**8. Electrochemical properties**

Potentiodynamic polarization curves of the 316l stainless steel (substrate) and deposited film with different Si contents were carried out for studying the Si effect in electrochemical properties of the films. They were tested in 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution, and the results are shown in **Figure 10**. For each curve, corrosion potential (Ecorr) and corrosion current density (Jcorr) were determined and are reported in **Table 7**. The results show that the deposited film with a Si content of 15 at.% has lower Jcorr than that of the uncoated SS 316 L substrate, indicating that with the Si addition or with the coating, the corrosion resistance increases.

Several research groups have found that the addition of silicon to MeN films can improve the corrosion resistance due to the formation of nanocomposite films. The increase on the corrosion resistance could be attributed to the formation of a dense structure, which can block the paths of corrosion medium to the substrate. It has been demonstrated to nanocomposite films, such as: Ti▬Si▬N [102], Al▬Si▬N [103], Nb▬Si▬N [71], and W▬Si▬N and Zr▬Si▬N [104].

**35**

*Effect of Silicon Content in Functional Properties of Thin Films*

**Sample Silicon (at.%) Jcorr (nA/cm2**

The addition of a third element as silicon affects the microstructure and functional properties of the transition metal nitride films, specifically those of zirconium nitride as observed in this chapter. Therefore, it is important has a control of the content of this element in the deposited film to understand and relate the

SS 316l 0 7.13 ±9 −198 ± 94 ZrN 0 3.19 ± 7 −146 ± 69 ZrN + 1Si 8 4.83 ± 4 −155 ± 47 ZrN + 2Si 15 2.28 ± 9 −150 ± 93

*Results from potentiodynamic polarization curves, corrosion current density (Icorr), and corrosion potential*

**) Ecorr (mV)**

With a silicon content of 8 at.% and with the deposition parameter used, the microstructure changed from a polycrystalline structure of fcc-ZrN (free silicon) to a mixture of nanocrystalline (ZrN) and amorphous (SiNx) phases, and with an increase in the Si content (15 at.%), the films were amorphous. However, these films showed the formation of two crystalline phases corresponding to zirconium nitride and zirconium oxide due to the base pressure used, which is not high enough to remove oxygen in the deposited chamber, and high enthalpy of

These changes in the microstructure and the mixture of phases present in the

• With the addition of silicon, the electrical resistivity increased various orders of magnitude comparison with the resistivity of ZrN. The electrical measurements allowed to determine that the films have a nanocomposite structure: nanocrystalline of ZrN conducting embedded in an amorphous SiNx insulating phases.

• As silicon content increases, the optical response changed from a high reflectance in the infrared region (ZrN) to a high transmittance in the infrared

• The nanohardness values decrease from 29.55 GPa (free silicon) to 15.92 GPa (15.0 at.% Si), due to an increase in the thickness of amorphous phase (SiNx)

• The potentiodynamic polarization curves showed that the coated substrate has higher corrosion resistance than the uncoated substrate due to a decrease in Icorr.

The authors are grateful to Professor Sandra Carvalho of the Minho University (Portugal) who performed the EDS and XPS measurements and the professors Sebastian Calderon and Paulo Ferreira of INL-International Iberian

films generated changes in the functional properties of zirconium nitride:

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.85435*

**9. Conclusions**

*(Ecorr) for each sample.*

**Table 7.**

formation for ZrO2.

microstructure and their properties.

region (ZrN▬Si coatings).

**Acknowledgements**

and a decrease in crystalline size (ZrN).

Nanotechnology Laboratory who performed HRTEM.

**Figure 10.** *Potentiodynamic polarization curves for the films and substrate SS 316L.*

*Effect of Silicon Content in Functional Properties of Thin Films DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.85435*

**Table 7.**

*Silicon Materials*

**Table 6.**

boundary sliding [24].

*Results from nanohardness tests.*

**8. Electrochemical properties**

**34**

**Figure 10.**

*Potentiodynamic polarization curves for the films and substrate SS 316L.*

[103], Nb▬Si▬N [71], and W▬Si▬N and Zr▬Si▬N [104].

the SiNx phase thickness is larger than the crystallite size of the ZrN phase, the nanohardness of the films decreases due to an increase of the volume fraction of the amorphous soft phase. The deformation mechanism, in this case, is grain

**Samples Silicon (at.%) Nanohardness (H)**

ZrN 0 29.55 ± 3.70 ZrN + 1Si 8 18.12 ± 2.65 ZrN + 2Si 15 15.92 ± 1.23

**GPa**

Potentiodynamic polarization curves of the 316l stainless steel (substrate) and deposited film with different Si contents were carried out for studying the Si effect in electrochemical properties of the films. They were tested in 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution, and the results are shown in **Figure 10**. For each curve, corrosion potential (Ecorr) and corrosion current density (Jcorr) were determined and are reported in **Table 7**. The results show that the deposited film with a Si content of 15 at.% has lower Jcorr than that of the uncoated SS 316 L substrate, indicating that with the Si addition or with the coating, the corrosion resistance increases. Several research groups have found that the addition of silicon to MeN films can improve the corrosion resistance due to the formation of nanocomposite films. The increase on the corrosion resistance could be attributed to the formation of a dense structure, which can block the paths of corrosion medium to the substrate. It has been demonstrated to nanocomposite films, such as: Ti▬Si▬N [102], Al▬Si▬N

*Results from potentiodynamic polarization curves, corrosion current density (Icorr), and corrosion potential (Ecorr) for each sample.*


**1. Introduction**

Railway, roadway and mine tunnels, buildings, and warehouses are some examples of confined environments, in which electromagnetic wave propagation has to be investigated

© 2015 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

for communication channel characterization. In this paper, we shall focus on tunnel environments. The prediction and characterization of the radio-wave propagation is needed to optimize the system performances.

Confined environments are complex real-life electromagnetic (EM) problems. Several techniques and methods are used to study the radio-wave propagation or to design antennas to achieve some good performance. Experimental techniques, analytical methods (exact solutions), numerical methods (approximate solutions), asymptotic methods (approximate high-frequency expansions of Maxwell's equations), and approximate techniques (approximate solutions applicable for certain types of electromagnetic problems) are among the most commonly used techniques in confined structures. Experiments might be expensive and time consuming. Analytical and approximate techniques are limited to some structures. In turn, asymptotic methods are mostly used to study the wave propagation in tunnels. However, in many cases, the antennas employed to provide the communication in these systems are strongly affected by its surrounding environment, affecting the performance of the system. Thus, near-field considerations have to be accounted for, which cannot be considered by these techniques. Finally, the practical utilization of numerical full-wave methods has been hampered by their large computational time compared to asymptotic methods.

With the increasing development of computers, appropriate new models and simplifications are being developed. The formulation of an efficient modal approach stemming from the fact that tunnels can be modeled by an over-sized waveguide and the *a priori* knowledge of the fields in the axial direction is presented. It allows one to have a better physical insight into wave propagation in confined environments, as well as dealing with electrically large structures like tunnels. The mode parameter determination is carried out by a full-wave time-domain method, namely, the transmission-line matrix (TLM) method.

The calculation volume has to be limited in full-wave volumic methods, and we are interested only in the fields inside the tunnel. Thus, the electromagnetic modeling of the tunnel walls, which can be lossy dielectric, is addressed. Lastly, by assimilating a confined environment to a lossy dielectric waveguides of arbitrary cross section, the mode extraction of these structures is presented. To the best of the authors' knowledge, no such model has been reported.

The chapter is structured as follows: In the first section, an overview of the principal techniques for the description of the EM wave propagation in above structures is briefly presented. In the second section, the formulation of the modal approach is described in detail. In the following section, the implementation for a simple canonical case is shown. Lastly, the numerical analysis of multimodal waveguides representative of confined environments is illustrated in a realistic rectangular tunnel. Finally, discussions and conclusions are developed at the end of the chapter.


*1.1. Background*

With the rapid development of information technology, the internet has been ubiquitous in the world. Thanks to the development of optical communication systems (see [1] for more discussions), people can easily communicate with each other and share multimedia messages, including texts, sound, images, videos, etc. Obviously, the internet provides much more impact on human society than any other medium, while at the same time, issues regarding information security have received considerable and critical attention.

*Data hiding* is an available technique to deal with secure communication so that the secure data is imperceptibly embedded without drawing attention [2]. The multimedia is used as a cover carrier to hide secret data which will be transmitted in the internet. Reversible data hiding (RDH) not only guarantees the safe transmission of data content but also recovers the hidden data as well as the cover images [3,4]. However, most of these RDH algorithms bring permanent distortions to the original carrier during the embedding

**Citation:** Hung, C.-C.; Lin, C.-C.; Wu, H.-C.; Lin, C.-W. A Study on Reversible Data Hiding Technique Based on Three-Dimensional Prediction-Error Histogram Modification and a Multilayer Perceptron. *Appl. Sci.* **2022**, *12*, 2502. https://doi.org/10.3390/app12052502

Academic Editors: Leandros Maglaras, Helge Janicke and Mohamed Amine Ferrag

Received: 13 January 2022 Accepted: 23 February 2022 Published: 28 February 2022

**Publisher's Note:** MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

**Copyright:** © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

process, and these distortions are unacceptable in certain applications [5]. In order to achieve information hiding and distortion-free recovery of the original carrier, distortionfree reversible data hiding is considered [4]. This technique enables the receiver to both extract the embedded data correctly and acquire the original carrier without distortion. Generally, RDH is a fragile hiding technology, which is different from digital watermarking. When implementing the RDH mothod, the distortion that occurs during the transmission of the carrier should be avoided. According to the embedding method, the existing image RDH algorithm can be divided into spatial domain, transform domain, and encryption domain RDH scheme [6]. In this paper, we focus on RDH of spatial domain. Its embedding and extraction frameworks are shown in Figure 1. In the embedding side, the sender embeds secret data into the cover image by a reversible embedding algorithm. In the extraction side, the receiver extracts the secret data embedded in the stego-image by a reversible extraction algorithm and achieves distortion-free recovery image exactly the same as the original image. The performance of RDH algorithm depends on two conflicting factors as trade-offs: the embedding distortion between the cover image and the stegoimage and the embedding capacity (EC). For the former factor, PSNR (peak-to-noise-ratio) is widely used (refer to [7] for more discussion). A higher PSNR value means that the stego-image is more similar to the original one. For the latter factor, EC stands for the number of bits which can be embedded into the cover image. Therefore, we favor an RDH algorithm which brings higher EC and lower PSNR, while a trade-off of them is usually considered to fit specific applications [6].

