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Dimitar Trajanov
Verica Bakeva (Eds.)

Communications in Computer and Information Science 778

ICT Innovations 2017

Data-Driven Innovation

9th International Conference, ICT Innovations 2017

Skopje, Macedonia, September 18–23, 2017
Proceedings

123
Communications
in Computer and Information Science 778
Commenced Publication in 2007
Founding and Former Series Editors:
Alfredo Cuzzocrea, Xiaoyong Du, Orhun Kara, Ting Liu, Dominik Ślęzak,
and Xiaokang Yang

Editorial Board
Simone Diniz Junqueira Barbosa
Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio),
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Phoebe Chen
La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
Joaquim Filipe
Polytechnic Institute of Setúbal, Setúbal, Portugal
Igor Kotenko
St. Petersburg Institute for Informatics and Automation of the Russian
Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia
Krishna M. Sivalingam
Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India
Takashi Washio
Osaka University, Osaka, Japan
Junsong Yuan
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Lizhu Zhou
Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/7899
Dimitar Trajanov Verica Bakeva (Eds.)
•

ICT Innovations 2017

Data-Driven Innovation
9th International Conference, ICT Innovations 2017
Skopje, Macedonia, September 18–23, 2017
Proceedings

123
Editors
Dimitar Trajanov Verica Bakeva
Computer Science and Engineering Computer Science and Engineering
Ss. Cyril and Methodius University Ss. Cyril and Methodius University
Skopje Skopje
Macedonia Macedonia

ISSN 1865-0929 ISSN 1865-0937 (electronic)

Communications in Computer and Information Science
ISBN 978-3-319-67596-1 ISBN 978-3-319-67597-8 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-67597-8

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017952857

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017

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 Preface

The ICT Innovations 2017 conference created and managed a vibrant environment,
where participants shared the latest discoveries and best practices, and learned about
data-driven innovation. The conference promoted the development of models, meth-
ods, and instruments of data science and provided a unique environment for the pre-
sentation and discussion of new approaches and prototypes in the field.
ICT Innovations conferences are organized by the Association for Information and
Communication Technologies (ICT-ACT), whose mission is the advancement of ICT
technologies. The main co-organizer and supporter of the 9th International ICT
Innovations conference was the Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering and Ss.
Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Macedonia.
The special conference topic was “data-driven innovation”. Data-driven innovation
forms a key pillar in the 21st-century sources of growth. The confluence of several
trends, including the increasing migration of socio-economic activities to the Internet
and the decline in the cost of data collection, storage, and processing, are leading to the
generation and use of huge volumes of data. These large datasets are becoming a core
asset in research and economics, fostering new discoveries, new industries, new pro-
cesses, and new products. Data innovation is happening everywhere. It is transforming
how and what people purchase, and how they communicate and collaborate. In
response, data and analytics are being used to motivate radical new business models
and disrupt traditional industry structures. Outperforming organizations will be those
that make data and analytics central to their innovation processes, as well as to the
innovation itself. Data promises to provide the input for creative endeavors and new
ideas. But the importance of data and analytics will transcend ideation and inspiration.
The conference also focused on a variety of ICT fields like: big data analytics, cloud
computing, data mining, digital signal processing, e-health, embedded systems,
emerging mobile technologies, multimedia, Internet of Things, machine learning,
software engineering, security and cryptography, coding theory, wearable technologies,
wireless communication, sensor networks, and other related topics.
The ICT Innovations 2017 received 90 submissions from 232 authors coming from
22 different countries. All these submissions were peer reviewed by the ICT Innova-
tions 2017 Program Committee consisting of 260 high-quality researchers coming from
56 different countries. In order to assure a high-quality and thoughtful review process,
we assigned each paper to more than five reviewers, resulting in 5.1 average assigned
reviewers per paper, and at the end of the review process, there were 4.26 reviews per
paper. Based on the results from the peer reviews, 26 full papers were accepted,
resulting in a 28.8% acceptance rate, which was within our goal of less than 30%.
ICT Innovations 2017 was held in held in Skopje at two locations, the Hotel
Aleksandar Palace and the Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering, during
September 18–23, 2017.
VI Preface

We would like to express sincere gratitude to the invited speakers for their inspi-
rational talks, to the authors for submitting their work to this conference, and the
reviewers for sharing their experience during the selection process. Special thanks to
Aleksandra Popovska Mitrovik, Vladimir Zdraveski, and Milos Jovanovik for their
technical support during the conference and their help during the preparation of the
conference proceedings.

September 2017 Dimitar Trajanov

Verica Bakeva
 Organization

ICT Innovations 2017 was organized by the Association for Information and
Communication Technologies (ICT-ACT).

Conference and Program Chairs

Dimitar Trajanov Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje,
Macedonia
Verica Bakeva Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje,
Macedonia

Program Committee
Jugoslav Achkoski Military Academy “General Mihailo Apostolski”,
Macedonia
Nevena Ackovska University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Syed Ahsan Technische Universität Graz, Austria
Marco Aiello University of Groningen, Netherlands
Zahid Akhtar University of Udine, Italy
Dietrich Albert University of Graz, Austria
Azir Aliu Southeastern European University of Macedonia,
Macedonia
Giner Alor Hernandez Hernandez Instituto Tecnologico de Orizaba, Mexico
Adel Alti University of Setif, Algeria
Luis Alvarez Sabucedo Universidade de Vigo, Spain
Hani Alzaid King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology,
Saudi Arabia
Ljupcho Antovski University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Goce Armenski University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Hrachya Astsatryan National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, Armenia
Tsonka Baicheva Bulgarian Academy of Science, Bulgaria
Verica Bakeva University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Ekaterina Balandina FRUCT, Academia-to-Industry Competence Incubator,
Finland
Valentina Emilia Balas Aurel Vlaicu University of Arad, Romania
Antun Balaz Institute of Physics Belgrade, Serbia
Angel Barriga IMSE/University of Seville, Spain
Lasko Basnarkov University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Hrvoje Belani Croatian Health Insurance Fund, Croatia
Marta Beltran Rey Juan Carlos University, Spain
Gennaro Boggia DEI - Politecnico di Bari, Italy
VIII Organization

