bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Psychological Role of the Internet in Mass Disasters: Past Evidence and Future Planning
Authors: Barak Azy
Published: February 2025

Occasional national and international traumas and disasters may affect large numbers of people worldwide. Well-known incidents in the past decade include the death of Princess Diana, the tsunami in South-East Asia, Hurricane Katrina, the Pakistan-Kashmir earthquake, and the World Trade Center terror attack. In all these incidents, in addition to other, less publicized large-scale disasters, hundreds of millions people went through intense emotions of fear, panic, despair, depression, and anxiety. The Internet – through various channels of online communication – provided many of these people with an effective means of psychological relief. Research conducted on such mass traumas has documented the feasibility and effectiveness of Internet-assisted activities in helping people mentally survive the aftermath of such unusual circumstances. This chapter reviews these interesting research reports and identifies specific types and modalities characterizing the online provision of emotional relief. It is proposed to preemptively construct mass disaster-specific web portals that could be operated at times of need and provide numerous effective services. International organizations – such as the UN and its related agencies (e.g., UNICEF, UNESCO), NATO, the World Bank, the European Commission, Interpol, the Red Cross, and the World Health Organization – should consider the initiation and establishment of such institutionalized infrastructures to harness the Internet’s ability to meet a population’s psychological needs in the event of unpredicted mass-disaster incidents.
Internetworking after Trauma
Authors: Spiegel David  , Butler Lisa D.
Published: February 2025

Especially at times of crisis, there is a generally unmet need to help people come to terms with their emotional responses and facilitate ongoing emotional support. Internet-based research, in particular, has tremendous potential to identify needs and provide immediate solace and opportunity for self-reflection. Our experience using the Internet to assess responses after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and that of other similar research will be presented. We highlight key findings in the areas of denial, changes in worldview, growth, and resilience to illustrate the main factors which are predictive of adaptation. Our Internet findings suggest that the ability to express and come to terms with trauma-related emotions, use of effective coping strategies, maintenance of a supportive social environment, and cognitive reorganization and meaning-making can reduce distress in the long run and may lead to higher well-being and posttraumatic growth. We illustrate how the virtual world of the Internet may offer these opportunities.
The Need for Strategic Cooperation in the Black Sea Region to Counter the Afghan-Based Drug and Crime Threat
Authors: Fenopetov Vladimir
Published: February 2025

Afghanistan is the source of approximately 90% of the world's opium. This paper explains how the opium is smuggled through the Caucasus and the Black Sea en route to Europe and America, and how this drug trafficking nourishes separatist ambitions and armed conflicts in several Black Sea countries. The traffickers compromise and challenge international assistance programs in the region, and exert a corrupting influence on the local economies, politics and societies along the trafficking routes.
Science Fiction for Scientists!! An Introduction to SF Prototypes and Brain Machines
Authors: Johnson Brian David
Published: February 2025

This paper describes the process of Science Fiction (SF) prototyping as a design tool. An overview of the SF prototyping process is given, followed by a brisk overview of the relationship between science fictiona dn science fact as see in fiction, movies and comic books. Finally we finish up by discussion a specific SF prototype, the research and writings that fed into the process and the outcomes from the application and use. This paper should be read in conjunction with the short story Brain Machines (also included in this edition).
Design and development of a multimodal dialogue system to support university tutorship
Authors: Callejas Zoraida  , Gutiérrez Ana M  , Griol David  , López-Cózar Ramón  , Ábalos Nieves  , Espejo Gonzalo
Published: February 2025

Ambience Intelligence (AmI) permits accessing information anytime, anywhere, that is why traditional human-computer interfaces like mouse and keyboard have become obsolete. Speech has become the best alternative for that type of systems, as it permits the users to have their eyes and hands free so that they can develop their daily activities like driving. In this paper we present a multimodal tutoring platform called ORIENTA, which acts as an assistant which provides academic information, schedules tutoring appointments and assists tutors by managing student profiles and making pedagogic suggestions in academic AmI environments.
Age-Related Difference in Genome Damage After Exposure to Ionizing Radiation in Living Environment
Authors: Fučić Aleksandra  , Gamulin Marija  , Druzhinin Vladimir  , Katić Jelena
Published: February 2025

