| 1. |
- Cruz, Raquel, et al.
(författare)
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Novel genes and sex differences in COVID-19 severity
- 2022
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Ingår i: Human Molecular Genetics. - : Oxford University Press. - 0964-6906 .- 1460-2083. ; 31:22, s. 3789-3806
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Here, we describe the results of a genome-wide study conducted in 11 939 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) positive cases with an extensive clinical information that were recruited from 34 hospitals across Spain (SCOURGE consortium). In sex-disaggregated genome-wide association studies for COVID-19 hospitalization, genome-wide significance (P < 5 × 10−8) was crossed for variants in 3p21.31 and 21q22.11 loci only among males (P = 1.3 × 10−22 and P = 8.1 × 10−12, respectively), and for variants in 9q21.32 near TLE1 only among females (P = 4.4 × 10−8). In a second phase, results were combined with an independent Spanish cohort (1598 COVID-19 cases and 1068 population controls), revealing in the overall analysis two novel risk loci in 9p13.3 and 19q13.12, with fine-mapping prioritized variants functionally associated with AQP3 (P = 2.7 × 10−8) and ARHGAP33 (P = 1.3 × 10−8), respectively. The meta-analysis of both phases with four European studies stratified by sex from the Host Genetics Initiative (HGI) confirmed the association of the 3p21.31 and 21q22.11 loci predominantly in males and replicated a recently reported variant in 11p13 (ELF5, P = 4.1 × 10−8). Six of the COVID-19 HGI discovered loci were replicated and an HGI-based genetic risk score predicted the severity strata in SCOURGE. We also found more SNP-heritability and larger heritability differences by age (<60 or ≥60 years) among males than among females. Parallel genome-wide screening of inbreeding depression in SCOURGE also showed an effect of homozygosity in COVID-19 hospitalization and severity and this effect was stronger among older males. In summary, new candidate genes for COVID-19 severity and evidence supporting genetic disparities among sexes are provided.
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| 2. |
- Afram, Gabriel, et al.
(författare)
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Reduced intensity conditioning increases risk of severe cGVHD : identification of risk factors for cGVHD in a multicenter setting
- 2018
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Ingår i: Medical Oncology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1357-0560 .- 1559-131X. ; 35:6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Aim is to identify risk factors for the development of cGVHD in a multicenter setting. Patients transplanted between 2000 and 2006 were analyzed (n = 820). Donors were HLA-identical siblings (57%), matched unrelated donors (30%), and HLA-A, B or DR antigen mismatched (13%). Reduced intensity conditioning (RIC) was given to 65% of patients. Overall incidence of cGVHD was 46% for patients surviving more than 100 days after HSCT (n = 747). Older patient age [HR 1.15, p < 0.001], prior acute GVHD [1.30, p = 0.024], and RIC [1.36, p = 0.028] increased overall cGVHD. In addition, RIC [4.85, p < 0.001], prior aGVHD [2.14, p = 0.001] and female donor to male recipient [1.80, p = 0.008] increased the risk of severe cGVHD. ATG had a protective effect for both overall [0.41, p < 0.001] and severe cGVHD [0.20, p < 0.001]. Relapse-free survival (RFS) was impaired in patients with severe cGVHD. RIC, prior aGVHD, and female-to-male donation increase the risk of severe cGVHD. ATG reduces the risk of all grades of cGVHD without hampering RFS. GVHD prophylaxis may be tailored according to the risk profile of patients.
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| 3. |
- López-Merino, Lourdes, et al.
(författare)
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Reconstructing the impact of human activities in a NW Iberian Roman mining landscape for the last 2500 years
- 2014
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Ingår i: Journal of Archaeological Science. - : Elsevier. - 0305-4403 .- 1095-9238. ; 50, s. 208-218
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Little is known about the impact of human activities during Roman times on NW Iberian mining landscapes beyond the geomorphological transformations brought about by the use of hydraulic power for gold extraction. We present the high-resolution pollen record of La Molina mire, located in an area intensely used for gold mining (Asturias, NW Spain), combined with other proxy data from the same peat core to identify different human activities, evaluate the strategies followed for the management of the resources and describe the landscape response to human disturbances. We reconstructed the timing and synchronicity of landscape changes of varying intensity and form occurred before, during and after Roman times. An open landscape was prevalent during the local Late Iron Age, a period of relatively environmental stability. During the Early Roman Empire more significant vegetation shifts took place, reflected by changes in both forest (Corylus and Quercus) and heathland cover, as mining/metallurgy peaked and grazing and cultivation increased. In the Late Roman Empire, the influence of mining/metallurgy on landscape change started to disappear. This decoupling was further consolidated in the Germanic period (i.e., Visigothic and Sueve domination of the region), with a sharp decrease in mining/metallurgy but continued grazing. Although human impact was intense in some periods, mostly during the Early Roman Empire, forest regeneration occurred afterwards: clearances were local and short-lived. However, the Roman mining landscape turned into an agrarian one at the onset of the Middle Ages, characterized by a profound deforestation at a regional level due to a myriad of human activities that resulted in an irreversible openness of the landscape.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Mighall, Tim M., et al.