**Figure 1.** The embedding and extraction frameworks of the spatial domain RDH.


Structure and Dynamics of Plumes Generated by Small Rivers DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.87843

We presume the following physical interpretation of dynamical features of a small plume described above. The Mzymta River has a rapid flow (1–2 m/s), but is relatively shallow (1–1.5 m) in its mouth. Thus, relatively small volume of fresh water inflows to sea from the Mzymta River mouth at a relatively high speed. This jet is then abruptly decelerated by the vertical friction with the subjacent sea and the initial inertia of the jet decays in vicinity of the river mouth. Thus, according to the reconstructed surface velocity fields, size of the inertia-governed near-field part of the Mzymta plume is relatively small (1–2 km). It is of one order of magnitude less than, first, was reported by in situ measurements for river plumes formed by rivers with similar discharge rates but lower river inflow velocities [24, 38, 59, 60], and, second, theoretical values of near-field part of a plume numerically estimated by formulae described by [12, 54].

The near-field jet abruptly decelerates and forms a sharp pressure gradient in vicinity of the river mouth, which is directed seaward. As a result, anticyclonic recirculation flow directed to the river mouth is hindered by the pressure gradient force. Thus, the large river inflow velocity and low river discharge volume are the limiting factors for formation of an anticyclonic bulge under low wind-forcing conditions. On the other hand, in case of low velocity and/or a large volume of river inflow, it is not abruptly decelerated in vicinity of the river mouth, and strong velocity and pressure gradients are not formed.

Strong nonuniformity of motion patterns of different parts of the far-field plume in response to wind forcing are revealed by the reconstructed surface velocity fields. Upwelling, onshore, and offshore winds induce spreading of the most stratified parts of the plume adjacent to the Mzymta mouth at an angle of up to 80° to the direction of wind forcing. On the other hand, this angle diminishes to 30–40° at the less stratified outer parts of the plume. This effect is presumed to be caused by inhomogeneity of Ekman layer depth due to strong variability of stratification of the Mzymta plume. These results are supported by numerical experiments focused on relation between parameters of Ekman transport and river plume stratification [61].

Dynamical features of the Mzymta plume described above significantly influence its structure, spreading patterns, and the associated transport of suspended and dissolved river-borne constituents. First, freshwater discharge does not accumulate at the small near-field part of the Mzymta plume, which is not the case for large rivers [9, 15, 55]. As a result, freshwater discharge is mainly accumulated at the far-field part of the Mzymta plume. Winds cause spreading of a far-field plume along the direction of Ekman transport till it is limited by a coastline. Thus, location of a restraining coastline defines two stable states of a plume, which are generally indicated by downstream/upstream location of a sharp plume front. First, an alongshore downstream current is formed if spreading of a small plume is limited by a downstream coastline. Second, a small plume is arrested near its estuary if its spreading is restrained by an upstream coastline.

The observed large angles between surface flow and wind-forcing directions at the strongly stratified part of the Mzymta plume causes significantly different wind-govern spreading patterns of a small plume, as compared to large plumes (Figure 3). Upstream spreading of large river plumes is caused by upwelling wind forcing [22, 62, 63], while upstream spreading and accumulation of a small plume was observed only during onshore winds. On the opposite, upwelling wind forcing induced intense offshore spreading of a small plume, while largest cross-shore scales of large plumes were registered during offshore wind-forcing conditions [64, 65]. Downstream spreading of a small plume as an alongshore coastal current during downwelling wind-forcing conditions is similar to spreading patterns observed for large plumes [22, 62, 66–68].


*3.1. Fenton-like Reactions (H2O2/catalyst)*

The homogeneous Fenton system implies the reaction of Fe2+ with H2O2 to generate hydroxyl radicals (Equation (4)), with a high reactivity and high oxidant power, capable of oxidize organics according to Equations (1)–(3).

$$\rm Fe^{2+} + H\_2O\_2 \rightarrow Fe^{3+} + HO\bullet + HO^- \tag{4}$$

The generated HO• radicals can re-combine with Fe2+:

$$\mathrm{Fe^{2+} + HO\bullet} \rightarrow \mathrm{Fe^{3+} + HO^{-}} \tag{5}$$

The ferric ions formed may decompose the hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen, following the Equations (6)–(10), in which ferrous ions and radicals are also generated. The reaction of H2O2 with Fe3+ is referred in literature as Fenton-like reaction [52].

$$\text{Fe}^{3+} + \text{H}\_2\text{O}\_2 \rightarrow \text{Fe-OOH}^{2+} + \text{H}^+ \tag{6}$$

$$\text{Fe-OOH}^{2+} \rightarrow \text{HO}\_2\bullet + \text{Fe}^{2+} \tag{7}$$

$$\text{Fe}^{2+} + \text{HO}\_2\bullet \rightarrow \text{Fe}^{3+} + \text{HO}\_2^{-} \tag{8}$$

$$\text{Fe}^{3+} + \text{HO}\_2\bullet \rightarrow \text{Fe}^{2+} + \text{O}\_2 + \text{H}^+ \tag{9}$$

$$\rm{HO}\bullet + \rm{H}\_{2}\rm{O}\_{2} \rightarrow \rm{H}\_{2}\rm{O} + \rm{HO}\_{2}\bullet \tag{10}$$

Other reactions involving radicals in the Fenton process are:

$$\rm H\_2O\_2 + HO\bullet \rightarrow HO\_2\bullet + H\_2O\tag{11}$$

$$\rm{HO\_2\bullet} + \rm{HO\_2\bullet} \rightarrow \rm{H\_2O\_2} + \rm{O\_2} \tag{12}$$

Notice that by reaction (11) H2O2 acts as sink for HO•, diminishing the oxidizing power of the Fenton reactants.

The homogeneous Fenton system, which implies the reaction of Fe2+/Fe3+ in solution with H2O2, has several drawbacks. By one hand, the chemical reactivity of iron is strictly dependent on the pH and only at pH ≈ 3, all three Fenton-active species of Fe2+, Fe3+ and Fe(OH)2+ coexist together. On the other hand, the final effluent contains high metal concentrations, which have to be recovered by additional treatment. In the heterogeneous systems Fe2+ and Fe3+ are part of a solid, which results in different advantages, especially related to recovery of the catalyst and the low leaching of ions.

The Fenton-like reactions involved in a heterogeneous system are the following:

$$\rm{S-Fe^{2+} + H\_2O\_2 \to S-Fe^{3+} + HO\bullet + HO^-} \tag{13}$$

$$\text{S-Fe}^{3+} + \text{H}\_2\text{O}\_2 \rightarrow \text{S-Fe}^{2+} + \text{HO}\_2\text{O} + \text{H}^+ \tag{14}$$

$$\text{S-Fe}^{2+} + \text{HO}\bullet \rightarrow \text{S-Fe}^{3+} + \text{HO}^- \tag{15}$$

$$\text{S-Fe}^{3+} + \text{HO}\_2\bullet \rightarrow \text{S-Fe}^{2+} + \text{O}\_2 + \text{H}^+ \tag{16}$$

$$\text{Organic} + \text{HO} \bullet \rightarrow \text{R} \bullet + \text{H}\_2\text{O} \rightarrow \dots \rightarrow \text{CO}\_2 + \text{H}\_2\text{O} \tag{17}$$

where S represents the surface of the catalyst. The reaction (14) is rate-limiting since its rate constant is ca. four orders of magnitude lower than that of reaction (13).

Although the classical Fenton system is based on the use of Fe2+/H2O2, other elements with multiple redox sates (like chromium, cerium, copper, cobalt, manganese and ruthenium) can directly decompose H2O2 into HO• through conventional Fenton-like pathways [53]. Therefore, perovskites containing these elements, mainly in B position, can be used in this kind of reaction.

Rhodamine B (RhB) is one of the most studied organic pollutants in water in the Fenton-like reactions [54–58]. The first study reporting the use of perovskites as catalysts for the removal of RhB in Fenton-like reactions was carried out by Luo et al. [54]. In this work, BiFeO3 magnetic nanoparticles (BFO MNPS) prepared by sol-gel method were tested in the degradation of RhB in the presence of H2O2 at 25 ◦C and pH = 5. According to the isoelectric point of BFO MNPs (I.P. = 6.7), under these conditions, the anionic form of the dye (pKa = 3.7) interacts easily via electrostatic forces with the positively charged catalyst particles. By selecting initial H2O2 and catalyst concentrations as 10 mM and 0.5 g/L, respectively, 95.2% of RhB was degraded in 90 min and a TOC removal of 90% was achieved within 2 h, in contrast to the removal of only 10% of RhB in the presence of Fe3O4 nanoparticles. By Montecarlo (MC) simulations authors concluded that after the adsorption of H2O2 molecules on the surface hollow sites of BFO MNPs facets, they are activated to generate HO• radicals, which then decompose RhB into other smaller organic compounds and CO2. BFO MNPs showed excellent chemical stability during reaction (as checked by XPS), being reusable for at least five cycles, without a significant loss of activity. BFO MNPs were also tested in the degradation of methylene blue and phenol, leading to 79.5% and 82.1% of removal, respectively.