For the last few decades genome damage caused by exposure to ionizing radiation has been estimated with the use cytogenetical methods like chromosome aberration assay (CA), micronucleus assay (MN), or since recently fluorescent in situ hybridisation. However, all available studies on reliability of CA and MN to predict cancer risk are done on adult population while data concerning children are mostly related to those collected after the Chernobyl nuclear accident. After industrial nuclear accident exposures, several long-term follow-up studies have shown a higher level of genome damage and higher accumulation of radioisotopes in the skeleton of children than of adults. Similarly, rogue cells in a long-term follow-up study of exposure in industrial regions are more frequently detected in children than in adults. Additionally, is impossible to predict the transplacental impact of radioisotopes on miscarriage rate using CA in mothers. Due to its transmutation to He, tritium level in water may have a more severe impact on DNA integrity in the foetus than in adults, which results from higher mitotic rate during development. Recent studies in oncology patients using DNA microarrays identified a specific group of genes and SNPs whose expression is a signature of radiation response. These promising methods will enable researchers to detect age-related response to ionizing radiation and will give a better insight into individual cancer risk, as opposed to the group risk determined by CA and MN assays.
Rapid Diagnostic of Human Cervical Cells Under a Reflected Light Microscope
Authors: Abdullakhodjaeva Malika S.  , Paiziev Adkham A.  , Krakhmalev Viktor A.
Published: February 2025

A technique for revealing surface morphology of human cervical cancer cells has been developed to facilitate early diagnostics of pre-cancer and cancer cells under reflected light microscopy. The offered method was borrowed from optical microscopy of a solid state surface, in which the metallographic inverted microscopy (MIM) is usually used. Unlike commonly accepted transmitted light microscopy for biological applications, the MIM technique allows to reveal a morphology and topology of a biological cells surface without any treatment by chemicals (fixing, staining, drying, freezing et al). The MIM method was demonstrated by analysing fresh native smears from epithelium of uterine neck. MIM micrographs of 167 patients with diagnosed cervical cancer allow to visualise numerous the light reflective formations (LRF) on the cancer cells surface. It is supposed that LRF are connected with exocytosis on the cell membrane.
Relationship between Biomarkers of Effect (CAs, MNi, SCEs) and Risk of Cancer
Authors: Norppa Hannu
Published: February 2025

Chromosomal aberrations (CAs), micronuclei (MNi), and sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs) in peripheral lymphocytes have widely been used as biomarkers of genotoxic exposure and effects in humans. International collaborative studies have shown that a high level of CAs in lymphocytes is associated with an increased risk of overall cancer. The CA-cancer association is seen in subjects with known carcinogenic exposure but also in individuals with no known history of exposure to carcinogens. This suggests that a high CA level is an indicator of increased cancer risk regardless of the reason for the increase. Chromosome-type CAs appear to be more important than chromatid-type CAs in predicting cancer risk. As chromosomal fragments can form MNi, it is not surprising that an association has also been observed between lymphocyte MN level and overall cancer risk. It has not been possible to show an association between the frequency of SCEs in lymphocytes and cancer risk, possibly due to technical variation in SCE level and the fact that SCEs seem to represent homologous recombination repair of DNA. The reasons for the associations of CAs and MN with cancer risk are not clear, but undetected cancer does not explain them, because the time between the cytogenetic analysis and cancer diagnosis does not modify the risk. Carcinogenic exposure remains an explanation, as everybody is exposed through diet, general environment, and internal generation of genotoxic species. The results may also represent individual susceptibility to chromosomal damage. Cancer risk prediction by CA level has been observed in all studies published on the topic, despite the use of heterogeneous cytogenetic data, suggesting that the association is robust. There are suggestions that the association is stronger than hitherto assumed. If the accuracy of assessing the level of chromosome could be improved, individual cancer risk estimation might become possible.
Investigating Social Conflicts Linked to Water Resources through Agent-Based Modelling
Authors: Saqalli Mehdi  , Thiriot Samuel  , Amblard Frédéric
Published: February 2025

Over the next decades, natural resources and water resources in particular are likely to be one of the major origins of social conflicts. To date however, no model enables the study of coupled dynamics of hydrology, water use and social conflicts. Building such a model requires identifying the key concepts, entities and processes that are present in much field cases and have to be included into the model. The research presented in this paper takes place in a more general project named MAELIA for Multi-agent for Environmental Norms Impact Assessment. The purpose of MAELIA is to provide a decision-support model helping decision makers and stakeholders to manage water resources. This model aims to be generic enough for it to be applied in various field cases at different scales. We describe the actors involved in water management or water use using an agent-based approach. Water monitoring institutions and water users are described as agents in interaction within a stylised representation of a watershed basin. We propose a conceptual model that describes not only the hydrology in the basin and the water consumption behaviour of users, but also the representation of both the users at the institutional level and the power relationships that determine the arbitration of norms about water use. We propose two possible uses of this model. The first is the analysis of the impacts of several norms for detecting potential conflicts. The second possible use explores the local formulation of norms given the balance of powers in already settled social conflicts. This generic platform modelling conflicts on natural resources may thereby provide new insights into the analysis of well-known natural resource related conflicts, such as the Gauvery dispute in India.
Terrorism and Passive Supporters: An Approach from Physics
Authors: Galam Serge
Published: February 2025