(författare)
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Climate Change, Fire and Human Activity Drive Vegetation Change during the Last Eight Millennia in the Xistral Mountains of NW Iberia
- 2023
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Ingår i: Quaternary. - : MDPI AG. - 2571-550X. ; 6:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- An 8500-year record of high-resolution pollen, non-pollen palynomorph, microscopic charcoal and selected geochemical data (Ti, Zr and Pb) is presented from an ombrotrophic mire from the Xistral Mountains, Galicia, North-West Iberia. The results suggest that vegetation changes over the last eight millennia are primarily the result of human disturbance, fire and climate change. Climate and fire were the main factors influencing vegetation development during the early to mid-Holocene, including a short-lived decline in forest cover c. 8.2 cal. ka BP. Changes associated with the 4.2 and 2.8 cal. Ka BP events are less well defined. Human impact on vegetation became more pronounced by the late Holocene with major periods of forest disturbance from c. 3.1 cal. ka BP onwards: during the end of Metal Ages, Roman period and culminating in the permanent decline of deciduous forests in the post-Roman period, as agriculture and metallurgy intensified, leading to the creation of a cultural landscape. Climate change appears to become less influential as human activity dominates during the Late Holocene.
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| 6. |
- Naghavi, Mohsen, et al.
(författare)
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Global, regional, and national age-sex specific all-cause and cause-specific mortality for 240 causes of death, 1990-2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013
- 2015
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Ingår i: The Lancet. - 1474-547X .- 0140-6736. ; 385:9963, s. 117-171
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background Up-to-date evidence on levels and trends for age-sex-specifi c all-cause and cause-specifi c mortality is essential for the formation of global, regional, and national health policies. In the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013 (GBD 2013) we estimated yearly deaths for 188 countries between 1990, and 2013. We used the results to assess whether there is epidemiological convergence across countries. Methods We estimated age-sex-specifi c all-cause mortality using the GBD 2010 methods with some refinements to improve accuracy applied to an updated database of vital registration, survey, and census data. We generally estimated cause of death as in the GBD 2010. Key improvements included the addition of more recent vital registration data for 72 countries, an updated verbal autopsy literature review, two new and detailed data systems for China, and more detail for Mexico, UK, Turkey, and Russia. We improved statistical models for garbage code redistribution. We used six different modelling strategies across the 240 causes; cause of death ensemble modelling (CODEm) was the dominant strategy for causes with sufficient information. Trends for Alzheimer's disease and other dementias were informed by meta-regression of prevalence studies. For pathogen-specifi c causes of diarrhoea and lower respiratory infections we used a counterfactual approach. We computed two measures of convergence (inequality) across countries: the average relative difference across all pairs of countries (Gini coefficient) and the average absolute difference across countries. To summarise broad findings, we used multiple decrement life-tables to decompose probabilities of death from birth to exact age 15 years, from exact age 15 years to exact age 50 years, and from exact age 50 years to exact age 75 years, and life expectancy at birth into major causes. For all quantities reported, we computed 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs). We constrained cause-specific fractions within each age-sex-country-year group to sum to all-cause mortality based on draws from the uncertainty distributions. Findings Global life expectancy for both sexes increased from 65.3 years (UI 65.0-65.6) in 1990, to 71.5 years (UI 71.0-71.9) in 2013, while the number of deaths increased from 47.5 million (UI 46.8-48.2) to 54.9 million (UI 53.6-56.3) over the same interval. Global progress masked variation by age and sex: for children, average absolute diff erences between countries decreased but relative diff erences increased. For women aged 25-39 years and older than 75 years and for men aged 20-49 years and 65 years and older, both absolute and relative diff erences increased. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the prominent role of reductions in age-standardised death rates for cardiovascular diseases and cancers in high-income regions, and reductions in child deaths from diarrhoea, lower respiratory infections, and neonatal causes in low-income regions. HIV/AIDS reduced life expectancy in southern sub-Saharan Africa. For most communicable causes of death both numbers of deaths and age-standardised death rates fell whereas for most non-communicable causes, demographic shifts have increased numbers of deaths but decreased age-standardised death rates. Global deaths from injury increased by 10.7%, from 4.3 million deaths in 1990 to 4.8 million in 2013; but age-standardised rates declined over the same period by 21%. For some causes of more than 100 000 deaths per year in 2013, age-standardised death rates increased between 1990 and 2013, including HIV/AIDS, pancreatic cancer, atrial fibrillation and flutter, drug use disorders, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and sickle-cell anaemias. Diarrhoeal diseases, lower respiratory infections, neonatal causes, and malaria are still in the top five causes of death in children younger than 5 years. The most important pathogens are rotavirus for diarrhoea and pneumococcus for lower respiratory infections. Country-specific probabilities of death over three phases of life were substantially varied between and within regions. Interpretation For most countries, the general pattern of reductions in age-sex specifi c mortality has been associated with a progressive shift towards a larger share of the remaining deaths caused by non-communicable disease and injuries. Assessing epidemiological convergence across countries depends on whether an absolute or relative measure of inequality is used. Nevertheless, age-standardised death rates for seven substantial causes are increasing, suggesting the potential for reversals in some countries. Important gaps exist in the empirical data for cause of death estimates for some countries; for example, no national data for India are available for the past decade.
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| 7. |
- Ares-Blanco, Sara, et al.
