Audita: A Blockchain-based Auditing Framework for Off-chain Storage

The cloud changed the way we manage and store data. Today, cloud storage services offer clients an infrastructure that allows them a convenient source to store, replicate, and secure data online. However, with these new capabilities also come limitations, such as lack of transparency, limited decentralization, and challenges with privacy and security. And, as the need for more agile, private and secure data solutions continues to grow exponentially, rethinking the current structure of cloud storage is mission-critical for enterprises. By leveraging and building upon blockchain's unique attributes, including immutability, security to the data element level, distributed (no single point of failure), we have developed a solution prototype that allows data to be reliably stored while simultaneously being secured, with tamper-evident auditability, via blockchain. The result, Audita, is a flexible solution that assures data protection and solves challenges such as scalability and privacy. Audita works via an augmented blockchain network of participants that include storage-nodes and block-creators. In addition, it provides an automatic and fair challenge system to assure that data is distributed and reliably and provably stored. While the prototype is built on Quorum, the solution framework can be used with any blockchain platform. The benefit is a system that is built to grow along with the data needs of enterprises, while continuing to build the network via incentives and solving for issues such as auditing and outsourcing

Quantification of Some Heavy Metals in Hair of Dairy Cows Housed in Different Areas from Sicily as a Bioindicator of Environmental Exposure—A Preliminary Study

Simple Summary: Heavy metals are considered one of the most critical pollutants that contaminate the environment through anthropogenic or natural activities. Animals are very good indicators of environmental pollution as they inhabit the same space as humans and are exposed to the same pollutants. The levels of selected heavy metals in hair samples of Holstein dairy cows are evaluated in this study. The gathered results would emphasize the usefulness of hair samples as possible bioindicators of heavy metal exposure that, in the long term, could be harmful to the final consumer. Moreover, this study gives an overview about the scenario of anthropogenic activity effects on heavy metal accumulation in dairy cows from Ragusa, a peculiar Sicilian province particularly dedicated to cow breeding for milk production. Abstract: The objective of this preliminary study was to evaluate the levels of selected heavy metals in hair samples of Holstein dairy cows reared on agricultural soils characterized by grassland subjected to anthropogenic impacts. Ninety Holstein-Friesian cows were enrolled in the study and divided into six groups according to farm origin. From each animal, hair samples were collected in order to determine the content of aluminum, chromium, iron, copper, zinc, arsenic, cadmium, and lead. One-way analysis of variance was applied to assess statistically significant differences in the studied heavy metals among the six groups. A significant effect of groups (p < 0.05) on all tested heavy metals was observed. In this study, the low concentration of heavy metals in the hair of the studied animals led us to think that the cows were subjected to low levels of these compounds, preventing them from bioaccumulating. Although the current study provides only preliminary results, it highlights the importance of investigating the concentration of heavy metals in cow hair to improve the health and welfare of both humans and animals

Gingival crevicular fluid alkaline phosphate activity during the retention phase of maxillary expansion in prepubertal subjects: A split-mouth longitudinal study

NTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to monitor the alveolar bone formation at the tension sites of teeth supporting the appliances for rapid maxillary expansion (RME) during the retention phase according to the local gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity. METHODS: This split-mouth prospective study included 23 prepubertal subjects (15 girls, 8 boys; mean age, 9.0 \ub1 1.4 years) who had a constricted maxillary arch and were undergoing RME. Periodontal parameters, including probing depth, were recorded at 3 and 6 months after RME. Furthermore, the GCF ALP activity was measured at the tension sites of the supporting test teeth (TT) and at the antagonist control teeth (CT) sites. RESULTS: Periodontal parameters were generally similar between the TT and CT sites during the study, with the exception that probing depth underwent a slight increase at the TT sites. At baseline, the GCF ALP activity was similar between the TT and CT sites; however, at both 3 and 6 months, significantly greater enzymatic activity was seen at the TT sites. The overall probing depth changes were not significantly correlated with the corresponding GCF ALP activity changes for either the TT or the CT sites. CONCLUSIONS: Alveolar bone formation at the tension sites would last up to 6 months of retention after RME. These results warrant more comprehensive studies to assess whether the GCF ALP activity has potential as a diagnostic tool for bone formation during the retention phase of RME

Management Factors Influence AnimalWelfare and the Correlation to Infectious Diseases in Dairy Cows

Simple Summary: To investigate the relationship between some infectious diseases (Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis, Chlamydiophila abortus, Neospora caninum, bovine viral diarrhea virus, and the bovine herpesvirus) and the dairy farms’ welfare scores, 36 dairy farms were monitored using the Italian National AnimalWelfare Reference Center (CreNBA) checklist. Farms and their animals were scored in five different areas, namely: Area A, “Farm management and personnel”; Area B, “Facilities and equipment”; Area C, “Animal-based measures”; Area D, “Inspection of microclimatic environmental conditions and alarm systems”; and Area E, “Biosecurity”. The recorded scores were compared between two farming conditions (access to pasture and indoor housing) and correlated with the serum data. Our results indicated that an accurate application of the checklist could be an instrument to prevent and control the spread of infections in dairy farms. Abstract: The present study assessed dairy cow welfare through the application of the Italian National Animal Welfare Reference Center (CReNBA) checklist in 36 dairy farms located in Ragusa (Italy) subjected to two different management conditions, housing with free access to pasture (Group 1, farms n = 17) and indoor housing (Group 2, farms n = 19). Five areas of investigation were considered: Area A, “Farm management and personnel”; Area B, “Facilities and equipment”; Area C, “Animal-based measures”; Area D, “Inspection of microclimatic environmental conditions and alarm systems”; and Area E, “Biosecurity”. Blood samples were collected by coccygeal venipuncture from all animals (4081 cows). The specific antibodies against Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis, Chlamydiophila abortus, Neospora caninum, bovine viral diarrhea virus, and the bovine herpesvirus were assessed by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) serological test. Group 1 (access to pasture) showed a lower value of percentage score recorded in Area A (p = 0.02) and E (p = 0.01) than Group 2 (indoor housing). Herpesvirus (Infectious bovine rhinotracheitis - IBR - detection of gB antibodies/IBR-gB) blood concentrations were higher in the cows housed indoor versus those with access to pasture (p = 0.01). Farm management and personnel (score A) was correlated with the level of bovine viral diarrhea virus ( = 0.3754) and bovine-herpesvirus-specific antibodies (IBR-gB) ( = 0.4159). “Biosecurity” percentage score showed a significant correlation with Chlamydiophila abortus ( = 0.4621) in the cows with access to pasture and IBR-gB ( = 0.3435) in the cows housed fully indoors. Group 2 showed a significantly reduced level of antibodies against Neospora caninum. In conclusion, differences in the welfare assessment score were observed in the “Farm management and personnel” and “Biosecurity” between the two management conditions. It had an effect on the prevalence of herpesvirus, which occurred more in cattle with access to pasture. Therefore, an accurate application of the checklist could be an instrument to prevent and control the spread of infections in farms