While most efforts to curb terrorism concentrated on neutralizing terrorist nets, very little is known about the social space which is open to terrorist moves. Introducing the notion of social permeability to terrorism, we study the role of passive supporters to a terrorist cause using the physical theory of percolation. A passive supporter is a normal citizen who identifies with the terrorist cause but without any direct involvement with either the terrorist group or its activities. It is an individual dormant attitude associated with a personal opinion which characterizes passive support. It does not need to be explicitly claimed. Passive supporters just do not oppose a terrorist act in case they could. Unnoticeable, most of them reject the violent aspects of terrorist acts. They only partly share the terrorist cause. The question of the range of a terrorism threat is then analyzed in terms of a percolation phenomenon within a multi-dimensional social space. Traditional terrorism is found to correspond to non-percolating situations while international terrorism is associated to worldwide percolation. Using only military means to eradicate terrorism is shown to be inefficient. Hints are given on how to diminish the terrorism threat without military destruction.
Mechanisms of Governance of Socio-Economic Dynamics of Agriculture
Authors: Bachev Hrabrin
Published: February 2025

This paper incorporates interdisciplinary New Institutional Economics, and suggests a framework for analyzing and improvement of governance of socio-economic dynamics of agriculture. It takes into account: the role of specific institutional environment (formal and informal rules and rights, and systems of enforcement; behavioral characteristics of agents (preferences, bounded rationality, tendency for opportunism, risk aversion); costs of governance and critical factors of transactions (uncertainty, frequency, assets specificity, appropriability); comparative efficiency of market, private, public and hybrid modes; efficiency of alternative modes for public intervention; complementarities between modes; needs for multilateral and multilevel governance; technological and eco-factors.
The Evolution of US Policy towards the Southern Caucasus
Authors: Macfarlane S. Neil
Published: February 2025

This chapter traces the evolution of United States' (U.S) policy in the Southern Caucasus since the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R). It begins by providing background on the region. It continues with a discussion of the major drivers of US regional policy. A periodization of that policy follows. The analysis concludes with a discussion of the directions being taken by the Obama Administration. The paper argues that US policy has displayed a lack of coherence for much of the period in question. On the one hand, policy towards the Caucasus is part of a larger effort to approach the former Soviet region as a whole. But, on the other hand, policy towards the three states in the Caucasus has been dominated in each case by a different logic: energy, US minority politics, ideological exceptionalism, and leadership preference. The lack of coherence reflects the weakness of systemic drivers (and in particular the role and capacity of Russia). The return of Russia to strategic activism in the region restores the significance of systemic underpinnings to US policy and is producing a more coherent American approach to the region.
The Fast Changing World and the South Caucasus
Authors: Grigoryan Stepan
Published: February 2025

The events of the last 20 years have led to significant geopolitical changes in the world, creating large opportunities for new independent countries such as Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, and, at the same time, setting difficult tasks for them. Many of these events, especially those taking place in the recent 5-7 years, have had serious consequences for global processes, as well as for the South Caucasus (SC), making the region globally important.
Solid-State NMR of Membrane-Acting Antimicrobial Peptides
Authors: Gehman John D.  , Sani Marc-Antoine  , Separovic Frances
Published: February 2025

In the study of lipid systems, biological solid-state NMR has historically concentrated on characterization of relatively simple model membranes. In more recent times, peptides and proteins that interact with these membrane systems have increasingly shared the focus. Here we describe how solid-state NMR provides information about the effect of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) on membrane bilayers, and their location relative to the membrane surface, and their structure in the context of the membrane. Aligned membrane bilayers and bicelles, and magic angle spinning techniques using unoriented bilayers are discussed, together with measurements of chemical shift anisotropy and dipolar couplings to gain structural details of AMPs in membranes. In addition to31P,2H and14N NMR of phospholipid bilayers,19F,13C and15N NMR of labelled AMP, gramicidin A′, magainin 2, PGLa, aurein 1.2 and protegrin-1, are reviewed.
RNA Structure Determination by NMR: Combining Labeling and Pulse Techniques
Authors: Roth Braden M.  , Hennig Mirko
Published: February 2025

RNA exhibits considerable structural and functional diversity beyond well established roles of ribosomal, transfer and messenger RNAs, as illustrated by the discovery of ever increasing numbers of diverse RNA structures involved in gene processing and regulation. RNA molecules are often quite flexible; they can function in a genuinely unfolded form and adapt for recognition of both the shape and the charge distribution on a potential ligand with exquisite specificity. Liquid state NMR spectroscopy is uniquely suited to answer important questions concerning biophysical properties of RNA molecules including their three-dimensional shape, secondary structure distribution, and flexibility by looking at dynamic ensembles of structures. Here we review the fields of RNA sample preparation and NMR methodology that facilitate the determination of RNA structure in solution.
Investigating RNA and DNA Dynamics through Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
Authors: Bardaro Jr. Michael F.  , Pederson Kari  , Drobny Gary  , Varani Gabriele
Published: February 2025

