Ankle and midtarsal joint quasi-stiffness during walking with added mass

Examination of how the ankle and midtarsal joints modulate stiffness in response to increased force demand will aid understanding of overall limb function and inform the development of bio-inspired assistive and robotic devices. The purpose of this study is to identify how ankle and midtarsal joint quasi-stiffness are affected by added body mass during over-ground walking. Healthy participants walked barefoot over-ground at 1.25 m/s wearing a weighted vest with 0%, 15% and 30% additional body mass. The effect of added mass was investigated on ankle and midtarsal joint range of motion (ROM), peak moment and quasi-stiffness. Joint quasi-stiffness was broken into two phases, dorsiflexion (DF) and plantarflexion (PF), representing approximately linear regions of their moment-angle curve. Added mass significantly increased ankle joint quasi-stiffness in DF (p \u3c 0.001) and PF (p \u3c 0.001), as well as midtarsal joint quasi-stiffness in DF (p \u3c 0.006) and PF (p \u3c 0.001). Notably, the midtarsal joint quasi-stiffness during DF was ~2.5 times higher than that of the ankle joint. The increase in midtarsal quasi-stiffness when walking with added mass could not be explained by the windlass mechanism, as the ROM of the metatarsophalangeal joints was not correlated with midtarsal joint quasi-stiffness (r = −0.142, p = 0.540). The likely source for the quasi-stiffness modulation may be from active foot muscles, however, future research is needed to confirm which anatomical structures (passive or active) contribute to the overall joint quasi-stiffness across locomotor tasks

QuantumCharge: Post-Quantum Cryptography for Electric Vehicle Charging

ISO 15118 enables charging and billing of Electric Vehicles (EVs) without user interaction by using locally installed cryptographic credentials that must be secure over the long lifetime of vehicles. In the dawn of quantum computers, Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) needs to be integrated into the EV charging infrastructure. In this paper, we propose QuantumCharge, a PQC extension for ISO 15118, which includes concepts for migration, crypto-agility, verifiable security, and the use of PQC-enabled hardware security modules. Our prototypical implementation and the practical evaluation demonstrate the feasibility, and our formal analysis shows the security of QuantumCharge, which thus paves the way for secure EV charging infrastructures of the future

Assessing Readability of Online Patient Education Materials for Spine Surgery Procedures

Increased patient reliance on Internet-based health information has amplified the need for comprehensible online patient education articles. As suggested by the AMA and NIH, spine fusion articles should be between a 4th and 6th grade readability level to increase patient comprehension, which may contribute to improved postoperative outcomes. Objective: To determine the average readability level of online healthcare education information relating to anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) and lumbar fusion procedures. Design: Online Health-Education Resource Qualitative Analysis. Setting: Rush University Medical Center - Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. Methods: Three popular search engines were utilized to access patient education articles for common cervical and lumbar spine procedures. Relevant articles were analyzed for readability using Readability Studio Professional Edition software (Oleander Software, Ltd). Articles were stratified by organization type as follows: General Medical Websites (GMW), Healthcare Network/Academic Institutions (HNAI), and Private Practices (PP). Thirteen common readability tests were performed with the mean grade level for each readability test compared between subgroups using ANOVA analysis. Results: 79 ACDF and 231 lumbar fusion articles were determined to have a mean readability level of 10.7 ± 1.5 and 11.3 ± 1.6, respectively. GMW, HNAI, and PP subgroups had mean readability levels of 10.9 ± 2.9, 10.7 ± 2.8, and 10.7 ± 2.5 for ACDF and 10.9 ± 3.0, 10.8 ± 2.9, and 11.6 ± 2.7 for lumbar fusion articles. Of 310 total articles, only 6 (3 ACDF and 3 lumbar fusion) were written below the 7th grade reading level. Conclusions: Current online literature from medical websites containing information regarding ACDF and lumbar fusion procedures are written at a grade level higher than the suggested guidelines. Therefore, current patient education articles should be revised to accommodate the average readability level in the United States and may result in improved patient comprehension and postoperative outcomes