(författare)
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Primary care indicators for disease burden, monitoring and surveillance of COVID-19 in 31 European countries: Eurodata Study
- 2024
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Ingår i: EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH. - 1101-1262 .- 1464-360X.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background During the COVID-19 pandemic, the majority of patients received ambulatory treatment, highlighting the importance of primary health care (PHC). However, there is limited knowledge regarding PHC workload in Europe during this period. The utilization of COVID-19 PHC indicators could facilitate the efficient monitoring and coordination of the pandemic response. The objective of this study is to describe PHC indicators for disease surveillance and monitoring of COVID-19's impact in Europe.Methods Descriptive, cross-sectional study employing data obtained through a semi-structured ad hoc questionnaire, which was collectively agreed upon by all participants. The study encompasses PHC settings in 31 European countries from March 2020 to August 2021. Key-informants from each country answered the questionnaire. Main outcome: the identification of any indicator used to describe PHC COVID-19 activity.Results Out of the 31 countries surveyed, data on PHC information were obtained from 14. The principal indicators were: total number of cases within PHC (Belarus, Cyprus, Italy, Romania and Spain), number of follow-up cases (Croatia, Cyprus, Finland, Spain and Turkey), GP's COVID-19 tests referrals (Poland), proportion of COVID-19 cases among respiratory illnesses consultations (Norway and France), sick leaves issued by GPs (Romania and Spain) and examination and complementary tests (Cyprus). All COVID-19 cases were attended in PHC in Belarus and Italy.Conclusions The COVID-19 pandemic exposes a crucial deficiency in preparedness for infectious diseases in European health systems highlighting the inconsistent recording of indicators within PHC organizations. PHC standardized indicators and public data accessibility are urgently needed, conforming the foundation for an effective European-level health services response framework against future pandemics.
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| 8. |
- Castillejo, Pedro, et al.
(författare)
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An Internet of Things approach for managing smart services provided by wearable devices
- 2013
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Ingår i: International Journal of Distributed Sensor Networks. - : Hindawi Publishing Corporation. - 1550-1329 .- 1550-1477. ; 2013, s. Article number 190813-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Internet of Things (IoT) is growing at a fast pace with new devices getting connected all the time. A new emerging group of these devices is the wearable devices, and the wireless sensor networks are a good way to integrate them in the IoT concept and bring new experiences to the daily life activities. In this paper, we present an everyday life application involving a WSN as the base of a novel context-awareness sports scenario, where physiological parameters are measured and sent to the WSN by wearable devices. Applications with several hardware components introduce the problem of heterogeneity in the network. In order to integrate different hardware platforms and to introduce a service-oriented semantic middleware solution into a single application, we propose the use of an enterprise service bus (ESB) as a bridge for guaranteeing interoperability and integration of the different environments, thus introducing a semantic added value needed in the world of IoT-based systems. This approach places all the data acquired (e.g., via internet data access) at application developers disposal, opening the system to new user applications. The user can then access the data through a wide variety of devices (smartphones, tablets, and computers) and operating systems (Android, iOS, Windows, Linux, etc.).
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| 9. |
- Corredor, Iván, et al.
(författare)
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Knowledge-aware and service-oriented middleware for deploying pervasive services
- 2012
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Ingår i: Journal of Network and Computer Applications. - : Elsevier BV. - 1084-8045 .- 1095-8592. ; 35:2, s. 562-576
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Many applications and services have emerged in the frame of new Internet of Things paradigm. This novel view has opened the Web services to a variety of devices especially to tiny and resource-constrained devices. Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks belong to that kind of devices. Those networks have become one of the more promising technologies to take part in the Future Internet. However, the integration of Sensor and Actuator Networks into the Service Cloud is a hard challenge requiring specific new architectures and protocols. This paper presents a middleware approach addressing this important issue. A Knowledge-Aware and Service-Oriented Middleware (KASOM) for pervasive embedded networks is proposed. The major aim of KASOM is to offer advanced and enriched pervasive services to everyone connected to Internet. In this sense, KASOM implements mechanisms and protocols which allow managing the knowledge generated in pervasive embedded networks in order to expose it to Internet users in a readable way. General functional requirements of embedded sensor and actuator platforms have been taken into account when designing KASOM, with special attention in energy consumption, memory and bandwidth. The KASOM evaluation and validation will be demonstrated through a real Wireless Sensor and Actuator Network deployment based on integral healthcare services in a sanatorium.
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| 10. |
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| 11. |
- Da Silva Fariña, Antonio, et al.
(författare)
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Design and implementation of a Java Fault Injector for Exhaustif SWIFI tool
- 2009
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Ingår i: Proceedings of 2009 4th International Conference on Dependability of Computer Systems, DepCos-RELCOMEX 2009. - 9780769536743 ; , s. 77-83
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Java is a successful programming environment and its use has grown from little embedded applications until enterprise network servers based on J2EE. This intensive use of Java demands the validation of their fault tolerance mechanisms to avoid unexpected behavior of the applications at runtime. This paper describes the design and implementation of a fault injector for the "Exhaustif®" SWIFI tool. Aspecific fault model for java applications that include class corruption/substitution at loading time, method call interception and unexpected exception thrown is proposed. The injector uses the JVMTI (JavaVirtual Machine Tool Interface) to perform bytecode instrumentation at runtime to carry out the fault model previously defined. Finally a XML formalization of the specific Java fault model is proposed. This approach, JVMTI + XML fault model description, provides complete independency between the system under test and the fault injection tool, as well the interoperability with another SWIFI tools.
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| 12. |
- Da Silva Fariña, Antonio, et al.
