*Edited by Snježana Jurić*

Undernourishment in some areas and abundance in others, accelerated climate changes, food distribution and security challenges, fluctuating economic and political stability and oversaturation in information—this is the world we are living in today. It seems that there is no time for the basic science plant research; instead of years of dedicated investigation, scientists are forced to wrap up their know-how in a projectoriented deliverables as fast as possible. The main strength of this book is the new knowledge about plant engineering that could be transferred into the applied science and, later on, to the industry. However, we should not forget that all great discoveries begin with the fundamental research, the wealth of good ideas and the dedicated scientific work.

Plant Engineering

Plant Engineering

*Edited by Snježana Jurić*

Photo by ivan101 / iStock


**3. Mechanism of immune systems in the human body against COVID-19**

Both innate and adaptive immunity are required to fight against SARS-CoV-2. The innate immunity includes monocytes, dendritic cells (DCs), granulocytes, and natural killer (NK) cells, while the adaptive immune system includes B and T cells. Severe patients are characterized by the following: Lymphopenia with a drop in CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, lymphocyte activation and dysfunction, an increase in circulating neutrophils with the appearance of circulating neutrophil precursors, and loss of the monocytes function and impaired the function of NK and DCs [19, 20].

Inflammatory cytokine levels are elevated, particularly interleukin-6 and IL-1 [21]. On the other hand, the interferon response is delayed, while the levels of immunoglobulin G (IgG) and total antibodies are increased [22, 23]. Immune disorders, which are characterized by an elevated inflammatory profile, are frequent in severe infections and sepsis and finally ends up with immunosuppression. For severe COVID-19, a similar method has been proposed [24, 25]. Owing to the absence of the effective antiviral therapy, the immunological response of the body is a critical element in disease severity and clinical outcome. Thus, clearer picture regarding the cellular immune response through the disease progression is highly required for establishing diagnostic indicators and potential therapeutic strategies against COVID-19.

During the SARS-CoV-2 infection, the cellular and molecular cascades orchestrate the activation, recruitment, and resolution of the antiviral immune response. These cascades fine-tune the balance between viral eradication and immune injury. Multiple innate immune identification pathways fight viruses during infection [26]. Within the first few hours, The innate immune system inhibits virus replication by releasing type I/III interferon [27], pro-inflammatory cytokines (including: IL-1, IL-6, and IL-18), and chemokines (including: CCL2 and CCL7 and then adaptive immunity is activated.)

Following the SARS-CoV-2 infection, T cells are highly involved in the viral clearance process, whereas humoral immune response is mainly involved in the production of neutralizing antibodies to block the viral entry. T lymphocytes directly attack the infected cells, and they stimulate the cytokines production to boost the immune response of T lymphocytes and other immunocompetent cells such as B lymphocytes and macrophages. To defend the host from nonspecific injury, the body then diminishes innate immunity [28].

Innate immune cells (DCs and macrophages) and adaptive mediated- cell types (regulatory B cells and T cells) establish an inflammation repair status when viruses have been eradicated.


*2.2. Mitochondrial Cristae Organization Was Impaired in CTNS*−/− *ciPTEC*

Comparative ultrastructural analysis of mitochondria in ciPTEC, by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), showed the presence of smaller mitochondria in *CTNS*−/− ciPTEC compared to *CTNS*+/+ ciPTEC (0.12 ± 0.01 μm2 in *CTNS*−/− vs. 0.26 ± 0.01 μm2 in *CTNS*+/+, *p* < 0.0001). Mitochondrial area was completely recovered by MEA treatment (0.32 ± 0.04 μm2 in *CTNS*−/− + MEA vs. 0.12 ± 0.01 μm2 in *CTNS*−/−, *p* < 0.0001). Moreover, TEM showed a substantial reduction in number of cristae per mitochondrial section in *CTNS*−/− (5.1 ± 0.6 in *CTNS*+/+ vs. 1.6 ± 0.2 in *CTNS*−/−, *p* < 0.0001). This parameter was rescued by MEA by 167.5% (*p* < 0.0001). Because evidences underlined a critical role of cristae junction in mitochondrial function and organization, we measured them. It was found an increase in cristae junction width (39.65 ± 4.83 nm in *CTNS*+/+ vs. 53.21 ± 10.05 nm in *CTNS*−/−, *p* < 0.0001) and cristae lumen width (29.68 ± 3.53 nm in *CTNS*+/+ vs. 37.04 ± 6.13 nm in *CTNS*−/−, *p* < 0.0003) partially rescued by cysteamine (Figure 5).

**Figure 5.** Comparative ultrastructural analysis of mitochondria in ciPTEC. (**a**) Representative images of TEM with magnification 16,000× of untreated and MEA-treated ciPTEC *CTNS*+/+ and *CTNS*−/−; scale bar = 1 μm. As shown in high magnification cropped micrographs and in ad hoc schematic reconstruction, mitochondria kept preserved ultrastructure in ciPTEC *CTNS*+/+ and in MEA-treated ciPTEC *CTNS*+/+ and *CTNS*−/−, whereas ciPTEC *CTNS*−/− showed disruption of mitochondrial cristae and the disarrangement of the internal structures; scale bar = 200 nm. (**b**–**e**) Quantitative analysis was performed with ImageJ v.1.52p in *n* ≥ 5 double-blind acquisitions for each experimental condition, red lines represent median with interquartile range. (**b**) Evaluation of relative mitochondrial size measured as area of *n* ≥ 27 mitochondrial sections. (**c**) Average number of cristae per mitochondrion in each cell (*n* ≥ 27 mitochondrial sections). (**d**) The measure of distance of cristae junction near the inner membrane boundary and (**e**) the measure of cristae lumen, assessed on cristae membranes that outline the lumen boundary, were assessed in *n* ≥ 100 cristae. Non-parametric Mann-Whitney test was applied, \*\*\* *p* < 0.001; \* *p* < 0.05.