Survey of Period Variations of Superhumps in SU UMa-Type Dwarf Novae

We systematically surveyed period variations of superhumps in SU UMa-type dwarf novae based on newly obtained data and past publications. In many systems, the evolution of superhump period are found to be composed of three distinct stages: early evolutionary stage with a longer superhump period, middle stage with systematically varying periods, final stage with a shorter, stable superhump period. During the middle stage, many systems with superhump periods less than 0.08 d show positive period derivatives. Contrary to the earlier claim, we found no clear evidence for variation of period derivatives between superoutburst of the same object. We present an interpretation that the lengthening of the superhump period is a result of outward propagation of the eccentricity wave and is limited by the radius near the tidal truncation. We interpret that late stage superhumps are rejuvenized excitation of 3:1 resonance when the superhumps in the outer disk is effectively quenched. Many of WZ Sge-type dwarf novae showed long-enduring superhumps during the post-superoutburst stage having periods longer than those during the main superoutburst. The period derivatives in WZ Sge-type dwarf novae are found to be strongly correlated with the fractional superhump excess, or consequently, mass ratio. WZ Sge-type dwarf novae with a long-lasting rebrightening or with multiple rebrightenings tend to have smaller period derivatives and are excellent candidate for the systems around or after the period minimum of evolution of cataclysmic variables (abridged).Comment: 239 pages, 225 figures, PASJ accepte

Low Enzymatic Activity Haplotypes of the Human Catechol-O-Methyltransferase Gene: Enrichment for Marker SNPs

Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) is an enzyme that plays a key role in the modulation of catechol-dependent functions such as cognition, cardiovascular function, and pain processing. Three common haplotypes of the human COMT gene, divergent in two synonymous and one nonsynonymous (val158met) position, designated as low (LPS), average (APS), and high pain sensitive (HPS), are associated with experimental pain sensitivity and risk of developing chronic musculoskeletal pain conditions. APS and HPS haplotypes produce significant functional effects, coding for 3- and 20-fold reductions in COMT enzymatic activity, respectively. In the present study, we investigated whether additional minor single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), accruing in 1 to 5% of the population, situated in the COMT transcript region contribute to haplotype-dependent enzymatic activity. Computer analysis of COMT ESTs showed that one synonymous minor SNP (rs769224) is linked to the APS haplotype and three minor SNPs (two synonymous: rs6267, rs740602 and one nonsynonymous: rs8192488) are linked to the HPS haplotype. Results from in silico and in vitro experiments revealed that inclusion of allelic variants of these minor SNPs in APS or HPS haplotypes did not modify COMT function at the level of mRNA folding, RNA transcription, protein translation, or enzymatic activity. These data suggest that neutral variants are carried with APS and HPS haplotypes, while the high activity LPS haplotype displays less linked variation. Thus, both minor synonymous and nonsynonymous SNPs in the coding region are markers of functional APS and HPS haplotypes rather than independent contributors to COMT activity

Privacy-Preserving Architecture for EV Charging and Billing

The development and deployment of Electric Vehicle (EV) technologies is receiving a great deal of attention from the scientific community, industry representatives, and policy-makers alike. As a result, EV technologies have advanced considerably over the past years and the global adoption rate of EVs is steadily increasing. The past developments in the EV sector, however, were mostly driven by environmental and/or financial goals and have largely neglected the important topics of security and privacy. The lacking consideration of these topics is especially obvious in the processes of EV charging and billing. Due to the highly security- and privacy sensitive nature of these processes, this situation results in an unacceptable level of risk to EV users and is arguably not compliant to contemporary data protection law, i.e., the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This thesis assesses popular, open source EV charging protocols and identifies the involved personal data. Furthermore, a detailed security- and privacy threat analysis is conducted based on the STRIDE (for security) and LINDDUN (for privacy) methodologies showing, for instance, the high risk of an adversary being able to build movement profiles of EV users. In order to address the identified threats, this thesis propose a privacy-preserving architecture for the charging and billing of EVs. The proposed architecture aims to protect the security of an EV user’s payment credentials based on trusted computing methods as well as protect the privacy of users based on a concept for unlinkable charge authorizations. The architecture is designed to provide its protections even under consideration of powerful physical-access adversaries and curious operators while being compatible with the existing definitions of roles and processes in EV charging to the fullest extent possible. The architecture is implemented as a proof-of-concept to show its feasibility and evaluated with respect to the identified threats. The evaluation shows the appropriateness of the solution for the use case, its high degree of compatibility to the current EV charging protocols, and the high level of security- and privacy protections it can provide. The proposed architecture is argued to be an ideal candidate for protecting the charging and billing of EVs especially under consideration of the GDPR’s strict provisions

