title: Amikacin pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic in intensive care unit: a prospective database

text: BACKGROUND: Aminoglycosides have a concentration-dependent therapeutic effect when peak serum concentration (C(max)) reaches eight to tenfold the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC). With an amikacin MIC of 8 mg/L, the C(max) should be 64–80 mg/L. This objective is based on clinical breakpoints and not on measured MIC. This study aimed to assess the proportion of patients achieving the pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) target C(max)/MIC ≥ 8 using the measured MIC in critically ill patients treated for documented Gram-negative bacilli (GNB) infections. METHODS: Retrospective analysis from February 2016 to December 2017 of a prospective database conducted in 2 intensive care units (ICU). All patients with documented severe GNB infections treated with amikacin (single daily dose of 25 mg/kg of total body weight (TBW)) with both MIC and C(max) measurements at first day of treatment (D1) were included. Results are expressed in n (%) or median [min–max]. RESULTS: 93 patients with 98 GNB-documented infections were included. The median C(max) was 55.2 mg/L [12.2–165.7] and the median MIC was 2 mg/L [0.19–16]. C(max)/MIC ratio ≥ 8 was achieved in 87 patients (88.8%) while a C(max) ≥ 64 mg/L was achieved in only 38 patients (38.7%). Overall probability of PK/PD target attainment was 93%. No correlation was found between C(max)/MIC ratio and clinical outcome at D8 and D28. CONCLUSION: According to PK/PD parameters observed in our study, single daily dose of amikacin 25 mg/kg of TBW appears to be sufficient in most critically ill patients treated for severe GNB infections.


title: The thermostability of the RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine can be increased by co-lyophilizing RTS,S and AS01

text: BACKGROUND: Developing thermostable vaccines is a challenge for pharmaceutical companies due to the inherent instability of biological molecules in aqueous solution. The problem is even more stringent in regions subjected to high temperatures in which protective cold chain is difficult to maintain due to a lack of infrastructure. Here, a simple, cost-effective solution to increase the thermostability of the malaria candidate vaccine RTS,S/AS01 is described. This vaccine currently needs to be stored between 2 and 8 °C due to the sensitivity of liquid AS01 to higher temperatures. The strategy was to increase thermostability by co-lyophilizing the RTS,S antigen and AS01. METHODS: Co-lyophilization was achieved in a solution containing 5% sucrose, 10 mM potassium phosphate and 0.0312% polysorbate 80 at pH 6.1. The physicho-chemical characteristics and immunogenic properties of the resulting solid product, called CL-vac, fresh or stored at high temperature, were compared to those of the candidate RTS,S/AS01. RESULTS: CL-vac proved to be acceptable in terms of visual appearance and physico-chemical characteristics. The structural integrity of both RTS,S and AS01 within CL-vac and its equivalence to the RTS,S/AS01 candidate vaccine were shown. Further, the stability of CL-vac was demonstrated for storage periods including 1 year at 4 °C, 1 year at 30 °C, and up to 6 months at 37 °C. In addition, CL-vac could withstand a heat excursion consisting of 1 month at 45 °C after storage for 1 year at 30 °C. Equivalence and stability were demonstrated by the various analytical tools and the immunogenicity of the samples after storage was also demonstrated in mice. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, the co-lyophilization process appeared as a promising approach to increase RTS/AS01 vaccine thermostability.


title: The Covid-Shock Doctrine: Under the Tutorship of CoV-2, the Voice(s) From Poland

text: These are two autoethnographic voices. We speak in a strange time: democracy dies, social justice dies. A lot of people have died of the virus, many die of fear. We write to protest against new neoliberal and neoconservative “shock doctrine.” We write together to protest against destructive self-absorption, isolation, and fear. It is protest-text. But we are not sure what we can do now.


Mechanisms of Infectious Disease


COVID-19 and Community Dental Services: The challenges ahead


title: Glutamic acid decarboxylase antibodies in neurocritical patients: a culprit or a bystander?

text: BACKGROUND: Glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) is an intracellular enzyme, which is widely expressed in central nervous system (CNS), pancreas, and other organs. GAD antibodies (GAD-Abs) are linked to various neurological disorders. However, the significance of GAD-Abs in neurocritical patients is undetermined. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with serologically positive GAD-Abs and requiring neurocritical care were included. The clinical, laboratory, and outcome data were retrospectively collected. RESULTS: We included 9 patients with serologically positive GAD-Abs. Clinical manifestations involved both CNS and peripheral nervous system (PNS). Six (66.7%) patients had other specific autoimmune antibodies. Non-specific autoimmune responses were observed in 8 (88.9%) patients. All patients clinically responded well to immunotherapy. The titers of GAD-Abs decreased in 7 (77.8%) patients but remained unchanged in the other 2 patients. One (11.1%) patient awoke before the negative conversion of GAD-Abs, and 3 (33.3%) patients remained unconscious and/or under mechanical ventilation for several weeks after the vanishing of GAD-Abs. CONCLUSIONS: Most neurocritical patients with serologically positive GAD-Abs had other specific autoimmune antibodies. All patients responded well to immunotherapy, but not parallel to the titers of GAD-Abs. These results indicated that GAD-Abs might be more a bystander than a culprit in neurocritical patients, suggesting that an underlying autoimmune disease should be explored.


Denplan makes significant investment in PPE


title: Chemical space exploration based on recurrent neural networks: applications in discovering kinase inhibitors

text: With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in drug discovery, de novo molecular generation provides new ways to explore chemical space. However, because de novo molecular generation methods rely on abundant known molecules, generated molecules may have a problem of novelty. Novelty is important in highly competitive areas of medicinal chemistry, such as the discovery of kinase inhibitors. In this study, de novo molecular generation based on recurrent neural networks was applied to discover a new chemical space of kinase inhibitors. During the application, the practicality was evaluated, and new inspiration was found. With the successful discovery of one potent Pim1 inhibitor and two lead compounds that inhibit CDK4, AI-based molecular generation shows potentials in drug discovery and development. [Image: see text]


From survival to revival: Life after Coronavirus


27(th) Congress of the European Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery


title: Social media mining for smart cities and smart villages research

text: The imperative of well-being and improved quality of life in smart cities context can only be attained if the smart services, so central to the concept of smart cities, correspond with the needs, expectations and skills of cities’ inhabitants. Considering that social media generate and/or open real-time entry points to vast amounts of data pertinent to well-being and quality of life, such as citizens’ expectations, opinions, as well as to recent developments related to regulatory frameworks, debates, political decisions and policymaking, the big question is how to exploit the potential inherent in social media and use it to enhance the value added smart cities generate. Social mining is traditionally understood as the process of representing, analyzing, and extracting actionable patterns and trends from raw social media data. In the context of smart cities, this special issue focuses on how social media data, also potentially combined with other data, can be used to optimize the efficiency of city operations and services, and thereby contribute more efficiently to citizens’ well-being and quality of life.


Finding a way forward in the community


'Leadership' in lockdown


Managing sickness through COVID-19


title: Do governance quality and ICT infrastructure influence the tax revenue mobilisation? An empirical analysis for India

text: It attempts to empirically understand the role of Information and Communication Technology infrastructure and governance quality in direct and indirect tax revenues mobilisation for the combined governments of Centre, States and Union Territories of India during the post-liberalisation period of 1990–1991 to 2017–2018. Considering that the recently implemented Goods and Services Tax (GST) is not entirely different from the previous value added tax (VAT) regime in terms of revenue collections at each stages on the value added of manufacturing and sales but an extension of VAT (which existed since 2005 by most of the states and Union Territories until 1st July 2017) by bringing the services into tax net, it tries to assess on the role of institutions/governance and use of modern ICT infrastructures in realisation of greater tax revenues for the combined government. The findings surprisingly reveal that ICT infrastructures and governance quality have no significant positive effect on the overall tax revenue collections. This contrary outcome could be possible when there is greater scope for tax payers to easily escape out of the tax net by carrying out the transactions outside the ICT system or without relying on to the use of ICT infrastructure and leaving no trace behind.


Upcoming Events in Pediatric Cardiology Pediatric Cardiology 41-5


title: Tollwutprophylaxe: So beraten Sie in der Hausarztpraxis: Reisemedizin

text: Auch wenn von Reisen während der COVID-19-Pandemie gegenwärtig noch weitgehend abzusehen ist, bleibt Tollwut ein wichtiges Thema, dem Sie sich spätestens dann wieder widmen müssen, wenn die ersten Kurzentschlossenen zur Reiseberatung in Ihrer Praxis erscheinen werden. Dieser Beitrag frischt Ihr vorhandenes Wissen auf und informiert Sie insbesondere über das von der WHO propagierte verkürzte präexpositionelle Impfschema.


title: Effect of deletion of gene cluster involved in synthesis of Enterobacterial common antigen on virulence and immunogenicity of live attenuated Salmonella vaccine when delivering heterologous Streptococcus pneumoniae antigen PspA

text: BACKGROUND: Enterobacterial common antigen (ECA) is a family-specific surface antigen shared by all members of the Enterobacteriaceae family. Previous studies showed that the loss of ECA results in Salmonella attenuation, indicating its usefulness as a vaccine candidate for Salmonella infection, but no studies have shown whether the mutation resulting from the deletion of the ECA operon in conjunction with other mutations could be used as an antigen vehicle for heterologous protein antigen delivery. RESULTS: In this study, we introduced a nonpolar, defined ECA operon deletion into wild-type S. Typhimurium χ3761 and an attenuated vaccine strain χ9241, obtaining two isogenic ECA operon mutants, namely, χ12357 and χ12358, respectively. A number of in vitro and in vivo properties of the mutants were analyzed. We found that the loss of ECA did not affect the growth, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) production and motility of S. Typhimurium wild type strain χ3761 and its attenuated vaccine strain χ9241 but significantly affected the virulence when administered orally to BALB/c mice. Furthermore, the effects of the ECA mutation on the immunogenicity of a recombinant S. Typhimurium vaccine strain χ9241 when delivering the pneumococcal antigen PspA were determined. The result showed that the total anti-PspA IgG level of χ12358 (pYA4088) was slightly lower than that of χ9241 (pYA4088), but the protection rate was not compromised. CONCLUSIONS: ECA affects virulence and benefits the Th2 immunity of Salmonella Typhimurium, therefore, it is feasible to use a reversible ECA mutant mode to design future Salmonella vaccine strains for heterologous protective antigens.