Zhang et al. [55] synthesized a series of Cu-doped LaTiO3 perovskite (LaTi1−xCuxO3, x = 0.0–1.0) by a sol-gel method, which resulted be very efficient for the degradation of RhB with H2O2 in a pH range of 4–9. In contrast to the absence of activity of sample containing only titanium, the coexistence of Ti3+/Ti4+ and Cu+/Cu2+ in the perovskite structure of partially substituted samples allowed the degradation of 8 mg/L of RhB through redox cycles involving the transformation of H2O2 into HO• and HO2•/O2•−. For a H2O2 concentration of 10 mM, about 84% of RhB was decolorized within 2 h in the presence of 1.4 g/L of LaTi0.4Cu0.6O3. Notice that the amount of RhB degraded was slightly lower than the observed by Luo et al. [54]; although the catalyst amount used in Reference [55] was almost three times higher, the initial concentration of RhB was approximately the double. The reduction of H2O2 to O2, which is carried out by oxygen vacancy [22], was not observed in this reaction.

The surface area of perovskites is low and as a consequence, the interaction between the contaminants and the active sites is limited. In order to improve the catalytic efficiency of perovskite-like oxides by increasing their surface area, some strategies have been developed, such as their supporting on mesoporous silica supports [56–58] or in honeycombs [59] and the formation of nanocomposites [60,61].

In this sense, La-FeO3/SBA-15 [56] was more efficient than non-supported LaFeO3 for catalysing RhB oxidation in the presence of H2O2 under ambient conditions due to a synergic effect between the large capacity of mesoporous SBA-15 for RhB adsorption and the high number of active sites exposed in LaFeO3 nanoparticles for reacting with H2O2. The best catalyst was the sample containing many oxygen vacancies (as deduced from XPS results), which are a key factor influencing the performance of these catalysts in oxidation reactions. The catalyst was efficient in a wide pH range (2–10). Under the optimum conditions, a degradation of RhB of 87% was achieved after 3 h. No leaching of Fe3+ was observed in the solution after reaction, the contribution of homogeneous Fenton reaction being discarded. The stability of La-FeO3/SBA-15 was also confirmed by carrying out four cycles of reutilization, which showed no deactivation of the sample. The catalyst was also applied for the degradation of other organic dyes, achieving a decomposition of 66% for methylene blue and 42% for brilliant red X-3B and direct scarlet 4BS.

The good synergy between the support and the LaFeO3 perovskite was explored by the same authors [58], who tested different supports based on mesoporous silica, such as SBA-15, SBA-16 and MCF and on nanosized silica powders (NSP). Different factors influence on the catalytic behaviour for degradation of RhB. By one hand, the RhB adsorption on the support is a crucial step of the reaction and as a result, the combination of LaFeO3 with a non-porous support showing a low capacity of adsorption decomposed the RhB in a little extent. On the other hand, a network of pores with short length is necessary to allow the transportation of RhB to the active sites of LaFeO3. In this sense, the shorter the pore length, the faster the RhB molecules reached the catalytic centres and were oxidized (see the transport process in Figure 2). Authors concluded that LaFeO3 supported on MCF containing randomly distributed pores with short length was the best catalyst for oxidative degradation of RhB in aqueous solution, achieving a removal of the contaminant of 97% in 2 h.

SBA-15 was also used by the same authors as support of a perovskite-type oxide La2CuO4 containing a few amounts of CuO [57]. The solid was tested in the degradation of RhB and organic dyes, including reactive brilliant red X-3B, direct scarlet 4BS and methylene blue under ambient conditions. The catalyst was active in a wide pH range (2–10) and depletion of RhB between 85% and 95% was produced after 3 h, depending on the amount of catalyst. The mineralization of RhB into CO2 was completed and the catalyst could be recycled. Although the activity decreased in ca. 14% in the fifth cycle, it could be recovered after a treatment of the used catalyst in air at 500 ◦C for 2 h.

**Figure 2.** A proposed scheme of transporting RhB from the solution to the pore and then to the surface-active site over LaFeO3 catalysts supported on porous SBA-15, SBA-16 and MCF. With permission from [58].

Another approach for modifying the surface properties and reactivity of perovskites is the formation of nanocomposites [60,61]. In this regard, a novel 3D perovskite-based composite BiFeO3/carbon aerogel (BFO/CA) prepared by sol-gel method led to a 95% of degradation of ketoprofen in 150 min and a TOC removal of 60% after 5 h [60]. These activities values were significantly higher than those obtained for bulk BFO and nano BFO, due to the higher reducibility of Fe3+ and Co3+ species in the composite, as deduced from TPR studies and to the dispersion of active sites not only on the surface of CA support but along the 3D structure of CA. Furthermore, the catalyst was active in a wide pH range of 3–7 and the leaching of iron was low.

A La1+xFeO3 (L1+xFO, 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.2) nanocomposite formed between LaFeO3 and an inert La2O3, resulted to be twice more active for degradation of methyl orange that the pristine LaFeO3 [61]. The modification of surface properties, such as surface Fe2+ concentration, surface defects, H2O2 adsorption capacity and charge-transfer rate led to an enhanced Fenton-like activity in the composite. The most notorious aspect of this work was that the major reactive species were not hydroxyl radicals but singled oxygen (1O2), as deduced from in situ electron paramagnetic resonance analysis and radical scavenging experiments. Authors proposed the corresponding mechanism of 1O2-based composite/H2O2 system. 100% of contaminant was degraded in 90 min at pH = 3 and a total organic carbon (TOC) removal of 96% was achieved after 4 h.

Other contaminants degraded by LaFeO3 perovskite, in this case auto supported, were different pharmaceutical and herbicides [62]. Among them, sulfamethoxazole (SMX) was completely removed in LaFeO3–H2O2 system after 2 h at neutral pH. By formation of a surface complex between LaFeO3 and H2O2, the O-O bond in H2O2 is weakened and chemical environment of iron changes, the Fe3+/Fe2+ redox potential decreasing significantly, which accelerates the cycle of Fe3+/Fe2+ and produces more HO• and O2•−/ HO2• radicals, enhancing the Fenton-like removal of organic compounds. The TOC removal was 22% in 2 h and SMX was transformed into simpler aliphatic acids, mostly biodegradable.

Due to its abundance in most of wastewater effluents and its toxicity, phenol is a usual organic compound model in developing methods for water remediation, including AOPs. The removal of phenol and phenolic compounds has been tested in Fenton-like reactions on different perovskites, mainly containing iron or copper in B position [63–65]. LaFeO3 and BiFeO3 were tested by Rusevova et al. [63] in the degradation of phenol. The influence of reaction temperature, catalyst and H2O2 concentrations and pH, on the catalytic behaviour was studied. The rate constant for phenol degradation, which increased with temperature, was 3-fold higher when initial reaction pH diminished from 7 to 5. Conversion values of phenol of 90–95% were achieved after 6 h and leaching of metals was negligible. The most new-fangled aspect of the study was that in order to settle the nature of the active oxidizing species authors used compound specific stable isotopic analysis (CSIA) as alternative to other conventional techniques. Based on their results, authors concluded that the major species involved in

phenol degradation were hydroxyl radicals. They extended the application of both LaFeO3 and BiFeO3 to the removal of methyl terc-butyl ether (MTBE), for which a depletion of 80% was obtained after 6 h.

Different perovskite-like oxides LaBO3 (B = Cu, Fe, Mn, Co, Ni) synthesized using the Peccini method were tested in Fenton-like degradation of phenol but only LaCuO3 and LaFeO3 were active [64]. Authors studied the recyclability of the catalysts during 3 cycles for LaCuO3 and 40 cycles for LaFeO3.The induction period observed in the first cycle for LaFeO3 was significantly shortened for the second and successive cycles. In this sense, a degradation of phenol of 75% was produced in 5 h in the second cycle, in contrast to the 22% observed in the first one. The reasons for this improvement in the activity were an increase in the surface concentration of oxygen containing species (water and carbonate) involved in the transformation and the formation of dispersed particles of iron oxides on the surface. The TOC conversion of 21–22% after 10 h did not change for the different cycles.

Hammouda et al. [65] prepared ceria perovskite composites CeO2-LaCuO3 and CeO2-LaFeO3, which were more active for the degradation of bisphenol than non-doped perovskites, especially at short reaction times. Furthermore, CeO2 improved the stability of perovskites towards leaching of metals. Authors attributed the enhancement in the activity to the fact that, as observed by XPS, more Ce3+ ions were formed in the ceria-perovskite catalysts, due to an electron transfer from the transition metal of perovskites to the CeO2. As a result, more oxygen radicals were formed by interaction of H2O2 with Ce3+, favouring the Fenton-like degradation of the contaminant. By following the evolution of the intermediates formed, authors proposed a mechanism of reaction and a degradation pathway.