#### **3. Discussion**

Nephropathic cystinosis is a rare inherited metabolic disorder, belonging to the group of lysosomal storage diseases (LSD). The disease is the first cause of Fanconi syndrome in children, characterized by loss of electrolytes, glucose, amino acid, low-molecular weight proteins in urine caused by proximal tubule dysfunction [4,22]. The molecular mechanism at the basis of Fanconi syndrome in cystinosis is not completely understood. Several mechanisms have been suggested to contribute to the pathogenesis of cystinosis, including lysosomal overload, endo-lysosomal transport defect, altered chaperone-mediated autophagy, mTOR signaling, transcription factor EB (TFEB) expression [11,13,23–27]. Cysteamine, a cystine-depleting agent, which allows clearance of cystine from lysosomes, represents the only specific treatment for cystinosis. However, cysteamine does not correct the above cited cellular alterations and does not stop the progress of the Fanconi syndrome. Our recent studies have shown in *CTNS*−/− ciPTEC a higher mitochondrial fragmentation index associated with lower mitochondrial potential and mitochondrial cyclic AMP levels, rescued by 24 h treatment with 100 μM cysteamine or with the cell-permeant analogue of cyclic AMP, 8-Br-cAMP [8]. cAMP, in fact, is one of the major regulators of mitochondrial function [28–30] and dynamics [31]. In this contest, it should be noted that MEA has been found to improve mitochondrial function in mitochondrial respiratory chain diseases [32]. Mitochondrial dynamics is balanced between rates of fusion and fission that respond to pathophysiologic signals. This finely regulated equilibrium is closely related to the quality control system, which is mainly ascribed to the ubiquitin protease system (UPS) and to the intra-mitochondrial proteolytic systems [33]. In our experimental model, no significant differences were observed on protein levels of phosphorylated Drp1 at Ser-637. The PKA-dependent phosphorylation of Drp1 at Ser-637 is generally recognized to block Drp1 GTPase activity and to suppress mitochondrial fission. However, and in agreement with data previously reported by Yu et al., Drp1pS637 did not contribute substantially to mitochondrial fission regulation in *CTNS*−/− ciPTEC [18]. Several key effector proteins of mitochondrial fusion (MFN1 and MFN2) and fission (Fis1, Mff) are located at the OMM with their domains exposed at the cytosolic side of the membrane. This peculiar topology allows selective removing of fusion or fission components exposed by the UPS, providing fine tuning of this high-level regulatory processes. In mammalian cells, Fis1 accumulates in the mitochondrial outer membrane during the fission process, whereas MFN1 and MFN2 are ubiquitinated and degraded by the proteasome [34]. In this respect, we observed an increase in Fis1, ubiquitinated MFN2 and of the E3 ubiquitin ligase Parkin in *CTNS*−/− ciPTEC, indicating the tendency to mitochondrial fragmentation. The effect of MEA on the reduction of ubiquitilated MFN2 could be ascribed to the modulation of USP30, a mitochondrion-localized deubiquitilase, which counteracts Parkin by deubiquitilating OMM proteins and regulate mitophagy [35]. These findings are consistent with data showing that an increase of parkin expression results in mitochondrial fragmentation [36] and is associated with MFN2 ubiquitination [37]. In addition, the increase of FIS1, in cystinotic cell, might be due to Sirt3 protein [38] that was found downregulated in the same cystinotic cell line [8]. OPA1, an inner mitochondrial membrane GTPase protein, has gained attention because it regulates important mitochondrial functions, including the balance between mitochondrial fusion and fission processes, the stability of the mitochondrial respiratory chain complexes, the proapoptotic release of cytochrome *c* molecules sequestered within the mitochondrial cristae and the maintenance of mitochondrial cristae architecture [39]. The protein expression levels of OPA1 were not significantly changed in mutated cells, compared to control ciPTEC cells (data not shown). However, the activity of OPA1 is also controlled at the post-translational level by proteolytic and acetylation changes [31]. Various stress conditions, including apoptotic stimulation, trigger the complete conversion of L-OPA1 into S-OPA1. The pro-fusion activity of OPA1 depends on the balanced formation of L-OPA1 and S-OPA1 [40]. In this respect, we observed an alteration of OPA1 processing in *CTNS*−/− ciPTEC cells. In particular, cystinotic cells were characterized by a significant increase of S-OPA1, associated with an increase in the protease OMA1 activity, that was not prevented by MEA. In addition to its role as a fusion protein, OPA1 controls the remodeling of mitochondrial cristae. Specifically, OPA1 forms oligomers in the

inner mitochondrial membrane that keep the cristae junctions tight. During apoptosis, oligomers are destabilized causing the opening of cristae and release of cytochrome *c* out of the mitochondria. OPA1 oligomers were decreased in cystinotic cells. MEA did not rescue this phenotype. This defect correlates with increased cristae junction width that we observed in our TEM ultrastructural analyses.

In summary, our study shows deregulation of several proteins involved in mitochondrial dynamics in *CTNS*−/− cells. We observed mitochondrial fragmentation in cystinotic cells associated with altered proteolytic processing of OPA1, increased Fis1 and parkin protein levels. The deregulation of parkin could result in increase of ubiquitination of MFN2. The cristae number was decreased while the cristae lumen was increased in cystinotic cells, which parallels the previously reported bioenergetic defects in these cells. The cristae junction width was increased in *CTNS*−/− cells, which is most likely secondary to low OPA1 oligomerization levels. MEA treatment restored mitochondrial size, cristae number, and lumen, but had no effect on cristae junction width, making tubular cells more susceptible to apoptotic stimuli. In this contest, we highlight several cellular mediators of mitochondrial dynamics that could be useful to develop new therapeutic interventions [41].

#### **4. Materials and Methods**

#### *4.1. Cell Culture*

Conditionally immortalized proximal tubular epithelial cells (ciPTEC), from healthy donor and cystinotic patients were obtained from Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands and cultured as described in [42]. Cells were grown in a humidified atmosphere with 5% CO2 at 37 ◦C. Where indicated, the cells were treated with 100 μM MEA or water (vehicle) for 24 h.

#### *4.2. SDS-PAGE and Western Blotting*

Monolayer cell cultures were harvested with 0.05% trypsin, 0.02% EDTA. After trypsinization, cells were centrifuged at 500× *g* and resuspended in RIPA buffer (150 mM NaCl, 5 mM EDTA, 50 mM Tris/HCl, 0.1% SDS, 1% Triton X-100, pH 7.4), in the presence of a protease inhibitor (0.25 mM PMSF). Cell lysate proteins were subjected to SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE), transferred to a nitrocellulose membrane and immunoblotted with antibodies against OPA1 (Thermo scientific, Waltham, MA, USA; Pierce Antibodies); Fis1, Mfn2 (Merck Millipore, Burlington, MA, USA); parkin, USP30 (Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Dallas, TX, USA); OMA1 (Abcam, Cambridge, UK); Drp1, Mff (Cell Signaling, Danvers, MA, USA) and actin (Merck, Kenilworth, NJ, USA). After being washed in TTBS, the membranes were incubated for 1 h with anti-mouse or anti-rabbit IgG peroxidase-conjugate antibody. Immunodetection was performed with the enhanced chemiluminescence (ECL) (Thermo scientific, Waltham, MA, USA). VersaDoc imaging system (BioRad, Milan, Italy) was used for densitometric analysis.

### *4.3. Analysis of OPA1 Oligomers*

To investigate on OPA1 oligomerization, cell fresh pellets were treated with the cross-linker bismaleimidohexane (BMH) 1 mM or with vehicle (DMSO) for 30 min at 37 ◦C. After incubation, the samples were centrifuged, resuspended in SDS lysis buffer and then subjected to SDS-PAGE and western blotting analysis with the antibody against OPA1.

#### *4.4. Electron Microscopy*

For routine EM the cells were grown in 12 well plates as a monolayer. At the end of the experiment the cells were fixed with 1% Glutaraldehyde prepared in 0.2 M Hepes buffer. Then the cells were scraped, pelleted, post-fixed in OsO4 and uranyl acetate and embedded in Epon as described previously [43]. From each sample, thin 60 nm sections were cut using Leica EM UC7 (Leica Microsystems, Vienna, Austria). EM images were acquired from thin sections using a FEI Tecnai-12 electron microscope

(FEI, Eindhoven, Netherlands) equipped with a VELETTA CCD digital camera (Soft Imaging Systems GmbH, Munster, Germany).

**Author Contributions:** F.B. and D.D.R. conceptualization; A.S., E.D.L., E.V.P., A.F., R.R., and S.R. investigation; F.B. and D.D.R. writing—original draft preparation; F.B., D.D.R., A.S., R.P., and F.E. writing—review and editing; F.B. and D.D.R. funding acquisition. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research was funded by Cystinosis Research Foundation, grant number CRFF-2017-001 and by Ricerca Corrente of the Italian Ministry of Health.

**Acknowledgments:** We thank Paolo Lattanzio for technical assistance and Manuela Colucci for statistical analysis contribution.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.


*2.1. Materials*

Commercial PHBV was ENMATTM Y1000P, produced by Tianan Biologic Materials (Ningbo, China) and delivered in the form of pellets by NaturePlast (Ifs, France). According to the manufacturer, this biopolymer resin presents a density of 1.23 g/cm3 and a melt flow index (MFI) of 5–10 g/10 min (190 ◦C, 2.16 kg). The 3HV fraction in the copolyester is 2–3 mol.-%.

Eugenol, with 99% purity, tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS), n-cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), sodium hydroxide (NaOH), 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol (TFE), ≥99% purity, and D-limonene, with 98% purity, were all purchased from Sigma Aldrich S.A. (Madrid, Spain).