Vorgeschädigte Haut lieber desinfizieren


docid: glkbhfwa

title: Editor’s Note: Journal of Healthcare Informatics Research and COVID-19 Research


Symposia on behavioral economics of the COVID-19 pandemic


FGDP(UK) & CGDent launch UK guidelines for safe return to practice


How to hold adequate data


title: Health Communication: Approaches, Strategies, and Ways to Sustainability on Health or Health for All

text: This chapter starts from a holistic perspective on health in the society. It makes a statement that, in order to become effective and sustainable, health communication needs to be studied, assessed, and practiced from a rights- or social justice-based position. Such an approach implies the use and integration of multidisciplinary perspectives that try to grasp the complexity of health issues from both global and local, individual, interpersonal, group, and community levels.


title: How Cities Cope in Outbreak Events?

text: An outbreak can cause more problems than just the spread of disease. It can be an antagonistic nemesis to our cities and communities, particularly if we lack preparedness and resilience. Its progress is usually unclear as it can be completely different from case to case, and can react differently in different contexts and with different groups of people. Such reactions may purely relate to climatic conditions, hygienic status, and environmental attributes of the context. Those reactions can also differ from one group of people to another, while the disease has to find its correct host as well the way it can transmit and evolve. Consequently, the magnitude of impacts would depend on many factors, of which the nature of the disease is very important during the whole outbreak progress.


title: Introduction: The City During Outbreak Events

text: As the largest quarantine in human history, the City of Wuhan, China, with more than 11 million people went under a complete lockdown situation on 23 Jan 2020. An unprecedented situation that lasted longer than ever imagined. This occurred solely due to the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (later renamed as “COVID-19”), just one day before the celebration of the Chinese New Year.


title: Recommendations for ‘The City in Need’

text: As the body first deteriorates and then reaches immunity against a disease, the city also first suffers and then becomes more resilient by the end of an outbreak event. The city may not become fully immune, but will be more experienced and prepared with a much enhanced resilience for the future.


title: Preparedness Through Urban Resilience

text: This book explores the topic of resilience at the city level. The focus is more on outbreak events at the city level, or how cities should prepare and react in facing the larger events of epidemic and pandemic.


title: Risiko-Management in der Logistik und Supply Chain

text: In der Logistik geht es um Gestaltung, Planung, Steuerung, Bereitstellung, Optimierung und Sicherung des Material- und Warenflusses und der damit einhergehenden Informationen von der Entwicklung eines Produktes, beginnend beim Lieferanten, bis zum Absatz an den Endabnehmer. Häufig wird Logistik mit den „7 R“ beschrieben: Es geht darum, das richtige Produkt zur richtigen Zeit, am richtigen Ort, in der richtigen Menge, in der richtigen Qualität und zu den richtigen Kosten zum richtigen Kunden zu bringen. Ein Blick in die Gegenwart zeigt, dass logistischeProzessketten und Logistiknetze immer komplexer geworden sind – auch hinsichtlich Kosten, Zeit und Qualität. In diesem Kapitel bieten wir eine konkrete Arbeitshilfe für Praktiker und stellen anhand unterschiedlicher Beispiele Konzepte, Methoden und Instrumente vor, die es ermöglichen, Risiken in der Logistik zu identifizieren und effektiv zu handhaben. Für ein wirksames Logistik-Risikomanagement müssen die folgenden vier Erfolgsfaktoren berücksichtigt werden: 1. Methoden, 2. Organisation, 3. Prozess und 4. gelebte Risiko-/Fehlerkultur.


title: Risiko-Management in der Produktion

text: In einem Industrie- und Handelsunternehmen können Risiken an jedem Punkt entlang der Wertschöpfungskette entstehen. So hatte die Nuklearkatastrophe von Fukushima im März 2011 oder die COVID-19-Pandemie im Jahr 2020 massive Auswirkungen auf die Produktionsprozesse weltweit. Die Unterbrechung länderüberschreitender Lieferketten führte zu zumindest zeitweisen Produktionsstopps. Vor allem in der Folge der verstärkten Globalisierung der Wertschöpfungsnetzwerke sowie die Verschlankung derartiger Netzwerke ist die Risikoexponierung vieler produzierender Unternehmen in den vergangenen Jahren stark angestiegen. Das Kapitel "Risiko-Management in der Produktion" bietet eine Einführung in Methoden zum Aufbau eines wirksamens Risiko-Managements im Bereich der Produktion. So werden u.a. die Methoden Szenariotechnik/Szenarioanalyse (deterministisch), FMEA (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis), Fehlerbaumanalyse (Fault Tree Analysis), Bow-Tie-Analyse, CIRS, PAAG und HAZOP beschrieben.


docid: ygocpnht

title: Response to the authors


title: Reflection on Disruptions: Managing the City in Need, Saving the City in Need

text: At the time when mostly negative news flow between countries, the reactions of national-level and city-level governments should reflect on their full preparedness and responsive management.


Epilepsia Open—June 2020—Announcements


title: Does increase in R & D investment reduce environmental pressures? Empirical research on the global top six carbon emitters

text: This work is aimed to investigate the effect of research and development (R&D) on reduce in environmental pressures through an empirical analysis of the top six global carbon emitters (the C6: China, USA, India, Russia, Japan, and Germany). This work is valuable toward carbon reduction within C6 countries and the world (C6 emit roughly 60% of the global carbon emissions). Moreover, it is also meaningful for exploring the decoupling of economic development from carbon emissions in other areas (both developing and developed countries). The main findings displayed that the decoupling status in developed countries (i.e., USA, Japan, and Germany) were better and more stable than in developing countries (i.e., China, India, and Russia). Germany performed best among the developed countries, and China performed most stable among the developing countries. The effect of the per capita R&D expenditure was main resistance to decoupling carbon emissions from economic development in C6 countries. However, the energy intensity effect and R&D efficiency effect related to technological progress were the main driving forces for the decoupling process. Consequently, this study proposes that the improvement of technological progress should be prioritized.


title: Autonomy in consumer choice

text: We propose that autonomy is a crucial aspect of consumer choice. We offer a definition that situates autonomy among related constructs in philosophy and psychology, contrast actual with perceived autonomy in consumer contexts, examine the resilience of perceived autonomy, and sketch out an agenda for research into the role of perceived autonomy in an evolving marketplace increasingly characterized by automation.


title: Ethical and Professional Considerations in the Forensic Assessment of Complex Trauma and Dissociation

text: Empirical research spanning the past three decades has consistently upheld that traumatic experiences are prevalent (Gold, Psychological Trauma Theory Research Practice and Policy, S(1), 114–124, 2008; Kilpatrick et al. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 26(5), 537–547, 2013; Resnick, Kilpatrick, Dansky, Saunders, & Best Journal of Clinical and Consulting Psychology, 61(6), 984–991, 1993). Therefore, the likelihood of encountering an individual who has experienced significant trauma within forensic settings is high (Dalenberg, Straus, & Ardill, 2017). Further, forensic psychologists are frequently called upon to assess the impact of such traumatic events and to opine about their connection to a specific psycho-legal issue such as damages in a civil case or the presence of extreme emotional disturbance or mitigating factors in criminal matters. Childhood trauma that has occurred repeatedly and cumulatively, particularly within the context of family relationships, has been referred to as complex trauma. Complex trauma has been shown to result in significant difficulties in a broad range of capabilities such as affect regulation, dissociation, identity development, relational capacities, and somatic distress (Courtois and Ford 2009). The author delineates core ethical principles and challenges encountered in forensic assessment both generally and more specifically in the forensic assessment of complex trauma and dissociation. She also details practical strategies for responding to those challenges. In addition, the author identifies essential skills needed for competency in this arena and outlines professional considerations that arise when working with this population.


