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The paper presents a critical analysis of the European spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the COVID-19 disease across 48 European countries and territories, including the Monaco and Andorra principalities and Vatican City. Simple cross-sectional regressions, using country populations, are able to predict quite accurately both the total number of cases and deaths, which cast doubt on measures aimed at controlling the disease via lockdowns. This throws into sharp contrast the relative effectiveness of the attempts to risk manage the spread of the virus by 'flattening the curve' of the speed of transmission, and the efficacy of lockdowns in terms of the spread of the disease and death rates. The algorithmic techniques, results and analysis presented in the paper should prove useful to the medical and health professions, science advisers and risk management and decision making of healthcare by state, regional and national governments in all countries in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction of an artificial peninsula extending the Monaco territory is destined to create an urban area of 6 ha. The preliminary works started end 2016, with the full completion of the maritime infrastructure by the end of 2020 and the delivery of the first buildings from 2022. The project requires the prefabrication of 18 caissons, which will constitute the maritime infrastructure of the extension at sea. Located at Marseille (200 km away from Monaco), the prefabrication of the caissons has been carried out by means of a floating structure ("caissonnier") measuring 56 m long, 50 m wide, and 27 m high. During to the construction process, the caissons' rafts and the walls will be exposed to chlorides at early ages (5 days for rafts and 3 days for walls). The client's requirement was to implement a performance‐based durability design approach for all the concrete works of the maritime infrastructure. This approach implies to justify a 100‐years lifetime. The paper presents the methodology used to deploy a performance‐based design approach on this project. In particular, it details how the durability criteria have been set up in connection with the fib Bulletin 34 probabilistic models in order to target the 100‐years lifetime, but also the provisions (increased concrete cover, protective coating) for controlling chloride ingress at early age. In addition, the paper provides special attention in order to explain how the durability criteria are checked during the concrete production phase by the work site and the ready‐mix supplier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Linearly homomorphic signatures (LHSs) allow any entity to linearly combine a set of signatures and to provide authentication service for the corresponding (combined) data. The public key of the current known LHSs from lattices in the standard model requires |$O(l)$| matrices and |$O(k)$| vectors, where |$l$| is the length of file identifier and |$k$| is the maximum data set size that linear functions support. In this paper, we construct two lattice-based LHS schemes with provable security in the standard model and both schemes can authenticate vectors defined over finite field. First, we present a basic LHS scheme satisfying selective security, based on the full-rank difference hash functions. Second, we modify the chameleon hash function constructed by (Cash, D. Hofheinz, D. Kiltz, E. and Peikert, C. (2010) Bonsai Trees, or How to Delegate a Lattice Basis. In Proc. EUROCRYPT 10, Monaco/French Riviera, May 30 to June 3, pp. 523–552. Springer, Berlin) to construct a linearly homomorphic chameleon hash function (LHCHF), which can be applied to all transformations from selectively secure LHS scheme that authenticates vectors defined over finite field |$\mathbb{F}_{p}$| (⁠|$p=poly(n)$|⁠) to fully secure one, except for a new one that authenticates vectors defined over a small field. Starting from LHCFH and the basic scheme as above, we obtain a fully secure LHS scheme. Both schemes can be used to sign multiple files and have relatively short public keys consisting of |$O(1)$| matrices and |$O(k)$| vectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Different dose calculation algorithms (DCAs) predict different dose distributions for the same treatment. Awareness of optimal model parameters is vital for estimating normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) for different algorithms. The aim is to determine the NTCP parameter values for different DCAs in left-sided breast radiotherapy, using the Lyman-Kutcher-Burman (LKB) model. Materials and Methods: First, the methodology recommended by International Atomic Energy Agency TEC-DOC 1583 was used to establish the accuracy of dose calculations of different DCAs including: Monte Carlo (MC) and collapsed cone algorithms implemented in Monaco, pencil beam convolution (PBC) and analytical anisotropic algorithm (AAA) implemented in Eclipse, and superposition and Clarkson algorithms implemented in PCRT3D treatment planning systems (TPSs). Then, treatment planning of 15 patients with left-sided breast cancer was performed by the mentioned DCAs and NTCP of the left-lung normal tissue were calculated for each patient individually, using the LKB model. For the PB algorithm, the NTCP parameters were taken from previously published values and new model parameters obtained for each DCA, using the iterative least squares methods. Results: For all cases and DCAs, NTCP computation with the same model parameters resulted in >15% deviation in NTCP values. The new NTCP model parameters were classified according