RNA and DNA can adopt highly different conformations to facilitate protein or ligand binding. These conformational changes are significant, since they often are an essential part of nucleic acid function. As a result, there is ever increasing interest in studying dynamics of nucleic acids and their connection to function. Here, we review NMR methods, in both the solid and liquid states, to study nucleic acid dynamics, including relaxation, residual dipolar couplings and lineshape analysis.
Advances in NMR-based Structural Genomics
Authors: Szyperski Thomas  , Montelione Gaetano T.
Published: February 2025

Structural genomics requires that accurate atomic resolution protein structures are solved in high-throughput. The Northeast Structural Genomics Consortium (NESG), USA, has established a scalable platform for NMR-based structure determination, including protocols for rapid NMR data acquisition, semi-automated data processing, data analysis and structure calculation, and structure validation. The main features of this pipeline are discussed along with (i) recent methodological advances and (ii) perspectives for future improvements and expansion to larger bio-molecular systems.
The Practices do Outline the Field of Visibility
Authors: Gori Umberto
Published: February 2025

As the practices do outline the field of visibility, the aim of this seminar is to confront them in order to try to outline the organization and alliances of the criminal powers.
Nuclear Terrorism in the 21st Century
Authors: Tobey William H.
Published: February 2025

From the time of their creation in 1945, until relatively recently, nuclear weapons were the province of great powers. By definition and as a matter of practical reality, states that possessed nuclear weapons were great powers, and only great powers could marshal the resources necessary to attain them.
Experimental Validation of a Fast Non-Iterative Imaging Algorithm for Eddy Current Tomography
Authors: Ventre Salvatore  , Calvano Flavio  , Rubinacci Guglielmo  , Tamburrino Antonello
Published: February 2025

In this work for the first time we validate experimentally a fast (real-time) non-iterative imaging method for eddy current tomography of conductive materials. The presented method is based on the monotonicity principle applied in the low frequency limit where the skin-depth is great with respect to the relevant dimension of the problem under test. The experimental tests prove the effectiveness of the monotonicity based imaging method. Moreover, we prove that the inversion can be carried out without resorting the direct problem solver.
Eddy Current Testing of Ferromagnetic Materials: Modelling of Flaws in a Planar Medium
Authors: Zorni Chiara  , Reboud Christophe  , Lambert Marc  , Decitre Jean-Marc
Published: February 2025

Eddy Current Testing (ECT) is a standard technique in industry for the detection of surface breaking flaws in ferromagnetic materials such as steels. In this context, simulation tools can be used to improve the understanding of experimental signals, optimize the design of sensors or evaluate the performance of ECT procedures. CEA has developed for many years semi-analytical models embedded into the simulation platform CIVA [1] dedicated to non-destructive testing. Following a previous work carried out at the laboratory in the case of one flaw located in a cylindrical ferromagnetic part, the developments presented herein address the case of a flaw located inside a planar and ferromagnetic medium. The theoretical approach will be presented, as well as comparisons between simulation data obtained from the literature.
Pipe Wall Thickness Inspection with Current Driven Thermal Method
Authors: Honda Satoshi
Published: February 2025

Electric potential difference(EPD) method is widely used for diagnosing and monitoring flow conduits. Theoretical analysis and the exact solution of the electrical potential field in pipe wall have been given, and 2D approximation is effective for small pipe wall thickness there. This study proposes to use temperature distribution driven by Joule heat with the electric current other than electrical potential difference. Under thin wall approximation, 2D electric and thermal problems are analyzed and exact solutions are given.
Local Magnetic Properties and Magnetic Particle Distribution due to Cr Depletion in Sensitized Ni based Alloy
Authors: Yamaguchi K.  , Suzuki K.  , Takase T.  , Takara T.  , Nittono O.  , Uchimoto T.  , Takagi T.
Published: February 2025

For Alloy 600 which is Ni based super alloy, the relation between sensitization and magnetic properties was studied from the view point of chromium depletion distribution. Experimental results of magnetic hysteresis (B-H) curves were compared with calculation results by Monte Carlo simulation including the information of the chromium depletion and both results showed good correspondence each other for their residual magnetizations and magnetic coercivities. Moreover, local magnetic hysteresis was measured by micro Kerr magnetometer for the area of inner grain and on grain boundaries. The result showed anisotropy on grain boundaries for the direction of magnetic field. The result is analyzed using a magnetic cluster formed as wire type which was derived from the chromium distribution estimated by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy of scanning electron microscope.
Metamaterials in electromagnetic nondestructive evaluation
Authors: Savin Adriana  , Steigmann Rozina  , Bruma Alina  , Iftimie Nicoleta  , Grimberg Raimond
Published: February 2025