Slobodan Bojanic Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain

Mirjana Bortnar Kljaji University of Maribor, Slovenia
Dragan Bosnacki Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands
An Braeken EHB, Belgium
Zaki Brahmi RIADI-Lab, Tunisia
Torsten Braun Universität Bern, Switzerland
Andrej Brodnik University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Serhat Burmaoglu Izmir Katip Celebi University, Turkey
Francesc Burrull Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, Spain
David Camacho Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Spain
Nick Cavalcanti UFPE, UK
Somchai Chatvichienchai University of Nagasaki, Japan
Jenhui Chen Chang Gung University, Taiwan
Ljubomir Chitkushev Boston University, USA
Ivan Chorbev University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Ioanna Chouvarda Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
Ping-Tsai Chung Long Island University, New York, USA
Betim Cico Southeastern European University of Macedonia,
Macedonia
Emmanuel Conchon Institut de Recherche en Informatique de Toulouse,
France
Marilia Curado University of Coimbra, Portugal
Bozidara Cvetkovic Jozef Stefan Institute, Slovenia
Robertas Damasevicius Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania
Pasqua D’Ambra ICAR-CNR, Italy
Danco Davcev University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Antonio De Nicola ENEA, Italy
Boris Delibasic University of Belgrade, Serbia
Goran Devedzic University of Kragijevac, Serbia
Vesna Dimitrievska University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Ristovska
Vesna Dimitrova University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Ivica Dimitrovski University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Salvatore Distefano University of Messina, Italy
Milena Djukanovic University of Montenegro, Montenegro
Ciprian Dobre University Politehnica of Bucharest, Romania
Martin Drlik Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra,
Slovakia
Kristina Drusany Staric University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Slovenia
Saso Dzeroski Jozef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Joshua Ellul University of Malta, Malta
Suliman Mohamed Fati Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia
Deborah Fels Ryerson University, Canada
Majlinda Fetaji Southeastern European University of Macedonia,
Macedonia
Sonja Filiposka University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
 Organization IX

Predrag Filipovikj Mälardalen University, Sweden

Neki Frasheri Polytechnic University of Tirana, Albania
Kaori Fujinami Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology,
Japan
Slavko Gajin University of Belgrade, Serbia
Joao Gama University of Porto, Portugal
Ivan Ganchev University of Limerick, Ireland/University of Plovdiv
Paisii Hilendarski, Bulgaria
Todor Ganchev Technical University of Varna, Bulgaria
Nuno Garcia Universidade da Beira Interior, Portugal
Andrey Gavrilov Laboratory Hybrid Intelligent Systems, Russia
Amjad Gawanmeh Khalifa University, United Arab Emirates
John Gialelis University of Patras, Greece
Sonja Gievska University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Dejan Gjorgjevikj University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Danilo Gligoroski Norwegian University of Science and Technology,
Norway
Rossitza Goleva Technical University of Sofia, Bulgaria
Abel Gomes Univeristy of Beira Interior, Portugal
Saso Gramatikov University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
George Gravvanis Democritus University of Thrace, Greece
Andrej Grguric Ericsson Nikola Tesla - Research and Innovations Unit,
Croatia
Daniel Grosu Wayne State University, USA
David Guralnick Teachers College, Columbia University, USA
Marjan Gushev University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Yoram Haddad Jerusalem College of Technology, Israel
Elena Hadzieva University of Information Science and Technology
(UIST) St. Paul the Apostle, Macedonia
Tianyong Hao Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, China
Natasa Hoic-Bozic University of Rijeka, Croatia
Violeta Holmes University of Huddersfield, UK
Fu-Shiung Hsieh University of Technology, Taiwan
Yin-Fu Huang University of Science and Technology, Taiwan
Ladislav Huraj University of SS. Cyril and Methodius, Slovakia
Hieu Trung Huynh Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Barna Laszlo Iantovics Petru Maior University of Tg. Mures, Romania
Vacius Jusas Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania
Sergio Ilarri University of Zaragoza, Spain
Natasha Ilievska University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Minna Isomursu VTT Technical Research Centre, Finland
Mirjana Ivanovic University of Novi Sad, Serbia
Boro Jakimovska University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Smilka Janevska-Sarkanjac University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Yichuan Jiang Southeast University, China
Mile Jovanov University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
X Organization

Milosh Jovanovikj University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia

Slobodan Kalajdziski University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Alexey Kalinov Cadence Design Systems, Russia
Kalinka Kaloyanova University of Sofia - FMI, Bulgaria
Aneta Karaivanova Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria
Takahiro Kawamura The University of Electro-Communications, Japan
Richard Knepper Indiana University, USA
Ljupcho Kocarev University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Natasa Koceska University Goce Delcev, Macedonia
Saso Koceski University Goce Delcev, Macedonia
Dragi Kocev Jozef Stefan Institute, Slovenia
Peter Kokol University of Maribor, Slovenia
Margita Kon-Popovska University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Magdalena Kostoska University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Ivan Kraljevski VoiceINTERconnect GmbH, Germany
Aleksandar Krapezh Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Serbia
Andrea Kulakov University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Siddhivinayak Kulkarni Federation University, Australia
Ashok Kumar Das International Institute of Information Technology, India
Brajesh Kumar Singh Faculty of Engineering and Technology, RBS College,
India
Anirban Kundu Kuang-Chi Institute of Advanced Technology,
Singapore
Minoru Kuribayashi Kobe University, Japan
Eugenijus Kurilovas Vilnius University, Lithuania
Arianit Kurti Linnaeus University, Sweden
Jan Kwiatkowski Wroclaw University of Technology, Poland
David Lamas Tallinn University, Estonia
Alexey Lastovetsky University College Dublin, Ireland
Sanja Lazarova-Molnar University of Southern Denmark, Denmark
Nhien An Le Khac University College Dublin, Ireland
Rita Yi Man Li Hong Kong Shue Yan University, Hong Kong
Hwee-San Lim Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia
Thomas Lindh KTH, Sweden
Igor Ljubi Croatian Institute for Health Insurance, Croatia
Suzana Loshkovska University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Jos Machado Da Silva FEUP, Portugal
Ana Madevska Bogdanova University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Gjorgji Madjarov University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Piero Malcovati University of Pavia, Italy
Augostino Marengo Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro, Italy
Ninoslav Marina University St. Paul the Apostole, Macedonia
Smile Markovski University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Cveta Martinovska University Goce Delcev, Macedonia
Fulvio Mastrogiovanni University of Genoa, Italy
Darko Matovski University of Southampton, UK
 Organization XI