(författare)
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Exhaustif : a fault injection tool for distributed heterogeneous embedded systems
- 2007
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Ingår i: Euro American Conference on Telematics and Information Systems - Proceedings of the 2007 Euro American Conference on Telematics and Information Systems, EATIS 2007. - New York, NY, USA : ACM Press. - 9781595935984 ; , s. Article number a17-
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper presents Exhaustif®, a SWIFI fault injection tool for fault tolerance verification and the validation of embedded software in distributedheterogeneous systems. Exhaustif® mainly consists of two parts: EEM and FIK. Exhaustif® Executive Manager (EEM) is a GUI Java application to define the fault injection campaign that uses a SQL database to save the test results obtained from the System under Test (SUT) in order to carry out a post injection data analysis. FIK is under the command of EEM to cary out fault injections in applications running under diverse operating systems using pure SWIFI techniques. Exhaustif® carries out floating point register and memory corruptions using temporary triggers and uses an optimized routine interception mechanism to cany out argument and return value corruption with a minimal time overhead. Two experimentalFault Injector Kernels (FIK) under the RTEMS operating system for an EADS-Astrium SPARC ERC32-based MCM processor board and i386 standard PC mainboard have been developed.
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| 13. |
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| 14. |
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| 15. |
- Da Silva Fariña, Antonio, et al.
(författare)
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XML Schema Based Fault-Set Definition to Improve Fault Injection Tools Interoperability
- 2010
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Ingår i: International Journal of Critical Computer-Based Systems. - : InderScience Publishers. - 1757-8779 .- 1757-8787. ; 1:1-3, s. 220-237
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Software implemented fault injection tools (SWIFI) use fault injectors to carry out the fault injection campaign defined in a GUI-based application. However, the communication between the fault injector and the application is defined in an ad-hoc manner. This paper describes an XML schema formalisation approach for the definition of fault sets which specify low level memory and/or register value corruptions in embedded microprocessor-based systems and resource usage faults in host based systems. Through this proposed XML schema definition, different injectors could be used to carry out the same fault set injection. To validate this approach an experimental tool called Exhaustif®, consisting of a GUI Java application for defining the fault sets and injection policies, one injector for Windows hosts systems and two injectors for Sparc and i386 architectures under RTEMS have been developed.
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| 16. |
- Familiar, Miguel S, et al.
(författare)
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Pervasive smart spaces and environments : a service-oriented middleware architecture for wireless Ad Hoc and sensor networks
- 2012
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Ingår i: International Journal of Distributed Sensor Networks. - : SAGE Publications. - 1550-1329 .- 1550-1477. ; , s. Article number 725190-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the twenty-first century, the impact of wireless and ubiquitous technologies is changing the way people perceive and interact with the physical world. These communication paradigms promise to change and redefine, in a reasonably short period of time, the most common way of our everyday living. The continuous advances in the field of Wireless Sensor Networks and their direct application in Smart Spaces are clear examples of it. However, in order for this kind of new generation infrastructures to have a large-scale dissemination, there are still some open issues to tackle. In this way, this paper presents nSOM, a service-oriented framework based on sensor network design that provides internetworking services with the Internet cloud. This lightweight middleware architecture implements an agent-based virtual sensor service approach which is a compact semantic knowledge management scheme based on a dynamic composition model. Copyright © 2012 Miguel S. Familiar et al.
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| 17. |
- Guisado-Clavero, Marina, et al.
(författare)
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The role of primary health care in long-term care facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic in 30 European countries : A retrospective descriptive study (Eurodata study)
- 2023
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Ingår i: Primary Health Care Research and Development. - 1463-4236. ; 24
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background and aim: Primary health care (PHC) supported long-term care facilities (LTCFs) in attending COVID-19 patients. The aim of this study is to describe the role of PHC in LTCFs in Europe during the early phase of the pandemic. Methods: Retrospective descriptive study from 30 European countries using data from September 2020 collected with an ad hoc semi-structured questionnaire. Related variables are SARS-CoV-2 testing, contact tracing, follow-up, additional testing, and patient care. Results: Twenty-six out of the 30 European countries had PHC involvement in LTCFs during the COVID-19 pandemic. PHC participated in initial medical care in 22 countries, while, in 15, PHC was responsible for SARS-CoV-2 test along with other institutions. Supervision of individuals in isolation was carried out mostly by LTCF staff, but physical examination or symptom's follow-up was performed mainly by PHC. Conclusion: PHC has participated in COVID-19 pandemic assistance in LTCFs in coordination with LTCF staff, public health officers, and hospitals.
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| 18. |
- Hernández, Vicente, et al.
(författare)
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Security framework for dpws compliant devices
- 2009
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Ingår i: 2009 THIRD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON EMERGING SECURITY INFORMATION, SYSTEMS, AND TECHNOLOGIES. - 9781424443086 ; , s. 87-92
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)
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| 19. |
- Huang, Yuanjiang, et al.
(författare)
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The Influence of Communication Range on Connectivity for Resilient Wireless Sensor Networks Using a Probabilistic Approach
- 2013
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Ingår i: International Journal of Distributed Sensor Networks. - : SAGE Publications. - 1550-1329 .- 1550-1477. ; , s. Article number 482727-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) consist of thousands of nodes that need to communicate with each other. However, it is possible that some nodes are isolated from other nodes due to limited communication range. This paper focuses on the influence of communication range on the probability that all nodes are connected under two conditions, respectively: (1) all nodes have the same communication range, and (2) communication range of each node is a random variable. In the former case, this work proves that, for 0 < ε < e - 1, if the probability of the network being connected is 0.36 ε, by means of increasing communication range by constant C (ε), the probability of network being connected is at least 1 - ε. Explicit function C (ε) is given. It turns out that, once the network is connected, it also makes the WSNs resilient against nodes failure. In the latter case, this paper proposes that the network connection probability is modeled as Cox process. The change of network connection probability with respect to distribution parameters and resilience performance is presented. Finally, a method to decide the distribution parameters of node communication range in order to satisfy a given network connection probability is developed.