In order to improve the catalytic ability of BiFeO3 nanoparticles to degrade recalcitrant pollutants, some authors have proposed an in-situ surface modification by using chelating agents [66,67]. In this regard, the bisphenol A (BPA) degradation in a wide pH range (4–9) was accelerated when the nano-BiFeO3 were modified by adding different ligands to the Fenton solution, such as tartaric acid, formic acid, glycine, nitrilotriacetic acid and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) [66]. EDTA was the most efficient chelating agent, mainly because of a higher HO• formation from the H2O2 decomposition. Under the optimum conditions 91.2% of BPA was removed within 2 h, in contrast to the 20% of BPA degraded with unmodified BFO. Although the use of chelating agents increased the contribution of Fenton homogeneous reaction by formation of soluble iron complexes, the trend observed in the BPA degradation for reactions carried out with different ligands did not follow the order of leached ions, indicating the irrelevant contribution of homogenous reaction to BPA degradation. As EDTA was the most efficient chelating agent, it was also used by same authors [67] as ligand for BiFeO3 in the degradation of triclosan (5-chloro-2-(2,4-dichlorophenoxy)phenol), a broad-spectrum antibacterial agent widely used in personal and health care products. When pristine BFO were used, triclosan was mainly transformed into 2,4-dichlorophenol, a carcinogenic compound. The addition of EDTA modified significantly the dechlorination ratio of triclosan, which increased from 26.4% for H2O2-BFO sample up to 97.5% in the chelated system. Triclosan was degraded almost completely in 3 h under the optimal conditions.

Another strategy to improve catalytic activity of perovskites in AOPs is the hetero-doping in order to produce more active sites of the low-valence B-site transition metals (i.e., Fe2+, Cu+ and Ti3+) or to introduce oxygen vacancies, which can facilitate the transformation of H2O2 into HO• [39,40]. In this sense, some perovskites containing partially substituted manganese in B position, have been tested in Fenton-like reactions for the degradation of methylene blue (MB) [68], different dyes [69] and paracetamol [70].

Maghalaes et al. [68] tested LaMn1-xFexO3 and LaMn0.1-xFe0.9MoxO3 perovskites in the decomposition of H2O2 to O2 and in the oxidation of MB. The presence of manganese in the perovskites seemed to play an important role on the H2O2 decomposition rate, which decreased with the amount of Mn substituted by Fe and/or Mo. However, LaMnO3 was not active for the MB discoloration, which suggested that it was able to transform the H2O2 into O2 but it was unable to form the HO• radicals, necessary to degrade the dye molecules. On the contrary, samples substituted by Mo degraded MB up to 20% in 1 h.

Jahuar et al. [69] synthesized a series of manganese-substituted lanthanum ferrites having compositions LaMnxFe1-xO3 (x = 0.1–0.5) by a sol–gel auto-combustion method, which were used as catalysts in the removal of anionic dyes (Remazol Turquoise Blue, Remazol Brilliant Yellow) and cationic dyes (MB, Safranine-O) by the action of H2O2, in the absence and presence of visible-light. The initial pH of solution was fixed in all cases to the value of 2. Unsubstituted LaFeO3 produced a low dye degradation for long time periods, exhibiting a poor catalytic activity under dark conditions. However, the partial substitution of iron by manganese led to catalysts able to degrade over 90% of dye in time periods of 150–300 min, due to the Fenton-like activity of manganese ions, capable of existing in various oxidation states. In the presence of light, an enhancement in the catalytic activity was produced and degradation times were reduced to 25–70 min.

The contribution of manganese ions to Fenton-like reaction was, on the contrary, discarded by Carrasco-Díaz et al. [70] in the decomposition of paracetamol by H2O2 under mild reaction conditions (25 ◦C and pH ≈ 6) in the presence of LaCuxM1-xO3 (0.0 ≤ x ≤ 0.8, M = Mn, Ti) perovskite-like oxides prepared by amorphous citrate decomposition. Degradation values of paracetamol between 80% and 97% were achieved after 5 h. XPS studies of the catalysts allowed authors to conclude that Cu2+/Cu+ were the catalytically active species, the catalysts containing a higher amount of copper at the surface, mainly as Cu2+, being the most active. The titanium and manganese species seemed not to be responsible of the enhanced activity observed in some of the substituted samples with respect to that of LaCuO3. The catalysts were recyclable for at least three cycles and a negligible leaching of metals was produced. TOC values of 47–54% were achieved.

Finally, some mathematical analysis of the heterogeneous oxidations of contaminants by perovskites have been carried out. More concretely, mathematical modelling of photo-Fenton-like oxidation of acetic acid by LaFeO3 has been reported [71,72]. From the experimental results authors concluded that the main reactions occurring in the system were the complete mineralization of acetic acid by H2O2 due to the presence of the catalyst and the decomposition of H2O2 into water and O2 in the homogeneous phase. Therefore, this kind of reaction should not be considered as an AOP, because no hydroxyl radicals were formed.

Table 1 summarizes the conversion values and reaction conditions for the use of perovskites in the degradation of different organics by Fenton-like reactions and photo Fenton-like reactions, these last being revised in the following section.


**Abstract**

[9] USEPA R-04-003 Appendix A Hydraulic Fracturing White PaperJune (2004).

Fracturing and Geothermal Energy, (1983). , 59-74.

6/01/2013)

400 Effective and Sustainable Hydraulic Fracturing

[10] Rummel, F, & Kappelmayer, O. The Falkenberg Geothermal Frac Project: Concepts and Experimental Results, In: Nemat-Nasser S, Abé H., Hirakawa S (ed) Hydraulic

[11] Wired Science: Energy Company Plans to Frack a Volcanoreported 10.04.(2012). http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/10/newberry-volcano-fracking/accessed

[12] Johnson, S. M, & Morris, J. P. Hydraulic Fracturing Mechanisms In Carbon Seques‐ tration Applications, 43rd U.S. Rock Mechanics Symposium & 4th U.S.- Canada Rock

[13] Yan Jun FengXiu Wei Shi, Hydraulic Fracturing Process: Roles of In Situ Stress and

Mechanics Symposium, June July 1, (2009). Asheville, North Carolina, 28.

Rock Strength, (2012). Advanced Materials Research, 616-618, 435

We investigate the initiation and early-stage propagation of an axi-symmetric hydraulic fracture from a wellbore drilled in the direction of the minimum principal stress in an elastic and impermeable formation. Such a configuration is akin to the case of a horizontal well and a hydraulic fracture transverse to the well axis in an open hole completion. In addition to the effect of the wellbore on the elasticity equation, the effect of the injection system compressi‐ bility is also taken into account. The formulation accounts for the strong coupling between the elasticity equation, the flow of the injected fluid within the newly created crack and the fracture propagation condition. Dimensional analysis of the problem reveals that three di‐ mensionless parameters control the entire problem: the ratio of the initial defect length over the wellbore radius, the ratio between the wellbore radius and a length-scale associated with the fluid stored by compressibility in the injection system during the well pressurization, and finally the ratio of the time-scale of transition from viscosity to toughness dominated propagation to the time-scale associated with compressibility effects. A fully coupled nu‐ merical solver is presented, and validated against solutions for a radial hydraulic fracture propagating in an infinite medium. The influence of the different parameters on the transi‐ tion from the near-wellbore to the case of a hydraulic fracture propagating in an infinite me‐ dium is fully discussed.


**5. Acknowledgement**

The study of Cd indexes was supported by Grant-in-Aid no. 20580344 from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports, and Culture, Japan. The study of the index for multiple elements was supported by River Fund in charge of the Foundation of River and Watershed Environment Management (FOREM), Japan (Nr. 22-1215-016). The pilot study of factor analysis was presented at the 35th Annual Meeting of Japanese Avian Endocrinology in Okayama Prefecture. The attendance of students at this meeting was supported by Lion Trading Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan.


**Contents**

## **About the Editors**

#### **Oresti Banos**

Oresti Banos is a Tenured Professor of Computational Behaviour Modelling at the University ˜ of Granada (Spain, 2019–present). He is also a Senior Research Scientist affiliated with the Centre for Information and Communication Technologies of the University of Granada (CITIC-UGR). He is a Research Collaborator at Kyung Hee University (South Korea, 2016–present) and the University of Twente (Netherlands, 2018–present). He is a former Assistant Professor at the University of Twente (2016–2018), Postdoctoral Fellow at Kyung Hee University (2014–2016), Predoctoral Fellow at CITIC-UGR (2010–2014), and Visiting Scholar at the Technical University of Eindhoven (Netherlands, 2012), the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (Switzerland, 2011), and the University of Alabama (USA, 2011). His research focuses on the intersection of wearable, ubiquitous, and mobile computing with data mining and artificial intelligence for digital health and wellness applications.

#### **Luis A. Castro**

Luis A. Castro works as a full professor at the Department of Computing and Design at the Sonora Institute of Technology (ITSON), Mexico. He holds a PhD in Informatics from the University ´ of Manchester, UK. Castro's main research interests are community informatics, intelligent systems; human–computer interactions and interaction design, and ubiquitous and mobile computing. Dr. Castro is a professional member of the ACM, and a member of the National System of Researchers from the National Council for Science and Technology in Mexico (SNI-CONACYT). He is the former president of the Mexican Association on Human–Computer Interaction (AMexIHC).

#### **Claudia Villalonga**

Claudia Villalonga holds a PhD in Information and Communication Technologies from the Universidad de Granada, Spain, a Master's Degree in Business Management (Administration of Organizations in the Knowledge Economy) from the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Spain, and a Master's Degree in Telecommunications Engineering from the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, ` Spain. She is currently a lecturer at the Universidad de Granada, Spain, and the former Director of the Master's Degree in Artificial Intelligence at the Universidad Internacional de La Rioja, Spain. Claudia Villalonga has worked in international environments for the research and innovation centers of several major multinational enterprises: CGI in Spain, SAP in Switzerland, and NEC in Germany. She has worked in several academic institutions: the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ) in Switzerland, Kyung Hee University (KHU) in South Korea, and the University of Twente in the Netherlands.


