Chord-PKI: A distributed trust infrastructure based on P2P networks

Many P2P applications require security services such as privacy, anonymity, authentication, and non-repudiation. Such services could be provided through a hierarchical Public Key Infrastructure. However, P2P networks are usually Internet-scale distributed systems comprised of nodes with an undetermined trust level, thus making hierarchical solutions unrealistic. In this paper, we propose Chord-PKI, a distributed PKI architecture which is build upon the Chord overlay network, in order to provide security services for P2P applications. Our solution distributes the functionality of a PKI across the peers by using threshold cryptography and proactive updating. We analyze the security of the proposed infrastructure and through simulations we evaluate its performance for various scenarios of untrusted node distributions.     

Immunotherapy as a Therapeutic Strategy for Gastrointestinal Cancer—Current Treatment Options and Future Perspectives

Gastrointestinal (GI) cancer constitutes a highly lethal entity among malignancies in the last decades and is still a major challenge for cancer therapeutic options. Despite the current combinational treatment strategies, including chemotherapy, surgery, radiotherapy, and targeted therapies, the survival rates remain notably low for patients with advanced disease. A better knowledge of the molecular mechanisms that influence tumor progression and the development of optimal therapeutic strategies for GI malignancies are urgently needed. Currently, the development and the assessment of the efficacy of immunotherapeutic agents in GI cancer are in the spotlight of several clinical trials. Thus, several new modalities and combinational treatments with other anti-neoplastic agents have been identified and evaluated for their efficiency in cancer management, including immune checkpoint inhibitors, adoptive cell transfer, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy, cancer vaccines, and/or combinations thereof. Understanding the interrelation among the tumor microenvironment, cancer progression, and immune resistance is pivotal for the optimal therapeutic management of all gastrointestinal solid tumors. This review will shed light on the recent advances and future directions of immunotherapy for malignant tumors of the GI system.     

A Novel Switched Parasitic Array and Diversity Scheme Using Horizontally Polarized Linear Antennas

Switched Parasitic Arrays (SPAs) are proposed as an attractive alternative to fully adaptive arrays, due to their compact size and significantly lower cost of development. The main concept of SPAs is the deployment of switches on parasitic elements, which can be properly adjusted, in order to effectively control the radiation pattern of one active element. Conventional SPAs consist of circular arrays of vertically polarized dipoles and parasitic elements. In this paper, a novel SPA design is proposed, which is based on multiple switches employed on the body of horizontally polarized elements (one active and two parasitics). Design considerations are discussed and numerical results are illustrated. Furthermore, a simple diversity scheme is proposed, based on the novel SPA design. Superior performance of the proposed array, relative to simple non-diversity reception schemes, is indicated by simulation results. Stelios A. Mitilineos was born in Athens, Greece, in 1977. He received the Diploma in electrical and computer engineering from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Greece, in October 2001. He is currently working towards his Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering at the same university. His research interests include antennas and propagation, smart antennas and mobile communications, channel estimation and location detection algorithms, MIMO systems and microwave components. Anna E. Andreoudi was born in Thessalonica, Greece, in 1977. She received the Diploma in electrical and computer engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, in 2004. Her research interests include electromagnetic waves propagation and scattering, antenna design and adaptive arrays, wireless communications and wireless mobile networks. Christos N. Capsalis was born in Nafplion, Greece in 1956. He received the Diploma in electrical and mechanical engineering from the National Technical University of Athens in 1979 and the B.S. degree in economics from the University of Athens in 1983. He obtained the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from NTUA in 1985. He is currently a Professor at the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in NTUA. His current scientific activity concerns satellite and mobile communications, antenna theory and design, and electromagnetic compatibility.     