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| 20. |
- Lopez-Alonso, Ana, et al.
(författare)
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Individual Platelet Adhesion Assay: Measuring Platelet Function and Antiplatelet Therapies in Whole Blood via Digital Quantification of Cell Adhesion
- 2013
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Ingår i: Analytical Chemistry. - : American Chemical Society. - 0003-2700 .- 1520-6882. ; 85:13, s. 6497-6504
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Widespread monitoring of platelet function and the effect of antiplatelet drugs will improve outcomes in cardiovascular patients, but platelet function testing is not routine in clinical practice. We report a rapid, accurate methodology to quantify platelet-protein interactions: a microarray of contact-printed 6-mu m fibrinogen dots on a transparent substrate binds platelets from whole blood, one platelet per dot. The fractional occupancy of an array of fibrinogen dots after a predefined incubation time quantitatively assays platelet adhesion to the protein matrix. We demonstrate this technique by measurement of platelet adhesion to fibrinogen as a means to quantify the effect of the P2Y(12) and alpha IIb beta 3 receptor inhibitors cangrelor and abciximab, respectively, both in vitro-by incubating the drug with a freshly drawn blood sample-and in blood from patients treated with antiplatelet agents. The effects of single- and dual-antiplatelet therapy are also assessed. Results from this platelet-binding assay are well correlated with standard techniques including flow cytometry and light transmission aggregometry. This assay technology, readily integrated with microfluidic platforms, is generally applicable to the assay of cell-protein interactions and promises more effective, rapid assay of drug effects in cardiovascular disease patients.
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| 21. |
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| 22. |
- Lopez, Lourdes, et al.
(författare)
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ASA : advanced secure architecture for preventing unauthorized access in personal computer platforms and BIOS
- 2007
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Ingår i: Euro American Conference on Telematics and Information Systems - Proceedings of the 2007 Euro American Conference on Telematics and Information Systems, EATIS 2007. - New York, NY, USA : ACM. - 9781595935984 ; , s. Article number a18-
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper proposes an architecture for Personal Computers (PC) to avoid BIOS alteration and unauthorized access to resources. This proposal is based on results obtained from study of most popular PC platforms security mechanisms. Authentication controls which are established in PC platform in order to grant operating system booting or BIOS integrity of code mechanism incorporated to secureand avoid executing disallowed code are quite easy to break. The architecture described in the present work (Advanced Secure Architecture - ASA) increase the overall information and system security since prevents an unauthorized platform booting and it provides procedures for BIOS code authentication. On the other hand, ASA overcomes the users' authentication challenge in a corporative environment as well as it offers a very flexible way to specify the Personal Computers Corporation set that a user is allowed to access.
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| 23. |
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| 24. |
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| 25. |
- Martinez Cortizas, Antonio, et al.
(författare)
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Atmospheric Pb pollution in N Iberia during the late Iron Age/Roman times reconstructed using the high-resolution record of La Molina mire (Asturias, Spain)
- 2013
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Ingår i: Journal of Paleolimnology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0921-2728 .- 1573-0417. ; 50:1, s. 71-86
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Extensive mining took place in Spain during the Iron Age and Roman times, although a detailed chronology is still lacking due to the inherent difficulties in dating mining structures. In this study we sampled and analyzed a core from La Molina mire in the Asturias region, northern Spain. Because more than 100 Roman mines have thus far been found within 20 km of the mire, our aim was to shed light on local mining history, which we can then compare to the wider narrative of early mining pollution in Spain. We focus on the section from similar to 500 BC to AD similar to 600, which has a high temporal resolution of 6-15 year per sample. Geochemical analyses included the determination of major, minor and trace lithogenic elements (Si, Al, Fe, Ti, Ga, Rb, Y, Zr, Th) as markers of mineral content of the peat, and trace metals/metalloids (Mn, Cu, Ni, As, Pb) as well stable Pb isotopes, as potential markers of atmospheric metal pollution. The use of principal components analysis enabled the identification of a dominant geogenic component and a secondary pollution component. The earliest pollution signal of the covered period was recorded by similar to 300 BC, coinciding with the late local Iron Age. Average Pb-206/Pb-207 ratios of samples with ages older than this date was 1.204 +/- A 0.002, while all samples with a younger age had a less radiogenic ratio. Based on the metal pollution component four phases were identified: I, similar to 500 to 300 BC; II, similar to 300 to 20 BC; III, similar to 20 BC-AD 480; IV, AD similar to 480 to 600. The lowest isotopic ratio and highest proportion of pollution Pb (Pb-206/Pb-207 ratio of 1.157 and 89 % of total accumulated Pb) was reached at peak Pb production during Roman times (AD similar to 180 to 340), indicating that this was the period of most intense metal contamination in the area over the studied period. It is remarkable that the La Molina record shows a more extended period (two centuries) of active mining in comparison with other areas in Iberia, and a pattern of repeated shifts in Pb pollution of short duration, which is likely related to the local history of exploitation and exhaustion of mines within the area.
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| 26. |
- Martínez Cortizas, Antonio, et al.