When it takes a pandemic to help us forget our conflicts


title: Introduction to Scheduling in Industry 4.0 and Cloud Manufacturing Systems

text: In this chapter, we present an introduction to scheduling in Industry 4.0 and cloud manufacturing systems. We elaborate on the peculiarities of scheduling and sequencing problems in the context of Industry 4.0 and smart manufacturing. We delineate recent research streams and summarize the structure and contribution of the book.


title: The Tolerance Scheduling Problem in a Single Machine Case

text: This chapter introduces the Tolerance Scheduling problem, which involves the decision-making issues in rescheduling processes. The solutions to this problem can be incorporated in the design of Decision Support Systems (DSS) in Industry 4.0 environments. We present here the mathematical foundations for the solutions of the Tolerance Scheduling problem as well as the technical requirements of their embodiment in Industry 4.0’s DSS. We illustrate these ideas in a case study with a single machine, in which we analyze the performance of the model at different tolerances.


title: Neuroinflammatory and Demyelinating Disorders of Childhood

text: In this chapter, we will review monophasic and recurrent demyelinating disorders in children. We will first review consensus definitions and provide an approach to the evaluation of children with first episode of acquired demyelinating disorder. We will discuss typical clinical and radiological features of these syndromes. In the second section, we will review features of recurrent demyelinating syndromes in children, focusing on clinical presentation and treatment options.


title: Cloud Material Handling Systems: Conceptual Model and Cloud-Based Scheduling of Handling Activities

text: Nowadays, the implementation of cloud manufacturing technologies epitomizes the avant-garde in production systems. This affects several aspects of the management of these production systems, in particular scheduling activities, due to the possibility provided by cloud manufacturing of having real-time information about the stages of a product life cycle and about the status of all services. However, so far, cloud manufacturing has mainly focused on machines, with limited interest in material handling systems. This shortfall has been addressed in this study, where a new material-handling paradigm, called Cloud Material Handling System (CMHS) and developed in the Logistics 4.0 Lab at NTNU (Norway), has been introduced. With CMHS, the scheduling of the Material Handling Modules (MHMs) can be optimized, increasing the flexibility and productivity of the overall manufacturing system. To achieve this, the integration of advanced industry 4.0 technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), and in particular Indoor Positioning Technologies (IPT), Cloud Computing, Machine Learning (ML), and Artificial Intelligence (AI), is required. In fact, based on the relevant information provided on the cloud platform by IPT and IoT for each product, called Smart Object (SO) (position, physical characteristics and so on), an Intelligent Cognitive Engine (ICE) can use ML and AI to decide, in real time, which MHM is most suitable for carrying out the tasks required by these products based on a compatibility matrix, on their attributes, and on the defined scheduling procedure.


title: Integrated Scheduling of Information Services and Logistics Flows in the Omnichannel System

text: This chapter develops a model for dynamic integrated scheduling of information services and logistics flows in the omnichannel system. The proposed service-oriented description makes it possible to coordinate the information services and material process schedules simultaneously. It also becomes possible to determine the volume of information services needed for physical supply processes. In addition, impact of disruptions in information services on the schedule execution in the physical structure is analyzed. The results provide a base for information service scheduling according to actual physical process execution.


docid: lwvxvcwh

title: Proactive Scheduling and Reactive Real-Time Control in Industry 4.0

text: Scheduling in Industry 4.0 systems belongs to a class of problems that have mixed structural-temporal-logical constraints. In other words, a strong coupling is considered when product and process are created simultaneously. As a result of the proven NP-hardness of such problems, solution methods have extensively utilized different decomposition principles. The known decomposition methods in discrete optimization are founded on the difficulties in deriving analytical properties. The existing solutions in continuous optimization are based on the maximum principle and yield a dynamic process decomposition using the natural logic of time. By combining the advantages of continuous and discrete optimization, this chapter develops a decomposition method for shop floor scheduling in Industry 4.0 manufacturing systems. Technically, this study proposes to decompose dynamically the large-scale assignment matrix according to the precedence relations between the operations of the jobs and considers only the operations that satisfy these precedence relations at a given time point in small-dimensional, discrete optimization models. Continuous optimization is used to generate a schedule from the assignments found in the discrete optimization models at each time point by extremizing the Hamiltonian function at this time point subject to scheduling objective(s). In addition, the execution of the operations in time can be accurately modeled in continuous time as a continuous state variable; the machine availability and capacity disturbances at the machines are also considered. The method developed provides further insights into decomposition methods for scheduling and is supported by an analytical analysis and an algorithmic realization.


Virtual Visits and the Future of No-Shows


title: Chemophobia versus the identity of chemists: heroes of chemistry as an effective communication strategy

text: ABSTRACT: Decades of chemophobia are taking a high toll on chemistry. As current surveys suggest, people are displaying an irrational desire to live in a world without chemistry, but at the same time are unable to answer trivial chemistry questions. Constant questioning of the importance of chemistry induced by chemophobia leads to a weakening of the identity of chemists and can have negative consequences on the reproduction of chemistry. The need for the support of a positive perception of the chemical profession and an offer of positive examples for self-identification is the result. Everyday communication thus becomes the background on which the determination of the identity of the chemist takes place. The new communication strategy, which we call “heroes of chemistry”, aims not only to add a much-needed human touch to chemistry communications, but also to create the conditions for strengthening the identity of the chemist. GRAPHIC ABSTRACT: [Image: see text]


title: Requiem for a Dream: Perceived Economic Conditions and Subjective Well-Being in Times of Prosperity and Economic Crisis

text: Using the Panel of Social Inequalities in Catalonia, Spain (PaD 2001–2012), this article investigates the relationship between perceptions of economic conditions and subjective well-being in times of prosperity and economic crisis. It also analyses how this relationship plays out across different social backgrounds. Periods of economic crisis and prosperity serve as a proxy for objective macroeconomic conditions. The Spanish region of Catalonia is a relevant setting because it faced one of the highest increases in inequality and unemployment in Europe as a result of the 2008 Economic Crisis. Our results show that perceived economic conditions matter beyond objective micro and macroeconomic realm and become a strong determinant of subjective well-being during a crisis, particularly for the middle class. However, contrary to our initial expectations, our results also show the existence of a close correlation between perceptions of economic conditions and subjective well-being for low social background individuals in times of economic prosperity, and an even stronger relationship in times of economic crisis. The article stipulates several potential explanations for these results.


Correction to Lancet Infect Dis 2019; published online April 20. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30160-2


Technology in the COVID-19 era: pushing the boundaries


The future of critical care: lessons from the COVID-19 crisis


Coatings Experts Discuss Use of Anti-Viral Surface Technologies to Tackle COVID-19


Can community pharmacists treat hepatitis C virus?


Practical guidelines for triage to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in advanced ovarian cancer: Big risk, big reward…or too much risk?


Inmunoterapia CAR-T en hemato-oncología pediátrica… presente y futuro


Anti-viral Coatings: Protecting Your Health or the Durability of the Item?


Home of the brave?


docid: wlavqybe

title: We risk letting a new threat expose us to old enemies


BASF Group Withdraws 2020 Outlook


BCF's launches #essentialcoatings and #essentialinks campaign campaign


Axalta Releases First Quarter 2020 Results, Provides Update on COVID-19 Impacts


Low rate of bacterial co-infection in patients with COVID-19


Researchers Develop New Antimicrobial Coating


Stability and neutralising capacity of SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies in convalescent plasma


COVID-19 diagnostics—not at the expense of other diseases


COVID-19: global coatings industry shows solidarity


A new dawn for the management of influenza?


Anti-Viral Surface Coating to Prevent the Spread of COVID-19


COVID-19 and measles: double trouble for Burundi


A strong voice for young people with arthritis


docid: hqrmqnqt

title: Monitoring investments in coronavirus research and development


Virtual Meeting Announcment


ACA Announces American Coatings Award Winner


BCF Partners with GTMA to Encourage More UK Manufacturing


BWK Intern


Personalia / Karriere


title: Multi-channel Image Registration of Cardiac MR Using Supervised Feature Learning with Convolutional Encoder-Decoder Network

text: It is difficult to register the images involving large deformation and intensity inhomogeneity. In this paper, a new multi-channel registration algorithm using modified multi-feature mutual information (α-MI) based on minimal spanning tree (MST) is presented. First, instead of relying on handcrafted features, a convolutional encoder-decoder network is employed to learn the latent feature representation from cardiac MR images. Second, forward computation and backward propagation are performed in a supervised fashion to make the learned features more discriminative. Finally, local features containing appearance information is extracted and integrated into α-MI for achieving multi-channel registration. The proposed method has been evaluated on cardiac cine-MRI data from 100 patients. The experimental results show that features learned from deep network are more effective than handcrafted features in guiding intra-subject registration of cardiac MR images.


docid: qqfurnnf

title: Nonlinear Alignment of Whole Tractograms with the Linear Assignment Problem

text: After registration of the imaging data of two brains, homologous anatomical structures are expected to overlap better than before registration. Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) techniques and tractography techniques provide a representation of the anatomical connections in the white matter, as hundreds of thousands of streamlines, forming the tractogram. The literature on methods for aligning tractograms is in active development and provides methods that operate either from voxel information, e.g. fractional anisotropy, orientation distribution function, T1-weighted MRI, or directly from streamline information. In this work, we align streamlines using the linear assignment problem (LAP) and propose a method to reduce the high computational cost of aligning whole brain tractograms. As further contribution, we present a comparison among some of the freely-available linear and nonlinear tractogram alignment methods, where we show that our LAP-based method outperforms all others. In discussing the results, we show that a main limitation of all streamline-based nonlinear registration methods is the computational cost and that addressing such problem may lead to further improvement in the quality of registration.


title: Diffusion Tensor Driven Image Registration: A Deep Learning Approach

text: Tracking microsctructural changes in the developing brain relies on accurate inter-subject image registration. However, most methods rely on either structural or diffusion data to learn the spatial correspondences between two or more images, without taking into account the complementary information provided by using both. Here we propose a deep learning registration framework which combines the structural information provided by [Formula: see text]-weighted ([Formula: see text]w) images with the rich microstructural information offered by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) scans. This allows our trained network to register pairs of images in a single pass. We perform a leave-one-out cross-validation study where we compare the performance of our multi-modality registration model with a baseline model trained on structural data only, in terms of Dice scores and differences in fractional anisotropy (FA) maps. Our results show that in terms of average Dice scores our model performs better in subcortical regions when compared to using structural data only. Moreover, average sum-of-squared differences between warped and fixed FA maps show that our proposed model performs better at aligning the diffusion data.


title: Multilevel 2D-3D Intensity-Based Image Registration

text: 2D-3D image registration is an important task for computer-aided minimally invasive vascular therapies. A crucial component for practical image registration is the use of multilevel strategies to avoid local optima and to speed-up runtime. However, due to the different dimensionalities of the 2D fixed and 3D moving image, the setup of multilevel strategies is not straightforward. In this work, we propose an intensity-driven 2D-3D multiresolution registration approach using the normalized gradient fields (NGF) distance measure. We discuss and empirically analyze the impact on the choice of 2D and 3D image resolutions. Furthermore, we show that our approach produces results that are comparable or superior to other state-of-the-art methods.