Synthesis, optical and morphological characterization of soluble main chain 1,3,4-oxadiazole copolyarylethers—potential candidates for solar cells applications as electron acceptors

New copoly(arylether)s containing substituted terphenyl, quinquephenyl, fluorene and anthracene moieties with aromatic 1,3,4-oxadiazole units were prepared and the resulting copolymers are soluble in common organic solvents. Investigation of their optical properties revealed that they emit blue and yellow light. Moreover, their photovoltaic response was studied in blends with poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) as the electron donor. Despite the low power conversion efficiencies it was shown that photo-induced electron transfer does take place and the performances are higher than a single layer P3HT device. In addition, an anthracene-fluorene-oxadiazole main chain copolymer (PAFOXD) was also examined in a single layer photovoltaic device and gave one of the highest reported open-circuit voltage (V_oc) values in the literature (0.89 V). Finally, a detailed morphological study of the blends and the PAFOXD surface using the atomic force microscopy (AFM) technique, revealed the effect of solvent selection to the preparation of thin films exhibiting the desired performance characteristics.     

The role of epidemiology in cancer prevention

1. ISA Brown and Shaver 288 pullets were changed from 8 h to 8, 10, 13 or 16 h photoperiods at 42, 63, 84, 105, 126 or 142 d of age. 2. Age at first egg (AFE) was curvilinearly affected by the size and timing of the change in photoperiod. AFE was advanced most by a photoperiod change from 8 to 13 h made at 63 or 84 d. ISA birds were generally more responsive than Shaver to the photoperiod changes. 3. Longer photoperiods significantly increased survivors' egg production, but decreased liveability to 504 d. so that eggs per hen housed were unaffected. Retarding AFE by 10 d reduced survivors' egg numbers by 7.0, but increased mean egg weight by 1.26 g. Egg output by Shaver birds was unaffected by AFE, but that of ISA was curvilinearly affected, with an apogee at an AFE of 135 d. In both breeds, egg weight and egg output were greater following an early or late, rather than a mid-term photostimulation. 4. Photoperiod significantly increased mean daily food intake during lay by 1.26 g/h. A 10 d retardation in AFE resulted in a reduction in food intake of 1 g/d. Efficiency of food conversion deteriorated according to the square of the photoperiod, and changed curvilinearly according to age at photostimulation. Food conversion efficiency improved by 0.05 g/g for each 10 d delay in AFE. 5. Shell quality was unaffected by AFE, but deteriorated with increasing photoperiod and was curvilinearly affected by age at photostimulation with the smallest shell weights associated with photostimulation at 63 d. The incidence of double-yolked (DY) egg production increased with photoperiod and decreased with delayed photostimulation. There was an exponential regression of DY eggs on AFE. 6. Body weight at first egg increased by 75 g/d delay in AFE, but body weight at 504 d of age was unaffected by AFE, photoperiod or age at photostimulation. Body weight gain during lay increased by 15 g/h increase in photoperiod, decreased by 6 g per 10 d delay in photostimulation and by 40 g per 10 d delay in AFE. Fat content at 504 d increased by about 10 g/kg and by 23 g/bird for each 10 d delay in AFE. 7. Mortality in lay increased by 0.8%/h increase in photoperiod, but was unaffected by either age at photostimulation or AFE.     

A full‐scale system for aerobic biological treatment of olive mill wastewater

Olive mill wastewater (OMW) is a major environmental problem in the Mediterranean basin. Although many methods for OMW treatment have been developed, only a few have been adopted in pilot‐ or full‐scale applications. A full‐scale system for aerobic biological treatment of OMW was developed. The system consists of a trickling filter and a recirculation tank. Continuous recirculation of the wastewater was used to provide oxygen concentrations from 0.7 to 1.2 mg L^?1. Low ambient temperatures did not affect system performance since the raw wastewater was warm enough. Nutrient addition was not necessary as raw wastewater contained sufficient nitrogen and phosphorous concentrations. Indigenous olive pulp bacteria proved to be resistant to full‐scale conditions. Feed chemical oxygen demand and phenolic concentrations were about 43 000 and 9500 mg L^?1, respectively. The system reduced more than half of the organic load under continuous operation and a hydraulic retention time of 24 h. The efficiency of this method could be improved by combining it with another technology to further reduce the organic load. The absence of mechanical aeration and the very low hydraulic retention time denotes that the proposed system could be viable and attractive. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry     