Marcin Michalak Silesian University of Technology, Poland

Hristina Mihajloska University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Aleksandra Mileva University Goce Delcev, Macedonia
Biljana Mileva Boshkoska Faculty of Information Studies in Novo Mesto,
Slovenia
Miroslav Mirchev University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Georgina Mircheva University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Anastas Mishev University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Igor Mishkovski University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Kosta Mitreski University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Pece Mitrevski University St. Kliment Ohridski, Macedonia
Irina Mocanu University Politehnica of Bucharest, Romania
Anne Moen University of Oslo, Norway
Ammar Mohammed Cairo University, Egypt
Radouane Mrabet Mohammed V - Souissi University, Morocco
Irena Nancovska Serbec University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Andreja Naumoski University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Viorel Nicolau Dunarea de Jos University of Galati, Romania
Alexandru Nicolin Horia Hulubei National Institute of Physics and
Nuclear Engineering, Romania
Manuel Noguera Universidad de Granada, Spain
Anthony Norcio University of Maryland, Baltimore County, USA
Novica Nosovic University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Ivana Ognjanovi Univerzitet Donja Gorica, Montenegro
Pance Panov Jozef Stefan Institute, Slovenia
Eleonora Pantano University of Calabria, Italy
Marcin Paprzycki IBS PAN and WSM, Poland
Peter Parycek Danube-University Krems, Austria
Matteo Pastorino Life Supporting Technologies - UPM, Spain
Shushma Patel London South Bank University, UK
Christian Fischer Pedersen Aarhus University, Denmark
Maritta Perälä-Heape Centre for Health and Technology, Finland
Dana Petcu West University of Timisoara, Romania
Predrag Petkovic University of Ni, Serbia
Antonio Pinheiro Universidade da Beira Interior, Portugal
Niels Pinkwart Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Germany
Matus Pleva Technical University of Koice, Slovakia
Vedran Podobnik University of Zagreb, Croatia
Florin Pop University Politehnica of Bucharest, Romania
Zaneta Popeska University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Aleksandra University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Popovska-Mitrovikj
Marco Porta University of Pavia, Italy
Rodica Potolea Technical Univeristy of Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Ustijana Rechkoska UINT, Macedonia
Shikoska
XII Organization

Manjeet Rege University of St. Thomas, USA

Kalinka Regina Castelo Institute of Mathematics and Computer Sciences, Brazil
Branco
Miriam Reiner Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Israel
Blagoj Ristevski University St. Kliment Ohridski, Macedonia
Sasko Ristov University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Philippe Roose LIUPPA, France
Jatinderkumar Saini Narmada College of Computer Application, India
Simona Samardziska University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Snezana Savovska University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Wolfgang Schreiner Research Institute for Symbolic Computation (RISC),
Austria
Loren Schwiebert Wayne State University, USA
Bryan Scotney University of Ulster, UK
Ramo Endelj Univerzitet Donja Gorica, Montenegro
Vladimr Sildi Matej Bel University, Slovakia
Josep Silva Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain
Manuel Silva Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto, Portugal
Roel Smolders VITO, Belgium
Ana Sokolova University of Salzburg, Austria
Michael Sonntag Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria
Dejan Spasov University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Susanna Spinsante Università Politecnica delle Marche, Italy
Georgi Stojanov The American University of Paris, France
Igor Stojanovic University Goce Delcev, Macedonia
Biljana Stojkoska University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Stanimir Stoyanov University Paisii Hilendarski, Bulgaria
Ariel Stulman The Jerusalem College of Technology, Israel
Chandrasekaran Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore, India
Subramaniam
Chang-Ai Sun University of Science and Technology Beijing, China
Ousmane Thiare Gaston Berger University, Senegal
Biljana Tojtovska University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Dimitar Trajanov University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Ljiljana Trajkovic Simon Fraser University, Canada
Vladimir Trajkovik University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Denis Trcek University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Kire Trivodaliev University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Yuh-Min Tseng National Changhua University of Education, Taiwan
Marek Tudruj Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland
Carlos Valderrama University of Mons, Belgium
Zlatko Varbanov Veliko Tarnovo University, Bulgaria
Sergio, A. Velastin Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Chile
Goran Velinov University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Elena Vlahu-Georgievska University St. Kliment Ohridski, Macedonia
Irena Vodenska Boston University, USA
 Organization XIII

Boris Vrdoljak University of Zagreb, Croatia

Katarzyna Wac University of Geneva, Switzerland
Santoso Wibowo Central Queensland University, Australia
Michal Wozniak Wroclaw University of Technology, Poland
Lai Xu Bournemouth University, UK
Shuxiang Xu University of Tasmania, Australia
Wuyi Yue Konan University, Japan
Filip Zavoral Charles University Prague, Czech Republic
Zoran Zdravev University Goce Delcev Macedonia
Katerina Zdravkova University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Xiangyan Zeng Fort Valley State University, USA

Organizing Committee
Cveta Martinovska University Goce Delcev, Macedonia
Gjorgji Madjarov University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Elena Vlahu-Georgievska University St. Kliment Ohridski, Macedonia
Azir Aliu Southeastern European University of Macedonia,
Macedonia
Ustijana Reckoska Shikoska UINT, Macedonia

Technical Committee
Aleksandra Popovska University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Mitrovik
Milos Jovanovik University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
Vladimir Zdraveski University Ss.Cyril and Methodius, Macedonia
 Contents

Invited Keynote Paper

Video Pandemics: Worldwide Viral Spreading of Psy’s

Gangnam Style Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Zsófia Kallus, Dániel Kondor, József Stéger, István Csabai,
Eszter Bokányi, and Gábor Vattay

Proceeding Papers

A Secure Discharging Protocol for Plug in Electric Vehicle (SDP-V2G)

in Smart Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Khaled Shuaib, Juhar Ahmed Abdella, Ezedin Barka, and Farag Sallabi

ECGalert: A Heart Attack Alerting System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Marjan Gusev, Aleksandar Stojmenski, and Ana Guseva

An Event-Based Messaging Architecture for Vehicular Internet of Things

(IoT) Platforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Meera Aravind, Gustav Wiklander, Jakob Palmheden, and Radu Dobrin

Internet of Things Based Solutions for Road Safety and Traffic

Management in Intelligent Transportation Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Arnav Thakur, Reza Malekian, and Dijana Capeska Bogatinoska

Local Diffusion Versus Random Relocation in Random Walks . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Viktor Stojkoski, Tamara Dimitrova, Petar Jovanovski, Ana Sokolovska,
and Ljupco Kocarev

Network-Dependent Server Performance Analysis of HTTP

Adaptive Streaming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Sasho Gramatikov

Universal Large Scale Sensor Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Jakob Schaerer, Severin Zumbrunn, and Torsten Braun

FPGA Implementation of a Dense Optical Flow Algorithm Using Altera

OpenCL SDK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Umut Ulutas, Mustafa Tosun, Vecdi Emre Levent, Duygu Büyükaydın,
Toygar Akgün, and H. Fatih Ugurdag

Persistent Random Search on Complex Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Lasko Basnarkov, Miroslav Mirchev, and Ljupco Kocarev
XVI Contents

Weed Detection Dataset with RGB Images Taken Under Variable

Light Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Petre Lameski, Eftim Zdravevski, Vladimir Trajkovik,
and Andrea Kulakov

Influence of Algebraic T-norm on Different Indiscernibility Relationships

in Fuzzy-Rough Rule Induction Algorithms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Andreja Naumoski, Georgina Mirceva, and Kosta Mitreski

An Investigation of Human Trajectories in Ski Resorts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Boris Delibašić, Sandro Radovanović, Miloš Jovanović,
Milan Vukićević, and Milija Suknović