title: Towards Segmentation and Spatial Alignment of the Human Embryonic Brain Using Deep Learning for Atlas-Based Registration

text: We propose an unsupervised deep learning method for atlas-based registration to achieve segmentation and spatial alignment of the embryonic brain in a single framework. Our approach consists of two sequential networks with a specifically designed loss function to address the challenges in 3D first trimester ultrasound. The first part learns the affine transformation and the second part learns the voxelwise nonrigid deformation between the target image and the atlas. We trained this network end-to-end and validated it against a ground truth on synthetic datasets designed to resemble the challenges present in 3D first trimester ultrasound. The method was tested on a dataset of human embryonic ultrasound volumes acquired at 9 weeks gestational age, which showed alignment of the brain in some cases and gave insight in open challenges for the proposed method. We conclude that our method is a promising approach towards fully automated spatial alignment and segmentation of embryonic brains in 3D ultrasound.


title: Learning-Based Affine Registration of Histological Images

text: The use of different stains for histological sample preparation reveals distinct tissue properties and may result in a more accurate diagnosis. However, as a result of the staining process, the tissue slides are being deformed and registration is required before further processing. The importance of this problem led to organizing an open challenge named Automatic Non-rigid Histological Image Registration Challenge (ANHIR), organized jointly with the IEEE ISBI 2019 conference. The challenge organizers provided several hundred image pairs and a server-side evaluation platform. One of the most difficult sub-problems for the challenge participants was to find an initial, global transform, before attempting to calculate the final, non-rigid deformation field. This article solves the problem by proposing a deep network trained in an unsupervised way with a good generalization. We propose a method that works well for images with different resolutions, aspect ratios, without the necessity to perform image padding, while maintaining a low number of network parameters and fast forward pass time. The proposed method is orders of magnitude faster than the classical approach based on the iterative similarity metric optimization or computer vision descriptors. The success rate is above 98% for both the training set and the evaluation set. We make both the training and inference code freely available.


title: Deep Volumetric Feature Encoding for Biomedical Images

text: Deep learning research has demonstrated the effectiveness of using pre-trained networks as feature encoders. The large majority of these networks are trained on 2D datasets with millions of samples and diverse classes of information. We demonstrate and evaluate approaches to transferring deep 2D feature spaces to 3D in order to take advantage of these and related resources in the biomedical domain. First, we show how VGG-19 activations can be mapped to a 3D variant of the network (VGG-19-3D). Second, using varied medical decathlon data, we provide a technique for training 3D networks to predict the encodings induced by 3D VGG-19. Lastly, we compare five different 3D networks (one of which is trained only on 3D MRI and another of which is not trained at all) across layers and patch sizes in terms of their ability to identify hippocampal landmark points in 3D MRI data that was not included in their training. We make observations about the performance, recommend different networks and layers and make them publicly available for further evaluation.


title: An Image Registration-Based Method for EPI Distortion Correction Based on Opposite Phase Encoding (COPE)

text: Surprisingly, estimated voxel displacement maps (VDMs), based on image registration, seem to work just as well to correct geometrical distortion in functional MRI data (EPI) as VDMs based on actual information about the magnetic field. In this article, we compare our new image registration-based distortion correction method ‘COPE’ to an implementation of the pixelshift method. Our approach builds on existing image registration-based techniques using opposite phase encoding, extending these by local cost aggregation. Comparison of these methods with 3T and 7T spin-echo (SE) and gradient-echo (GE) data show that the image registration-based method is a good alternative to the fieldmap-based EPI distortion correction method.


docid: yajlcwle

title: An Image Registration Framework for Discontinuous Mappings Along Cracks

text: A novel crack capable image registration framework is proposed. The approach is designed for registration problems suffering from cracks, gaps, or holes. The approach enables discontinuous transformation fields and also features an automatically computed crack indicator function and therefore does not require a pre-segmentation. The new approach is a generalization of the commonly used variational image registration approach. New contributions are an additional dissipation term in the overall energy, a proper balancing of different ingredients, and a joint optimization for both, the crack indicator function and the transformation. Results for histological serial sectioning of marmoset brain images demonstrate the potential of the approach and its superiority as compared to a standard registration.


title: Reinforced Redetection of Landmark in Pre- and Post-operative Brain Scan Using Anatomical Guidance for Image Alignment

text: Re-identifying locations of interest in pre- and post-operative images is a hard identification problem, as the anatomical landscape changes dramatically due to tumor resection and tissue displacement. Classical image registration techniques oftentimes fail in vicinity of the tumor, where the enclosing structures are massively altered from one scan to another. Still, locations nearby the tumor or the resection cavity are the most relevant for evaluating tumor progression patterns and for comparing pre- and post-operative radiomic signatures. We address this issue by exploring a Reinforcement Learning (RL) approach. An artificial agent is self-taught to find the optimal path towards a target driven by a feedback signal from the environment. Incorporating anatomical guidance, we restrict the agent’s search space to surgery-unaffected structures only. By defining landmarks for each patient individually, we aim to obtain a patient-specific representation of its differential radiomic features across different time points for enhancing image alignment. Estimated landmarks reach a remarkable mean distance error around 3 mm. In addition, they show a high agreement with expert annotations on a challenging dataset of MR scans from the brain before and after tumor resection.


docid: scuerfpk

title: An Unsupervised Learning Approach to Discontinuity-Preserving Image Registration

text: Most traditional image registration algorithms aimed at aligning a pair of images impose well-established regularizers to guarantee smoothness of unknown deformation fields. Since these methods assume global smoothness within the image domain, they pose issues for scenarios where local discontinuities are expected, such as the sliding motion between the lungs and the chest wall during the respiratory cycle. Furthermore, an objective function must be optimized for each given pair of images, thus registering multiple sets of images become very time-consuming and scale poorly to higher resolution image volumes. Using recent advances in deep learning, we propose an unsupervised learning-based image registration model. The model is trained over a loss function with a custom regularizer that preserves local discontinuities, while simultaneously respecting the smoothness assumption in homogeneous regions of image volumes. Qualitative and quantitative validations on 3D pairs of lung CT datasets will be presented.


docid: yjmvrilo

title: Enabling Manual Intervention for Otherwise Automated Registration of Large Image Series

text: Aligning thousands of images from serial imaging techniques can be a cumbersome task. Methods ([2, 11, 21]) and programs for automation exist (e.g. [1, 4, 10]) but often need case-specific tuning of many meta-parameters (e.g. mask, pyramid-scales, denoise, transform-type, method/metric, optimizer and its parameters). Other programs, that apparently only depend on a few parameter often just hide many of the remaining ones (initialized with default values), often cannot handle challenging cases satisfactorily. Instead of spending much time on the search for suitable meta-parameters that yield a usable result for the complete image series, the described approach allows to intervene by manually aligning problematic image pairs. The manually found transform is then used by the automatic alignment as an initial transformation that is then optimized as in the pure automatic case. Therefore the manual alignment does not have to be very precise. This way the worst case time consumption is limited and can be estimated (manual alignment of the whole series) in contrast to tuning of meta-parameters of pure auto-alignment of complete series which can hardly be guessed.


title: Multi-channel Registration for Diffusion MRI: Longitudinal Analysis for the Neonatal Brain

text: In multi-channel (MC) registration, fusion of structural and diffusion brain MRI provides information on both cortex and white matter (WM) structures thus decreasing the uncertainty of deformation fields. However, the existing solutions employ only diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) derived metrics which are limited by inconsistencies in fiber-crossing regions. In this work, we extend the pipeline for registration of multi-shell high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI) [15] with a novel similarity metric based on angular correlation and an option for multi-channel registration that allows incorporation of structural MRI. The contributions of channels to the displacement field are weighted with spatially varying certainty maps. The implementation is based on MRtrix3 (MRtrix3: https://www.mrtrix.org) toolbox. The approach is quantitatively evaluated on intra-patient longitudinal registration of diffusion MRI datasets of 20 preterm neonates with 7–11 weeks gap between the scans. In addition, we present an example of an MC template generated using the proposed method.


title: Multimodal MRI Template Creation in the Ring-Tailed Lemur and Rhesus Macaque

text: We present a multimodal registration algorithm for simultaneous alignment of datasets with both scalar and tensor MRI images. We employ a volumetric, cubic B-spline parametrised transformation model. Regularisation is based on the logarithm of the singular values of the local Jacobian and ensures diffeomorphic warps. Tensor registration takes reorientation into account during optimisation, through a finite-strain approximation of rotation due to the warp. The combination of scalar, tensor and regularisation cost functions allows us to optimise the deformations in terms of tissue matching, orientation matching and distortion minimisation simultaneously. We apply our method to creating multimodal T2 and DTI MRI brain templates of two small primates (the ring-tailed lemur and rhesus macaque) from high-quality, ex vivo, 0.5/0.6 mm isotropic data. The resulting templates are of very high quality across both modalities and species. Tissue contrast in the T2 channel is high indicating excellent tissue-boundary alignment. The DTI channel displays strong anisotropy in white matter, as well as consistent left/right orientation information even in relatively isotropic grey matter regions. Finally, we demonstrate where the multimodal templating approach overcomes anatomical inconsistencies introduced by unimodal only methods.


title: Towards Automated Spine Mobility Quantification: A Locally Rigid CT to X-ray Registration Framework

text: Different pathologies of the vertebral column, such as scoliosis, require quantification of the mobility of individual vertebrae or of curves of the spine for treatment planning. Without the necessary mobility, vertebrae can not be safely re-positioned and fused. The current clinical workflow consists of radiologists or surgeons estimating angular differences of neighbouring vertebrae from different x-ray images. This procedure is time consuming and prone to inaccuracy. The proposed method automates this quantification by deforming a CT image in a physiologically reasonable way and matching it to the x-ray images of interest. We propose a proof of concept evaluation on synthetic data. The automatic and quantitative analysis enables reproducible results independent of the investigator. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this chapter (10.1007/978-3-030-50120-4_7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.


title: Learning Deformable Image Registration with Structure Guidance Constraints for Adaptive Radiotherapy

text: Accurate registration of CT and CBCT images is key for adaptive radiotherapy. A particular challenge is the alignment of flexible organs, such as bladder or rectum, that often yield extreme deformations. In this work we analyze the impact of so-called structure guidance for learning based registration when additional segmentation information is provided to a neural network. We present a novel weakly supervised deep learning based method for multi-modal 3D deformable CT-CBCT registration with structure guidance constraints. Our method is not supervised by ground-truth deformations and we use the energy functional of a variational registration approach as loss for training. Incorporating structure guidance constraints in our learning based approach results in an average Dice score of [Formula: see text] compared to a score of [Formula: see text] for the same method without constraints. An iterative registration approach with structure guidance results in a comparable average Dice score of [Formula: see text]. However, learning based registration requires only a single pass through the network, yielding computation of a deformation fields in less than 0.1 s which is more than 100 times faster than the runtime of iterative registration.