#### *2.2. Synthesis and Complexation of MCM-41*

#### 2.2.1. Synthesis of MCM-41

The MCM-41 type mesoporous particles were synthesized using the following procedure [44]: 2 g of CTAB, 5.48 mmol, was first dissolved in 960 mL of deionized water. Then, 7.00 mL of NaOH, 2 M, was added to the CTAB solution, followed by adjusting the solution temperature to 95 ◦C. Later, 10 mL of TEOS, 5.14·10−2 mol, was added dropwise to the surfactant solution. The mixture was allowed to stir for 3 h to produce a white precipitate. The solid product was centrifuged and washed several times with deionized water and ethanol and, thereafter, dried at 60 ◦C to obtain solid MCM particles. Lastly, to prepare the final porous material, i.e., the MCM-41 type particles, the as-synthetized MCM particles were calcined at 550 ◦C using air atmosphere for 5 h so that their template phase was removed.

#### 2.2.2. Eugenol Complexation on MCM-41

Silica loading with eugenol was achieved via vapor adsorption by mixing 100 mg of eugenol with 100 mg of the MCM-41 type particles in a tightly closed vial [36]. The mixture was incubated in an oven at 40 ◦C for 24 h while being continuously shaken. The amount of eugenol loaded in the MCM-41 type support was determined by monitoring the sample weight increase before and after the loading process. Approximately 500 mg/g of the final weight corresponded to eugenol.


**Author details**

Aneela Hameed, Majid Hussain\* and Saeed Akhtar

\*Address all correspondence to<EMAIL_ADDRESS>
Institute of Food Science & Nutrition, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan


2.1.1. First Order

The first order radar cross section is given by

$$
\sigma^{(1)}(\omega) = 2^5 \pi k\_0^4 \cos^4 \varphi\_{bi} \sum\_{m=\pm 1} \mathcal{S}(m\vec{k\_B}) \delta(\omega - m\omega\_B),
\tag{24}
$$

defined at the *Bragg frequencies*, ±*ωB*, where

$$
\omega\_B = \sqrt{2gk\_0 \cos\varphi\_{bi} \tanh(2k\_0 d \cos\varphi\_{bi})},
\tag{25}
$$

for the bistatic angle, *ϕbi*, which is shown in Figures 3 and 5, and is related to the azimuthal scatter angle *ϕ* by

$$
\varphi\_{bi} = \frac{1}{2} \left( \pi - \varphi \right). \tag{26}
$$

The value of *σ*(1)(*ω*) depends on the ocean spectrum contribution for the *Bragg wavevector*, *k* - *B*, which travels in the elliptical normal direction from the scatter point (as shown in Figures 3 and 5), and is defined by

$$\vec{k\_B} = -2k\_0 \cos \varphi\_{bi} (\cos \varphi\_{bi\prime} - \sin \varphi\_{bi}).\tag{27}$$

**Figure 5.** Scattering geometry for a bistatic radar where *Tx*, *Sp* and *Rx* denote the transmitter, scatter patch and receiver respectively, *ϕbi* is the bistatic angle, *k* -0 is the radar wavevector and, *p* and *q* are spatial wavenumbers, with *p* in the direction of the emitted radio wave.

2.1.2. Second Order

The second order bistatic radar cross section is

$$\sigma^{(2)}(\omega) = 2^5 \pi k\_0^4 \cos^4 \varphi\_{\text{bi}} \sum\_{\text{m,m'}=\pm 1} \iint \left| \Gamma\_{\text{E}} - i \Gamma\_H \right|^2 \mathcal{S} \left( m \vec{k}\_1 \right) \mathcal{S} \left( m \vec{\mathcal{V}} k\_2 \right) \delta \left( \omega - m \omega\_1 - m' \omega\_2 \right) dp \, dq\_{\text{v}} \tag{28}$$

for wavevector pairs *k* -1 and *k* -2 (with respective angular frequencies *ω*1 and *ω*2) such that

$$
\vec{k\_1} + \vec{k\_2} = \vec{k\_B}.
$$

Explicitly,

$$
\vec{k\_1} = (p - k\_0, q) \quad \text{and} \quad \vec{k\_2} = (-k\_0 \cos(2\varphi\_{bi}) - p\_\prime k\_0 \sin(2\varphi\_{bi}) - q), \tag{29}
$$

and Γ*E* is the *electromagnetic coupling coefficient* given by

$$
\Gamma\_E = \frac{1}{2^2 \cos^2 \varphi\_{bi}} \left( \frac{a\_1}{b\_1 - k\_0 \triangle} + \frac{a\_2}{b\_2 - k\_0 \triangle} \right),
\tag{30}
$$

where

$$
\triangle = 0.011 - 0.012i,\tag{31}
$$

is the normalized surface impedance derived by Barrick [29] and

$$a\_1 = -k\_{1x}(\vec{k\_2} \cdot \vec{\mathfrak{A}}) - 2\cos^2\varphi\_{li}\left(-k\_2^2 + 2k\_0(\vec{k\_2} \cdot \vec{\mathfrak{A}})\right),\tag{32}$$

$$a\_2 = -k\_{2\mathbf{x}}(\vec{k\_1} \cdot \vec{\mathfrak{A}}) - 2\cos^2\varphi\_{bi}\left(-k\_1^2 + 2k\_0(\vec{k\_1} \cdot \vec{\mathfrak{A}})\right),\tag{33}$$

$$b\_1 = \sqrt{-k\_2^2 + 2k\_0(\vec{k\_2} \cdot \vec{d})} \tag{34}$$

and

$$b\_2 = \sqrt{-k\_1^2 + 2k\_0(\vec{k\_1} \cdot \vec{d})} \tag{35}$$

(noting that both *b*1 and *b*2 can be real or imaginary depending on the argument), where*a*ˆ is a unit vector in the direction of the receiver from the scattering patch (see Figure 5), namely,

$$\vec{d} = (-\cos(2\varphi\_{bi}), \sin(2\varphi\_{bi})) \dots$$


Author details

Yoshinori Nagai1,2\*, Yasuharu Watanabe1 , Hiroe Honda1,3 and Kiyoshi Takatsu1,3

\*Address all correspondence to<EMAIL_ADDRESS>
1 Department of Immunobiology and Pharmacological Genetics, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Science for Research, University of Toyama, Toyama-shi, Toyama, Japan


*Edited by Christos Kalloniatis and Carlos Travieso-Gonzalez*

Understanding and realizing the security and privacy challenges for information systems is a very critical and demanding task for both software engineers and developers to design and implement reliable and trustworthy information systems. This book provides novel contributions and research efforts related to security and privacy by shedding light on the legal, ethical, and technical aspects of security and privacy. This book consists of 12 chapters divided in three groups. The first contains works that discuss the ethical and legal aspects of security and privacy, the second contains works that focus more on the technical aspects of security and privacy, and the third contains works that show the applicability of various solutions in the aforementioned fields. This book is perfect for both experienced readers and young researchers that wish to read about the various aspects of security and privacy.

Published in London, UK © 2020 IntechOpen © kentoh / iStock

Security and Privacy From a Legal, Ethical, and Technical Perspective

Security and Privacy From a

Legal, Ethical, and Technical

Perspective

*Edited by Christos Kalloniatis*

*and Carlos Travieso-Gonzalez*


**About the Editors**

## **R. Stephen Berry**

R. Stephen Berry was professor of chemical physics at the University of Chicago since 1964 where he made major contributions in an exceptionally wide range of subjects, both experimentally and theoretically. Early in his career, he conceived of the idea that operating any process at a non-vanishing speed necessarily has a cost. The energy crisis of 1973 combined with a seminal paper in 1975 focused the effort, in collaboration with the other two editors of this volume, into what we named finite-time thermodynamics. In this effort, Steve always generously shared his insight and related the new findings to a wide range of other topics such as shock tube experiments and economics. At the same time, Steve contributed to atomic collision theory and experiments, photoelectron spectroscopy, thermodynamics of shock tubes, and the theory of clusters, just to mention a few examples. Early on, he studied the energy budget of the entire chain from the extraction of raw materials to the production of a finished car, and further to its disposal, a procedure which today is called life cycle analysis. Steve was a member of the academies of sciences in the USA and Denmark and home secretary of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) from 1999 until 2003. In addition, he served on many committees related to inclusion of scientific information into public policy and decision making. Science education for all students was also high on his agenda. Sadly, Steve passed away in 2020 as we were editing this volume.