Courses Content Classification Based on Wikipedia and CIP Taxonomy . . . . 140

Atanas Dimitrovski, Ana Gjorgjevikj, and Dimitar Trajanov

Tendencies and Perspectives of the Emotions Usage in Robotics. . . . . . . . . . 154

Vesna Kirandziska and Nevena Ackovska

Image Retrieval for Alzheimer’s Disease Based on Brain Atrophy Pattern . . . 165
Katarina Trojacanec, Slobodan Kalajdziski, Ivan Kitanovski,
Ivica Dimitrovski, Suzana Loshkovska, for the Alzheimer’s
Disease Neuroimaging Initiative

Addressing Item-Cold Start Problem in Recommendation Systems

Using Model Based Approach and Deep Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Ivica Obadić, Gjorgji Madjarov, Ivica Dimitrovski,
and Dejan Gjorgjevikj

Predictive Clustering of Multi-dimensional Time Series Applied to Forest

Growing Stock Data for Different Tree Sizes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Valentin Gjorgjioski, Dragi Kocev, Andrej Bončina, Sašo Džeroski,
and Marko Debeljak

New Decoding Algorithm for Cryptcodes Based on Quasigroups

for Transmission Through a Low Noise Channel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Aleksandra Popovska-Mitrovikj, Verica Bakeva,
and Daniela Mechkaroska

Authorization Proxy for SPARQL Endpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

Riste Stojanov and Milos Jovanovik

Number of Errors that the Error-Detecting Code Surely Detects . . . . . . . . . . 219

Nataša Ilievska
 Contents XVII

Representation of Algebraic Structures by Boolean Functions

and Its Applications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Smile Markovski, Verica Bakeva, Vesna Dimitrova,
and Aleksandra Popovska-Mitrovikj

Software Quality Metrics While Using Different Development

Methodologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
Simona Tudjarova, Ivan Chorbev, and Boban Joksimoski

Reflections on Data-Driven Risk Valuation Models for MSMEs Based

on Field Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Jasmina Trajkovski and Ljupcho Antovski

The Model for Gamification of E-learning in Higher Education Based

on Learning Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Nadja Zaric, Snezana Scepanović, Tijana Vujicic, Jelena Ljucovic,
and Danco Davcev

Behavioral Targeted vs Non-targeted Online Campaign in Macedonia . . . . . . 274

Borce Dzurovski and Smilka Janeska-Sarkanjac

Author Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

Invited Keynote Paper
 Video Pandemics: Worldwide Viral Spreading
of Psy’s Gangnam Style Video

Zsófia Kallus1,2 , Dániel Kondor1,3 , József Stéger1 , István Csabai1 ,

Eszter Bokányi1 , and Gábor Vattay1(B)
1
Department of Physics of Complex Systems,
Eötvös University, Pázmány P. s. 1/A, Budapest 1117, Hungary
[email protected]
2
Ericsson Research, Budapest, Hungary
3
Senseable City Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Cambridge, USA

Abstract. Viral videos can reach global penetration traveling through

international channels of communication similarly to real diseases start-
ing from a well-localized source. In past centuries, disease fronts propa-
gated in a concentric spatial fashion from the source of the outbreak via
the short range human contact network. The emergence of long-distance
air-travel changed these ancient patterns. However, recently, Brockmann
and Helbing have shown that concentric propagation waves can be rein-
stated if propagation time and distance is measured in the flight-time and
travel volume weighted underlying air-travel network. Here, we adopt
this method for the analysis of viral meme propagation in Twitter mes-
sages, and define a similar weighted network distance in the communica-
tion network connecting countries and states of the World. We recover a
wave-like behavior on average and assess the randomizing effect of non-
locality of spreading. We show that similar result can be recovered from
Google Trends data as well.

Keywords: Geo-social networks · Meme dynamics · Online news prop-

agation · Graph embedding

1 Introduction
According to Wikipedia, the music video of ‘Gangnam Style’ by recording artist
Psy reached the unprecedented milestone of one billion YouTube views on
December 21, 2012. It was directed by Cho Soo-Hyun and the video premiered
on July 15, 2012. What makes this viral video unique from the point of view
of social network research is that it was spreading mostly via human-to-human
social network links before its first public appearance in the United States on
August 20, 2012 and before Katy Perry shared it with her 25 million followers
on Twitter on August 21.
Other viral videos spread typically via news media and reach worldwide
audiences quickly, within 1–3 days. Our assumption is that only those online

c Springer International Publishing AG 2017
D. Trajanov and V. Bakeva (Eds.): ICT Innovations 2017, CCIS 778, pp. 3–12, 2017.
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-67597-8 1
4 Z. Kallus et al.

viral phenomena can show similarities to global pandemics that were origi-
nally constrained to a well localized, limited region and then, after an outbreak
period, reached a worldwide level of penetration. In 2012, the record breaking
‘Gangnam Style’ [1] marked the appearance of a new type of online meme, reach-
ing unprecedented level of fame despite its originally small local audience. From
the sub-culture of k-pop fans it reached an increasingly wide range of users of
online media - including academics - from around the World (Refs. [2–5]). We
approximately reconstructed its spreading process by filtering geo-tagged mes-
sages containing the words ‘Gangnam’ and ‘style’. In Fig. 1 we show the location
of geo-tagged posts containing the expression ‘Gangnam Style’ from our col-
lection of the public Twitter feed, as of September 2012. For this purpose we
used our historical Twitter dataset and collection of follower relations connecting
5.8M active Twitter users who enabled access to their location information while
posting messages to their public accounts (see Ref. [6] for details). When tracing
videos on the Twitter social platform we have access only to the public posts,
and only look at geo-tagged messages. Location information allows us to record
the approximate arrival time of a certain news to a specific geo-political region.
In the real space this process looks indeed random, but the ‘local to global’ tran-
sition is also apparent as the messages cover a progressively larger territory. We
collected the approximate first arrival time of the video in different geo-political
regions of the World. In order to study the viral spreading of the appearances
of the video in the Twitter datastream first we coarse-grained the World map
into large homogeneous geo-political regions. We used regions of countries and
states of the World as the cells (i.e. the nodes) and aggregated the individual
links connecting them. By performing an aggregation into geo-political regions
we construct a weighted graph connecting 261 super nodes. Thus the ratio of
edge weights can be interpreted as an approximation of the relative strength of
communication between pairs of the connected regions. This high-level graph is
thus naturally embedded into the geographic space giving a natural length to its

Fig. 1. Geo-locations of Twitter messages containing ‘Gangnam Style’.