Emsland auf dem Weg in den kommunalen Portalverbund


Markenmanagement im Stadtmarketing


Arbeitsfähig mit Flexibilität und Pragmatismus


docid: wuxzhhwc

title: Reimbursement Patterns and User Experiences in Pediatric Allergy Home Telehealth

text: BACKGROUND: Telehealth use has been increasing over the last decade. Studies have shown that patients have a positive attitude towards incorporating telehealth into their healthcare. Significant uncertainty remains over reimbursement policies that vary widely between states and by payer. OBJECTIVE: Explore the clinical, operational, and financial feasibility of a home telehealth (HTH) program in a pediatric Allergy & Immunology (A&I) clinic. METHODS: A&I Physicians defined use cases they deemed appropriate for HTH appointments. Established patients in the A&I clinic were approached to complete an attitudes and perception survey. Patients meeting the use case definitions were asked to participate in the pilot program. After their HTH appointment took place, they completed a validated satisfaction survey. Our institution’s revenue cycle management team provided reimbursement data. RESULTS: Patient attitudes toward HTH were generally favorable. 51 HTH appointments were offered and 46 appointments were made. 37 appointments were completed successfully among 32 unique patients. Patients were very satisfied with the HTH experience. 36 out of 37 encounters were reimbursed by 19 different public and private payers. Payers on average reimbursed ±6% of the expected allowable for an equivalent in-person visit. CONCLUSION: Patients showed reservations about HTH initially but were very satisfied with their experience. Both private and public payers reimbursed HTH the same as in-person appointments. HTH is both well accepted by patients and financially viable.


Working together alone: Preface to the second special issue by the preterm birth international collaborative (PREBIC)


AI in the noosphere: an alignment of scientific and wisdom traditions


title: Assessing the Contributions of Inactivation, Removal, and Transfer of Ebola Virus and Vesicular Stomatitis Virus by Disinfectant Pre-soaked Wipes

text: Disinfectant pre-soaked wipes (DPW) containing activated hydrogen peroxide (AHP) or quaternary ammonium compounds (QAC) were tested using ASTM E2967-15 to determine removal, transfer, and inactivation of Ebola virus Makona variant (EBOV/Mak) and vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) from contaminated stainless steel prototypic environmental surfaces. The infectious virus-contaminated carriers were subjected to wiping in the Wiperator per the standard. Following the use of negative control (J-Cloth)-, AHP-, or QAC-based wipes, recovery of residual infectious virus was assayed. In the case of the J-Cloth wipes (negative control), although removal of virus from inoculated carriers was extensive i.e., ~99% (1.9–3.5 log(10)) transfer of virus by these wipes to a secondary surface amounted to ≤ 2% (~3.8 log(10)) of the initial virus load. In the case of each DPW, >6 log(10) removal/inactivation of virus was observed, with limited (EBOV/Mak) or no (VSV) virus transfer observed. The efficacy of wipes for decontaminating high-touch environmental surfaces spiked with EBOV/Mak or VSV is discussed. In summary, removal of EBOV/Mak and VSV using wipes was extensive in this study. In the absence of a sufficient concentration and contact time of an appropriate microbicidal active in DPW (such as the AHP- and QAC-based DPW tested), transfer of a low, albeit significant (from an infectious unit/infectious dose perspective), quantity of infectious virus from the inoculated surface to a secondary surface was observed. In the case of Ebola virus, it is essential that a DPW with an appropriate microbicidal active, following the appropriate contact time, be used to prevent unintended transfer of infectious virus to a clean secondary surface (as observed in negative control /J-Cloth). Otherwise, there exists the possibility of dissemination of Ebola virus and the associated risk of transmission of Ebola virus disease.


title: HOW DISPLAYS ARE HOLDING US TOGETHER

text: Very first thing, I hope this finds each of you, your families, and friends healthy. These are difficult times for all of us and there are priorities much greater than our professions at the moment. For those of you facing hardship, we extend our heartfelt sympathies and wish your circumstances to improve soon.


After Covid


Five years… and still going


title: Solidarity, Heterarchy, and Political Morality

text: This article claims that, despite its ambivalent relationship with the heterarchical paradigm, A Union of Peoples is a truly innovative contribution to the complex debate on the European project, especially in the current troubled climate. Its ability to dismantle the prevailing positivist understanding of the interaction between legal orders and to stand out from the overwhelming and often repetitive literature on the philosophy of EU law should be praised. What is especially noteworthy is the idea of “corrective justice.” This notion explains very well the adoption of financial assistance measures as expression of a new form of solidarity, based on the notion of fair redress for a committed wrong, namely the structural deficiencies detectable in the design of the eurozone.


Imagining our futures in different keys


SCI's corporate partners respond


Aktuelles aus der DGU-Pressestelle


docid: yhtkhhxa

title: Therapie des oligo- und polytopmetastasierten Prostatakarzinoms


title: The Effects of Novel Thermal and Nonthermal Technologies on the Properties of Edible Food Packaging

text: Edible packaging is influenced by factors such as formulation, production technology, and solvent and additive properties. With the increase in the request for coating and film quality, appropriate form, and high product safety and storage period, various technologies such as high hydrostatic pressure, irradiation, ultrasound, high-pressure homogenization, cold plasma, and microwave have been reviewed. The present study states definitions and mechanisms of novel technologies. The experimental condition, packaging matrix, and the results pertaining to the effects of these technologies on various types of edible packaging is also discussed. The most of the matrix used for packaging was whey protein, soy protein isolate, chitosan, and gelatin. The technologies conditions such as power, frequency, time, temperature, dose, pressure, and voltage can have a significant influence on the application of them in film and coating. Therefore, finding the optimum point for the features of the technologies is important because improper use of them reduces the properties of the edible packaging.


Expertises en temps de crise sanitaire


Psychosis and pandemics: is there a secret protector?


title: New and Emerging Systemic Treatments for Atopic Dermatitis

text: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a prevalent inflammatory skin condition that, depending on its severity, can cause enormous morbidity. Corticosteroids and systemic immunosuppression, traditionally standard of care for difficult-to-treat disease, have many undesirable side effects. The desire for targeted treatments along with an improved understanding of the pathophysiology of AD has spurred the development of novel treatments. In this article, we review promising new treatments and discuss how their targets—IL-13, IL-31, OX40 (CD134), and the Janus kinase family of proteins—participate in the pathogenesis of AD. We review the published phase II and III data for dupilumab, tralokinumab, lebrikizumab, nemolizumab, anti-OX40 antibody, baricitinib, abrocitinib, and upadacitinib. The introduction of new agents may offer new options, but it remains to be seen how narrow-acting agents, like single interleukin inhibitors, will compare in safety and efficacy to broad-acting agents such as JAK inhibitors.


title: TGF-β and WNT signaling pathways in cardiac fibrosis: non-coding RNAs come into focus

text: Cardiac fibrosis describes the inappropriate proliferation of cardiac fibroblasts (CFs), leading to accumulation of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins in the cardiac muscle, which is found in many pathophysiological heart conditions. A range of molecular components and cellular pathways, have been implicated in its pathogenesis. In this review, we focus on the TGF-β and WNT signaling pathways, and their mutual interaction, which have emerged as important factors involved in cardiac pathophysiology. The molecular and cellular processes involved in the initiation and progression of cardiac fibrosis are summarized. We focus on TGF-β and WNT signaling in cardiac fibrosis, ECM production, and myofibroblast transformation. Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are one of the main players in the regulation of multiple pathways and cellular processes. MicroRNAs, long non-coding RNAs, and circular long non-coding RNAs can all interact with the TGF-β/WNT signaling axis to affect cardiac fibrosis. A better understanding of these processes may lead to new approaches for diagnosis and treatment of many cardiac conditions.


title: The influence of vaccination on the control of JE with a standard incidence rate of mosquitoes, pigs and humans

text: In this article, a nonlinear mathematical model used for the impact of vaccination on the control of infectious disease, Japanese encephalitis with a standard incidence rate of mosquitoes, pigs and humans has been planned and analyzed. During the modeling process, it is expected that the disease spreads only due to get in touch with the susceptible and infected class only. It is also assumed that due to the effect of vaccination, the total human population forms a separate class and avoids contact with the infection. The dynamical behaviors of the system have been explored by using the stability theory of differential equations and numerical simulations. The local and global stability of the system for both equilibrium states under certain conditions has been studied. We have set up a threshold condition in the language of the vaccine-induced reproduction number [Formula: see text] , which is fewer than unity, the disease dies in the absence of the infected population, otherwise, the infection remains in the population. Furthermore, it is found that vaccine coverage has a substantial effect on the basic reproduction number. Also, by continuous efforts and effectiveness of vaccine coverage, the disease can be eradicated. It is also found a more sensitive parameter for the transmission of Japanese encephalitis virus by using sensitivity analysis. In addition, numerical results are used to investigate the effect of some parameters happening the control of JE infection, for justification of analytical results.