Lokalisation und Quantifizierung von 4-Hydroxynonenal in der Kochlea des Meerschweinchens nach Applikation von Gentamicin

Einleitung und Literaturdiskussion: Gentamicin ist ein aus Bakterien gewonnenes Aminoglykosid-Antibiotikum, das seit vielen Jahren im klinischen Alltag zur Therapie von bakteriellen Infektionen und zur Behandlung des Morbus Ménière eingesetzt wird. Ein bedeutender, jedoch noch nicht vollständig verstandener, Pathomechanismus ist dabei die Entstehung von 4-HNE durch Lipid Peroxidation und die konsekutive Schädigung durch das gebildete Aldehyd. Ziel dieser Arbeit war es, die Beeinflussung der Expression von 4-HNE in sieben verschiedenen Regionen der Kochlea (SV, SL, CO, NF, LF, IDZ und SGZ) durch Gentamicin zu beschreiben und quantitativ zu ermitteln.rnMaterial und Methoden: Die Meerschweinchen wurden in vier Gruppen unterteilt: eine unbehandelte Kontrollgruppe und je eine Gruppe 1, 2 und 7 Tage nach Gentamicin-Applikation. Nach Ablauf der Inkubationszeit wurden die Kochleae den Tieren entnommen, das Gewebe fixiert, geschnitten und auf Objektträgern aufgebracht. Die Schnitte wurden mit 4-HNE-Antikörpern behandelt und die Immunreaktion mikroskopisch lokalisiert und zelluläre quantitative Unterschiede am Computer berechnet.rnErgebnisse: Die Auswertung der Daten ergab signifikante Anstiege der Immunreaktion auf 4-HNE von der Kontrollgruppe zu allen drei Behandlungsgruppen in vier der sieben untersuchten Regionen (Stria vascularis, Spirales Ligament, Cortisches Organ und Nervenfasern). In zwei Bereichen (Fibrozyten im Limbus und Interdentalzellen) kam es zwischen Kontrollgruppe und nur einer Behandlungsgruppe D (7d) zu einer signifikanten Erhöhung. Lediglich die Spiralganglionzellen erbrachten keine signifikanten Differenzen. Der Vergleich der Einzelwindungen erbrachte für die Stria vascularis, das Spirale Ligament, das Cortische Organ und die Nervenfasern signifikante Anstiege innerhalb der drei Windungen von der Kontrollgruppe zu den drei Behandlungsgruppen. Bei der Stria vascularis zeigte sich als einzige Region eine signifikant erhöhte Immunfärbung in allen drei Einzelwindungen von der Kontrollgruppe zu allen Behandlungsgruppen. Beim Vergleich der Gesamtwindungen ließ sich ausschließlich für die Region der Stria vascularis von der ersten zur dritten Windung ein Anstieg der Braunfärbung feststellen. Zudem konnten Korrelationen der Färbeintensitäten einerseits zwischen den beiden Regionen der Lateralen Wand und andererseits zwischen zwei Zelltypen im Limbus aufgezeigt werden.rnDiskussion: Die durch Gentamicin-gesteigerte 4-HNE-Expression kann durch genomische und nicht-genomische Prozesse hervorgerufen werden.Objective: Gentamicin is an aminoglycoside antibiotic synthesized by Gram-positive bacteria. It is used since many years in human therapy for the treatment of serious bacterial infections and to eliminate the vertigo spells in Morbus Ménière. A significant pathomechanism is the formation of 4-Hydroxynonenal (4-HNE) through lipid peroxidation and its consecutive cellular damage. It was the goal of this study to determine the influence of gentamicin on 4-HNE formation in seven different regions of the guinea pig cochlea and to quantify the amount of its cellular formation.rnMaterial and methods: Guinea pigs were divided into four groups: one untreated control group (group A) and three groups treated for 1, 2 or 7 days (group B, C, D) with gentamicin. After the end of incubation, the cochleae were removed and the tissues were fixed. Semi-thin sections were stained by 4-HNE-antibodies. The cellular immunoreaction was microscopically located and the quantitative differences in staining intensity were determined by a computer system.rnResults: The analysis of the cellular staining intensities revealed significant increases of the 4-HNE immunoreaction in the three gentamicin-treated groups compared with controls in four of the seven examined regions (stria vascularis, spirale ligament, organ of Corti and nerve fibers). In two regions (fibrocytes of the limbus and interdental cells) significant increases were detected only between the control group and the group treated for 7d by gentamicin (group D). The spiral ganglion neurons showed no significant difference comparing the different groups. Analyzing the different cochlear turns in detail, significant increases in staining intensity from the first to the third turn were identified in the stria vascularis, the spirale ligament, the organ of Corti and the nerve fibers. The only region with a significant increase of the immunoreaction in all three cochlear turns was the stria vascularis compared with controls. In addition, an association in staining intensity could be demonstrated between the two regions of the lateral wall and between the two cell types of the limbus.rnDiscussion: Based on the present findings, it must be assumed that the increased 4-HNE-Expression caused by gentamicin can be induced by genomic and non-genomic processes