Video Pandemics: Worldwide Viral Spreading of Psy’s Gangnam Style Video 5

edges. We then connect individuals in the spatial social network and then recre-
ate a high-level aggregated weighted graph between regions by querying a large
database containing the collection of historic, freely available Twitter messages
[6–8]. In Fig. 2 we show the resulting weights in graphical form for Twitter users
in California.

Fig. 2. Social connection weights between large geo-political regions of the

World. The map shows our 261 geo-political regions and the number of friendships
(mutual Twitter followers) between users in California and the rest of the World.
Colour codes the number of friendships with users in California in our database. Deep
red means that Californians have ∼105 friendships within California and deep blue
indicates that ∼100 friendship connects them for example to certain regions of Africa.
(Color figure online)

2 Weighting the Speed of Spreading in the Network

Brockmann and Helbing in Ref. [9] worked out a method by which they were
able to predict the effective spreading time of a real disease between two nodes of
air-traffic based on the network and the number of passengers travelling between
them in unit time and introduced an effective measure of distance of the two
nodes. Here, we repeat their derivation, except, we use the number of mutual
social contacts (mutual Twitter followers called friends) between geo-located
Twitter users in the geo-political regions. Each user can be in one of two possible
states: susceptible for the viral video (never seen the video before) or infected
(already seen the video) and affects the state of others when contact occurs
between them via sharing the video in their social network feeds. The model
that we adopt is based on the meta-population model [10,11]. After dividing the
world map into geo-political regions the dynamics within the nth spatial unit is
modelled by the SI equations [12–15] with disease specific parameters:
6 Z. Kallus et al.

∂t Sn = −αIn Sn /Nn ,
(1)
∂t In = −βIn + αIn Sn /Nn .

This local dynamics is complemented by the weights that connect the sepa-
rated cells as described by

wmn Um − wmn Un . (2)
m=n

Here Un represents the nth SI state variable, and wmn = Fnm /Nm is the per
capita traffic flux from site m to site n, Fnm being the weighted adjacency
matrix representing the network. This means that the human contact network
can be effectively divided into interconnected layers and the spatial reach of a
spreading process is determined mainly by the weighted network of regions. We
only need this high-level information and the details of the large and complex
temporal contact network can be neglected. Once we have a weighted graph and
the arrival times of the video at each of the nodes the embedding of the graph
into an abstract space can be performed. Its goal is to uncover the wave pattern
of the dynamics. This means finding a source region from which the dependence
of the arrival times at a region is linear on the effective distance of the region
from the origin i.e., there exists an effective velocity. If the spreading is governed
by the Eqs. (1–2) the effective distance (spreading time) between nodes m and
n can be defined as follows:

dmn = 1 − log(Pmn ) ≤ 1, (3)


where Pmn = Fmn / m Fmn is the flux fraction from m to n i.e., the probability
to choose destination m if one is in the region n. This way a minimal distance
means maximal probability, and additivity of the distances is ensured by the
logarithmic function.

3 From Geographic to Network-Based Embedding

The embedding comprises of the following steps. After calculating the connec-
tion weighted adjacency matrix, each link weight is transformed into the effective
quasi distance defined by Eq. 3. Starting from each node a shortest path tree can
be constructed from all nodes reachable from the selected one. These shortest
paths correspond by definition to the most probable active routes that the equa-
tions of epidemics and the weights would predict. In such a tree the distance of
each node from the origin is the length of the shortest path connecting them.
The original graph and one of its shortest path trees is shown in Fig. 3. If the
node selected as origin corresponds to the most effective source, the video will
arrive first at the closest nodes and then propagate towards the periphery. If the
arrival times show a linear dependence on the effective distance, it is likely that
we found the source of the spreading. Comparing different trees by measuring
the goodness of a linear fit allows us to find the most probable and most effective
Video Pandemics: Worldwide Viral Spreading of Psy’s Gangnam Style Video 7

source node on the graph. For the ‘Gangnam Style’ video it is the region of the
Philippines. While the obvious center should be Seoul/South Korea, where the
video has been created, it seems that the most intensive source of social network
spreading was in the Philippines. This is probably due to the fact that we are
not able to measure the very short time it took the video to spread from South
Korea to the Philippines and more importantly, the Philippines is much more
connected socially to the rest of the world than South Korea. This is partially
due to the English language use and a well spread diaspora of the Philippines.

CMR
COD
DJI GAB
CA−NT GMB GUF
CIV ETH
FJI
CZE DZA GEO
CA−PE CYM EST MTQ GUY
BMU
CA−NB
CA−NL CRICYP
BWA
BOLBRB CA−NS
BFA ECU
BLR DNK FIN GTM
GHA
BIH CA−SK
CHE COL HTI IRN
CHL
CA−QC HND ISL
CHN DEU GRC
BEN BGD CA−MB
BRN GUM HRVHUN
IRQ RWA
BHS ESPFRA
AZE BGR CA−AB
CA−BC
CA−ON JAM KAZKGZ
BHR BRA HKG ISR
IRL
IND
AU−TAS
AUT BEL KEN
AU−WA GBR KHM
AU−NT AU−SA IDN ITA LAO LCA
ARM ATG AU−ACT AU−VIC JPN
AU−QLD KWTLBN
AU−NSW KOR LKA LTULUX
ARG LVA
ALA ALB ARE MAR
AGO MDG
AFG PHL MEX
ZWE MKD
ZMB ZAF MMR
LSO MNG MNE
XKX VNM MYS MNP
WSM VEN
NGA MOZ
VIR US−WA
US−WI US−TX NLD MUS MRT
US−WV US−VA MWI
VCT NZL NOR
US−WY US−TN US−NY NAM
US−PA NIC
UZB US−UT US−SCUS−OH US−CA
US−VT US−NJ
US−NV OMN NPL
PAK
PAN
PER
US−RI
US−OR QAT
US−OK US−NC POL
US−MI US−FL THA RUS
US−SD US−MD US−GA
US−IL PRTPRI
US−MO
US−MN
US−MA PNG
US−NM US−MS SWE
US−LA
US−IN TUR PRY
US−NE
US−NH US−KYUS−HI US−AZ
US−AL
US−CO PSE
US−CT TWN SLV
US−KS US−DC
US−ND US−IA US−AR SRB
US−ME US−DE US−AK SVN
SVK REU
US−MT UKR SDN
SEN
US−ID TTO
TUN
UGA SUR
URYTZA
TCA
TCD SWZ

Fig. 3. Embedded shortest path tree. The countries of the World are partitioned
to 261 large administrative regions. An aggregated version of the weighted and directed
graph has been used from the individual-level follower relations. Effective distances are
represented as the radial distance from the node at the origin in arbitrary units, and
the angular coordinate of the nodes is arbitrary as well.

