neumann operators. The equations for the surface waves are presented in Hamiltonian form.