This paper proposes the study and implementation of metamaterials in the electromagnetic nondestructive examination; these materials can serve as electromagnetic flux concentrators in radiofrequency range. Thus, the using of a new type of metamaterials, namely conical Swiss roll has been proposed. As direct application, Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastics (CFRP) plates with and without delaminations, created by impacts with low energy, were examined with the electromagnetic transducers with metamaterial lens. The characteristics of carbon fibers woven structure became visible and the delaminations are clearly emphasized.
Decreasing Uncertainty in Size Estimation of Stress Corrosion Cracking from Eddy-Current Signals
Authors: Janousek Ladislav  , Smetana Milan  , Alman Marcel
Published: February 2025

The paper deals with uncertainty in depth estimation of partially conductive cracks from eddy current testing signals. Numerical simulations are carried out to investigate influences of crack parameters on the response signals. Three parameters of the crack, i.e. its depth, width and conductivity are changed to simulate variety of possible scenarios. Standard pancake probe is used for the inspection at first. The presented numerical results confirm that the inverse problem is highly ill-posed when partially conductive cracks, as stress corrosion cracking, are concerned. Accordingly, a new approach in the response signal sensing is proposed. The idea is to pick-up more information provided by the eddy currents. Thus, three coils positioned perpendicularly to each other are employed to sense all the three spatial components of the perturbation electromagnetic field. The gained results reveal that it is possible to considerably decrease the uncertainty in depth estimation of partially conductive cracks by employing the proposed idea.
User Preferences Regarding Body Support and Personal Hygiene in the Toilet Environment
Authors: Dekker Dries  , Buzink Sonja N.  , Molenbroek Johan F.M.
Published: February 2025

In the development process of the friendly restroom, information was needed about user preferences regarding supports and personal hygiene in the toilet. As literature studies did not yield the required information, two user tests were held with supplemental questionnaires. The main test was carried out with seniors, the preliminary test with students. The preliminary test helped to fine tune the main test and to assess its risks. The test was held with a setup that consists of an height adjustable toilet bowl and various adjustable supports around it. The setup also contained a newly designed washbasin. The results from this study are a preliminary insight in the preferred types of supports and corresponding preferred heights and positions for these supports among elderly. Furthermore, insight was acquired in attitudes towards personal hygiene in the toilet.
When Ethical Guidance Is Missing and Do-It-Yourself Is Required: The Shaping of Ethical Peer Review Guidance in the FRR Project
Authors: Rauhala Marjo
Published: February 2025

The purpose of this paper is to describe and discuss the approach for the tasks of ethical peer review and ethical guidance which was adopted in the project Friendly Rest Room for Elderly (FRR). Two aspects of user involvement were of special concern for the ethical reviewers: first of all, the target group consisted of potentially frail (or, vulnerable) users, and, second of all, problems relating to toileting and personal hygiene are considered taboo subjects in most regions of Europe. A mixture of a normative and empirical approach to ethics was adopted for guiding the project's user involvement. Ethical guidelines and principles relevant for the FRR context were identified and empirical work was performed to study their implementation. As methods for data collection, participant observation of prototype trials and interviews with users and developers were applied. In addition, the ethical peer reviewers participated closely in the drafting of information materials for users and in planning and designing of the user trials. In designing the user tests, much attention was paid to efforts to lessen the taboo effect faced by participants who were asked in the presence of a research team to talk about their toileting routines and difficulties. In this paper, the normative and empirical work performed by the ethical review team in the FRR project is described and key observations are discussed. In conclusion, the main lessons learned in the continuous process of ethical peer review in the FRR project are presented.
Future Trends in Terrorism
Authors: Sütalan Zeynep
Published: February 2025

This article discusses the future trends in terrorism by looking at the changing profile of terrorism over ideology, organization and structure as well as the means and methods used in terrorism. First, the article examines how the ideologies used by terrorist organizations together with their goals and motivations have changed. Second, it elaborates how the organizational structure of terrorist organizations has changed with reference to the network and hierarchical structures of terrorist organizations. Third, the article is dedicated to look at the means and methods of terrorist organizations with special attention to the weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and suicide bombing. Other features of terrorism like cyber terrorism, the growing interconnectedness and interdependency between organized crime and terrorism and the nexus between piracy and terrorism is also addressed. The article also touches upon as NATO's study on Multiple Futures, which is about the future threats that the Alliance will be facing in the 21stcentury. In this context, the article argues that there is both change and continuity in terrorism since it is a historical phenomenon and intends to contribute to the discussions on the future of terrorism.
PART II: TECHNICAL PERSPECTIVES
Authors: Labarre Frederic
Published: February 2025