(författare)
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Early atmospheric metal pollution provides evidence for Chalcolithic/Bronze Age mining and metallurgy in Southwestern Europe
- 2016
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Ingår i: Science of the Total Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 545-546, s. 398-406
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Although archaeological research suggests that mining/metallurgy already started in the Chalcolithic (3rd millennium BC), the earliest atmospheric metal pollution in SW Europe has thus far been dated to similar to 3500-3200 cal. yr. BP in paleo-environmental archives. A low intensity, non-extensive mining/metallurgy and the lack of appropriately located archives may be responsible for this mismatch. We have analysed the older section (>2100 cal. yr. BP) of a peat record from La Molina (Asturias, Spain), a mire located in the proximity (35-100 km) of mines which were exploited in the Chalcolithic/Bronze Age, with the aim of assessing evidence of this early mining/metallurgy. Analyses included the determination of C as a proxy for organic matter content, lithogenic elements (Si, Al, Ti) as markers of mineral matter, and trace metals (Cr, Cu, Zn, Pb) and stable Pb isotopes as tracers of atmospheric metal pollution. From similar to 8000 to similar to 4980 cal. yr. BP the Pb composition is similar to that of the underlying sediments (Pb 15 +/- 4 mu g g(-1); Pb-206/Pb-207 1.204 +/- 0.002). A sustained period of low Pb-206/Pb-207 ratios occurred from similar to 4980 to similar to 2470 cal. yr. BP, which can be divided into four phases: Chalcolithic (similar to 4980-3700 cal. yr. BP), Pb-206/Pb-207 ratios decline to 1.175 and Pb/Al ratios increase; Early Bronze Age (similar to 3700-3500 cal. yr. BP), Pb-206/Pb-207 increase to 1.192 and metal/Al ratios remain stable; Late Bronze Age (similar to 3500-2800 cal. yr. BP), Pb-206/Pb-207 decline to their lowest values (1.167) while Pb/Al and Zn/Al increase; and Early Iron Age (similar to 2800-2470 cal. yr. BP), Pb-206/Pb-207 increase to 1.186, most metal/Al ratios decrease but Zn/Al shows a peak. At the beginning of the Late Iron Age, Pb-206/Pb-207 ratios and metal enrichments show a rapid return to pre-anthropogenic values. These results provide evidence of regional/local atmospheric metal pollution triggered by the earliest phases of mining/metallurgy in the area, and reconcile paleo-environmental and archaeological records.
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| 27. |
- Martínez Cortizas, Antonio, et al.
(författare)
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Investigating the Mineral Composition of Peat by Combining FTIR-ATR and Multivariate Analysis
- 2021
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Ingår i: Minerals. - : MDPI AG. - 2075-163X. ; 11:10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The mineral content of peat has received little attention until the last few decades, when peat cores have been increasingly used to study past dust deposition. Paleodust deposition is commonly reconstructed through elemental datasets, which are used to infer deposition rates, storminess patterns, mineral composition, source identification, and fertilization effects. To date, only a few studies have directly analyzed the mineralogy (by XRD and SEM) and particle size of peat mineral matter, and the conducted studies have usually been constrained by the need to remove a large amount of organic matter, which risks altering the mineral component. One alternative is to use quick, nondestructive techniques, such as FTIR-ATR, that require little sample preparation. In this study, we analyzed by FTIR-ATR both the bulk peat and ash fractions of a sequence taken in a minerogenic mire that covered a wide inorganic matter content range (6%–57%). Aided by principal component analysis on transposed IR spectral data, we were able to identify the main minerals in bulk peat and ash, quartz, mica (likely muscovite), K feldspar (likely microcline), and plagioclase (likely anorthite), which are consistent with the local geology of the mire catchment. Changes in mineral composition during the last ca. 2800 years were coeval with previously reconstructed environmental changes using the same core. Our results suggest that FTIR-ATR has great potential to investigate peat mineral matter and the processes that drive its compositional change.
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| 28. |
- Martínez-Ortega, José-Fernán, et al.
(författare)
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An approach for applying multi-agent technology into wireless sensor networks
- 2007
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Ingår i: Euro American Conference on Telematics and Information Systems - Proceedings of the 2007 Euro American Conference on Telematics and Information Systems, EATIS 2007. - New York, NY, USA : ACM Press. - 9781595935984 ; , s. Article number a22-
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The present work describes how the concepts and foundations defined for multi-agent system technology can be applied in to a Wireless SensorNetwork (WSN), specifically it is focused on how multi-agent system technology's mechanisms and implementations could facilitate the development of systems based on WSN. In this respect, an architectural model where the above mentioned concepts, foundations and mechanisms come together is proposed, in order to define applications and services on WSN. Validation of the proposed architecture is made by means of its use in a perimeter security scenario ("tracking"). It is important to mention, that partial results of this work have been developed in the project PROPSI (Perimeter Protection by means of Wireless Sensor Networks).
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| 29. |
- Martínez-Ortega, José-Fernán, et al.
(författare)
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Composition and deployment of e-Health services over Wireless Sensor Networks
- 2011
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Ingår i: Mathematical and computer modelling. - : Elsevier BV. - 0895-7177 .- 1872-9479. ; 53:3-4, s. 485-503
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Providing necessary background for provisioning of a new generation of enriched services over Wireless Sensor Networks is the main effort that the scientific community is currently carrying out. These services have improved a great number of aspects related to pervasive systems such as saving resources, efficiency, reliability, scalability and low power consumption. In this paper, μSMS middleware, using an event-based service model, is presented. This novel approach makes up the design requirements previously mentioned by implementing a dynamic memory kernel and a variable payload multiplexing mechanism for the information events in order to provide advanced services. The results obtained over real-world deployments, especially those related with provision of e-Health services, reflect a significant improvement over other similar proposals, such as the RUNES approach: 50% lower memory overhead, 53% lower software components load time and 12% lower event's propagation time.