The linear fit, on the other hand, is not perfect. Uncertainty is introduced
into our analysis by multiple factors. These are the heterogeneous nature of the
use of the social platforms around the world and the variability of activities over
time; the partial measurements obtained from the publicly available geo-tagged
sample of tweets; and the external effect of other media propagating the same
news. These circumstances all add to the uncertainty of the first arrival times in
our dataset. In order to recover the average wave form we had to use smoothing in
 8
Z. Kallus et al.

Fig. 4. Progressive stages of the pandemic. The spreading of the wave is shown in four progressive stages of the propagation.
Each stage is defined by separate time slice of equal length. The nodes where the news has just arrived in that slice are first shown on
the shortest path tree. Second, a corresponding histogram is created based on effective distances. Each rectangle represents one of the
regional nodes and a common logarithmic color scale represents the number of users of the nodes (color scale of Fig. 5 is used). (Color
figure online)
Video Pandemics: Worldwide Viral Spreading of Psy’s Gangnam Style Video 9

space and in time as well. The spatial averaging achieved by regional aggregation
is also justified by the assumption that users within the same region are likely
to be more connected to each other than to the rest of the world [8]. We used a
moving window over the arrival times and used the linear fitting to the average
distances and the average times of the windows. The noise can be effectively
reduced by choosing a window of two weeks to a month. As shown on Fig. 4 by
the colour scale, the smaller the number of Twitter geo-users in a region, the less
reliable the analysis becomes. Moreover these small regions form the peripheral
ring as seen from the most probable source region’s point of view.

4 Comparison of Twitter and Google Trends Distances

Once the site of origin is selected, the embedding is straightforward. The effec-
tive distances between nodes and the source node are equivalent to the shortest
path distances on the embedded graph. Figure 5 shows how the underlying order
can be uncovered by this transformation. The seemingly randomized left panel –
representing the arrival of the video at various geographic distances – becomes
structured, and a linear trend emerges as a function of the effective distance.
Linearity breaks down only at large distances, where remote peripheral regions
are left waiting for the video to arrive at last. We also measured arrival times
by looking at the Google search engine records through Google Trends analyt-
ics service. In Fig. 6 we show the results. Its sparsity is coming from a lower
temporal resolution of Google Trends compared to our Twitter based dataset.

Fig. 5. Geographic distance vs. effective distance on Twitter. Here each dot
represents a state, colored according to the number of users, using the same logarithmic
color scale as before. The horizontal axis represents the distance from the source node
of the Philippines, while the vertical axis is the arrival time of the video at that regional
node. The clear order is uncovered in the second panel, where geographic distance is
replaced by the effective distance. (Color figure online)
10 Z. Kallus et al.

Fig. 6. Geographic distance vs. effective distance in Google Trends. Here each
dot represents a state, colored according to the number of Users (same color scale as
Fig. 5), using the same logarithmic color scale as before. The horizontal axis represents
the distance from the source node of the Philippines, while the vertical axis is the
arrival time of the video at that regional node. The clear order is uncovered in the
second panel, where geographic distance is replaced by the effective distance. (Color
figure online)

It is, however, very remarkable that the network embedding we found for the
Twitter data works also for the Google Trends dataset and creates the proper
reordering of the nodes. This result further underlines the effectiveness of our
Twitter measurements.
In order to check the consistency of our results with other sources we analyzed
an additional set for the regional arrival times. For this purpose we used publicly
available service of the Google Trends platform, and gathered the cumulative
number of historic web searches performed with the keywords Gangnam and
style. We were able to create a dataset with a resolution of 2 weeks. As shown on
the second panel of Fig. 6 the linear dependence is once again recovered, and the
linear propagation of the wave can be effectively seen. This proves that Twitter
predicts correctly the flow of news and information on the global network of
communication. Searches performed first in each region seem to be synchronized
with the arrival times of the first tweets coming from Twitter.

5 Conclusions
In this paper we investigated the online spreading of the viral video ‘Gangnam
Style’ in the social network Twitter. Using geo-localized tweets we determined
the first appearance of the video in the 261 major geo-political areas of the World.
We adapted the tools developed in Ref. [9] for the spreading of infectious diseases
over the air-travel network for the present problem. We showed that the number
of friendships (mutual following) of Twitter users between geo-political regions is
analogous to the passenger traffic volume of air-traffic from the point of view of
online information spreading. Using our historic public tweet database we could
Video Pandemics: Worldwide Viral Spreading of Psy’s Gangnam Style Video 11

calculate the relative weights of information traffic between the regions. We then
reproduced the shortest path effective distance of geo-political regions from the
epicenter of the social outbreak of the ‘Gangnam Style’ video pandemic, which
seems to be in the Philippines, not far from South Korea, where it has been
produced. We managed to verify the spreading pattern independently, based
on the search results in Google Trends in the same time period. The synchrony
between first appearances in Twitter and Google suggest that a universal pattern
of social information flow (information highways) exist between geo-political
regions, which is inherently non-technological, determined by the strength of
social ties between different countries, cultures and languages. Further research
is necessary to understand the main features of this global network.

Acknowledgement. The authors would like to thank János Szüle, László Dobos,
Tamás Hanyecz, and Tamás Sebők for the maintenance of the Twitter database at
Eötvös University. Authors thank the Hungarian National Research, Development and
Innovation Office under Grant No. 125280 and the grant of Ericsson Ltd.

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A.: Modeling the spatial spread of infectious diseases: the GLobal Epidemic
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Proceeding Papers
 A Secure Discharging Protocol for Plug
in Electric Vehicle (SDP-V2G) in Smart Grid

Khaled Shuaib ✉ , Juhar Ahmed Abdella, Ezedin Barka, and Farag Sallabi
( )

College of Information Technology, The United Arab Emirates University,

P.O Box 15551 Al-Ain, UAE
[email protected]

Abstract. Penetration of Plug in electric vehicles (PEVs) is expected to rise in

the next few years especially in areas with new deployed smart power grid
systems. Charging and discharging of PEVs will introduce several challenges
related to load stabilization and information security. In this paper, we discuss a
secure discharging protocol where users can be protected from possible infor‐
mation security and privacy attacks. The protocol also incorporates required
remote authorization and payment transaction mechanisms. Our protocol is
developed based on the use of encryption mechanisms and the dual signature
approach. Using the security protocol verification tool, Automatic Verification
and Analysis of Internet Security Protocols (AVISPA), the security aspects of the
proposed protocol are verified. Our approach is robust against misuse of electric
vehicles and unfair payment issues as it allows for user-based authentication in
addition to the authentication of associated electric vehicles.