title: Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis is associated with Bartonella henselae infection in a patient with multiple susceptibility genes

text: BACKGROUND: Adult-onset hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a rare and life-threatening condition, which is often triggered by certain types of infection, cancer and numerous autoimmune diseases; however, of the numerous infectious triggers associated with HLH, the consequences of Bartonella henselae infection have been rarely reported. CASE PRESENTATION: A 48-year-old female presented with a 20-day history of intermittent fever accompanied by systemic rash, fatigue, anorexia and weight loss later she developed shock and unconsciousness. Blood tests showed a reduction of leukocyte, anemia and thrombocytopenia, and pathological results of a bone marrow biopsy confirmed hemophagocytic activity. Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) analysis of the lymph node detected the presence of B. henselae. Whole exome sequencing revealed two gene variants, STXBP2 and IRF5, in this adult patient with secondary HLH. Then, she received minocycline and rifampin combination anti-infective therapy. Intravenous immunoglobulin for 5 days followed by a high dose of methylprednisolone were also administered. The patient was successfully discharged from the intensive care unit and remained in good condition after 2 months of follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: mNGS served crucial roles in obtaining an etiological diagnosis, which suggested that screening for B. henselae should be considered in patients with HLH, especially those with a cat at home. In addition, the genetic defects were discovered to not only be present in primary HLH, but also in secondary HLH, even in the elderly.


docid: sixdyntj

title: Learning while shopping: an experimental investigation into the effect of learning on consumer search

text: In many search environments, searchers are learning about the distribution of offers in the market. I conduct an experiment exploring a broad class of search problems with learning about the distribution of payoffs. My results support the prediction that learning results in declining reservation values, providing evidence that learning may be an explanation for recall. Theory predicts a “one step” reservation value strategy, but many subjects instead choose to set a high reservation value in order to learn about the distribution before adjusting based on their observations. Under-searching in search experiments may stem from a reinforcement heuristic and lack of negative feedback after using sub-optimal strategies. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s10683-020-09659-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.


Opening Up New Supply Chains


docid: jqheqrhb

title: Addressing Africa’s Energy Dilemma

text: This chapter discusses how the ongoing low-carbon energy transformation could reshape geopolitics within Africa and between the continent and the rest of the world. The chapter first attempts to define what ‘transition’ means in African contexts and if the concept applies at all to African dynamics. It then delves into the drivers and modalities of Africa’s alleged shift to finally explore geopolitical dynamics, questioning whether Africa is still the locus for the global supply of natural resources, introducing patterns of engagement between Africa and international/regional actors, and finally presenting the socio-economic implications of the shift. We conclude that while the venues and sources of geopolitical interest might change in the new geopolitical order that the transition to renewable energy implies, the content and modalities of interaction may see a continuity with the past, namely, dependence on external financing and technology. With yet at least one novelty: increased relevance of regional interdependencies.


title: Setting Up a Global System for Sustainable Energy Governance

text: The global energy landscape is currently shaken by tectonic shifts. We witness dramatic changes in energy geopolitics, the formation of the global system of energy governance, a huge wave of massive technological innovations, global markets are undergoing a radical transformation embracing a fast multiplication of new sources of energy, new products, new producers, and suppliers, coupled with the development of the vast and sophisticated infrastructure and an increasing efficiency in energy use. Each and every component of the system is touched upon by a wind of change that brings about the contours of a new energy global order.


title: The Exploration and Research of Blended Teaching Mode Based on “Internet+” Big Data Cloud Platform

text: In the light of problems in online teaching of new coronavirus (2019-nCoV) epidemic period in advanced mathematics curriculum, this paper analyzes the teaching effect of short-term one-way online education mode in the teaching practice of concrete courses by using the real-time data of “rain classroom” teaching management platform. Above that this paper explore and practice the hybrid teaching mode based on “Internet+” big data cloud platform, aiming at promoting the “Internet+Education” information technology and curriculum teaching depth integration, improving the teaching effect, and promoting education and teaching reform.


title: Governing the Global Energy Transformation

text: An effective and efficient governance is key for the global energy transformation. We argue that the process under the Paris Agreement, its ‘rulebook’ and the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) will have to be accompanied by focused and tailored governance mechanisms in the energy realm. The energy sector itself is key to limiting global warming to two degrees centigrade compared to the preindustrial level, because it is responsible for over two-thirds of global greenhouse gas emissions. Yet, neither the energy transition nor energy governance start from scratch. Energy governance is already happening on many levels: the local, the national, the regional and the global. These multi-level governance structures are necessary to enable, facilitate, and accelerate the energy transition(s) on the ground. They have to be adapted, however, to the changing and transforming energy world as we argue in the conclusions. In a first step, we conceptualize the notion of ‘energy transition’ and relate it to the concept of ‘energy transformation’. We argue that it is necessary to firstly move beyond the normative and target-driven idea(s) behind ‘transition’ and to secondly bring in the systemic aspects of energy transformation. Moreover, energy security, economic efficiency, sustainability and climate neutrality have emerged over time as the guiding paradigms, forming a strategic quadrangle, as opposed to a strategic triangle, traditionally used to define energy security. In a second step, we present an overview of the current international energy governance system where multilayered governance structures have developed over time. We argue that the existing architecture is stemming from the past and is neither fit for governing the energy transition, nor even reflecting the proccesses underway in todays’ world. In a third step, we highlight that the energy transformation has and will have tremendous techno-economic, socio-technical and political (Cherp et al. 2018) effects that have both internal and external dimensions. Moreover, the transformation comes with (geo)political effects as it changes the political economy of energy on all levels: the global, the regional, the national and the local. In the final step, we look at ways forward. We argue that it is necessary to preserve existing multilateral institutions and to strengthen them. Moreover, we assume that governance approaches towards and inside regions will have to be re-shaped or even created from scratch. We conclude that the crumbling of the global liberal order and the crises of multilateralism are complicating the approach to a better governance of the energy transition on the global level. Moreover, we witness the emergence of illiberal tendencies in the Western democracies as well. Climate and energy are playing into the polarization of societies as the two topics emerged as a major cleavage and a conflict line. We emphasize that a just and inclusive energy transition, both on national and international levels, is necessary to keep countries and the world on a sustainable energy transformation path. The challenge faced by the planet is indeed systemic.


title: Deep Statistical Model Checking

text: Neural networks (NN) are taking over ever more decisions thus far taken by humans, even though verifiable system-level guarantees are far out of reach. Neither is the verification technology available, nor is it even understood what a formal, meaningful, extensible, and scalable testbed might look like for such a technology. The present paper is a modest attempt to improve on both the above aspects. We present a family of formal models that contain basic features of automated decision making contexts and which can be extended with further orthogonal features, ultimately encompassing the scope of autonomous driving. Due to the possibility to model random noise in the decision actuation, each model instance induces a Markov decision process (MDP) as verification object. The NN in this context has the duty to actuate (near-optimal) decisions. From the verification perspective, the externally learnt NN serves as a determinizer of the MDP, the result being a Markov chain which as such is amenable to statistical model checking. The combination of a MDP and a NN encoding the action policy is central to what we call “deep statistical model checking” (DSMC). While being a straightforward extension of statistical model checking, it enables to gain deep insight into questions like “how high is the NN-induced safety risk?”, “how good is the NN compared to the optimal policy?” (obtained by model checking the MDP), or “does further training improve the NN?”. We report on an implementation of DSMC inside The Modest Toolset in combination with externally learnt NNs, demonstrating the potential of DSMC on various instances of the model family.


title: Strategy Synthesis for Autonomous Driving in a Moving Block Railway System with Uppaal Stratego

text: Moving block railway systems are the next generation signalling systems currently under development as part of the Shift2Rail European initiative, including autonomous driving technologies. In this paper, we model a suitable abstraction of a moving block signalling system with autonomous driving as a stochastic priced timed game. We then synthesise safe and optimal driving strategies for the model by applying advanced techniques that combine statistical model checking with reinforcement learning as provided by Uppaal Stratego. Hence, we show the applicability of Uppaal Stratego in this concrete case study.


title: Towards a Hybrid Verification Methodology for Communication Protocols (Short Paper)

text: We present our preliminary work towards a comprehensive solution for the hybrid (static + dynamic) verification of open distributed systems, using session types. We automate a solution for binary sessions where one endpoint is statically checked, and the other endpoint is dynamically checked by a monitor acting as an intermediary between typed and untyped components. We outline our theory, and illustrate a tool that automatically synthesises type-checked session monitors, based on the Scala language and its session programming library (lchannels).


title: Derivation of Heard-of Predicates from Elementary Behavioral Patterns

text: There are many models of distributed computing, and no unifying mathematical framework for considering them all. One way to sidestep this issue is to start with simple communication and fault models, and use them as building blocks to derive the complex models studied in the field. We thus define operations like union, succession or repetition, which makes it easier to build complex models from simple ones while retaining expressivity. To formalize this approach, we abstract away the complex models and operations in the Heard-Of model. This model relies on (possibly asynchronous) rounds; sequence of digraphs, one for each round, capture which messages sent at a given round are received before the receiver goes to the next round. A set of sequences, called a heard-of predicate, defines the legal communication behaviors – that is to say, a model of communication. Because the proposed operations behave well with this transformation of operational models into heard-of predicates, we can derive bounds, characterizations, and implementations of the heard-of predicates for the constructions.