## **Peter Salamon**

Peter Salamon (contact at<EMAIL_ADDRESS>received his PhD in chemical physics from the University of Chicago during his collaboration with the other two editors of this volume, a collaboration that started finite-time thermodynamics. He has been a professor in the Mathematics Department at San Diego State University from 1980 to the present, with visiting positions at the Hebrew University, the University of Heidelberg, and the University of Copenhagen, among others. His research has always revolved around thermodynamics very broadly interpreted. This let him stray as far as machine learning, global optimization, and microbial ecology. His numerous collaborations earned him an Erdos number of one and the designation as a hub in the Collaborative ¨ Distance Graph linking collaborators from numerous far-flung fields to Paul Erdos. He co-founded ¨ Telluride Science Research Center, which gave early finite-time thermodynamics and other fledgling fields an important venue.

## **Bjarne Andresen**

Bjarne Andresen (contact at<EMAIL_ADDRESS>was a professor at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen 1978–2020 and is currently affiliated with the NBI as emeritus. Along with the other two editors of this Special Issue, he started the field of finite-time thermodynamics (FTT) in 1975 and has participated in spreading the idea of limiting the duration of a process to a fixed time, thus causing unavoidable losses. A key element of FTT is optimizing the path of the process. Prof. Bjarne Andresen has contributed to applying FTT to as diverse fields as chemistry, physics, engineering, optimization theory, economics, biology, a.o. Lately, he has worked with Professor Christopher Essex on extending thermodynamics to extremely long time and size scales. Early in his career, he contributed to atomic collision theory. In 1984, the three co-editors started The Telluride Science Research Center as a secluded retreat for developing new wild ideas in science. At the periphery of science, prof. Bjarne Andresen has been the president of the Section for Theoretical Chemistry of the Danish Chemical Society, chairman of the committee on research and education of the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations, chairman of the Danish Forum for University Policy and Planning, and is currently treasurer of the Danish Academy of Natural Sciences.


**1. Introduction**

In a 1996 paper written by Bernand Bertossa, who was Attorney General of the Republic and Canton of Geneva at the time, it was highlighted that representative democracy and respect for the decisions of an independent Judiciary prevent (through the dissemination of power and the meticulous control of its exercise) the emergence of a fertile ground for corruption [1]. In Brazil, on the other hand, the internationally known *Operação Lava Jato* (Operation Car Wash) against corruption in politics left democracy in the hands of Jair Bolsonaro, the President of the Republic who bets on the erosion of the Judiciary and the rule of law through attacks toward the Supreme Court and the electronic voting machines that, ironically, elevated him to the highest position of the nation. Consequently, Brazilian soil, which was certainly not infertile to such practices, has been fertilized for sowing the weeds of illegal acts beyond control in recent years.

In fact, President Jair Bolsonaro was elected as a consequence of Operation Car Wash and now—after 4 years of decrease in institutional standards and aware of the electoral polls which indicates his defeat to political rival Luis Inácio Lula da Silva [2]—is trying to delegitimize the very system that elected him in 2018 [3]. As has been increasingly reported, the democratic regime may be at risk in Brazil [4, 5] and the turning point in this direction took place with the instrumentalization of the criminal process to withdraw his main political opponent from the 2018 electoral dispute.

From that premise an important lesson can be extracted, one that most of the advanced democracies have already learned, whether from their own or through foreign experience: a nation's criminal procedure structure is the thermometer of the elements of its Constitution ([6], p. 67). When it comes to corruption—especially the one more directly related to the functioning of the democratic regime, which is corruption within the context of politics, the overlap between the criminal procedure model and the regime is even more intense and arises in an especially latent way. Indeed, the shallow and simplistic discourse of the mass media and punitive agencies in the sense that social ills all derive from the relation between "honest" and "corrupt" stifles the conflicts of interests and ideals that serve as the foundation of real power bases of society ([7], p. 419).

This agenda discourages the political participation of the citizen, who begins to understand (and to belittle) democracy itself as a political regime more susceptible to corrupt practices due to the greater opportunity for an interface between political agents, economic agents, and individuals—although what gains strength when compared to authoritarian regimes is not corruption itself, but its possibility of visibility and dissemination ([7], pp. 419–421). Therefore, it is not surprising, at least under a retrospective lens, that Brazilian democratic institutionality has so rapidly degraded. The analysis of the context, the development, and the surprising and melancholic end of Operation Car Wash, with the bias of its main judge recognized nationally [8] and internationally [9, 10], however, seems to be of extreme value, including and especially for the international community. In this case, Brazil has a lot to teach. By means of bad example.

#### **2. The political context of the Brazilian criminal procedure code**

The Brazilian criminal procedure suffers from serious historical problems. The Brazilian Criminal Procedure Code dates from 1941 and was reportedly inspired by the 1930s Fascist Italy's *Codice Rocco*. Its authoritarian and anti-democratic basis, therefore, is unquestionable, having served not only the *Estado Novo* (New State) dictatorship (1937–1945) but also the civil–military dictatorship (1964–1985). It does not, therefore, serve democracy—but in it, the Criminal Procedure Code continues to pulsate an unsepulcher autoritharism. In Brazil, the Criminal Procedure Code is the most visible (and systematized) instrument of the "eternal fascism" mentioned by Umberto Eco [11].

Felipe Lazzari da Silveira ([12], p. 22) explains that although the Brazilian state has never been a fascist state, in the criminal procedural field, it fully incorporated the rationality created by Mussolini's jurists. Its *leitmotiv* can be summarized, still according to the author ([12], p. 173), as the technicist-fascist criminal procedural rationality created in Italy that consisted of a kind of technique to weaken the limits of state punitive power in order to make the criminal process more pragmatic in fulfilling its new goals established by Mussolini's authoritarian State.

The Brazilian authoritarian and dictatorial culture was reinforced by political and military groups, in addition to expressive intellectuals, such as Oliveira Viana

#### *Perspective Chapter: Corruption and Deterioration of Democracy – The Brazilian Lesson DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.106194*

(1883–1951) and Francisco Campos (1891–1968), the latter did not hesitate to join the forces that articulated the conditions for the 1937 coup, nor in actively participating in the formatting and legal consolidation of both the *Estado Novo* and the civil–military coup that took place less than 30 years later ([13], p. 26, 27). After all, he wrote both the Explanatory Memorandum of the Criminal Procedure Code of 1941 and the Institutional Act no 01, which gave legal form to the civil–military dictatorship of 1964. No wonder Rubem Braga (1913–1990) once said with slight irony that "every time Mr. Francisco Campos lights up, there is a short circuit in democracy" [14].

Although by various means, both Italian fascism and the Brazilian *Estado Novo* codified their criminal legislation outside the Legislative Branch to demonstrate their own political strength: while in Italy there was a punctual transfer of competence to the Executive Branch, in Brazil this displacement became a general rule ([15], p. 155, 156). As Minister of Justice, Francisco Campos understood that liberalism would have to be overcome due to the considerable increase in ideological tensions in Brazilian society and on account of the inability of members of legislative households to rationally examine complex and technical matters ([13], p. 37). The antagonism to parliamentary activity was strong; therefore, the Brazilian government, through the Ministry of Justice, began to use technicality to legislate in favor of social defense based on the argument that the ends justify the means, initiating a legacy that was later widely exploited during the civil–military dictatorship ([15], pp. 165–170).