to the algorithm type. Thus, the discrepancy of NTCP computations was reduced up to 5% after utilizing adjusted model parameters. Conclusions: This paper confirms that the NTCP values for a given treatment type are different for the different DCAs. Thus, it is essential to introduce appropriate NTCP parameter values according to DCA adopted in TPS, to obtain a more precise estimation of lung NTCP. Hence, new parameter values, classified according to the DCAs, must be determined before introducing NTCP estimation in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the paper, the VCD analysis was performed on the sample (+) B 1 b to determine its absolute configuration and it was found that the AC is ( I R i ). In this note, we report a correction to the published article, I Molecules i B 2020 b , I 25 i , 2272; doi:10.3390/molecules25102272 [[1]], regarding the absolute configuration (AC) of the used catalyst B IV b in the preparation of the sample sent for a VCD analysis. Chiral Phase Transfer Catalysis in the Asymmetric Synthesis of a 3,3-Disubstituted Isoindolinone and Determination of Its Absolute Configuration by VCD Spectroscopy. [Extracted from the article]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper was to design, manufacture, and evaluate a tissue equivalent, dual magnetic resonance/computed tomography (MR/CT) visible anthropomorphic head and neck (H&N) phantom. This phantom was specially designed as an end‐to‐end quality assurance (QA) tool for MR imaging guided radiotherapy (MRIgRT) systems participating in NCI‐sponsored clinical trials. Method: The MRIgRT H&N phantom was constructed using a water‐fillable acrylic shell and a custom insert that mimics an organ at risk (OAR) and target structures. The insert consists of a primary and secondary planning target volume (PTV) manufactured of a synthetic Clear Ballistic gel, an acrylic OAR and surrounding tissue fabricated using melted Superflab. Radiochromic EBT3 film and thermoluminescent detectors (TLDs) were used to measure the dose distribution and absolute dose, respectively. The phantom was evaluated by conducting an end‐to‐end test that included: imaging on a GE Lightspeed CT simulator, planning on Monaco treatment planning software (TPS), verifying treatment setup with MR, and irradiating on Elekta's 1.5 T Unity MR linac system. The phantom was irradiated three times using the same plan to determine reproducibility. Three institutions, equipped with either ViewRay MRIdian 60Co or ViewRay MRIdian Linac, were used to conduct a feasibility study by performing independent end‐to‐end studies. Thermoluminescent detectors were evaluated in both reproducibility and feasibility studies by comparing ratios of measured TLD to reported TPS calculated values. Radiochromic film was used to compare measured planar dose distributions to expected TPS distributions. Film was evaluated by using an in‐house gamma analysis software to measure the discrepancies between film and TPS. Results: The MRIgRT H&N phantom on the Unity system resulted in reproducible TLD doses (SD < 1.5%). The measured TLD to calculated dose ratios for the Unity system ranged from 0.94 to 0.98. The Viewray dose result comparisons had a larger range (0.95–1.03) but these depended on the TPS dose calculations from each site. Using a 7%/4 mm gamma analysis, Viewray institutions had average axial and sagittal passing rates of 97.3% and 96.2% and the Unity system had average passing rates of 97.8% and 89.7%, respectively. All of the results were within the Imaging and Radiation Oncology Core in Houston (IROC‐Houston) standard credentialing criteria of 7% on TLDs, and >85% of pixels passing gamma analysis using 7%/4 mm on films. Conclusions: An MRIgRT H&N phantom that is tissue equivalent and visible on both CT and MR was developed. The results from initial reproducibility and feasibility testing of the MRIgRT H&N phantom using the tested MGIgRT systems suggests the phantom's potential utility as a credentialing tool for NCI‐clinical trials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Ostreopsis blooms are addressed with a coupled natural - human systems perspective. • Recurrent exposure to Ostreopsis blooms may have chronic effects on human health. • Beach monitoring and surveillance in summer effectively prevent human health. • Confirmed alert thresholds are 3·104 cells L-1 water or 2·105 cells·g FW-1 macroalgae. • Potential economic impacts of increasing Ostreopsis blooms cannot be projected yet. This paper summarizes the research conducted by the partners of the EU co-funded CoCliME project to ascertain the ecological, human health and economic impacts of Ostreopsis (mainly O. cf. ovata) blooms in the NW Mediterranean coasts of France, Monaco and Spain. This knowledge is necessary to design strategies to prevent, mitigate and, if necessary, adapt to the impacts of these events in the future and in other regions. Ostreopsis proliferations in the Mediterranean have been related to massive mortalities of benthic organisms and to symptoms of respiratory and cutaneous irritation in humans. A six-year epidemiologic study in a Ostreopsis hot spot in Catalonia and the accumulated experience of the French Mediterranean National Ostreopsis Surveillance Network confirm the main effects of these blooms on human health in the NW Mediterranean. The impacts are associated to direct exposure to seawater with high Ostreopsis cell concentrations and to inhalation of aerosols containing unknown irritative chemicals produced under certain circumstances during the blooms. A series of mild acute symptoms, affecting the entire body as well as the ophthalmic, digestive, respiratory