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| 30. |
- Martínez-Ortega, José-Fernán, et al.
(författare)
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Guaranteeing QoS in Wireless Sensor Networks
- 2008
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Ingår i: Wireless Quality of Service. - : Auerbach Publications. - 9781420051308 ; , s. 251-289
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)
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| 31. |
- Martínez-Ortega, José-Fernán, et al.
(författare)
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Pervasive surveillance-agent system based on wireless sensor networks : design and deployment
- 2010
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Ingår i: Measurement science and technology. - : Institute of Physics Publishing (IOPP). - 0957-0233 .- 1361-6501. ; 21:12, s. Article number 124005-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Nowadays, proliferation of embedded systems is enhancing the possibilities of gathering information by using wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Flexibility and ease of installation make these kinds of pervasive networks suitable for security and surveillance environments. Moreover, the risk for humans to be exposed to these functions is minimized when using these networks. In this paper, a virtual perimeter surveillance agent, which has been designed to detect any person crossing an invisible barrier around a marked perimeter and send an alarm notification to the security staff, is presented. This agent works in a state of 'low power consumption' until there is a crossing on the perimeter. In our approach, the 'intelligence' of the agent has been distributed by using mobile nodes in order to discern the cause of the event of presence. This feature contributes to saving both processing resources and power consumption since the required code that detects presence is the only system installed. The research work described in this paper illustrates our experience in the development of a surveillance system using WNSs for a practical application as well as its evaluation in real-world deployments. This mechanism plays an important role in providing confidence in ensuring safety to our environment.
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| 32. |
- Martínez-Ortega, José-Fernán, et al.
(författare)
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QoS in wireless sensor networks : survey and approach
- 2007
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Ingår i: Euro American Conference on Telematics and Information Systems - Proceedings of the 2007 Euro American Conference on Telematics and Information Systems, EATIS 2007. - New York, NY, USA : ACM Press. - 9781595935984 ; , s. Article number a20-
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- A wireless sensor network (WSN) is a computer wireless network composed of spatially distributed and autonomous tiny nodes - smart dustsensors, motes -, which cooperatively monitor physical or environmental conditions. Nowadays these kinds of networks support a wide range of applications, such as target tracking, security, environmental control, habitat monitoring, source detection, source localization, vehicular and traffic monitoring, health monitoring, building and industrial monitoring, etc. Many of these applications have strong requirements for end-to-end delay and losses during data transmissions. In this work we have classified the main mechanisms that have been proposed to provide Quality of Service (QoS) in WSN at Medium Access Control (MAC) and network layers. Finally, taking into account some particularities of the studied MAC- andnetwork-layer protocols, we have selected a real application scenario in order to show how to choose an appropriate approach for guaranteeing performance in a WSN deployed application.
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| 33. |
- Martínez-Ortega, José-Fernán, et al.
(författare)
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Trade-off between performance and energy consumption in wireless sensor networks
- 2007
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Ingår i: Self-Organizing Systems. - Berlin, Heidelberg : Springer Berlin/Heidelberg. - 9783540749165 ; , s. 264-271
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Nowadays WSNs support applications such as target tracking, environmental control or vehicles traffic monitoring. Generally, these applications have strong and strict requirements for end-to-end delaying and loosing during data transmissions. In this paper, we propose a practical scenario for application of the WSN field in order to illustrate selection of an appropriate approach for guaranteeing performance in a WSN-deployed application. The methodology we have used includes four major phases: 1) Requirements analysis of the application scenario; 2) QoS modelling in different layers of the communications protocol stack and selection of more suitable QoS protocols and mechanisms; 3) Definition of a simulation model based on an application scenario, to which we applied the protocols and mechanisms selected in phase 2; 4) Validation of decisions by means of simulation; and 5) analysis of results. This work has being partially developed in the framework of the CRISAL - M0700204174 project (partially funded by “Universidad Politécnica de Madrid” and “Comunidad de Madrid”, Spain).
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| 34. |
- Martínez-Ortega, José-Fernán, et al.
(författare)
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Wireless sensor networks in knowledge management
- 2010
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Ingår i: Procedia Computer Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 1877-0509. ; 1:1, s. 2291-2300
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Research in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) necessarily touches on many research topics of Computer Science, Electronic Engineering and Telecommunication, basing on the existing work in related fields. However, the peculiarity of the WSN field is the interplay and integration of these foundation subjects, yielding a distinct topic worthy of further study in its own right. One of the main open issues in WSN research is to abstract the applications of complex low-level mechanisms, and one of the most powerful and flexible ways to achieve this is creating a Middleware layer that cover all this functionality, provide services to applications, allows the intercommunication among components, adapts dynamically to different operation modes and clearly differentiated from low-level components. Knowledgemanagement and ontologies are also helpful when WSN are used to monitoring and taking decisions. We deploy a WSN in a testing scenario in order to control environmental parameters according to user profile stored in the system.
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| 35. |
- Rodríguez-Molina, Jesús, et al.
