Abstract
Conventional wireless communication systems are typically designed assuming a single transmitter-receiver pair for each link. In Low-Power Wide-Area Networks (LP-WANs), this one-to-one design paradigm is often overly pessimistic in terms of link budget because client packets are frequently detected by multiple gateways (i.e. one-to-many). Prior work has shown massive improvement in performance when specialized hardware is used to coherently combine signals at the physical layer. In this paper, we explore the potential of using multiple receivers at the MAC and link layer where these performance gains are often neglected. We present an approach called Opportunistic Packet Recovery (OPR) that targets the most likely corrupt bits across a set of packets that suffered failed CRCs at multiple LoRa LP-WAN base-stations. We see that bit errors are often disjoint across receivers, which aids in collaborative error detection. OPR leverages this to provide increasing gain in error recovery as a function of the number of receiving gateways. Since LP-WAN networks can easily offload packet processing to the cloud, there is ample compute time per packet (order of seconds) to search for bit permutations that would restore packet integrity. Link layer corrections have the advantage of being immediately applicable to the millions of already deployed LP-WAN systems without additional hardware or expensive RF front-ends. We experimentally demonstrate that OPR can correct up to 72% of packets that would normally have failed, when they are captured by multiple gateways.

Abstract
The Internet of Things (IoT) is rapidly becoming an integral component of the industrial market in areas such as automation and analytics, giving rise to what is termed as the Industrial IoT (IIoT). The IIoT promises innovative business models in various industrial domains by providing ubiquitous connectivity, efficient data analytics tools, and better decision support systems for a better market competitiveness. However, IIoT deployments are vulnerable to a variety of security threats at various levels of the connectivity and communications infrastructure. The complex nature of the IIoT infrastructure means that availability, confidentiality and integrity are difficult to guarantee, leading to a potential distrust in the network operations and concerns of loss of critical infrastructure, compromised safety of network end-users and privacy breaches on sensitive information. This work attempts to look at the requirements currently specified for a secure IIoT ecosystem in industry standards, such as Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC) and OpenFog Consortium, and to what extent current IIoT connectivity protocols and platforms hold up to the standards with regard to security and privacy. The paper also discusses possible future research directions to enhance the security, privacy and safety of the IIoT.

Abstract
The study of the optical properties of biological tissues for a wide spectral range is necessary for the development and planning of noninvasive optical methods to be used in clinical practice. In this study, we propose a new method to calculate almost all optical properties of tissues as a function of wavelength directly from spectral measurements. Using this method, and with the exception of the reduced scattering coefficient, which was obtained by traditional simulation methods, all the other optical properties were calculated in a simple and fast manner for human and pathological colorectal tissues. The obtained results are in good agreement with previous published data, both in magnitude and in wavelength dependence. Since this method is based on spectral measurements and not on discrete-wavelength experimental data, the calculated optical properties contain spectral signatures that correspond to major tissue chromophores such as DNA and hemoglobin. Analysis of the absorption bands of hemoglobin in the wavelength dependence of the absorption spectra of normal and pathological colorectal mucosa allowed to identify differentiated accumulation of a pigment in these tissues. The increased content of this pigment in the pathological mucosa may be used for the future development of noninvasive diagnostic methods for colorectal cancer detection.

Abstract
The interest of using light in clinical practice is increasing strongly and many applications work at various wavelengths from the ultraviolet to the infrared. Due to this great range of applications, the determination of the optical properties of biological tissues in a wide spectral range becomes of interest. The liver is an important organ, since it has a major role in the human body and various pathologies are known to develop within it. For these reasons, this study concerns the estimation of the optical properties of human normal and pathological (metastatic carcinoma) liver tissues between 200 and 1000 nm. The obtained optical properties present the expected wavelength dependencies for both tissues - the refractive index, the absorption and the scattering coefficients decrease with the wavelength and the anisotropy and light penetration depth increase with the wavelength. Although similar behavior was observed for the various properties between the normal and pathological tissues, evidence of smaller blood content in the pathological tissues was found. A possible explanation is that the cancer cells destroy liver's vasculature and internal architecture, providing though a reduction in the blood content. For low wavelengths, it was observed a matching between the scattering and the reduced scattering coefficients, which implies a nearly zero anisotropy in that range. The scattering coefficient decreases from nearly 140 cm(-1) (at 200 nm) to 80 cm(-1) (at 1000 nm) for the normal liver and from nearly 140 cm(-1) (at 200 nm) to 95 cm(-1) (at 1000 nm) for the pathological tissue.

Abstract
The concept of 'tissue optical windows' and method of optical clearing (OC) based on controllable and reversible modification of tissue optical properties by their soaking with a biocompatible optical clearing agent (OCA) are prsented. Fundamentals and major mechanisms of OC allowing one to enhance optical imaging facilities and laser treatment efficiency of living tissues are described. Perspectives of immersion optical clearing/contrasting technique aiming to enhance optical imaging of living tissues by using different imaging modalities working in the ultra-broad wavelength range from deep UV to terahertz waves are discussed. It demonstrated that immersion OC method can be applied to evaluate the characteristic diffusion properties of water and OCA in various tissues and even discriminate between the mobile water content in normal and pathological tissues.

Abstract