Francisco Campos was the Brazilian counterpart of Alfredo Rocco, the Minister of Justice of Fascist Italy. Endowed with a strong personality, both jurists, with great diligence, took on this new way of legislating and were responsible for the constitutional reforms that shifted the political regimes of their countries to the authoritarian spectrum ([15], p. 171, 172). In turn, the collaborators of these legislative endeavors were not jurists consecrated by the professorship or by theoretical writings, but practical applicators of Law, which made coexistence with the authoritarian environment possible and without major constraints: not for nothing, the vast majority of Italian jurists and all the Brazilian jurists involved came from the Judiciary and the Public Prosecutor Office ([15], p. 172, 173).

This overlap between technicality and practicality certainly helped to legitimize the new criminal law and criminal procedure before the Brazilian judges and criminal courts. But not only. It helped to spread the new system also to the legal literature, which was uncritically fed back through the jurisprudence made by themselves—after all, many of the authors of legal works on the Criminal Procedure Code of 1941 were also its practical applicators.

As Francisco Campos later highlighted, he and his assistants (recognized jurists, such as Nelson Hungria, Antônio Vieira Braga, Narcélio de Queirós, and Cândido Mendes de Almeida) intended to develop a criminal process that did not make society's right to defend itself a mere illusion and that offered the necessary means to ascertain the "real truth" so that to the judge was granted a wide margin of maneuver for the evidentiary initiative—which did not mean an authorization to decide contrary to the law, but only that the body of evidence could be freely evaluated, including through the search for new evidence when necessary and always in accordance with the interests of the State ([12], p. 189).

In that conception of criminal procedure, the simple fact of being tried by a judge was, in itself, the greatest guarantee against injustice that a defendant could obtain ([12], p. 192). The mere existence of a judge was enough for the criminal process to be understood as a fair and impartial procedure. Hence the difficulty in obtaining recognition of judicial partiality in Brazilian forensic practice, even in Operation Car

Wash—which gave abundant signs of Federal Judge Sérgio Moro's bias to the detriment of Luís Inácio Lula da Silva from the first day and, even so, the Courts (the Regional Federal Court of the 4th Region and the Superior Court of Justice) did not recognize it.

The partiality of Federal Judge Sérgio Moro was not acknowledged until the publication of the series of articles by the Intercept Brazil containing the messages he exchanged, via Telegram app, with one of the Federal Prosecutors responsible for Operation Car Wash [16]. The content of the messages, however, was not formally considered by the Federal Supreme Court when it came to recognizing the judicial bias of Federal Judge Sérgio Moro [17], which demonstrates that the exterior signs were sufficient to conclude in those terms (although until then those outside marks had not yet been declared). Not even the authoritarian matrix of the Brazilian criminal process was able to deny the judicial partiality that came to the eyes of Brazil and the world with the series of reports known as *Vaza Jato* (Car Wash Leaks).

### **3. The Brazilian criminal procedure's inquisitorialism**

Both in Italy and Brazil, the criminal procedural models were orchestrated with the objective of legitimizing the neutralization of fundamental guarantees, and this structure continued to guide legal literature, jurisprudence, and legislative reforms even after the end of the authoritarian regimes that promoted them: Italians only forsook it in 1988, with a new Code of Criminal Procedure; Brazilians, however, continue with inquisitorialism to this day ([12], p. 191).

Despite the legislative reforms carried out with the alleged aim of democratizing the Brazilian criminal procedure to adapt it to the Federal Constitution of 1988, it is undoubted that they were all late and insufficient to produce any significant change to the spirit of the Criminal Procedure Code of 1941 and that, despite them, jurisprudence has developed in the sense of violating the accusatory system ([18], p. 526). According to Jacinto Nelson de Miranda Coutinho ([19], p. 11), this is because none of them reached the core of the 1941 Criminal Procedure Code system, which is completely out of step with the 1988 Federal Constitution.

Indeed, the center of the inquisitorial system consists in enabling the criminal judge to *manage the evidence* (by seeking it when he deems it necessary to clarify the truth of the facts) and, while procedural reforms do not manage to radically alter it, Brazilian criminal proceedings will never be accusatory because all the other elements are merely secondary to the definition of the procedural system ([19], p. 11). In fact, no procedural reform has ever approached the pivotal point of the problem: to this day, criminal judges in Brazil can seek evidence to decide at their convenience, evaluating it as they like.

The rationality that authorizes and legitimates this sort of procedure is the same that guides the premise that there is in fact a "real truth" and that it can be found through human knowledge, especially through criminal proceedings. Part of the doctrine distinguishes "real truth" from "formal truth," which is a serious mistake because, according to Francesco Carnelutti ([20], p. 4, 5), the truth is obviously unique and can never be reached by human beings, regardless of the method chosen to do so.

Lenio Luiz Streck ([21], p. 290, 291) cuts across and demonstrates that the concept of real truth is not sustainable because it proclaims something "real" and that, therefore, is justified by itself at the same time that it does not obviate the need for an interpreter to give it meaning—which leads to the judicial protagonism that makes

#### *Perspective Chapter: Corruption and Deterioration of Democracy – The Brazilian Lesson DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.106194*

fundamental guarantees more flexible for the sake of public or social interest that cannot be precisely defined. Consequently, according to Salah Khaled H. Jr. ([22], p. 1), the search for truth is nothing more than an unlimited search for confirmation of a hypothesis previously chosen by the magistrate.

The great problem of the inquisitorial system (in general and of the Brazilian criminal procedure in particular), therefore, lies in the legitimation of the search for the truth that, by reflecting the past in an integral way, at least in theory, certainly distinguishes and accurately determines innocents and guilty. Hence the reason why, in the name of this absolute truth, all flexibilization of fundamental guarantees and all judicial abuse are legitimized, whether in the search for evidence or its subsequent evaluation.


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**Part 4**

**Seeing**

**Part 4**

326 Advanced Holography – Metrology and Imaging

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**Seeing**

**15**

Paula Dawson

*Australia*

*University of New South Wales*

**The Visual Language of Holograms**

Any medium which represents three-dimensional space via a two-dimensional plane employs a representational system. Perspective, a system in which lines, which recede from the foreground to the horizon, create the illusion of depth by converging to the vanishing point has become the dominant means of representing space in western civilisation. Just like other representational systems, display holograms represent space in an abstract way through a series of conventions, which are defined by recording procedures and replay methods. The holographic representational system is so radically different from perspective, enabling the subject to appear in front of, straddling, or behind the hologram plane, that at times it seems invisible to viewers who believe they see the subject by a kind of magic. Even astute theorists, Umberto Eco (Eco,1987) who saw holograms as *hyperreal*, and Jean Baudrillard (Baudrillard,1997) who thought of them as *simulacra*, were implying that the hologram did not have a representational system, that it was a replica of reality. Though holograms can have a high level of spatial verisimilitude, this is variable, as is the resolution, spectral range, blur and the shape and location of the

A primary aim of this chapter is to introduce the properties of the representational systems of several hologram types, including HOE holographic optical elements, laser transmission, white light reflection, 'rainbow' white light transmission, white-light transmission holographic stereograms and printed synthetic holograms. Secondly the chapter will trace how the expressive potential of pictorial qualities such as light and darkness, transparency, reflections, colour and impossible forms operate within these representational systems. Case studies by artists such as, Margaret Benyon, Rudie Berkhout, Brigitte Burgmer, Salvador Dali, Paula Dawson, Jacques Desbiens, Mary Harman, Dieter Jung, Eduardo Kac, Martina Mrongovius, Seth Riskin, Andy Pepper, Martin Richardson, James Turrell, Doris Vila and

Occasional comparison will be made between the effect of using the same pictorial qualities – light, darkness, transparency, reflections, colour and impossible forms in holograms and in other traditional media. Thirdly, the chapter looks at some factors, which are likely to impact on viewer reception and interpretation of the visual language of holograms: the bodily experience of interaction with the holographic image, the physiological and psychological aspects of depth perception and other influences such as historic genres and

**1. Introduction**

viewing zone.