**1. Introduction**

Groundwater is critical for supporting human well-being and economic development. During recent decades, groundwater has been under increasing pressure and the threat of pollution due to agricultural and industrial activities, urbanization, and tourism development. In addition, the climate crisis will affect the parameters of the hydrologic cycle (increase in temperature, reduction of rainfall, droughts, floods) and, consequently, the natural recharge of the aquifers, alongside the quantity and quality of groundwater resources. In groundwater, dissolved ions and solids are always present. That defines its physical and physicochemical characteristics. When the concentration of pollutants is greater than threshold values, then it is unsuitable for irrigation and/or other uses.

The Mygdonia hydrologic basin consists of a rare complex of ecosystems, including the lakes, Koronia and Volvi, which constitute an important wetland system of high ecological and international importance (protected by Ramsar Convention), but over the years, a degradation, especially of Lake Koronia, has been observed [1]. The main causes of the water quality deterioration of Lake Koronia are the water withdrawals and the uncontrollable discharge of untreated domestic and industrial effluents [2,3].

This work investigates the groundwater quality of the Mygdonia basin. Conventional statistical methods, hydrogeochemical diagrams, along with data reduction methods, such as factor analysis, were applied in order to describe groundwater quality, classify samples according to their water type, and identify the prevailing hydrogeological processes that take place in the aquifers of the basin. Some proposals to improve the sustainability of groundwater resources in the Mygdonia basin are presented.

### **2. Study Area-Data Collection**

*2.1. General Characteristics*

Mygdonia basin, covering an area of more than 2000 km2 (650 km2 in the lowland), is located in the Thessaloniki Prefecture, central Macedonia, North Greece (Figure 1). It

**Citation:** Devlioti, K.; Mattas, C.; Kaklis, T.; Voudouris, K. Groundwater Quality Analysis in Mygdonia Basin, Greece. *Environ. Sci.Proc.* **2023**, *25*, 45. https://doi.org/ 10.3390/ECWS-7-14231

Academic Editor: Athanasios Loukas

Published: 16 March 2023

**Copyright:** © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

is characterized by the typical Mediterranean and continental climate with wet (October– April) and dry periods (May–September).The mean annual rainfall is 585 mm, and the mean annual temperature is 13.5 ◦C [4].

**Figure 1.** Morphological map of the Mygdonia basin. Map created by the authors based on free data derived by Copernicus (https://www.copernicus.eu/el, accessed on 16 January 2022).

From a geological point of view (Figure 2), as a tectonically active basin, the lowland of the Mygdonia basin is formed from recent unconsolidated materials consisting of sands, clay, and silty sand sediments [5]. The bedrocks are paleozoic gneisses, amphibolites, schists, marbles, and granitic intrusions of the Serbomacedonian massif [6].

Within the Quaternary deposits of lowland, aquifer systems are developed, including an unconfined shallow aquifer and deeper confined aquifers. The groundwater level is 0.7–43 m below the ground's surface. Generally, the highest values are recorded in April (end of wet period) and the lowest in early October (end of dry period) [1].

**Figure 2.** Geological map of the Mygdonia basin. (Adapted from Ref. [7]).

Groundwater recharge occurs through direct infiltration of rainfall, seepage from torrents, lateral subsurface inflows from mountainous areas, and return water flow from irrigation use [8].

### *2.2. Data Collection*

Groundwater samples were collected during the wet (May) and dry (September) periods over the years from 2013 to 2015, showing similar results along with in situ measurements of the physicochemical characteristics. In this work, the results of the year 2014 are presented. The samples were analyzed in the Laboratory of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki for eightmajor ions (Ca2+, Na+, Mg2+, K+, NO3−, SO42−, Cl−, and HCO3−).Sampling point locations aimed to cover the entire basin. Maps showing the spatial distribution of Electrical Conductivity (EC), temperature (T in C◦), and pH were created.

The AQUACHEM software was used to create Piper and Durov diagrams, and also the SAR (sodium adsorption ratio) value was calculated. Finally, factor analysis was applied in order to identify the main hydrochemical processes and uncover relationships between ions.

### **3. Results of Groundwater Quality Analysis**

Summary statistics of the results of chemical analyses are presented in Table 1. The electrical conductivity (EC) mean values are equal to 916.5 μS/cm for May and 889 μS/cm for September. High values are attributed to the intensive agricultural activities, the existence of geothermal fields and human activities in the area. It is known that during the previous decades, many textile dyeing units operated in the area. The uncontrolled disposal of untreated waste in the channels resulted in the degradation of soil and groundwater resources.

**Table 1.** Descriptive statistics of pH, EC, and major ions for groundwater samples.

pH values range from 6.29 to 8.04,and groundwater temperatures range from 16.5 ◦C to 21.8 ◦C (Figure 3). The spatial variation and especially the high temperatures could be caused by the mixing of groundwater with geothermal fluids.

**Figure 3.** Spatial distribution for (**a**) temperature (T) and (**b**) pH for the period of May 2014. (Adapted from Ref. [1]).

A high percentage of the groundwater samples (25%) exceeds the maximum permissible limit for drinking purposes set by Directive 2006/118 EC, the Joint Ministerial Decision 39626/208/E130, and the Ministerial Decision 1811/2011 (Official Government Gazette 3322 B/2011). This is associated with the use of nitrogen fertilizers in agriculture. It is pointed out that the common fertilizers in the area contain nitrogen, phosphate, sulfate, and potassium.

Sodium values exceed the threshold value of 150 mg/L in seven out of forty-four samples. The high sodium values were recorded at boreholes close to the geothermal field and at livestock units. Groundwater quality regarding sodium could be affected by the geothermal fluids, and the use of salt in the livestock units could locally increase the sodium concentration in water samples.

Typically, the distribution of calcium (Ca2+) ions for the two sampling periods is shown in the maps of Figure 4, constituting a typical example given that calcium is one of the most important dissolved ions in water since the content of groundwater is directly linked to the geological environment through which the groundwater moves from the moment of its infiltration up to the entire period of its storage in the aquifer. Its highest concentrations are found in areas where water remains for a long time in the aquifer, as in the area between Koronia and Volvi lakes. High values of sulfates are locally recorded and should be attributed to the use of fertilizers and/or the mixing with geothermal fluids.

**Figure 4.** Distribution of Ca2+ ions in the Mygdonia basin in (**a**) May 2014 and (**b**) September 2014. (Adapted from Ref. [1]).

Hydrochemical diagrams were created, providing information about the water type. In Figure 5, Durov diagrams for both sampling periods were created, showing that all samples belong to bicarbonates in terms of anions. Regarding cations, samples belong to calcium and sodium, while based on anions and cations (square), several of them belong to bicarbonate, sulfate, and chloride. It is, therefore, concluded that the groundwater type is calcium-bicarbonate (Ca-HCO3), while some samples are a mixture of different hydrochemical types of water [9].

**Figure 5.** Durov diagrams including all samples from the Mygdonia basin in (**a**) May2014 and (**b**) September 2014 [1].

Concerning Piper diagrams, all samples regarding anions belong to bicarbonate, while in terms of cations, samples belong to calcium and sodium. Based on anions and cations (diamond), the majority belongs to the category of water coming from mixing processes with increased values of sodium. There are no dominant ions (Figure 6).

The SAR index proposed by the salinity laboratory of the US Department of Agriculture defines the degree of Na+ adsorption by soil because this ion influences soil permeability [10]. SAR values range between 0.15 and 0.5, indicating that the water is suitable or permissible for irrigation use.

**Figure 6.** Piper diagrams including all samples from the Mygdonia basin in (**a**) May 2014 and (**b**) September 2014. (Adapted from Ref. [1]).


**4. Metabolic and Cardiovascular Consequences of Placental Dysregulation in Mothers Following ART**

Studies demonstrated that vascular dysfunctions in IVF pregnancies were similar to those identified when babies were conceived naturally from mothers affected by PE [132,133]. Sundheimer and Pisarska explain that the size of the placental bed and successful trophoblast invasion and spiral artery remodeling determine maternal blood flow. With these premises, abnormal placentation associated with infertility can represent a consequent marker of overall health for both the mother and her offspring [134]. It has been well known for a long time that inadequate trophoblast invasion and poor spiral artery remodeling may cause reduced vascular perfusion in pregnancy [135].

Women of advanced maternal age are generally at increased risk of GDM, HDP, operative and cesarean deliveries [136,137]; however, those who conceive with the use of IVF are at increased risk of retained placenta, suggesting that placentation abnormalities may contribute to maternal morbidity, and this may be more pronounced in women with infertility [138].

Fertility treatments (IVF and NON-IVF combined) have been associated with an increased risk of severe maternal morbidity (SMM), defined as unexpected outcomes of labor and delivery that result in significant short- or long-term consequences to a woman's health after [139]. In a population-based cohort study of 114,409 singleton pregnancies with conceptions dating from 11 January 2013 to 10 January 2014 in Ontario, IVF was associated with an increased risk of SMM (rate 11.3/1000; aRR 1.89, 95% CI: 1.06–3.39) [140]. In this study, the authors also noted supra-additive effects of high body mass index (BMI) and IVF on the risk of PE and GDM. The link between fertility treatment and SMM was also confirmed in another cohort study conducted from Ontario between 2006 and 2012, demonstrating that women undergoing fertility treatment are at higher risk of SMM with a relative risk of 1.39 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.23–1.56). Indicators of SMM were considered severe postpartum hemorrhage, maternal admission to an intensive care unit, puerperal sepsis, hysterectomy and cardiac conditions [141]. The American Heart

Association considers a history of PE or HDP as a major risk factor in these women for the development of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) [142].