and dermatologic systems have been identified. A main remaining challenge is to ascertain the effects of the chronic exposure to toxic Ostreopsis blooms. Still, the mechanisms involved in the deletereous effects of Ostreopsis blooms are poorly understood. Characterizing the chemical nature of the harmful compounds synthesized by Ostreopsis as well as the role of the mucus by which cells attach to benthic surfaces, requires new technical approaches (e.g., metabolomics) and realistic and standardized ecotoxicology tests. It is also necessary to investigate how palytoxin analogues produced by O. cf. ovata could be transferred through the marine food webs, and to evaluate the real risk of seafood poisonings in the area. On the other hand, the implementation of beach monitoring and surveillance systems in the summer constitutes an effective strategy to prevent the impacts of Ostreopsis on human health. In spite of the confirmed noxious effects, a survey of tourists and residents in Nice and Monaco to ascertain the socioeconomic costs of Ostreopsis blooms indicated that the occurrence of these events and their impacts are poorly known by the general public. In relationship with a plausible near future increase of Ostreopsis blooms in the NW Mediterranean coast, this survey showed that a substantial part of the population might continue to go to the beaches during Ostreopsis proliferations and thus could be exposed to health risks. In contrast, some people would not visit the affected areas, with the potential subsequent negative impacts on coastal recreational and touristic activities. However, at this stage, it is too early to accurately assess all the economic impacts that a potentially increasing frequency and biogeographic expansion of the events might cause in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our paper proposes adaptive Monte Carlo sampling schemes for Bayesian variable selection in linear regression that improve on standard Markov chain methods. We do so by considering Metropolis–Hastings proposals that make use of accumulated information about the posterior distribution obtained during sampling. Adaptation needs to be done carefully to ensure that sampling is from the correct ergodic distribution. We give conditions for the validity of an adaptive sampling scheme in this problem, and for simulating from a distribution on a finite state space in general, and suggest a class of adaptive proposal densities which uses best linear prediction to approximate the Gibbs sampler. Our sampling scheme is computationally much faster per iteration than the Gibbs sampler, and when this is taken into account the efficiency gains when using our sampling scheme compared to alternative approaches are substantial in terms of precision of estimation of posterior quantities of interest for a given amount of computation time. We compare our method with other sampling schemes for examples involving both real and simulated data. The methodology developed in the paper can be extended to variable selection in more general problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The built environment of Panama City, Panama, has undergone a transformative change over the past decade. Hundreds of high-rise residential towers have sprung up in and around its central business district, eliciting comparisons with Singapore, New York and Dubai insofar as journalists, real estate boosters and politicians have associated the increase in tall buildings with a commensurate increase in global status. Concurrently, on the urban periphery, scores of uniform housing estates have been erected to house an upwardly mobile middle class. Triggered by the handover of the Panama Canal and the surrounding Canal Zone in 1999, the city's pronounced building boom has corresponded with the highest rates of economic growth in Latin America. This paper examines the complex factors behind the recent transformation of Panama City from a historical-morphological perspective. While the drivers of demand for real property were primarily global, the determinants of supply have been highly localized, suggesting that the interface between the global and the local is a fundamental catalyst of changes in the urban landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strokes are considered an elementary unit of road networks and have been widely used in their analysis and application. However, most conventional stroke generation methods are based solely on a fixed angle threshold, which ignores road networks' geometric and structural properties. To remedy this, this paper proposes an algorithm for generating strokes that takes into account these additional geometric and structural road network properties and that reduces the impact of stroke generation on road network quality. To this end, we introduce a model of feature-based information entropy and then utilize this model to calculate road networks' information volume and both the elemental and neighborhood level. To make our experimental results more objective, we use the Douglas-Peucker algorithm to simplify the information change curve and to obtain the optimal angle threshold range for generating strokes for different road network structures. Finally, we apply this model to three different road networks, and the optimal threshold ranges are 54°–63° (Chicago), 61°–63° (Moscow), 45°–48° (Monaco). And taking Monaco as an example, this paper conducts stroke selection experiments. The results demonstrate that our proposed algorithm has better connectivity and wider coverage than those based on a common angle threshold (60°). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]