Sally Weber will be examined.

the associations of related media.


**2.1 Textile industry effluents: Composition and conventional methods of treatment**

Textile industry effluents contain large quantities of biodegradable organic compounds and nonbiodegradable compounds [14]. According to the literature, there are more than 8000 substances, such as acids, surfactants, salts, metals, oxidizing agents, reducing agents, as well as dyes and their auxiliaries [15]. Wastewater from the textile industry contains characteristic color, resulting from the mixture of dyes, in addition to the presence of metals, organic carbon, ammonium salts, nitrate, and orthophosphate [5].

Due to the environmental impact of this type of effluent, pretreatment is necessary before such compounds are released into natural water bodies, and the textile industry shows interest in controlling this problem [14]. However, even after treatment, effluents are still discarded in rivers with up to 90% of dyes that have not undergone chemical changes [1]. **Table 2** shows information related to the studied treatment processes for the removal of textile dyes from industrial effluents and the main results obtained, as reported in the literature.

The composition, as well as the standards allowed for each substance present in the composition of effluents from textile factories, aiming at its release in surface water bodies, vary according to the standards of each country. In China, the chemical oxygen demand (COD) and chrominance of wastewater from dyeing and finishing processes cannot exceed 80 mg L−1 and 60, respectively, so that such effluents can be


**5.3. Radiology**

A chest X-ray is mainly useful for excluding other pathology like pneumothorax, pleural fluid, congestive heart failure or otherwise. It may reveal consolidations or other pathology. In the acute phase a chest CT-scan has no additive value in the tract of diagnosing an exacerbation of COPD. It can be performed if doubts exist about the presence of pulmonary embolisms as an explanation for dyspnea and/or desaturation. In a patient with recurrent airways infections a CT-thorax can be performed to investigate whether bronchiectasis is present.

care though, as it is relatively expensive and there has been little to no research performed

Acute Exacerbations of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/54867

83

The treatment of an AECOPD consists of supportive therapy, maximal bronchodilation,

Oxygen delivery is one of the first supportive therapies which can be provided for a patient. Oxygen saturation should be at least 90% though in some cases lower saturations may also be accepted. Too much oxygen may cause hypercapnia as the drive to breathe in some COPD patients may rely on arterial O2 pressure. Symptoms of acute hypercapnia are somnolence, headache, drowsiness, confusion, flushed skin or agitation. Physiotherapy during an admis‐ sion for an AECOPD can prevent deterioration in skeletal muscle function and improve exercise capacity [64, 65]. Because an AECOPD is accompanied by an impaired energy balance due to a decreased dietary intake and an increased resting energy expenditure, nutritional support may also benefit the patient in terms of general well-being and prevention of muscle

An exacerbation is the result of increased inflammation causing increased flow limitation. Treatment should be directed towards controlling this exacerbated inflammation and maxi‐ mizing bronchodilation. Short acting agents like salbutamol and ipratropium are mostly used for maximal bronchodilation, usually delivered by nebulizer. Many patients may not be able to generate the flows required to use other devices during an exacerbation. Corticosteroids have been proven to reduce time to recovery and treatment failure, increase FEV1 and arterial hypoxemia [8]. Treatment schemes have been reported varying from 30 mg prednisolone orally to 60 mg intravenous, ranging from 5 days to two weeks. Studies showed that there is no difference in clinical outcome if a patient is treated with oral steroids compared to parenteral steroids [69]. Antibiotic treatment can be initiated when a bacterial infection is suspected. With the Anthonisen criteria [70] one can decide whether antibiotic treatment is necessary or not. These criteria are derived from a randomized placebo-controlled crossover trial which has been performed in the '80s where patients with COPD exacerbations were treated with antibiotics or placebo. The cardinal symptoms of infection in this study were increased sputum volume and purulence in combination with increased dyspnea. An exacerbation with all the previous 3 symptoms is called a type 1 exacerbation; two out of three symptoms have to be present for a type 2 exacerbation; one out of three and at least one other "minor symptom" (see table 2) have to be present for it to be a type 3 exacerbation. Patients with type 1 and type 2 exacerbations are most likely to benefit from antibiotic therapy. In Spain a pilot study was performed with hospitalized patients with AECOPD, where antibiotic therapy was given to

steroids to reduce the inflammation and treatment of the cause.

outside Europe.

**6. Management**

**6.1. Supportive therapy**

wasting [66-68].

**6.2. Pharmacotherapy**

## **5.4. Biomarkers**

Biomarkers can be used as indicators of a physiological state in which a patient is or may become, it can help in diagnosis, aetiology and prognosis. In theory, biomarkers could be used to predict exacerbations, to determine if a patient has increased inflammation, to distinguish type of inflammation (bacterial or viral infection or otherwise) or to predict clinical outcome after an AECOPD.

Many biomarkers have been researched of which many of them are of little clinical use. At this moment the most important biomarkers in AECOPD are CRP, serum IL-6, 8-isoprostane, H2O2 and procalcitonin (ProCT). These biomarkers are closely related to oxidative stress and inflammation. C-reactive protein is momentarily the most widely used marker of inflammation in clinical practice.

In patients with frequent exacerbations, both CRP and serum IL-6 levels are increased during a stable phase but also during the recovery period of an AECOPD [58, 59] compared to patients with infrequent exacerbations. Interleukin-6 is a cytokine which is widely expressed and produced in the body, and is not specific to the lung. Serum IL-6 has no additional value above CRP in clinical decision making. Interleukin-6 levels in sputum may be of use to predict therapy response [58], although more research is needed before clinical decisions can be made based on this biomarker. Similarly, there is a lack of studies which investigate the use of exhaled biomarkers 8-isoporstane and H2O2 for clinical purposes. Procalcitonin may be a biomarker which can discriminate in aetiology of an exacerbation but may also be used as therapeutic response parameter. Procalcitonin is the precursor of calcitonin and is released in response to a bacterial infection by many tissues under stimulation of several cytokines. Procalcitonin levels are minimally raised in viral infections [60], making it a relative specific diagnostic tool for bacterial infections. Most research has been performed in patients with community acquired pneumonia (CAP) [61]. It is suggested that ProCT could become a useful tool in clinical decision making regarding antibiotic therapy. There have been several trials to assess the utility of ProCT in AECOPD. In general ProCT-guided antibiotic therapy compared to standard management in AECOPD showed no differences in death from any cause, rates of intensive care unit (ICU) admission for any reason, duration of ICU stay, improvement of symptoms, difference in the quality-of-life score, re-exacerbation and readmission [62]. Procalcitonin-guided antibiotic therapy showed reduction in antibiotic prescription [62] and in one study [63] also reduction in antibiotic therapy duration, which in turn decreases the patient's exposure to antibiotics and related side effects, lowers the burden of antibiotic use and the risk of antimicrobial resistance. Procalcitonin is not yet being implemented in standard care though, as it is relatively expensive and there has been little to no research performed outside Europe.


**4. In Vitro, CGA-Derived Peptides Modify the Immunological Activities of Specific Cells Belonging to Defense**

CGA has a prohormone function; numerous cleavage products of this protein display activity in the domain of defense [21,22]. Therefore, we speculated that the CGA-derivedpeptides Chromofungin (CHR, CGA47-66) and Catestatin (CAT, CGA344-364) might impact

the functioning of human cells involved in immunity. We harvested polymorphonuclear cells (PMNs) and monocytes from healthy controls. We exposed them ex vivo to the peptides to assess the consequences as they may occur in vivo during systemic inflammation.