title: Trace Equivalence and Epistemic Logic to Express Security Properties

text: In process algebra, we can express security properties using an equivalence on processes. However, it is not clear which equivalence is the most suitable for the purpose. Indeed, several definitions of some properties are proposed. For example, the definition of privacy is not unique. This situation means that we are not certain how to express an intuitive security notion. Namely, there is a gap between an intuitive security notion and the formulation. Proper formalization is essential for verification, and our purpose is to bridge this gap. In the case of the applied pi calculus, an outputted message is not explicitly expressed. This feature suggests that trace equivalence appropriately expresses indistinguishability for attackers in the applied pi calculus. By chasing interchanging bound names and scope extrusions, we prove that trace equivalence is a congruence. Therefore, a security property expressed using trace equivalence is preserved by application of contexts. Moreover, we construct an epistemic logic for the applied pi calculus. We show that its logical equivalence agrees with trace equivalence. It means that trace equivalence is suitable in the presence of a non-adaptive attacker. Besides, we define several security properties to use our epistemic logic.


title: A Formal Framework for Consent Management

text: The aim of this work is to design a formal framework for consent management in line with EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). To make a general solution, we consider a high-level modeling language for distributed service-oriented systems, building on the paradigm of active objects. Our framework provides a general solution for data subjects to observe and change their privacy settings and to be informed about all personal data stored about them. The solution consists of a set of predefined types for privacy related concepts, a formalization of policy compliance, a set of interfaces that forms the basis of interaction with external users for consent management, a set of classes that is used in interaction with the runtime system, and a runtime system enforcing the consented policies.


title: Conformance-Based Doping Detection for Cyber-Physical Systems

text: We present a novel and generalised notion of doping cleanness for cyber-physical systems that allows for perturbing the inputs and observing the perturbed outputs both in the time– and value–domains. We instantiate our definition using existing notions of conformance for cyber-physical systems. We show that our generalised definitions are essential in a data-driven method for doping detection and apply our definitions to a case study concerning diesel emission tests.


title: Defining and Verifying Durable Opacity: Correctness for Persistent Software Transactional Memory

text: Non-volatile memory (NVM), aka persistent memory, is a new paradigm for memory that preserves its contents even after power loss. The expected ubiquity of NVM has stimulated interest in the design of novel concepts ensuring correctness of concurrent programming abstractions in the face of persistency. So far, this has lead to the design of a number of persistent concurrent data structures, built to satisfy an associated notion of correctness: durable linearizability. In this paper, we transfer the principle of durable concurrent correctness to the area of software transactional memory (STM). Software transactional memory algorithms allow for concurrent access to shared state. Like linearizability for concurrent data structures, opacity is the established notion of correctness for STMs. First, we provide a novel definition of durable opacity extending opacity to handle crashes and recovery in the context of NVM. Second, we develop a durably opaque version of an existing STM algorithm, namely the Transactional Mutex Lock (TML). Third, we design a proof technique for durable opacity based on refinement between TML and an operational characterisation of durable opacity by adapting the TMS2 specification. Finally, we apply this proof technique to show that the durable version of TML is indeed durably opaque. The correctness proof is mechanized within Isabelle.


title: Towards Bridging Time and Causal Reversibility

text: Causal consistent reversibility blends causality and reversibility. For a concurrent system, it says that an action can be undone provided this has no consequences, thereby making it possible to bring the system back to a past consistent state. Time reversibility is considered instead in the performance evaluation field. A continuous-time Markov chain is time reversible if its behavior remains the same when the direction of time is reversed. We try to bridge these two theories by showing the conditions under which both causal consistent reversibility and time reversibility can be achieved in the setting of a stochastic process algebra.


title: Tutorial: Parameterized Verification with Byzantine Model Checker

text: Threshold guards are a basic primitive of many fault-tolerant algorithms that solve classical problems of distributed computing, such as reliable broadcast, two-phase commit, and consensus. Moreover, threshold guards can be found in recent blockchain algorithms such as Tendermint consensus. In this tutorial, we give an overview of the techniques implemented in Byzantine Model Checker (ByMC). ByMC implements several techniques for automatic verification of threshold-guarded distributed algorithms. These algorithms have the following features: (1) up to t of processes may crash or behave Byzantine; (2) the correct processes count messages and make progress when they receive sufficiently many messages, e.g., at least [Formula: see text]; (3) the number n of processes in the system is a parameter, as well as t; (4) and the parameters are restricted by a resilience condition, e.g., [Formula: see text]. Traditionally, these algorithms were implemented in distributed systems with up to ten participating processes. Nowadays, they are implemented in distributed systems that involve hundreds or thousands of processes. To make sure that these algorithms are still correct for that scale, it is imperative to verify them for all possible values of the parameters.


title: Typechecking Java Protocols with [St]Mungo

text: This is a tutorial paper on [St]Mungo, a toolchain based on multiparty session types and their connection to typestates for safe distributed programming in Java language. The StMungo (“Scribble-to-Mungo”) tool is a bridge between multiparty session types and typestates. StMungo translates a communication protocol, namely a sequence of sends and receives of messages, given as a multiparty session type in the Scribble language, into a typestate specification and a Java API skeleton. The generated API skeleton is then further extended with the necessary logic, and finally typechecked by Mungo. The Mungo tool extends Java with (optional) typestate specifications. A typestate is a state machine specifying a Java object protocol, namely the permitted sequence of method calls of that object. Mungo statically typechecks that method calls follow the object’s protocol, as defined by its typestate specification. Finally, if no errors are reported, the code is compiled with javac and run as standard Java code. In this tutorial paper we give an overview of the stages of the [St]Mungo toolchain, starting from Scribble communication protocols, translating to Java classes with typestates, and finally to typechecking method calls with Mungo. We illustrate the [St]Mungo toolchain via a real-world case study, the HTTP client-server request-response protocol over TCP. During the tutorial session, we will apply [St]Mungo to a range of examples having increasing complexity, with HTTP being one of them.


title: On Implementable Timed Automata

text: Generating code from networks of timed automata is a well-researched topic with many proposed approaches, which have in common that they not only generate code for the processes in the network, but necessarily generate additional code for a global scheduler which implements the timed automata semantics. For distributed systems without shared memory, this additional component is, in general, undesired. In this work, we present a new approach to the generation of correct code (without global scheduler) for distributed systems without shared memory yet with (almost) synchronous clocks if the source model does not depend on a global scheduler. We characterise a set of implementable timed automata models and provide a translation to a timed while language. We show that each computation of the generated program has a network computation path with the same observable behaviour.


title: Probabilistic Timed Automata with One Clock and Initialised Clock-Dependent Probabilities

text: Clock-dependent probabilistic timed automata extend classical timed automata with discrete probabilistic choice, where the probabilities are allowed to depend on the exact values of the clocks. Previous work has shown that the quantitative reachability problem for clock-dependent probabilistic timed automata with at least three clocks is undecidable. In this paper, we consider the subclass of clock-dependent probabilistic timed automata that have one clock, that have clock dependencies described by affine functions, and that satisfy an initialisation condition requiring that, at some point between taking edges with non-trivial clock dependencies, the clock must have an integer value. We present an approach for solving in polynomial time quantitative and qualitative reachability problems of such one-clock initialised clock-dependent probabilistic timed automata. Our results are obtained by a transformation to interval Markov decision processes.


title: Pedestrian wind comfort near a super-tall building with various configurations in an urban-like setting

text: Pedestrian wind comfort near a 400 m super-tall building in high and low ambient wind speeds, referred to as Windy and Calm climates, is evaluated by conducting computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. The super-tall building has 15 different configurations and is located at the center of 50 m medium-rise buildings in an urban-like setting. Pedestrian level mean wind speeds near the super-tall building is obtained from three-dimensional (3D), steady-state, Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS)-based simulations for five incident wind directions (θ = 0°, 22.5°, 45°, 90°, 180°) that are subsequently compared with two wind comfort criteria specified for Calm and Windy climates. Results show a 1.53 times increase in maximum mean wind speed in the urban area after the construction of a square-shaped super-tall building. The escalated mean wind speeds result in a 23%–15% and 36%–29% decrease in the area with “acceptable wind comfort” in Calm and Windy climates, respectively. The area with pedestrian wind comfort varies significantly with building configuration and incident wind direction, for example, the configurations with sharp corners, large plan aspect ratios and, frontal areas and the orientation consistently show a strong dependency on incident wind direction except for the one with rounded plan shapes. Minor aerodynamic modifications such as corner modifications and aerodynamically-shaped configurations such as tapered and setback buildings show promise in improving pedestrian wind comfort in Windy climate.


title: Long-term Changes of Disinfection Byproducts in Treatment of Simulated Ballast Water

text: This study investigated the changes in concentrations of haloacetic acids (HAAs) and haloacetonitriles (HANs) as disinfection byproducts (DBPs) for different storage times (as long as 20 days) and temperatures (5 to 20°C). A ship’s voyage after treatment of its ballast water with active substances was considered. The HAA showed a clear trend of increasing concentration only with storage time, especially for dibromoacetic acid (DBAA). Dissolved organic nitrogen concentration was increased by the decomposition of dead organisms at 10 days, and then reacted with the remaining total residual oxidants, resulting in increased concentration of DBPs. An environmental risk assessment indicated that DBAN and monochloroacetic acid (MCAA) could have a negative impact on the marine environment. This study suggests that, because all international vessels must have a ballast water management system installed by September, 2024, the conc e ntra tio ns of DBPs, especially DBAN, MCAA, and DBAA, should be monitored in the waters at major international ports.