Keywords: Smart grid · Plug in electric vehicles · Information security · Protocol ·

Vehicle to grid

1 Introduction

One of the important components of Smart Grid (SG) systems is the Vehicle-to-Grid
(V2G) network. The V2G network describes a network of power systems in which plug-
in electric vehicles (PEVs) are connected to the SG as mobile distributed energy
resources. V2G systems are capturing the attention of both the electricity providers and
end users due to the various advantages gained by their deployment. On one hand, power
suppliers benefit from utilizing PEVs to better manage demand response services and
ancillary services (e.g. spinning reserves, reactive power support, frequency and voltage
regulation) to stabilize the power system. On the other hand, users can get incentives
from power providers by providing the aforementioned services. PEVs can store energy
by charging their batteries during off-peak hours when the power supply from the grid
or renewable energy resources is more than the demand. During peak hours when the
energy demand exceeds the energy supply, PEVs can sell power back to the SG by
discharging their batteries. The other advantage of V2G systems is that PEVs promote
environmental benefits by reducing the CO2 emissions. V2G networks are based on a
SG system that supports a bi-directional flow of electricity and data communication [1].

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017

D. Trajanov and V. Bakeva (Eds.): ICT Innovations 2017, CCIS 778, pp. 15–26, 2017.
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-67597-8_2
16 K. Shuaib et al.

The dependency of V2G networks on a two-way data communication allows efficient

information exchange between different parties and provides a secure, flexible, respon‐
sive, and reliable payment system [2]. However, the reliance of V2G networks on two-
way data communication gives rise to different kinds of security and privacy problems
related to the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the system [3–7]. Some of the
potential security attacks in V2G networks include but not limited to eavesdropping,
DoS attacks, replay attacks and repudiation attacks. Moreover, the privacy of PEV
owners could be violated by involved entities during discharging. This can take place
when users’ or vehicle based sensitive information such as the real user identity and
vehicle identity submitted to the supplier for authentication and billing purposes.
Furthermore, PEVs in V2G networks can be misused by adversaries for financial benefits
by discharging PEVs of others [8, 9]. Therefore, charging protocols used between the
SG and PEVs for charging/discharging should be equipped with end-to-end security and
privacy preservation techniques. One of the challenging behaviors of V2G networks is
that one-way authentication, where only the power company authenticates the PEV user,
is not sufficient. In V2G networks, there is a requirement for mutual authentication. PEV
users need to be able to sell power back to suppliers anywhere while getting credited
for it by their contracted home suppliers. For this reason, to avoid impersonation attacks,
a PEV user needs to be protected against dealing with illegitimate aggregators used as
intermediators between PEVs and power suppliers. Protection is needed against any
repudiation attacks by charging stations or aggregators. Therefore, any used charging
station or aggregator needs to be properly authenticated. On the other hand, users of
PEVs need to be authenticated to guarantee that only legitimate users can discharge their
PEVs. By doing so, misuse of PEVs and any payment disputes will be avoided when
multiple users are allowed to use a single PEV.
While there are several studies conducted on V2G networks [11–15], only few of
them discuss PEV discharging protocols [11, 12]. The authors in [11] proposed an
anonymous authentication protocol for V2G networks based on group signature and
identity based restrictive partially blind signature technique to provide security and user
privacy-preserving. The approach allows a charging station/aggregator to authenticate
PEVs anonymously and to manage them dynamically. In addition, their system supports
aggregation to reduce the communication overhead that may be caused by multiple PEVs
communicating with the aggregator simultaneously. A mutual authentication scheme is
suggested by [12] to avoid redirection and impersonation attacks that may exist in
unilateral authentication. The system also supports anonymous authentication based on
pseudonym IDs to protect users’ privacy. However, there are some major issues which
were not addressed by these two previous approaches. Both of these approaches do not
include a payment mechanism and do not support user-based authentication but rely on
vehicle-based authentication which may lead to misuse of PEVs and unfair payment
issues. Moreover, the approach proposed in [11] does not support mutual authentication.
In addition, both approaches achieve anonymous authentication by using methods such
as pseudonym IDs and group signature which have their own drawbacks. According to
[21], group signature based authentication is not suitable for V2G networks due to the
dynamic nature of PEVs which will lead to spatial and temporal uncertainties. The pitfall
of Pseudonym ID based authentication is that its management is difficult for large
 A Secure Discharging Protocol for Plug in Electric Vehicle 17

number of vehicles as it usually requires frequent replacement of Pseudonym IDs [11].

In this paper, we propose a secure and privacy-aware PEV discharging protocol. The
protocol supports anonymous mutual authentication and an anonymous payment mech‐
anism achieved through the utilization of encryption mechanisms and a dual signature
(DS) approach as used by the well-known Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) protocol
[25]. Using the dual signature, we achieve anonymity without using complex techniques
such as group based signature, Pseudonym ID or blind signature. Moreover, our
approach is robust against misuse of electric vehicles and unfair payment problems as
it allows for user-based authentication.
The remainder of this paper is organized as follows: We introduce the V2G
discharging architecture in Sect. 2. Section 3 describes the proposed discharging
protocol. Security analysis of the proposed protocol is presented in Sect. 4. Section 5
concludes the paper.

2 V2G Discharging Architecture

In this section, we describe the architecture of V2G networks. Figure 1 depicts a V2G
architecture that shows the various entities involved in the discharging process and their
interconnections. There are seven entities involved in the discharging process. A Service
Provider (SP) is a utility company that provides electricity to end users who have estab‐
lished contracts with it. Aggregators (AGR) do not exist in the traditional power system
architecture. Aggregators come into existence because of some new requirements
imposed on the SG system as a result of integrating PEVs. When PEV users want to sell
power back to the grid operators by discharging their batteries, the power discharged
from a single PEV is not sufficient enough to provide ancillary service to the grid as
PEVs have a limited battery capacity ranges from 10 kw to 40 kw. A certain minimum
amount of power is required to become eligible for providing ancillary service. For
example, the minimum amount of power that is required to provide ancillary service in
the UK is 3 MW [4]. Hence, a new entity called Aggregator is introduced to act as an
intermediary between PEVs and grid operators to accumulate the power discharged from
distributed electric vehicle batteries into a single load or source and provide it to the
power grid system [16–19]. Moreover, since PEV users visit charging stations randomly,
uncontrolled PEV charging can cause unpredicted overload to the distribution system
[20]. Therefore, Aggregators are also responsible for stabilizing, optimizing and control‐
ling the charging process to protect the reliability of the power grid system. Aggregators
need to frequently communicate with Distribution System Operators (DSO) to fulfill
their objective. DSOs in turn have to communicate with the Transmission System Oper‐
ators (TSO) on a regular basis to exchange supply/demand information. Aggregators
usually sign contracts with suppliers and provide charging/discharging services for end
customers. As can be seen from Fig. 1, PEV users can charge at different charging/
discharging locations such as home charging point, offices or public charging stations
(CS). A given charging location consists of a Smart Meter (SM) and one or more Electric
Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSEs). A SM is an electronic device that continuously
records electric energy consumption and sends it to the supplier at some pre-defined
18 K. Shuaib et al.

time intervals. The EVSE is an intelligent device that is used as a charging point
connecting the PEV to the smart grid system. Charging locations could be connected to
an aggregator that is located in one of the three locations: An aggregator situated in the
user’s home area referred to as Home Aggregator (HAG), outside the user’s home area
but inside its supplier network called Visiting Aggregator (VAG) and outside the user’s
supplier network known as External Aggregator (EAG). In the second case, the user is
roaming but internally. This scenario is referred to as Internal Roaming Charging (IRC).
The roaming in the third case is called External Roaming Charging (ERC) as the user
is roaming in an external supplier network.