By its very nature, a book of this kind can only be selective in the issues it treats. Some generalizations are in order, however. For example, security is not understood comprehensively from one portion of the extended geographical region under consideration to the other. As a result, certain countries and institutions have been quicker to adapt than others. It is on these success stories that we focus in part 2 of this work. Another generalization that can be made is that there seems to be a form of cleavage developing within the region between the ruling elites and the constituents. On the constituents' side, however, a number of outlets are appearing to prevent the return of blanket authoritarianism, despite the frequent charges of corruption, nationalism and administrative mismanagement which the region is often burdened with.
The Value of SPECT in Detecting Alzheimer-Type Neurodegeneration in Mild Cognitive Impairment
Authors: Nobili Flavio  , De Carli Fabrizio  , Frisoni Giovanni B.  , Portet Florence  , Verhey Frans  , Rodriguez Guido  , Caroli Anna  , Touchon Jacques  , Morbelli Silvia  , Guerra Ugo P.  , Dessi Barbara  , Brugnolo Andrea  , Visser Pieter Jelle
Published: February 2025

Despite brain perfusion SPECT with technetium radiopharmaceuticals has not been formally included among the biomarkers for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD), its worldwide availability and the large literature evidence in AD and related disorders still make of it a valid alternative to FDG-PET, wherever the latter is unavailable. In this article, baseline brain SPECT has been evaluated in 80 subjects presenting with a cognitive complaint who have been followed for a mean of about two years, when twelve patients developed AD-dementia (AD-D), nineteen showed significant memory decline (D), and forty-three had normal cognition assessment (stable: S), while six patients dropped-out. Volumetric Regions of Interest (VROI) analysis was performed in six associative cortical areas in each hemisphere. ANOVA for repeated measures showed significant effects for both the group (S, D, and AD-D; p < 0.004) and VROI (p < 0.0001) factors, with significant group*region interaction (p < 0.01). At post-hoc comparison, hippocampal VROIs values were lower in AD-D than in D and S, while parietal VROIs values were lower in D and AD-D than in S. These four VROI significantly correlated with verbal delayed recall score at follow-up visit. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for the mean hippocampal VROI value showed 0.81 sensitivity with 0.86 specificity in separation of S + D from AD-D (p < 0.0001), and 0.69 sensitivity with 0.75 specificity in separation of S from D + AD-D (p < 0.0002). ROC curves for the mean parietal VROI value showed 0.62 sensitivity with 0.70 specificity in separation of S from D + AD-D (p < 0.0002). Baseline SPECT can support outcome prediction in subjects with MCI and assist clinicians in identifying MCI patients with biological signs of neurodegeneration of the AD-type in critical cortical areas.
Research Towards Tau Imaging
Authors: Jensen Jordan R.  , Cisek Katryna  , Funk Kristen E.  , Naphade Swati  , Schafer Kelsey N.  , Kuret Jeff
Published: February 2025

Tau-bearing neurofibrillary lesions present a promising biomarker for premortem diagnosis and staging of Alzheimer's disease and certain forms of frontotemporal lobar degeneration by whole brain imaging methods. Although brain penetrating compounds capable of binding tau aggregates with high affinity have been disclosed for this purpose, the major barrier to progress remains the need for tau lesion binding selectivity relative to amyloid-beta plaques and other deposits of proteins in cross-beta-sheet conformation. Here we discuss challenges faced in the development of tau lesion-selective imaging agents, and recent preclinical advances in pursuit of this goal.
Verbal Working Memory in Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impaired Subjects: An fMRI Study
Authors: Bokde Arun L.W.  , Karmann Michaela  , Born Christine  , Teipel Stefan J.  , Omerovic Muamer  , Ewers Michael  , Frodl Thomas  , Meisenzahl Eva  , Reiser Maximilian  , Möller Hans-Jürgen  , Hampel Harald
Published: February 2025

Memory impairments are a core symptom of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and amnestic Mild Cognitive Impaired (aMCI) subjects are a high risk group for conversion to AD. Working memory (WM) is the ability to hold information in memory while performing another mental operation, which is a key cognitive domain for higher cognition and is impaired in MCI subjects. The objective of this study was to delineate the differences in brain activation between amnestic MCI and age-matched healthy controls (HC) supporting verbal working memory. It was a delay match to sample task and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to measure brain activation. Group differences were calculated using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) with statistical significance at p < 0.05 corrected for multiple comparisons. Both groups activated a wide network in the posterior and frontal areas of the brain. There was higher activation in the parietal and frontal lobes in the aMCI compared to the HC during the delay phase. There were no areas in the HC that activated higher than the MCI subjects. Response time in the HC group was correlated to activation in left hippocampus during encoding phase and to the parietal and frontal areas during the recall phase. In the MCI group response time was correlated to the inferior and middle temporal gyrii during encoding, the middle frontal gyrus during the maintenance phase, and hippocampus during recall phase. The activation differences between groups may reflect compensatory mechanisms within the MCI group for the effects of the putative AD neuropathology.
Late Onset Alzheimer's Disease with Cerebrovascular Lesions as a Distinctive Phenotype of the AβPP A713T Mutation in Southern Italy
Authors: Bernardi Livia  , Geracitano Silvana  , Colao Rosanna  , Puccio Gianfranco  , Gallo Maura  , Anfossi Maria  , Frangipane Francesca  , Curcio Sabrina A.M.  , Mirabelli Maria  , Tomaino Carmine  , Conidi Elena  , Vasso Franca  , Smirne Nicoletta  , Maletta Raffaele  , Bruni Amalia C.
Published: February 2025

