Exploiting the European Union trusted service status list for certificate validation in STORK: design,implementation, and lessons learnt

Since December 2009, the European Union Trusted Service Status Lists (TSLs) have been specified and adopted across European Union countries in order to enable the verification of digital signatures with legal values. This paper deals with the exploitation of TSLs in real digital services, other than electronic signatures, that is for certificate validation service. In particular, we used such lists in the service provided by the pan‐European Secure identTities acRoss boRders linKed identity management infrastructure in order to validate X.509 public key certificates. In addition, we propose an XML data structure to be used in conjunction with a TSL, in the form of a Trust Service Association (TrSA) file, to hold trust relationships between different services in a TSL. The TrSA file in conjunction with the TSLs may be used directly by the service providers or users to validate certificates. For the generation of the TSLs, we propose also a tool for automatic generation of the TSLs, named TSLGenerator. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Fluorescent Probe for Neural Stem/Progenitor Cells with High Differentiation Capability into Neurons

Selection of a specific neural stem/progenitor cells (NSPCs) has attracted broad attention in regenerative medicine for neurological disorders. Here, we report a fluorescent probe, CDg13, and its application for isolating strong neurogenic NSPCs. In comparison to the NSPCs isolated by other biomarkers, CDg13‐stained NSPCs showed higher capability to differentiate into neurons. Target identification revealed that the fluorescence intensity of the probe within cells is inversely proportional to the expression levels of mouse and human Abcg2 transporters. These findings suggest that low Abcg2 expression is a biomarker for neurogenic NSPCs in mouse brain. Furthermore, CDg13 can be used to isolate Abcg2^low cells from heterogeneous cell populations.     

Creating a reference database of cargo inspection X-ray images using high energy radiographs of cargo mock-ups

Customs continue to use a wide range of technology in protecting against terrorism and the movement of illicit trade and prohibited imports. The throughput of scanned vehicles and cargo increases and just keeps on growing. Therefore, the need of automated algorithms to help screening officers in inspection, examination or surveillance of vehicles and containers is crucial. In this context, the successful collaboration between manufacturers and customs offices is of key importance. Facing this topic, within the seventh framework program of the European Commission, the project ACXIS “Automated Comparison of X-ray Images for cargo Scanning” arose. The main objective of this project is to develop a manufacturer independent reference database for X-ray images of illicit and licit cargo. Historic images of real detections, images of illegal cargo mock-ups as well as images of legitimate cargo will be integrated into the reference database. For this, procedures and algorithms to uniform X-ray images of different cargo scanners was developed, as well as an automated identification method of potentially illicit cargo. Finally, these developments were incorporated in creating a training simulator and a toolbox for inspection officers enhanced X-ray screening competence.     

Towards autothermal hydrogen production by sorption-enhanced water gas shift and methanol reforming: A thermodynamic analysis

Hydrogen production by the water gas shift reaction (WGS) is equilibrium limited. In the current study, we demonstrate that the overall efficiency of the WGS can be improved by co-feeding methanol and removing CO₂ in situ. The thermodynamics of the water gas shift and methanol reforming/WGS (methanol-to-shift, MtoS) reactions for H₂ production alone and with simultaneous CO₂ adsorption (sorption-enhanced, SEWGS and SEMtoS) were studied using a non-stoichiometric approach based on the minimisation of the Gibbs free energy. A typical composition of the effluent from a steam methane reformer was used for the shift section. The effects of temperature (450–750 K), pressure (5–30 barg), steam and methanol addition, fraction of CO₂ adsorption (0–95%) and energy efficiency of the shift systems have been investigated. Adding methanol to the feed facilitates autothermal operation of the shift unit, with and without CO₂ removal, and enhances significantly the amount of H₂ produced. For a set methanol and CO input, the MtoS and SEMtoS systems show a maximum productivity of H₂ between 523 and 593 K due to the increasing limitation of the exothermic shift reaction while the endothermic methanol steam reforming is no longer limited above 593 K. The heat of adsorption of CO₂ was found to make only a small difference to the H₂ production or the autothermal conditions.     

Electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution using metal-free porphyrins

The direct deposition of metal-free porphyrins onto carbon electrodes to conveniently form hydrogen production cathodes is reported for the first time. It is revealed that the rate of hydrogen generation can be optimised by adding appropriate substituents to the tetraphenyl-porphyrin (TPP) molecule, with electron donating groups enhancing performance. Excellent electrocatalytic behaviour is evident with a Faradaic efficiency of about 90%. Turn over numbers (TON) of up to 100,000 for TPP and 250,000 for Methoxy-TPP are observed after 1 h of electrolysis. These electrodes are stable for at least 6 h and can be re-used several times without reducing the TONs and Faradaic efficiency. The influence of substituents is discussed in terms of a scenario where the discharge of a hydronium ion by a ring nitrogen atom is apparently rate determining. This work reveals that metal-free macrocycles can be tuned to promote electrochemical water splitting, with the potential to offer cost-effective and sustainable alternatives to precious metal based electrocatalysts.     

Kinetics of the Transesterification of Castor Oil with Maleic Anhydride Using Conventional and Microwave Heating

The transesterification of castor oil with maleic anhydride was studied using conventional and microwave heating. Reactions were followed by measuring the acid value and the reaction products were characterized by FTIR and ¹H NMR. A kinetic model that fit the experimental data was derived. The transesterification was non-catalytic and first-order with respect to each reactant. Non-thermal effects of microwaves were not observed. Activation energy, enthalpy of activation, entropy of activation and free energy of activation were similar regardless of the heating method. Rate constants and the pre-exponential factor were lower with the use of microwave heating, which could be a consequence of the decrease in the dielectric constant of the reaction liquid as the reaction progresses.