In summary, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases derived from impaired placentation following infertility treatments may have long-term consequences on both the mother and the newborn.

### **5. Health Risk in Infancy as a Consequence of Placental Dysfunction Following ART**

According to the "developmental origins of health and disease theory" [143] and the Barker hypothesis of the developmental origins of chronic adult disease [144], placental dysfunction and abnormal fetal development may have long-term consequences on the neonate and his development, from childhood to adult life. A higher risk of diabetes mellitus and CVD were found in children whose mothers had PE and HDP, by long-term follow up observations [145,146]. A track of this condition is represented by the finding of reduced endothelial function in mothers and children after PE [147].

Evidence suggests, at least in animal studies, that IVF can promote endothelial dysfunction with increased vessel stiffness in offspring. This can induce arterial hypertension in vivo and an epigenetic origin of the condition has been suggested [132]. IVF causality is also suggested by the significantly elevated activity of enzymatic regulators in the cardiovascular system of IVF offspring [148]. Additionally, there is increasing evidence that offspring conceived by IVF displays a level of vascular dysfunction similar to that seen in children spontaneously conceived by mothers with PE [132,133]. Of note, in 2015 in a randomized case-control trial, antioxidant administration to IVF children was able to improve NO bioavailability and responsiveness of both systemic and pulmonary circulation [149], thus indicating that vascular dysfunctions induced by ART are reversible in young people.

Regarding the increased metabolic risk later in adult life, IVF-conceived mice showed decreased glucose tolerance, increased fasting glucose levels, and reduced insulin-stimulated protein kinase B (Akt) phosphorylation in the liver later in their adult life [150]. These findings are similar to those seen in humans. Some individuals conceived by ART have shown LBW, higher weight, height, and BMI in late infancy [151] and fasting insulin levels [152]. Adolescents conceived by ART showed significant differences in growth kinetics, glucose levels, and blood pressure in comparison with those conceived naturally by sub-fertile parents [153,154], suggesting that these alterations may be caused by ART procedures. Development delay at birth (probably caused by epigenetic alterations) and accelerated growth in late infancy, with metabolic alterations in adolescence, may predispose these individuals to chronic diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes [155,156]. An epigenetic programming of metabolism during prenatal and postnatal periods as a response to imprinting alterations that occurred during early embryonic development has been hypothesized [156,157].

### **6. Simultaneous Action of Factors Dysregulating Normal Placentation**

Infertility and its treatments, including ART and its various procedures (ICSI, blastocyst culture + FET + PGT-A with ovarian stimulation or hormonal preparation), may individually or synergistically participate in the dysregulation of embryo and placenta development. Consequently, it is probably impossible to separate the relative contribution of the many factors influencing embryo, placental, and newborn health when an infertile woman is treated with the many types of ART techniques. These techniques may represent confounding factors for a full understanding of previous studies and future ones to be designed.

Each technique may lead to important epigenetic changes and differential gene expression in the placenta [82,83] or damage the developing embryos with thermal, oxidative and mechanical stressing actions [82,98,158].

Pivotal reproductive hormones, such as human chorionic gonadotropin, progesterone and estradiol, are found at high concentrations at the maternal–fetal interface during vessel remodeling. This observation allows to hypothesize that such relevant vascular transformation may be under the influence of these hormones, which may control trophoblast migration [90,159]. A potential role in placental function dysregulation has been proposed for estrogens. In this respect, elevated estrogen exposure (as in controlled ovarian hyperstimulation) has been associated with higher rates of LBW and FGR [160].

Are perinatal adverse outcomes in infertile patients the consequence of ART or are they the consequence of the underlying infertility? A possible answer to this basic question may come from infertile couples conceiving spontaneously with no ART treatments; in these couples, a higher risk of PTB and LBW has been reported [1]. However, an increasing number of observations show vascular dysfunctions similar to those observed in PE in IVF offspring [132,133], and a common mechanism of action could be postulated.

The induction of defective methylation and consequent alteration of gene expression, which may impair placentation [85], can be caused by oxidative stress [161,162], as in endometriosis and by the altered hormonal milieu, i.e., supraphysiologic estradiol levels due to ovarian hyperstimulation [97]. Particular negative effects on embryo development may occur in PGT-A procedures, in which the epigenetic risk for long in vitro culture may be added to the trophectoderm mechanical stress. If the patient is also affected by PCOS, this adverse metabolic condition for the placenta would considerably increase the overall obstetric, perinatal and postnatal final risk [76,77]. All these factors could exert additive effects, leading to the pathologic condition.


**1. Role of adenoviruses in human pathology**

Adenoviruses (AdVs) [1] occupy a significant place in the human pathology [2]. It was established that 30–70% of the human population in Europe and North America shows a seroprevalence to AdVs (cit. in [3]). These viruses are causative agents of wide range of human diseases, showing varying tissue tropism. They are generally middle and self-limiting. Among them, large place is occupied by acute respiratory tract diseases, especially in children [4]. Conjunctivitis is very often registered in these infections. More severe course manifests viral

© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2019 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

gastroenteritis, especially in infants, as well as hemorrhagic cystitis, and in rare cases, hepatitis, myocarditis, meningoencephalitis or nephritis [5, 6]. AdVs are characteristic with their severe course in persons with hereditary decreased or impaired immune system: (1) hereditary immunodeficiency; (2) in persons transplant recipients treated with immunosuppressive agents; (3) AIDS. In such patients, the abovementioned clinical manifestations are particularly prone to disseminated disease frequently show a fatal outcome, in children mortality rate attains 83% [7–9]. EKC is another serious and very frequent AdV induced disease, extremely often with social importance [10–14].

**Compound name Chemical structure Target Way of administration and**

inhibition of late genes

5-MP dehydrogenese (decreased GTP pools) • Viral polymerases inhibition (RNA capping activity of viral transcripts) • Lethal mutagenesis of viral RNA genomes ("error catastrophe")

proteins

expression

Ganciclovir AdV DNA synthesis,

Alovudine AdV DNA polymerase

Vidarabine DNA synthesis

Ribavirin • Inhibition of inosin-

Abitylguanide-HCl Ligand of AdV capsid

Trifluridine DNA synthesis *Local application*

Zalcitabine

**clinical trial**

treated each)

*Local application* ZIRGAN

Chemotherapy of Adenovirus Infections http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.79160 15

Three double-blind trials: two in US and one in Germany (40 placebo and 40 ZIRGAN

GCV in combination with the microbicide povidon-iodine

*General application in immunocompromized patients*

*Local application in EKC patients* ADENOSTATIN COLLYRIUM Two placebo-controlled randomised trials on 349 EKC patients (151 and 198, respectively) carried out in 1973/74; three placebocontrolled trials in latest 80th

years

The major problem of AdVs infections is the absence of chemotherapeutic agents not only for the clinical practice, but even the absence at strong anti-adenovirals in experimental research. This is pointed in all manuals of virology considering AdVs and AdV-induced infections, in the review articles and even in all encyclopedic sources. Evidently, development of an effective antiviral treatment is a principal task.

This chapter presents a concentrated view on the investigations of experimental chemotherapy of AdV infections and results of their clinical application (**Table 1**).

gastroenteritis, especially in infants, as well as hemorrhagic cystitis, and in rare cases, hepatitis, myocarditis, meningoencephalitis or nephritis [5, 6]. AdVs are characteristic with their severe course in persons with hereditary decreased or impaired immune system: (1) hereditary immunodeficiency; (2) in persons transplant recipients treated with immunosuppressive agents; (3) AIDS. In such patients, the abovementioned clinical manifestations are particularly prone to disseminated disease frequently show a fatal outcome, in children mortality rate attains 83% [7–9]. EKC is another serious and very frequent AdV induced disease, extremely

The major problem of AdVs infections is the absence of chemotherapeutic agents not only for the clinical practice, but even the absence at strong anti-adenovirals in experimental research. This is pointed in all manuals of virology considering AdVs and AdV-induced infections, in the review articles and even in all encyclopedic sources. Evidently, development of an effec-

This chapter presents a concentrated view on the investigations of experimental chemother-

**Compound name Chemical structure Target Way of administration and**

Cidofovir AdV DNA polymerase *Local application in EKC*

Brincyclovir AdV DNA polymerase *Oral application*

elongation

(S)-HPMPA AdV DNA chain

(S)-HPMPO-DAPy AdV DNA polymerase

**clinical trial**

*Oral application in immunocompromised*

Controlled clinical pilot study of combination with cyclosporine

*patients*

*patients* VISTID

CHIMERIX

Phase II clinical trial

apy of AdV infections and results of their clinical application (**Table 1**).

often with social importance [10–14].

14 Adenoviruses

tive antiviral treatment is a principal task.