The amyloid-β protein precursor (AβPP) gene located at chromosome 21 q21 was the first gene identified in which mutations cause autosomal dominant early-onset Alzheimer's disease (ADEOAD). However, a majority of mutations within the AβPP gene can cause also inherited forms of diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) associated with cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), cerebral haemorrhage, or both defining AD-AβPP related as a complex disease. We previously studied a large family in which neuropathology showed CAA, stroke and AD lesions due to the AβPP A713T mutation whose phenotype presented with clinical AD and subcortical ischemic lesions at Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Aim of this clinical and molecular study was to search AβPP gene mutations in 59 patients affected by AD with cerebrovascular lesions (CVLs) presenting a family history of dementia. Analysis of AβPP gene evidenced that three out of these 59 affected subjects carried the A713T mutation unusually presenting with late onset. Pathogenicity of this mutation was confirmed and the clinical AD phenotype with CVLs seems to be a distinctive feature at least in the southern Italian population. Moreover, being prevalence of this mutation worldwide very low, we assessed the possibility that a common founder among patients carrying the AβPP A713T mutation could exist in southern Italy. Molecular findings here provided, evidence that mutated patients are related and share a putative common ancestor. Identification of the A713T mutation in patients with this specific phenotype suggests that genetic epidemiology in large cohorts of familial late onset AD with CVLs would increase the probability of identifying AβPP mutations still underestimated.
Structural MRI Investigation of Neuroanatomy of Corpus Callosum in Alzheimer's Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment
Authors: Di Paola Margherita  , Spalletta Gianfranco  , Caltagirone Carlo
Published: February 2025

The corpus callosum (CC), which connects the two cerebral hemispheres, is the largest white matter fiber bundle in the human brain. This structure presents a peculiar myelination pattern: it has small diameter fibers, located in the genu, which myelinate much later in normal development, and large diameter fibers of the splenium, which myelinate early in development. Although AD mainly compromise cerebral gray matter structure, there is evidence that white matter may also be involved in the pathology. To illustrate callosal white matter changes in AD pathology, we summarize “in vivo” MRI imaging studies in humans, focusing on region of interest (ROI), voxel-based morphometry (VBM), diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) techniques. Results from the literature showed that changes in the anterior (genu and anterior body) as well as in the posterior (isthmus and splenum) portions of the CC might already be present in the early stages of AD. The spatial (in anterior and posterior callosal subregions) and the temporal (in the early stage of AD) presence of the CC changes support the hypothesis that two mechanisms, Wallerian degeneration and myelin breakdown, might be responsible for the region-specific changes detected in AD patients. Wallerian degeneration affects the posterior CC subregion, which receives axons directly from those brain areas (temporo-parietal lobe regions) primarily affected by the AD pathology. Instead, the myelin breakdown process affects the later-myelinating CC subregion and explains the earlier involvement of the genu in CC atrophy.
Social Stomach: Performative Food Prototypes
Authors: Kera Denisa  , Tuters Marc
Published: February 2025

“Social Stomach” is a series of social, textual and “performative” or diogetic prototypes [1] that rethink the relation between food and technology and experiment with future metabolic exchanges that are biological, technological and political at the same time. Eating in this project represents the ultimate form of “cosmopolitics” [2], an ideal ground for design experiments with temporary assemblages of heterogeneous actors and forces that define society immersed in emerging technologies and changing scientific paradigms. From global supply chains to bodily metabolic exchanges eating involves political, technological, biological but also social acts that cut across various scales and form complex systems of relations and interdependencies. American fast food soliloquies, communal and family organized meals, the street-food culture of Singaporean “hawker” stalls, European restaurant enclaves for small elites and community pubs represent the complex relation between technological, political and economic systems involved in eating. These eating practices and systems are changing nowadays with the rise of social media, new scientific knowledge related to food and health but also global issues surrounding food security and justice. By studying niche communities organized around novel food and eating practices but also hacked, DIY tools for cooking, we can understand and rethink further what is at stake in today's food politics and how to define our social stomach. .
Surprise Payload Rack: A User Scenario of a Conceptual Novelty Intervention System for Isolated Crews on Extended Space Exploration Missions
Authors: Peldszus Regina
Published: February 2025