We first performed experiments on PMNs [23]. We demonstrated that, after intracellular penetration, both CHR and CAT provoked a rapid and synergic Ca++- entry with no lytic effect on the cells. This occurred provided free calcium was available in the extracellular space. It was concentration-dependent and in the range of concentrations relevant for clinical effects. We also explored the impact of scrambled isomers and amino-acid substitutions. In doing so, we identified the need for a perfect respect of the chemical primary structure of both CAT and CHR to obtain the expected pharmacodynamical impact, indicating that a precise mechanism of both cell entry and action is required for physiological effects. The Ca++- entry evoked by CHR and CAT is consistent with Ca++ selective store-operated calcium channel activity. Once inside the cells, CAT and CHR interact with calmodulin, thereby allowing the release of lysophospholipids by membranebound iPLA2 and subsequent store-operated calcium channels. As an ultimate result of intracellular Ca++ concentration increase, the PMNs release secretions, among which we isolated factors involved in innate immunity such as lactotransferrin, neutrophil gelatinase, lysozyme, S100 A, and S100B calcium-binding proteins. These data point to a role of CAT and CHR in Ca++ signaling outside the chromaffin cells, with an impact on the activation of PMNs through a mechanism not related to a cellular membrane-bound receptor but in line with a cell-penetrating peptide activity. This action explains how the neuro-hormonal response to stress may trigger a rapid-onset effective enhanced pro-inflammatory PMNsrelated mechanism of defense in vivo in any vascularized tissue where an insult occurs. It is also of note that CAT has been reported to act via the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR), a classical surface receptor, which can also participate in anti-inflammatory responses through neural immunity regulation [6].

Our group also explored monocytes. We assessed a possible effect of the CGA47-70 derived peptide (which includes CHR) detected in the plasma of multiple trauma patients who are prone to develop care-related infections [13]. This molecule entered the monocyte progressively over 5 to 15 min with at least two intracytoplasmic localizations, one of which was detected in the perinuclear region. In further cellular investigations, including luciferase assays, we showed that CGA47-66 could inhibit both NF-kappa B and AP-1, which play a role in amplifying and perpetuating the inflammatory processes in vivo. Such activities suggest an anti-inflammatory potential for this peptide with a risk of deleterious imbalance of innate immunity.

#### **5. CGA-Derived Peptides as Actors against Superbugs**

Antibiotic-resistant microbes (bacteria, fungi, and yeasts) are detected increasingly in samples harvested from ICU patients, and they trigger significant morbidity when comorbidities are present. There is, therefore, a need for better tools to cure patients, in addition to the discovery of new anti-microbial drugs.

Based on the observation that bacterial host cells genetically engineered to express CGA for industrial production are dying upon the induction of CGA expression, our group hypothesized that chromogranins impact bacterial survival (see in [22]). Following the HPLC of the protein material secreted by chromaffin cells, it was concluded that several CGA-derived peptides and CGA itself, proenkephalin-A, and free ubiquitin participated partially in the struggle for survival after a stressing challenge. A summary of the antibacterial, antifungal, and anti-malaria properties of some of these chromaffin cell-derived peptides was given in a recent review [22]. Interestingly, while these properties are related to the CGA-derived molecules, they may sometimes be enhanced through synergic associations with either therapeutic albumin or commercially available anti-microbial drugs. Indeed, since AMPs interact with cell membranes, they represent candidates to potentiate anti-microbial drugs, as shown for some molecules marketed for ICU patients [24,25]. Our data also suggest that, sometimes, infectious diseases occur when these AMPs fail to fulfill their missions in oxidative stressing conditions.

Recently, our group also reported that CTS (CGA344-364), but not Cateslytin (CTL, CGA352-366), interacts with circulating albumin, which underlines the important role of the C-terminal part of CTS for the binding process [26]. This interaction improves the anti-microbial activity of this peptide against C. albicans at a concentration of 4 μM, demonstrating a synergistic effect [26].

Finally, human intervention on some of the L-isomers of these molecules may also modify their potency in an attempt to coat medical implants [24,27]. In recent studies, we have tested natural peptides against superbugs carried by ICU patients. It emerged that some natural and some synthetic peptides, though not all, recovered significant bactericidal activity in vitro when associated with or chemically modified. Investigations further showed that AMPs act as either cell-penetrating peptides destabilizing the cell wall of the microbes or as intracellular molecular actors interacting with calmodulin with subsequent limitation of the rate of activity of calmodulin-activated enzymes, some of which play a role in hyphal growth. These data prompted the conclusion that biomaterials intended for human implantation may benefit from the coating by such molecules or from the latter being sprayed (on wounds, for instance). Indeed, contaminations of medical devices and surgical sites continue to contribute to significant hospital morbidity. We have, therefore, successfully moved to functionalize bioprostheses with biomaterials designed to combat biofilm-associated infections. Interestingly, a self-killing approach with the bacterial-controlled release of AMPs has been reported [28]. Lastly, CGA-derived peptides were included in hydrogels to prevent oral cavity infection [29]. CAT was functionalized with polyarginine and hyaluronic acid on a silver platform: this, in addition to CAT's anti-microbial activity, strongly limited the local production of inflammatory cytokines. This is a matter of interest in relation to buccal implantation [30], with potential as regards devices requiring transient implantation in ICU patients.


**11.4 The complication of the surgical revascularization**

Surgical revascularization is not risk-free. This can range from a transient increase in intracranial pressure resulting in headache, seizures, and reversible neurological deficits to perioperative stroke. The mechanism is cerebral hyperperfusion syndrome because of the revascularization-induced hyperperfusion of the area supplied by the chronically vasoconstricted blood vessels, where the autoregulation is impaired. Incidence of this phenomenon was found to be up to 47% [50].

#### **Figure 6.**

*Combined revascularization procedure. The temporal muscle is positioned on the brain surface, and the STA is a bypass graft to the M3 branch of MCA (modified from Acker et al. [44]).*

All adults and children with ischemic MMD or MMS should have aspirin for a long term. If there are no contraindication and significant ischemic symptoms, surgical revascularization is a reasonable option [47]. AHA guidelines recommend it for patients with compromised cerebrovascular perfusion according to blood flow studies [39]. As mentioned before there is no evidence for opting for direct or indirect revascularization or vice versa, though the latter is preferred in the pediatric age group. Evidence for postoperative use of aspirin is limited. In a recent retrospective study, patients treated with postoperative aspirin had better outcome [44, 51].


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**Author details**

Xian Ling Liang

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**Chapter 8**

© 2012 Tran et al., licensee InTech. This is an open access chapter 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.

© 2012 Tran et al., licensee InTech. This is a paper 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.

**Architecture and Design Procedure of**

**a Generic SWB Antenna with Superb**

**Performances for Tactical Commands**

Ultra-wideband radio technology (UWB-RT) inherited a potential of extremely high rate of data communications, Claude Shannon discovered this in 1948 and derived the later-calledas Shannon-Hartley's channel capacity laws. This famous theoretical law however was not able to substantiate in practice until the development of the sampling oscilloscope by Hewlett-Packard in 1962, which, in accordance with the Nyquist-Shannon sampling theorem, was then capable to reconstruct at-that-time rather large UWB signals (Wilson,

UWB-RT, thus far, has been around for half a centuries but most research confined only in military applications and systems. The release of the 7.5 GHz of unlicensed spectrum by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC, 2002) for commercial usages and applications in 2002 sparked a renewed interest in R&D of UWB-RT in industries, universities and governments. Today "ultra-wideband" usually refers UWB-RT where the

UWB-RT and systems are becoming important not only to communications due to its high transmission capacity and speeds, but also gained strong foothold in many applications in the areas of industries, health monitoring, law-enforcement, defense and public security,

Today, UWB-RT is not limited to carrier-free signaling but modulated in both analogue and digital domains typically in collision avoidance, medical imaging, security imaging

electronic systems should be able to coexist with other electronic users (FCC, 2004).