[18–20]. Romanowski and Gordon [21] found efficacy of topical 0.5% cidofovir on several human adenoviruses (AdV1, AdV5 and AdV6) in the New Zealand rabbit ocular model. AdV type B and type C-induced pneumonia registered in mice and in cotton rats [22] could be used

Chemotherapy of Adenovirus Infections http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.79160 17

This compound is a lipidic conjugate of cidofovir. It prevents AdV induced mortality in a

Its anti-AdV effect has the same mechanism as cidofovir—inhibition of the AdV DNA chain

This compound proved active against multiple AdV serotypes in vitro and was effective versus AdV-C6 in hamsters immunosuppressed by cyclophosphamide. Administered orally USC-187 prevented or significantly decreased mortality, virus titers and liver pathology up to 4 days post AdV i.v. challenge. Applied in a respiratory AdV-C6 challenge model USC-187

The compound anti-AdV activity registered was slightly inferior than that of cidofovir and

In vitro manifested a marked activity on AdV replication with selectivity index exceeding

This compound is known as a drug approved for the treatment of herpes infection (cytomegalovirus infection especially) was reported to be effective against human AdVs in vitro [27]. In cell culture GCV inhibits AdV5 replication and expression of late genes [28]. These authors established a marked effect of 3% GCV in cotton rat eyes, on replication and pathology of this virus [28] Ying et al. [29] tested the GCV administered locally for prophylactic or therapeutic effect in immunosuppressed (by cyclophosphamide) Syrian hamsters intravenously infected with human AdV5 and was established that the compound suppresses AdV5 replication in the liver and AdC5-induced pathology of infected hamsters thus mitigated the consequences of the AdV infection. It was showed that GCV inhibits AdV5 DNA synthesis and late gene expression. The slight increase in GCV phosphorylation in AdV infected cells established by

**2.5. (S)-HPMPO-DAPy [2,4-diamino-6-[3-hydroxy-2-(phosphonomethoxy)-propoxy]**

for in vivo treatment with antivirals.

manifested symptoms of toxicity [25].

elongation [24].

**pyrimidine)**

HPMPA [26].

cidofovir [26].

**2.7. Ganciclovir (GCV)**

**2.2. Brincyclovir (BCV; hexadecyloxypropyl-cidofovir; CMX001)**

**2.4. USC-187 (alkyl tyrosinamide-ester prodrug of HPMPA)**

**2.6. (S)-2242 [2-amino-7-(1,3-dihydroxy-2-propoxymethyl)purine**

**2.3. (S)-HPMPA [(S)-9-(3-hydroxy-2-phosphonomethoxypropyl)adenine**

permissive, immunosuppressed animal model [23].

**Table 1.** Compounds manifesting activity against human adenoviruses.


**1.2 Physicochemical properties of co-crystals**

For the creation of APIs, co-crystals' physicochemical characteristics are crucial. Adjusting the physicochemical parameters of pharmaceutical co-crystals during drug development improves the stability and efficacy of the dosage form [34]. Numerous studies have been conducted on physicochemical characteristics such as solubility, dissolution, crystallinity, melting point, bioavailability, and stability. The following list summarizes some important physicochemical characteristics of pharmaceutical co-crystals [35].


**Diverse Thermal Transport Properties of Two-Dimensional Materials: A Comparative Review**

Guangzhao Qin and Ming Hu

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/64298

#### **Abstract**

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nl903868w

nn201838w

1011–1029.

The discovery of graphene led to an upsurge in exploring two-dimensional (2D) materials, such as silicene, germanene, phosphorene, hexagonal boron nitride (*h*-BN), and transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), which have attracted tremendous attention due to their unique dimension-dependent properties in the applications of nanoelectronics, optoelectronics, and thermoelectrics. The phonon transport proper‐ ties governing the heat energy transfer have become a crucial issue for continuing progress in the electronic industry. This chapter reviews the state-of-the-art theoreti‐ cal and experimental investigations of phonon transport properties of broad 2D nanostructures in various forms, with graphene, silicene and phosphorene as repre‐ sentatives, all of which consist of single element. Special attention is given to the effect of different physical factors, such as sample size, strain, and layer thickness. The effect of substrate and the phonon transport properties in heterostructures are also dis‐ cussed. We find that the phonon transport properties of 2D materials largely depend on their atomic structure and interatomic bonding nature, showing a diverse intrinsic phonon behavior and disparate response to external environment.

**Keywords:** two-dimensional materials, thermal conductivity, phonon transport, strain, substrate, first-principles


*3.2. Analysis of the Applicability of the Network Model and Virus Model of a Prefabricated Building Supply Chain*

#### *3.3. The Existence of a Risk Balance Point*

In the infectious disease model, there are two modes: disease-free equilibrium and endemic equilibrium. The disease-free equilibrium is the extinction of the disease, and the endemic equilibrium means that the disease will develop in the population for a long time, forming a normalization [37]. Because this paper studies and analyses risk transmission based on the infectious disease model, it redefines the disease-free equilibrium point as the risk extinction point and the endemic equilibrium point as the long-term risk existence point. The risks in the supply chain can only be controlled but do not completely disappear. Therefore, this paper only explores the spread of the endemic equilibrium point, that is, the long-term existence point of risks, defined according to the supply chain:

In Model (1), there is always a disease-free equilibrium *P*0 *μ Z* , 0, 0, 0, 0 . According to the method of the regeneration matrix in the literature [38], the basic regeneration number is obtained:

$$R\_0 = \frac{\varkappa\_2 Q b \beta}{\mu M\_1 M\_2} + \frac{\varkappa\_1 Z b (1 - \beta)}{\mu M\_0 M\_2} + \frac{Hb \beta M\_2 d\_1 + Hb (1 - \beta) M\_1 d\_2}{M\_0 M\_1 M\_2 (H + \beta)}$$

among *M*0 = *b* + *μ*, *M*1 = *μ* + *d*1 + *c*1, *M*2 = *μ* + *d*2 + *c*2. There are the following conclusions about the existence of the equilibrium point of the model:

**Theorem 1.** *When R*0 > 1*, Model (1) has a unique endemic equilibrium P*∗(*S*∗, *E*∗, *A*∗, *I*∗, *R*∗)

It is proven that if the right side of Model (1) is equal to 0 and an endemic equilibrium *P*∗ exists, the algebraic equations are satisfied:

$$\begin{cases} Q - a\_1 \mathbb{S}^\* A^\* - a\_2 \mathbb{S}^\* I^\* - \mu \mathbb{S}^\* = 0 \\ a\_1 \mathbb{S}^\* A^\* + a\_2 \mathbb{S}^\* I^\* - \mu E^\* - b \beta E^\* - b(1 - \beta) E^\* + HR^\* = 0 \\ b \beta E^\* - (c\_1 + \mu) A^\* - d\_1 A^\* = 0 \\ b(1 - \beta) E^\* - (c\_2 + \mu) I^\* - d\_2 I^\* = 0 \\ d\_1 A^\* + d\_2 I^\* - \mu R^\* - HR^\* = 0 \end{cases} \tag{2}$$

The following can be obtained from the third and fourth formulas of the equations:

$$\begin{aligned} b\beta E^\* &= (c\_1 + \mu)A^\* + d\_1 A^\* = M\_1 A^\* \\ b(1 - \beta)E^\* &= (c\_2 + \mu)I^\* + d\_2 I^\* = M\_2 A^\* \end{aligned}$$

Therefore,

$$A^\* = \frac{b\beta}{M\_1} E^\*, I^\* = \frac{b(1-\beta)}{M\_2} E^\*. \tag{3}$$

Substituting (3) into (2) yields

$$\frac{d\_1 b \beta}{M\_1} E^\* + \frac{d\_2 b (1 - \beta)}{M\_2} E^\* = (H + \mu) R^\* \lambda$$

Therefore,

$$R^\* = \frac{1}{H + \mu} (\frac{d\_1 b \beta}{M\_1} + \frac{d\_2 b (1 - \beta)}{M\_2}).\tag{4}$$

Combining Equation (4) and bringing the second equation in equation group (2) into the first equation, we obtain *Q* − *M*0*E*∗ + *H H*+*μ* ( *d*1*bβ M*1 + *d*2*b*(1−*β*) *M*2 )*E*∗ = *μS*∗

So

$$S^\* = \frac{Q}{\mu} - \frac{(H+\mu)M\_0M\_1M\_2 - d\_1b\beta HM\_2 - d\_2b(1-\beta)HM\_1}{\mu(H+\mu)M\_1M\_2}E^\* \tag{5}$$

Substituting (3), (4), and (5) into the second equation set of equation set (2) gives

$$
\mu\_1 S^\* A^\* + \partial\_2 S^\* I^\* - \mu E^\* - b\beta E^\* - b(1 - \beta)E^\* + HR^\* = 0
$$

$$\begin{cases} \frac{a\_1 b (1 - \beta)}{M\_2} + \frac{a\_2 b \beta}{M\_1} ) E^\* \times \left\{ \frac{Q}{\mu} - \frac{(H + \mu) M\_0 M\_1 M\_2 - d\_1 b \beta H M\_2 - d\_2 b (1 - \beta) H M\_1}{\mu (H + \mu) M\_1 M\_2} E^\* \right\} \\\ -M\_0 E^\* + \frac{H}{H + \mu} (\frac{d\_1 b \beta}{M\_1} + \frac{d\_2 b (1 - \beta)}{M\_2}) E^\* = 0. \end{cases}$$

Therefore,

$$E^\* = \frac{\mu M\_0 M\_1^2 M\_2^2 (H + \mu)}{\left\{ (H + \mu)M\_0 M\_1 M\_2 - \left[ H b\_1 \beta M\_2 d\_1 + H b\_2 (1 - \beta) M\_2 d\_2 \right] \right\} \left[ a\_1 b\_1 M\_1 (1 - \beta) + a\_2 b\_2 M\_2 \beta \right]} \left( R\_0 - 1 \right)$$

Therefore, this paper needs to prove

{(*H* + *μ*)*M*0*M*1*M*2 − [*Hb*1*βM*2*d*1 + *Hb*2(1 − *β*)*M*2*d*2]} > 0 Just do it.