Future space exploration missions to Near Earth Asteroids or Mars present unprecedented psychological challenges to the crew. One of these sets of factors includes long stretches of low workload, environmental monotony and confinement particularly during transfer phases of the trip. In previous orbital space missions, instances of isolation and monotony where remedied by audio or visual contact to ground, resupply of fresh cargo and visiting crews that provided diversion, variety and surprise. These powerful mitigation strategies will not be feasible in the autonomous setting of a deep space exploration mission. How can novelty be designed into a remote, virtually closed habitation system? Drawing on the historical experience of psychological support and countermeasures from orbital space missions and a series of related design studies, this paper addresses the need for the integration of variety as part of in-flight provisions. It describes the concept of a personalized ‘surprise payload rack’ (SPR) in the format of a fictional instruction manual, and discusses related R&D directions and organisational implications at the interface of non-invasive behavioural monitoring and smart, responsive vehicle environments.
A Generic Model of Distrust Behaviour in Online Communities of Trust
Authors: Zehda David
Published: February 2025

With boost of interest in milti-user networking ranging from Web 2.0 technologies to agent systems and smart enironments, various aspects of mutual interactions between system components, including but not limited to human users themselves, have to be cinsidered. Trus is one of core dimensions of vital, multilaterally beneficial interactions. in the fors section of the paper we describe the trust itself and its characteristics, such as multidimensionality, contextuality, asymmetry, transitivity, scope, disproportion, and dynamics. Further we present a niche type of community where users trust each other as default and where the trust loses most of its subjective flavour, which we call a community of trust. Common trust models do not apply for the community of trust well, because they build upon different presumptions about trust. As a main contribution of the paper, we introduce a simple generic and extensible model of distrust for te community of trust. The model is based on activity and distrust matrices arranged into vectors in order of time of occurrence. Various derived characteristics, such as harmful/harmless or distrusting/distrusted ratios provide additional insight on the model. Tests in simulated scenarios and with real human users will follow in our future research in order to concretize and evaluate the model.
Teaching Next Generation Computing Skills; The Challenge of Embedded Computing
Authors: Wang Minjuan  , Callaghan Victor  , Lear Malcolm  , Colley Martin
Published: February 2025

As new paradigms, such as pervasive computing and ambient intelligence change the nature of the computer application market place, so do the skills and educational technology needed by students and teachers. The once dominant PC now finds itself outnumbered by several orders of magnitude by much smaller and cheaper embedded computers which can extend the internet from being just a means of connecting personal computers together, to enabling a world of connected “things”; the so-called “internet of things”. In this world hundreds and even thousands of tiny service providing embedded-computers deliver a variety of services to us (some physical, some information) in ways that enable exciting new lifestyles and business opportunities. Applications range from the creation of digital homes (with their myriad of high-tech appliance), smart vehicles (cars aeroplanes & robotics) through to telecommunications (mobile phones, personal navigation or mobile learning). At the heart of this new technology is the “embedded-computer” which, from a software developers perspective, is significantly different to conventional desktop computers as they need to operate in real-time with computationally small resources and, in general, don't have inbuilt keyboards, displays or programming tools. All these factors conspire to bring significantly different educational and training requirements from older generations of computers, such as PCs. In this paper we examine these issues and introduce a set of modularised tools to arm universities, and other training institutions, with the means to support the acquisition of these key skills by students in a motivating and educationally sound way.
The Ecology of Creativity and Evolution of Choreographic Strategies.
Authors: Innanen Riikka Theresa
Published: February 2025

This paper explores applications of intelligent systems and how they can be imbedded into choreographic structures to create new approaches to the choreography. It includes examples of the methods in Riikka Theresa Innanen's work that are based on somatic dance techniques such as Body-Mind Centering® together with various strategies to created embedded structures for intelligent systems to emerge. In Anima, BMC©was combined with philosophical studies by Jaana Parviainen in embodied experiences such as Negative Knowledge, Gregory Baetson's System Theory, biosciences and the current sociopolitical debate how to tackle the rising ecological crisis. In the work NUMBER, Innanen collaborated with mathematician Alexis Clancy using algorithmic structures and a deep study in Numbers with a process of simultaneously counting and moving to create a method in which the choreography is allowed a totally new autonomy and renegotiates on a profound level the aesthetic and dramaturgical borders of dance, creativity and control of emerging state of a group. Using the metaphor of creativity as an ecology and development of choreographic methods as evolution, a question is posed how to create (self) sustainable ecosystems of art similar to a rainforest or a computer programs and promote an organic paradigm shift in choreography in order to allow new aesthetics and new processes of thinking to emerge.
From Context-aware Environments to Affective Smart Environments (Keynote abstract)
Authors: Carvalho Marreiros Maria Goreti
Published: February 2025

The aim of the keynote is to provide an overview of recently ongoing research regarding the vision that proposes the consideration of affective aspects in the development of Ambient Intelligence systems and Smart Environments.