Determination of azinphos-methyl and parathion-methyl in honey by stripping voltammetry

An electrochemical method for the determination of azinphos-methyl and parathion-methyl in honey is presented. The determination is established by adsorptive stripping differential pulse voltammetry at hanging mercury working electrode.In contrast to the chromatographic methods for the determination of pesticide residues, the sample preparation of the proposed method is minimal; analytes were extracted from honey samples with a mixture of (acetone):(Britton-Robinson buffer) and then were analyzed without any additional pretreatment.The response of the analytes either individually or as a mixture was studied for a series of deposition time and molar ratio. Two quantitation protocols were compared, using either the external calibration or the standard addition method. Accuracy was tested with spiked honey samples obtaining good recovery values. The limit of detection for the honey sample (for deposition time of 10 s) was calculated 51.71 μg kg⁻¹ for MeP and 65.87 μg kg⁻¹ for AzMet.     

The ageing Australian firefighter: an argument for age-based recruitment and fitness standards for urban fire services

Currently, there is no enforcement of physical standards within Australian fire services post-recruitment, possibly leading to inappropriate fitness and body composition. This study evaluated the impacts of ageing on physical standards of Australian firefighters. Seventy-three firefighters from three different 10-year age groups [25–34 years (n = 27), 35–44 years (n = 27), 45–54 years (n = 19)] volunteered for physical testing using dual-energy X-ray analysis and existing fitness tests used for recruitment by an Australian fire service. Older (45–54 years) participants demonstrated significantly poorer physical standards compared with younger participants including cardiovascular fitness (p < 0.05), strength (p = 0.001) and simulated operational power testing tasks (p < 0.001). Age-related body composition changes were also observed independent of body mass index. Minimum recruitment standards and fitness programs need to account for age-related declines in physical capabilities to ensure that the minimum standard is maintained regardless of age.

Practitioner Summary: Using dual-energy X-ray analysis and established fitness testing protocols, this study aimed to gain an appreciation of the current standards of body composition and fitness of Australian firefighters and the effects of ageing on their physical abilities post-recruitment. The study demonstrated a significant decline in physical standards due to age.     

Passive Filtration of Airborne Particles from Buildings Ventilated by Natural Convection: Design Procedures and a Case Study at the Buddhist Cave Temples at Yungang,China

Air exchange between interior spaces and the outdoor atmosphere can occur due to a variety of processes, including wind-driven flows and natural convectiondriven flows. As air is exchanged with the outdoors, airborne particles can be brought inside. Depending on the use of the indoor space, the presence of particles in indoor air could be a nuisance to the occupants or could be damaging to materials kept indoors. While one obvious solution to such problems is to install a mechanical air filtration system, that is not always practical. In particular, the character of some historical houses and some archaeological sites would be degraded by the presence of a mechanical air distribution system, and in some parts of the world the reliable electrical power supply needed for such a filtration system may not be available. In the present paper we consider principles for the design of passive filtration systems in which air motion through the filter material is induced by a natural convection flow rather than by a mechanical fan. A fluid mechanical model first is described for predicting the air flow through an interior space that acts as a thermal siphon. The effect of placing filter material in the path of such air flows is examined next. The indoor-outdoor air quality model of Nazaroff and Cass (1989a) is matched to the natural convection air exchange model, and calculations are performed to determine the relationship between the outdoor particle size distribution and indoor particle size distributions and particle deposition rates given a passive filtration system. Example calculations are worked for the case of a passive particle filtration system that could be installed to protect the interior of the Buddhist cave temples at Yungang, China. These are a collection of manmade cave temples dating from the 5th century AD, now situated in the middle of one of China's largest coal-mining regions with its accompanying air pollution problems.