**and Ubiquitous Communications**

D. Tran, N. Haider, S. E. Valavan, I. E. Lager, A. Szilagyi, O. Yarovyi and L. P. Ligthart

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/48487

**1. Introduction**

2002).

etc.,.

**Chapter 8**


*2.1. Data Collection*

Ground data collection was carried out over a farmland area in Changchun, Jilin Province, China (44◦42- 27--N, 124◦53- 08--E), which is located in the temperate and monsoon climate zone with a typical continental climate. The field size was approximately 2 ha. During the peanut growing season in 2018, three field campaigns were conducted on 27 July (acicula forming stage), 19 August (bearing pod stage), and 19 September (maturity stage) to collect peanut leaves, respectively. In each campaign, 20 plots were randomly selected. One or two plants were selected at each plot, and leaves that were fully expanded, homogenous in color, and showing no visible signs of damage were detached from the top to the bottom of the canopy [30]. They were, immediately packed and sealed into plastic bags and placed inside a cooler (the interior temperature of the cooler was 0 ◦C) to avoid desiccation and decomposition of the chlorophyll by light. In each campaign, we collected 28 leaves. Thus, a total number of 84 leaves were used for spectral measurement and chlorophyll extraction. All the measurements, including the spectral measurements and chlorophyll extraction, were carried out within 4 h of leaf harvesting to minimize changes in chlorophyll content. Figure 1 illustrates the phenomenon of peanut leaves changing orientation under strong solar irradiance, making the view of the canopy a mixture of the adaxial and abaxial sides (Figure S1).

**Figure 1.** Photographs of the peanut canopy in the field. Only the adaxial surface is visible under low solar irradiance (**a**), while both the adaxial and abaxial surfaces are visible under high solar irradiance (**b**).

The reflectance of the adaxial and abaxial surfaces was measured using an ASD FieldSpec® 3 portable spectroradiometer (Analytical Spectral Devices, Boulder, CO, USA) and a contact probe, equipped with an internal halogen source and directly attached to the leaf surface using a leaf clip accessory. The spectrometer can collect data in the 350–2500 nm spectral region, with a sampling interval of 1.4 nm in the 350–1000 nm wavelength range and 2 nm in the 1000–2500 nm wavelength range. The average of 10 separate measurements from each sample was recorded. To reduce errors associated with variations in illumination geometry, the contact probe was pressed to the leaf surface, which was illuminated by the internal light source, ensuring a consistent illumination geometry.

The LCC was determined from the same leaf samples used for reflectance measurements. Circular discs with a diameter of 6 mm were cut from each leaf. Leaf discs were extracted in the dark at room temperature for 24 h with 95% ethanol and shaken repeatedly to ensure chlorophyll was completely extracted, as indicated by the completely white appearance of the disc [31]. The absorbance of each extract was measured at 663 nm and 645 nm using a UV757CRT ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer (Shanghai Precision Scientific Instruments Corporation, Shanghai, China). The LCC (μg/cm2) was then calculated according to the equations provided by Arnon [32]. In total, measurements of LCC and reflectance were collected for 84 leaves. The LCC values ranged from 21.50 to 70.55 μg/cm2 with a mean value of 40.78 μg/cm2 and a standard deviation of 11.68 μg/cm2.


**Abstract**

We review the scientific information on whales that could be indicative of historical and current changes in the ecosystem in the Indo-Pacific sector of the Antarctic. The increased krill availability in the middle of the past century as a result of the heavy harvesting of the larger baleen whale species could have been translated into better nutritional conditions for the Antarctic minke whale, resulting in a decreasing trend in the age at sexual maturity and an increasing trend in recruitment rate and hence total population size between approximately 1940 and 1970. This nutritional condition has deteriorated more recently, as revealed by a decrease in energy storage and stomach content weight since the 1980's; these changes coincide with appreciable increases in the abundances of humpback and fin whales, which were heavily harvested in the first half of the past century. The historical demographic changes observed in the Antarctic minke whale are consistent with the pattern to be expected under the krill surplus hypothesis, with minke whales now again competing with other (recovering) baleen whale species for krill. However, these minke whales could also be using alternative feeding areas (e.g. polynias within the pack-ice) in response to the increase in abundance and geographical expansion of these other large whale species. This could provide an alternative explanation for indications from sighting surveys and population models of a decrease and then re-stabilisation of minke whale abundance in open water areas since the 1970s.

**Keywords:** East Antarctic, Antarctic minke whale, blue whale, fin whale, humpback whale, whaling, krill surplus hypothesis, abundance, biological parameters, nutritional condition


**1. Introduction**

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are some of the most common infections worldwide. Newer sexually transmitted pathogens have been recognized and functionally described since 1980, with over 30 such infectious products currently known, which may be bacteria, viruses, or parasites. Today, conditions exist in developing countries that lead to an ever-increasing rate of STIs. Factors that influence this growth are: population explosion, especially in age groups that include teenagers and young people, population migration to urban areas, wars, or poverty. In these countries, in addition to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, three sexually transmitted bacterial infections (gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis) can be considered among the first to affect the health of the population and reproductive life.

The most common sexually transmitted infection worldwide is chlamydia, with approximately 146 million infections each year. But while trends in increasing numbers of *Chlamydia* spp. infections appear to have stabilized in recent years, gonorrhea rates have increased, especially among men. The 2013 report on STIs in Europe shows that, in the countries of the European Union and the European Economic Area, STIs differ by age group: young adults between 15 and 25 had only 14% of syphilis cases but had nearly 39% of gonorrhea and 67% of chlamydia cases [1].

The Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention's (CDC) estimates that the prevalence and cost of STIs in the United States indicate that 20% of the population in this region (about one in five people) had an STI in 2018, infections that have cost that year almost 16 billion dollars in direct medical costs from the budget of the American health system [2].

No STI can be viewed and treated as an isolated infection because multiple infections are very common and the presence of an STI denotes high-risk sexual behavior that may be associated with other infections, which may be more serious. STIs can be classified based on both cause and clinical manifestations. Some of the pathogens can also be transmitted non-sexually, but for each of them, sexual transmission is clinically and epidemiologically important.

Many STIs are caused by bacterial infectious agents. In general, most STIs caused by bacteria are treatable, but if they go undiagnosed or are diagnosed too late, they can seriously affect the health of infected people. Thus, early detection and treatment can reduce the spread of bacterial STIs in the population.

Bacterial vaginosis is known to be highly implicated in female infertility and is probably a major cause of unexplained infertility. Screening and treatment of bacterial vaginitis during infertility treatment has greatly decreased its rate [3].


**Abstract**

Quantum dots (QDs) are of prevalent scientific and technological consideration because of their tunable size and thus frequency change (band-gap energy) in the NIR optical region. QDs have exceptional properties such as optical, physiochemical, electrical, and capacity to be bound to biomolecules. These selective size-dependent attributes of QDs assist them with having versatile applications in optoelectronic and biomedical fields. Their capacity to emit light at various frequencies because of an outer stimulus makes quantum dots perfect for use in imaging, diagnostics, tests for individual particles, and medication transportation frameworks. Ongoing advances in quantum dot design incorporate the potential for these nanocrystals to become therapeutic agents to restore numerous disease conditions themselves via bioconjugation with antibodies or medications. In this chapter, a few advances in the field of biomedical applications, such as bio-sensing, bio-imaging, drug loading capacity, targeted drug delivery, anti-stacking limit hostile to bacterial activity, photo-thermal treatment, photodynamic treatment, and optical properties for biomedical applications are presented, further to a short conversation on difficulties; for example, the biodistribution and harmful toxic effects of quantum dots is also discussed.

**Keywords:** quantum dots, bio-sensing, bio-imaging, drug-delivery, anti-bacterial activity, photo-thermal therapy, photodynamic therapy, optoelectronic devices, functional QDs