(författare)
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Combining Wireless Sensor Networks and Semantic Middleware for an Internet of Things-Based Sportsman/Woman Monitoring Application
- 2013
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Ingår i: Sensors. - : Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute. - 1424-8220. ; 13:2, s. 1787-1835
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are spearheading the efforts taken to build and deploy systems aiming to accomplish the ultimate objectives of the Internet of Things. Due to the sensors WSNs nodes are provided with, and to their ubiquity and pervasive capabilities, these networks become extremely suitable for many applications that so-called conventional cabled or wireless networks are unable to handle. One of these still underdeveloped applications is monitoring physical parameters on a person. This is an especially interesting application regarding their age or activity, for any detected hazardous parameter can be notified not only to the monitored person as a warning, but also to any third party that may be helpful under critical circumstances, such as relatives or healthcare centers. We propose a system built to monitor a sportsman/woman during a workout session or performing a sport-related indoor activity. Sensors have been deployed by means of several nodes acting as the nodes of a WSN, along with a semantic middleware development used for hardware complexity abstraction purposes. The data extracted from the environment, combined with the information obtained from the user, will compose the basis of the services that can be obtained.
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| 36. |
- Sánchez Alcón, José A, et al.
(författare)
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Automated determination of security services to ensure personal data protection in the Internet of Things applications
- 2013
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Ingår i: IEEE Third international conference on Innovative Computing Technology - INTECH 2013. - 9781479900473 ; , s. 71-76
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper describes a method aimed at automatically determining security services to be implementedin products, services and devices involved on the Internet of Things scenarios. It is important toconsider the specific context, legislative diversity and nature of the information since its main objective is to have correct and fair data processing that avoids users in perceiving any danger to their privacy. This paper gives a brief overview based on several types of security threat scenarios. It tries tointroduce “Utility Matrix” concept that connects involved users, their security needs, and legal imperatives all together. Based on “Utility Matrix”, an expert system is proposed in order to automatesecurity service decisions and solution for personal data protection on the area of Internet of Things. Different approaches are presented, and several applied use cases are given for AWARE product, such as application. This automated system is in the development phase. Nevertheless, this project has toconnect areas of the Industry to the judicial and technology, taking into account that users are in themiddle of the scenario. As a result of this project, a certificate of personal data protection to users and companies could be obtained. It could be a tool to simulate and evaluate the impact of new services, new laws, and new needs in technology and research.
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| 37. |
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| 38. |
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| 39. |
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| 40. |
- Spooren, Jeroen, et al.
(författare)
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Near-zero-waste processing of low-grade, complex primary ores and secondary raw materials in Europe : technology development trends
- 2020
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Ingår i: Resources, Conservation and Recycling. - : Elsevier B.V.. - 0921-3449 .- 1879-0658. ; 160
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- With an increasing number of low-grade primary ores starting to be cost-effectively mined, we are at the verge of mining a myriad of low-grade primary and secondary mineral materials. At the same time, mining practices and mineral waste recycling are both evolving towards sustainable near-zero-waste processing of low-grade resources within a circular economy that requires a shift in business models, policies and improvements in process technologies. This review discusses the evolution towards low-grade primary ore and secondary raw material mining that will allow for sufficient supply of critical raw materials as well as base metals. Seven low-grade ores, including primary (Greek and Polish laterites) and secondary (fayalitic slags, jarosite and goethite sludges, zinc-rich waste treatment sludge and chromium-rich neutralisation sludge) raw materials are discussed as typical examples for Europe. In order to treat diverse and complex low-grade ores efficiently, the use of a new metallurgical systems toolbox is proposed, which is populated with existing and innovative unit operations: (i) mineral processing, (ii) metal extraction, (iii) metal recovery and (iv) matrix valorisation. Several promising novel techniques are under development for these four unit-operations. From an economical and environmental point of view, such processes must be fitted into new (circular) business models, whereby impacts and costs are divided over the entire value chain. Currently, low-grade secondary raw material processing is only economic and environmentally beneficial when the mineral residues can be valorised and landfill costs are avoided and/or incentives for waste processing can be taken into account. © 2020 The Author(s)
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| 41. |
- Strietzel, Frank P, et al.
(författare)
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Efficacy and safety of an intraoral electrostimulation device for xerostomia relief : A multicenter randomized trial
- 2011
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Ingår i: Arthritis and Rheumatism. - : Wiley. - 0004-3591 .- 1529-0131. ; 63:1, s. 180-190
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective: The objective of the study was to evaluate the efficacy in treating xerostomia and the safety of an intraoral electrostimulation device, containing stimulating electrodes, an electronic circuit and a power source. The device delivers electrostimulation through the oral mucosa to the lingual nerve, in order to enhance the salivary reflex. Methods: The device was tested on a sample of patients with xerostomia due to Sjögren’s syndrome and other sicca conditions in a prospective randomized multi-center trial consisting of two stages: (I) a double blind, cross-over designed stage to compare the effects of the electrically “active” device with the “sham” device, both used for one month, and (II) a 3- month open label stage to assess the long-term influence of the “active” device. Improvement of xerostomia severity from baseline was the primary outcome. Results: A total of 114 subjects were randomized. In Stage I, “active” device performed better than “sham” for patient-reported xerostomia severity (p<0.002), xerostomia frequency (p<0.05), quality of life impairment (p<0.01) and swallowing difficulty (p<0.02). At the end of Stage II, statistically significant improvements were verified for patient-reported xerostomia severity (p<0.0001), xerostomia frequency (p<0.0001), oral discomfort (p<0.001), speech difficulty (p<0.02) and sleeping difficulty (p<0.001), and for resting salivary flow-rate (p<0.01). Conclusion: Daily use of the device alleviated oral dryness, discomfort and some complications of xerostomia, such as speech and sleeping difficulties, and increased salivary output. The results show a cumulative positive effect of the device over the period of the study, from baseline to the trial’s end.
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