title: Immune effect of a Newcastle disease virus DNA vaccine with IL-12 as a molecular adjuvant delivered by electroporation

text: Newcastle disease (ND), caused by virulent Newcastle disease virus (NDV) strains, has been one of the most problematic diseases affecting the poultry industry worldwide. Conventional vaccines provide effective protection for birds to survive ND outbreaks, but they may not completely suppress NDV shedding. NDV strains circulate on farms for a long time after the initial infection and cause potential risks. A new vaccine with fast clearance ability and low viral shedding is needed. In this study, we used interleukin-12 (IL-12) as an adjuvant and electroporation (EP) as an advanced delivery system to improve a DNA vaccine candidate. The fusion (F) protein gene from an NDV strain of the prevalent genotype VII.1.1 was cloned to prepare the vaccine. Chickens immunized with the F gene DNA vaccine co-delivered with an IL-12-expressing plasmid DNA showed higher neutralizing antibody levels and stronger concanavalin-A-induced lymphocyte proliferation than those treated with the F gene DNA vaccine alone. The co-delivered vaccine provided 100% protection, and less viral shedding and a shorter release time were observed in challenged chickens than when the F gene DNA vaccine was administered alone. The use of F gene DNA combined with IL-12 delivered by electroporation is a promising approach for vaccination against ND.


title: Acute Exacerbations of Chronic Lung Disease: Cardiac Considerations

text: The importance of appropriately recognizing and managing patients with cardiovascular and pulmonary comorbidities is underscored by the poor outcomes described in complex comorbid patients. Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have an increased risk, up to one-third greater than the general population, of cardiovascular comorbidities including hypertension and diabetes [1].


Editors’ Note


Opportunities Arising from a Pandemic Crisis: A Challenge for Humanity Driven by Science, Solidarity, and Cultural Change


Product News


title: Conclusions

text: The aim is to test the claim made in the Introduction to this volume that Britain has a unique tabloid culture that combines on a single platform a range of serious and trivial elements, from international news and investigative journalism to sex and gossip. The three most prominent stories from the digital editions of five tabloids—the Sun, the Star, the Mirror, the Mail and the Express—were checked between 16.30 and 17.30 GMT on Friday 24 January 2020. It was found that all five tabloids gave adequate coverage to what Reuters considered the main item of international news that afternoon, and two prioritised serious articles that were critical of the British government. However, sensationalised and frivolous pieces also featured among the most prominent posts, which confirmed the eclectic nature of tabloid content.


title: Unruh-like effects: effective temperatures along stationary worldlines

text: We study the detailed balance temperatures recorded along all classes of stationary, uniformly accelerated worldlines in four-dimensional Minkowski spacetime, namely along (i) linear uniform acceleration, (ii) cusped, (iii) circular, (iv) catenary, and (v) helix worldlines, among which the Unruh temperature is the particular case for linear uniform acceleration. As a measuring device, we employ an Unruh-DeWitt detector, modeled as a qubit that interacts for a long time with a massless Klein-Gordon field in the vacuum state. The temperatures in each case (i) - (v) are functions of up to three invariant quantities: curvature or proper acceleration, κ, torsion, b, and hypertorsion, ν, and except for the case (i), they depend on the transition frequency difference of the detector, ω. We investigate numerically the behavior of the frequency-dependent temperatures for different values of κ, b, and ν along the stationary worldlines (ii) - (v) and evaluate analytically the regimes where the temperatures recorded along the different worldlines coincide with each other in terms of relevant asymptotic limits for κ, b, or ν, and discuss their physical meaning. We demonstrate that the temperatures in cases (ii) - (v) dip under the Unruh temperature at low frequencies and go above the Unruh temperature for large |ω|. It is our hope that this study will be relevant to the design of experiments seeking to verify the Unruh effect or generalizations thereof.


title: Automatic Semantic Description Extraction from Social Big Data for Emergency Management

text: Emergency events are unexpected and dangerous situations which the authorities must manage and respond to as quickly as possible. The main objectives of emergency management are to provide human safety and security, and Social Big Data (SBD) offers an important information source, created directly from eyewitness reports, to assist with these issues. However, the manual extraction of hidden meaning from SBD is both time-consuming and labor-intensive, which are major drawbacks for a process that needs accurate information to be produced in real-time. The solution is an automatic approach to knowledge discovery, and we propose a semantic description technique based on the use of triple store indexing for named entity recognition and relation extraction. Our technique can discover hidden SBD information more effectively than traditional approaches, and can be used for intelligent emergency management.


Goldilocks and the BCG: Bacillus Calmette-Guérin Dose Reduction in the Age of Shortage


Global Health in Radiation Oncology: The Intention-Investment Gap


How the Emergency Department Works: A Work in Progress


title: Forecasted datasets of electric vehicle consumption on the electricity grid of Spain

text: The information included in this study were calculated on the basis of data provided by the Spanish electricity grid, for thirteen years between 2007 and 2019. This data includes: the average consumption demand on the Spanish electricity grid at national level, and its availability. Subsequently, the report looks at the number of electric vehicles that could be supported in the years 2020-2023, depending on the consumption demand and availably of the electricity grid for those future years. The data presented in the article refers to the research study: ‘Electric vehicles in Spain: An overview of charging systems’[1] and ‘Analysis of charging stations for electric vehicles in Spain’ [2].


Reply to the letter to the editor


title: Scanning and Sensemaking

text: Leading disruptive companies of our times develop forward-looking processes and “future-proofing” routines instead of relying on organizational dogma. Such scanning is important, but sensemaking is too, which is essentially scanning with mindfulness as executives work to conceptualize through awareness and interpretation of the world around them. It requires being attentive to the deviations from commonly accepted interpretations, habits of mind, and routines. To do this, executives can take several steps including creating a search map, developing horizon thinking, and tapping “outsiders” in the scanning process.


title: Event-Based Customization of Multi-tenant SaaS Using Microservices

text: Popular enterprise software such as ERP, CRM is now being made available on the Cloud in the multi-tenant Software as a Service (SaaS) model. The added values come from the ability of vendors to enable customer-specific business advantage for every different tenant who uses the same main enterprise software product. Software vendors need novel customization solutions for Cloud-based multi-tenant SaaS. In this paper, we present an event-based approach in a non-intrusive customization framework that can enable customization for multi-tenant SaaS and address the problem of too many API calls to the main software product. The experimental results on Microsoft’s eShopOnContainers show that our approach can empower an event bus with the ability to customize the flow of processing events, and integrate with tenant-specific microservices for customization. We have shown how our approach makes sure of tenant-isolation, which is crucial in practice for SaaS vendors. This direction can also reduce the number of API calls to the main software product, even when every tenant has different customization services.


title: Towards Energy-, Time- and Security-Aware Multi-core Coordination

text: Coordination is a well established computing paradigm with a plethora of languages, abstractions and approaches. Yet, we are not aware of any adoption of the principle of coordination in the broad domain of cyber-physical systems, where non-functional properties, such as execution/response time, energy consumption and security are as crucial as functional correctness. We propose a coordination approach, including a functional coordination language and its associated tool flow, that considers time, energy and security as first-class citizens in application design and development. We primarily target cyber-physical systems running on off-the-shelf heterogeneous multi-core platforms. We illustrate our approach by means of a real-world use case, an unmanned aerial vehicle for autonomous reconnaissance mission, which we develop in close collaboration with industry.


title: CHOReVOLUTION: Hands-On In-Service Training for Choreography-Based Systems

text: CHOReVOLUTION is a platform for the tool-assisted development and execution of scalable applications that leverage the distributed collaboration of services specified through service choreographies. It offers an Integrated Development and Runtime Environment (IDRE) comprising a wizard-aided development environment, a system monitoring console, and a back-end for managing the deployment and execution of the system on the cloud. In this tutorial paper, we describe the platform and demonstrate its step-by-step application to an industrial use case in the domain of Smart Mobility & Tourism. (Demo Video: youtu.be/ae2jI9SYsvg) (GitHub: https://github.com/chorevolution/CHOReVOLUTION-IDRE)


title: Team Automata@Work: On Safe Communication

text: We study requirements for safe communication in systems of reactive components in which components communicate via synchronised execution of common actions. These systems are modelled in the framework of team automata in which any number of components can participate—as a sender or as a receiver—in the execution of a communication action. Moreover, there is no fixed synchronisation policy as these policies in general depend on the application. In this short paper, we reconsider the concept of safe communication in terms of reception and responsiveness requirements, originally defined for synchronisation policies determined by a synchronisation type. Illustrated by a motivating example, we propose three extensions. First, compliance, i.e. satisfaction of communication requirements, does not have to be immediate. Second, the synchronisation type (and hence the communication requirements) no longer has to be uniform, but can be specified per action. Third, we introduce final states to be able to distinguish between possible and guaranteed executions of actions.


title: Formal Modeling and Analysis of Medical Systems

text: Medical systems are composed of medical devices and apps which are developed independently by different vendors. A set of communication patterns, based on asynchronous message-passing, has been proposed to loosely integrate medical devices and apps. These patterns guarantee the point-to-point quality of communication service (QoS) by local inspection of messages at its constituent components. These local mechanisms inspect the property of messages to enforce a set of parametrized local QoS properties. Adjusting these parameters to achieve the required point-to-point QoS is non-trivial and depends on the involved components and the underlying network. We use Timed Rebeca, an actor-based formal modeling language, to model such systems and asses their QoS properties by model checking. We model the components of communication patterns as distinct actors. A composite medical system using several instances of patterns is subject to state-space explosion. We propose a reduction technique preserving QoS properties. We prove that our technique is sound and show the applicability of our approach in reducing the state space by modeling a clinical scenario made of several instances of patterns.