System Security Mechanisms for Electric Vehicles and Charge Points Supporting ISO 15118 - Proposal for a Technical Guideline: Version 1.0, November 2019

This technical guideline provides recommendations for the secure operation of an emobility charging infrastructure. The focus is on system security of the Electric Vehicle (EV) and Charge Point (CP) / Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE), with their respective communication control units, the Electric Vehicle Communication Controller (EVCC) and the Supply Equipment Communication Controller (SECC), as well as the secure usage of their communication protocols. Both systems are required to be equipped with a Hardware Security Module (HSM), providing a hardware trust anchor for secure storage and usage of their corresponding private credentials. The trust anchor is also used to provide more advanced security features like software integrity validation or secure firmware updates. Additional recommendations are given, aiming to increase the security of the communication between EVCC and SECC using ISO 15118 [10] as well as the backend communication of the SECC

The Northern White-Cedar Recruitment Bottleneck: Understanding the Effects of Substrate, Competition, and Deer Browsing

Research Highlights: Regenerating northern white-cedar (Thuja occidentalis L.) is challenging throughout much of its range. This study attempts to relate differences in natural regeneration to stand- and seedbed-level factors. Background and Objectives: Lack of regeneration of northern white-cedar is often attributed to overbrowsing by white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus Zimmerman) because white-cedar is a preferred winter browse species. However, there are many other factors that may contribute to regeneration failure for white-cedar including its specific seedbed requirements and competition from other, often faster-growing trees and shrubs. Materials and Methods: We surveyed five mature white-cedar stands in Wisconsin, USA that have had little to no management in the past 50+ years to find stem densities of natural white-cedar regeneration in three height classes. We also collected data at each stand on potential predictor variables including overstory attributes, competitive environment, seedbed, and browsing by deer. We used model selection to create separate models to predict stem density of each white-cedar regeneration height class. Results: None of the measures of deer browsing used in this study were found to be associated with white-cedar regeneration. Soil pH, competition from other seedlings and saplings, and stem density of white-cedar in the overstory were found to be potentially associated with white-cedar regeneration. Conclusions: While browsing by deer is likely a factor affecting white-cedar regeneration in many areas, this study highlights the challenge of quantifying deer browse effects, as well as showing that other factors likely contribute to the difficulty of regenerating white-cedar