Using gamification to incentivize sustainable urban mobility.

Sustainable urban mobility is an important dimension in a Smart City, and one of the key issues for city sustainability. However, innovative and often costly mobility policies and solutions introduced by cities are liable to fail, if not combined with initiatives aimed at increasing the awareness of citizens, and promoting their behavioural change. This paper explores the potential of gamification mechanisms to incentivize voluntary behavioural changes towards sustainable mobility solutions. We present a service-based gamification framework, developed within the STREETLIFE EU Project, which can be used to develop games on top of existing services and systems within a Smart City, and discuss the empirical findings of an experiment conducted in the city of Rovereto on the effectiveness of gamification to promote sustainable urban mobility

Determinants of maxillary canine impaction : retrospective clinical and radiographic study

The aim of this study is to evaluate determinants of maxillary canine impaction taking into account both canine position related variables and the pattern of facial growth. A retrospective clinical and radiographic analysis was carried out on 109 patients aged between 9 and 10 years at the time of first evaluation. At baseline, SN-GoMe angle, the interincisal angle, the canine angle ? and the canine distance d were used to characterize canine location and vertical facial growth. At the end of a two years follow up period the eruption state of each canine of each patient was recorded and accordingly classified as erupted or impacted on a clinical and radiographic basis. Univariate and multivariate statistical analyses were performed, including correlation among the studied variables and principal components analysis; several machine learning methods were also used in order to built a predictive model. At the end of the two years follow up period after the first examination, 54 (24.77%) canines were classified as impacted. Except for Angle ? values, there were no statistically significant differences between impacted and erupted canines. The studied variables were not significantly correlated, except for the SN-GoMe Angle and the distance d in the impacted canine group and the angle ? and the distance d in erupted canines group. All variables, except for SN-GoMe Angle in erupted canines, have a partial communality with the first two principal components greater than 50%. Among the learning machine methods tested to classify data, the best performance was obtained by the random forest method, with an overall accuracy in predicting canine eruption of 88.3%. The studied determinants are easy to perform measurements on 2D routinely executed radiographic images; they seems independently related to canine impaction and have reliable accuracy in predicting maxillary canine eruption

A Unique Case of Bilateral Thalamic High-Grade Glioma in a Pediatric Patient with LI-Fraumeni Syndrome: Case Presentation and Review of the Literature

Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS) is a rare high-penetrance and autosomal-dominant pathological condition caused by the germline mutation of the TP53 gene, predisposing to the development of tumors from pediatric age. We conducted a qualitative systematic review following the ENTREQ (Enhancing Transparency in Reporting the Synthesis of Qualitative Research) framework. A search was made in MEDLINE/Pubmed and MeSH Database using the terms “Li-Fraumeni” AND “pediatric high-grade glioma (HGG)”, identifying six cases of HGGs in pediatric patients with LFS. We added a further case with peculiar features such as no familiar history of LFS, association of embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma and bithalamic HGG, whose immunohistochemical profile was accurately defined by Next Generation Sequencing. Knowledge synthesis and case analysis grounded the discussion about challenges in the management of this pathology in pediatric age

Study of the spectral response of CZT multiple-electrode detectors

Cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) is a promising material for room temperature X-ray and gamma-ray detectors. The high atomic number and the wide band-gap give high quantum efficiency and good room temperature performances. Due to hole trapping, particular electrode structures have been developed to provide single-charge carrier collection (electrons), exploiting the excellent charge transport properties of the electrons. In this work, the spectroscopic performances of two CZT detectors (CZT1: 5 mm times 5 mm times 0.90 mm; CZT2: 4.8 mm times 5 mm times 0.55 mm) with five electrodes (cathode, anode and three steering electrodes) were studied. The anode-collecting electrode, surrounded by three steering electrodes (biased for optimum charge collection), is mostly sensitive to electron carriers, overcoming the effects of hole trapping in the measured spectra (hole tailing). We investigated on the spectroscopic response (241Am source; 59.5 keV) of the detectors at different bias voltages of the electrodes. The detectors exhibit excellent energy resolution (CZT1: 2.0% FWHM at 59.5 keV; CZT2: 1.7% FWHM at 59.5 keV; working temperature -10degC) and low tailing (CZT1: FW.1M to FWHM ratio of 1.93 at 59.5 keV; CZT2: 2.35 at 59.5 keV). This study stresses on the excellent spectroscopic properties of the CZT detectors equipped with a custom anode layout, making them very attractive candidates as x-ray spectrometers mainly for medical applications