The specific steps are as follows:

$$\begin{cases} (H+\mu)M\_0M\_1M\_2 - [Hb\_1\beta M\_2d\_1 + Hb\_2(1-\beta)M\_2d\_2] \big) & \\ > Hb\_1M\_2 - [Hb\_1\beta M\_2d\_1 + Hb\_2(1-\beta)M\_2d\_2] \big) & \\ = Hb[(\beta M\_1M\_2 - \beta d\_1M\_1M\_2) + (1-\beta)M\_1M\_2 - (1-\beta)d\_2M\_1] \big) & \\ > 0 \end{cases}$$

It can be proven that there is an endemic equilibrium point, so this situation will form a long-term risk in enterprises, that is, the risk that a supply chain will exist for a long time.


*2.1.2 Check interference levels in all metallic conductors*

Use a current probe to measure high-frequency currents flowing through a wire quickly. When the laboratory is better equipped, a line impedance stabilization network2 (LISN) connection can use. Remember that cables are the most likely structure emitting radio-frequency (RF) energy. During the measurement, move the probe back and forth along the cable to maximize the highest currents. Be careful not to affect the measurements with the user's own body (hand movement).


Meet the editor

Jonathan S. Harrison obtained undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Chicago, prior to receiving his medical degree from the University of Illinois. Much of his career was spent in the medical education system of the State of New Jersey, which is now part of Rutgers University. He was subsequently the Nellie B. Smith Professor of Oncology and director of the division of Hematology and Oncology, University of

Missouri. Currently, he is a member of the Hemato-Oncology Institute at the Sheba Medical Center.

Contents

An Historical Overview of the Amyloidoses

*by Richa Juneja, Prasad Dange and Rahul Arora*

*and Paulo Renato de Oliveira*

*by Ivetta Danylesko*

*Dominik Waldmeier and Nisha Arenja*

**Preface XI**

**Chapter 1 1**

**Chapter 2 19**

**Chapter 3 37**

**Chapter 4 57**

**Chapter 5 73**

**Chapter 6 87** Non-Alzheimers Amyloidoses of the Neurological System: Cerebral Amyloid

*by Jonathan S. Harrison, Yossi Cohen, Irina Ioffe and Shlomo Bulvik*

Therapeutic Approaches for Alzheimer's Disease: New Perspectives *by Ivo Ilvan Kerppers, Andressa Panegalli Hosni, Andressa Leticia Miri,*

*Mariane Maria Silveira Vieira de Lima, Ana Carolina Dorigoni Bini,*

Diagnosis of Cardiac Amyloidosis Using Non-Invasive Technics *by Eva Strickler, Ernest Tsiaze, Gerrit Hellige, Dominik Zumstein,*

A Short Review of Hematopoietic Transplantation for AL Amyloidosis

Diagnosis of Amyloidosis: From History to Current Tools

*Maria Elvira Ribeiro Cordeiro, Flávio Klinpovous Kerppers,*

*Felipe Figueiredo Moreira, Patricia Pacheco Tyski Suckow, Eliane Gonçalves de Jesus Fonseca, Larissa Sakis Bernardi*

Angiopathy and Familial Amyloid Polyneuropathy *by Gilad A. Muth, Jonathan S. Harrison and Rohan Arora*

## Contents

Preface

Amyloidosis occurs in a variety of clinical settings and can manifest in a wide spectrum of clinical presentations. It may occur as an inherited disease or it may be acquired during the lifetime of the affected individual due to a variety of underlying disease states. As a consequence of heterogenous etiologies and of the protean clinical presentations, it is often overlooked until irreversible end-organ damage has occurred. This volume provides an overview of some of the major topics in the very broad field of amyloidosis to aid in the understanding of the

The first chapter provides a historical overview of the key developments in the understanding of amyloidosis with respect to biology and diagnosis as well milestones in the treatment of the major subtypes of the disease. Subsequent chapters focus on a variety of subtypes of amyloidosis and provide more detailed discussions of the pathogenesis of specific forms of amyloidosis as well as examine treatment options for these subtypes. The final chapter discusses major hypotheses regarding the role of amyloid in Alzheimer's disease, a disorder that is a major healthcare issue worldwide but for which the details of its pathobiology remain to

be fully elucidated and for which treatment is entirely unsatisfactory.

There are medical journals devoted largely or entirely to amyloidosis and

therefore one may ask what the role of yet another volume on the topic might be. New insights are being gleaned into the varied subtypes of amyloidosis yearly, and current updates are of value in stimulating thought and moving the basic and clinical investigation forward. More fundamentally, if even one patient ultimately benefits from the works contained herein, then this present volume may be judged

This book is dedicated to George P. Studzinski, MD, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Rutgers University, a meticulous scientist, an accomplished educator, and an

> **Jonathan S. Harrison** Hemato-Oncology Institute,

> > Ramat Gan, Israel

Sheba Medical Center – Tel HaShomer Hospital,

nature of amyloidoses.

a success.

exemplary mentor.


**3.6 Automation systems**

Automation is the heart to deliver WAAM fabrication from welding. Cartesian coordinates (x, y & z axes), robotic arm, and manipulator like kinematic machines have been available for providing necessary motions to the weld-torch for attaining build shaped structure. The repeatability with accuracy in such motions will lead to achieve desired geometrical, physical properties of the weldment. The high volume of material may be needed to be post-processed, if the motion system is not accurate. This would detrimentally decide the cost of WAAM. CNC machine movements have been employed for WAAM and are believed to be cost-effective approach and would be a hybrid process as the motion for building components and machining to achieve the final component shall be done on the same machine at a stretch.


**3. Data driven construction measurement and control technology for ballastless track of high-speed railway**

Using new generation information technologies such as big data, mobile Internet, edge computing, etc., based on the digital design results of track engineering, and data driven mode, the intelligent construction measurement and control mode of "data perception, real-time transmission, dynamic analysis" was established by using the data automatic acquisition and measurement of total station, track inspection trolley, measurement and control terminal, etc.

*Perspective Chapter: Intelligent Construction Technology of Ballastless Track for High-Speed… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109611*

**Figure 7.**

*Intelligent measurement and control scheme based on data drive.*

The portable intelligent measurement and control terminal, fine tuning robot and rail geometry and position information acquisition device were developed. The data interface of the whole process of design and construction has been opened up, and the automatic measurement and control of key processes of ballastless track, such as base laying and positioning, track slab fine adjustment, track panel fine adjustment and rail fine adjustment, has been realized, which improves efficiency and reduces manual inputs. It realizes the interaction and flow of "design, measurement and control, feedback" of construction information flow. The GeoCom communication technology is used to open the control interface with the measuring robot, realize the wireless communication and automatic control with the measuring robot, realize the automatic calculation of fine adjustment deviation, and complete the wireless upload of fine adjustment results to the management and control platform (**Figure 7**).

### **3.1 Base laying and positioning based on data drive**

Through the CP III control network and digital design results, the station setting of the measuring robot is completed. The terminal is used to control the measuring robot wirelessly to realize automatic measurement of base plate lofting. At the same time, the elevation measurement data of the subgrade surface, beam surface and other offline foundations are obtained, and the elevation deviation is obtained through realtime comparison with the digital design results. This determines the influence of beam surface elevation before the construction of the base, the base thickness adjustment scheme, automatically generates the formwork height of the base, and realizes the accurate control of the plane position, elevation and thickness of the base (**Figure 8**).

#### **3.2 Fine adjustment of track slab based on data drive**

The fine adjustment of track slab is basically a precise measurement in the installation stage, that is, the key point measurement or setting out of the track slab under to acheive the design theoretical position. During the preparation for fine adjustment, the process uses curve elements, slope information, long and short chains, other basic information and dynamic calculation modules to calculate the three-dimensional

**Figure 8.** *Schematic diagram of base laying and positioning process based on data drive.*

coordinates of the rail support platform based on the positional mileage of the track slab. A measuring frame accurately matched with a bolt hole is placed on the rail support platform. A prism for the identification by the measuring robot is installed in the center of the frame. The intelligent measuring robot is used to collect the threedimensional coordinates of the prism at the corresponding point and send them to the mobile terminal. The measurement and adjustment software automatically analyzes, compares and calculates between the measured coordinates and the design coordinates in real time to form the geometric position deviation under the threedimensional space of the track slab at the rail support platform. The fine adjustment robot is controlled according to the deviation to complete automatic adjustment (**Figure 9**).

**Figure 9.** *Schematic diagram of track slab fine adjustment scheme based on data drive.*


**4.4 Epigenetics**

Critically, myxoid chondrosarcoma harbors repetitive genetic rearrangements including the NR4A3 gene, demonstrating an exceptionally useful confirmatory diagnostic indication. Other proteins namely EWSR1 and TAF15 are also involved in this type of cancer. Some researchers also described uncommon combination of transcripts like HSPA8-NR4A3, TFG-NR4A3, and TCF12-NR4A3 which can play a major role in the initiation and development of this malignancy [15]. Currently, no predictive factor is accessible to assist decision making for this metastatic process, and in specific to characterize whether systemic treatment ought to be utilized.


**Author details**

Minoru Saito Department of Correlative Study in Physics and Chemistry, Graduate School of Integrated Basic Sciences, Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan

\*Address all correspondence to<EMAIL_ADDRESS>
© 2022 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

*Application of the Loewner Equation for Neurite Outgrowth Mechanism DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108377*


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