SP

TSO
SM

DSO EVSE1 EVSE2 ... EVSEM

Typical Charging
Station (CS)
Agg1 Agg1 … AggN

CS1 CS2 CSX CS1 CS2 CSY CS1 CS2 CSZ

... ... ...

Fig. 1. V2G discharging architecture.

The discharging architecture and protocol presented in this paper supports only the
first two cases. The ERC case will be incorporated as part of future work due to page
limitation. Communications in a V2G architecture is based on real time communication
between the various entities and can take place over different kinds of communication
networks [24]. In our architecture, we assume that the PEV and EVSE are connected
via Power Line Communication (PLC) and hence the communications between them is
secure with no need for additional security configuration. EVSE and SM can be
connected using wireless communication technologies such as ZigBee, Wi-Fi and or
Wired technologies such as Ethernet. All other communications are assumed to be done
through long haul wireless/wired networks such as 4G/LTE or fiber optics.
The V2G architecture demands a one-time system initialization in order to exchange
information between system entities. Suppliers need to first obtain certificates from a
Certificate Authority (CA) before they can issue certificates for users, AGRs, SMs and
EVSEs under their territory. User registration involves generating a unique user ID (UID)
for the user, issuing a smart card (SC) and registering the electric vehicles that the user
is allowed to charge/discharge. The smart card provided to the user contains the public/
private key pairs of the user, the UID and the public key of the supplier. The private key
of the user will be used by the SC to sign charging/discharging messages on behalf of
the user and it is stored encrypted using a PIN number known only to the user. The PIN
 A Secure Discharging Protocol for Plug in Electric Vehicle 19

number is set by the user during the registration phase with the supplier. PEVs are
identified by a unique Vehicle ID (VID) that is provided by the manufacturer during
production. Suppliers register PEVs using this ID. We assume that the VID is also
embedded into the PEV’s firmware so that it can be used by the SC during charging.
System initialization also includes installing the public key of the SM on the EVSE and
vice versa. Moreover, the public key of the AGR is also installed on the SM. Aggregators
establish an agreement with suppliers to provide charging/discharging service to end
users. During the contract agreement, aggregators obtain the needed certificates from
suppliers. Aggregators also get the list of public keys of smart meters in the area they
are serving.
Suppliers hold a table of access control list (ACL) that associates users, PEVs and
permissions to avoid misuse of PEVs and promote fair payment between multiple users
of a single PEV. Let U and V represent the set of all users and PEVs registered by the
supplier respectively such that U = {U1, U2, …Un} and V = {V1, V2, …Vm}. There are
two kinds of permissions associated with PEVs, charging and discharging. Let P repre‐
sents the set containing these two permissions i.e. P = {C, D} where C represents
charging and D discharging. Therefore, the elements of an ACL can be represented as:
ACLi = {Uj, Vk, Pl} where Uj ∈ U, Vk ∈ V, Pl ∈ P and ACLi is the ith element of ACL.
For example, the set {U1, V3, C} indicates that user U1 is allowed to charge vehicle V1
while {U2, V4, D} shows that user U2 is allowed to discharge vehicle V4.

3 Discharging Protocol

In this section we discuss the proposed discharging protocol. The protocol consists of
three steps: discharging request, mutual authentication and payment capture. The
following specific scenario will be used to explain the protocol: User U1 who is driving
vehicle V1 visits a certain charging point to discharge his PEV’s battery. We assume
that various information related to charging/discharging is available on a display screen
attached to the EVSE to help the user decide on whether to be served or not. The infor‐
mation displayed to the user on the screen includes: the available power type (Level1,
Level2, Level3…), charging rate (CR), discharging rate (DR), maximum available
amount of energy etc. CR and DR are the electricity price over some time period as it
might change based on the dynamics in supply and demand. The CR and DR are pre-
calculated by the AGR and communicated to the EVSE on a regular basis. If user U1
decides to discharge his PEV battery selling back power to the grid based on the infor‐
mation available on the display screen, he can start the process by connecting his PEV
to the EVSE and inserting his SC into the card reader (CRD). The next three subsections
show the details of the steps taken to complete the discharging process securely.

3.1 Discharging Request

(a) The SC prompts the user for a password/PIN to verify that the user holding the SC
is the legitimate user and to invoke the use of the user’s private key. If successful,
the user will be directed to a screen that allows him to select the type of service he
20 K. Shuaib et al.

is interested in (Charging or Discharging) and the amount of power in KW (power

to be charged or power to be discharged). For our example, user U1 selects
discharging (D) and the amount of power to be discharged (PD). The user can only
select a PD amount that is less than or equal to the maximum available battery
power (MABP) of the PEV which is displayed to the user during the selection
process. The MABP is calculated by the EVSE using the connection to the PEV.
Once completed, a discharging request will be initiated between the user’s SC (on
behalf of the user) and the EVSE. An initial message (InMess) is sent from the
user’s SC to the EVSE which can be expressed as: SC → EVSE: = InMess where
InMess = D || PD where || represents the concatenation operator.
(b) Upon receiving the initial message, the EVSE prepares an initial response message
(InResMess) by concatenating the InMess with a unique transaction ID (TID), DR and
the payment, P, the user will be credited for based on the PD and the discharge rate.
The actual power discharged and the actual payment the user will receive may be
different from PD and P as the user may decide to stop discharging in the middle
before the maximum requested power is reached. This is represented as:
EVSE → SC: = InResMess where InResMess = D || PD || TID || DR || P.
(c) When the SC receives the initial response message, it prepares the discharging
request (DReQ) using dual signature. The dual signature is made up of the User
Related Information (URI) and Power Related Information (PRI). This is repre‐
sented as: DS = EKRU1 [h(h(PRI) || h(URI))] where URI = D || TID || V1 || U1 || P,
PRI = D || TID || PD || DR || P and h(x) is the hash of x. The process of generating
the dual signature is shown in Fig. 2.

PRI
PRIMD
H
Dual
CBMD Signature
|| H E
URI
URIMD KRU
H

Fig. 2. Dual signature generation

(d) The SC then prepares the discharging request (DReQ) message based on the gener‐
ated DS. The DReQ is composed of two messages: a message targeted to the aggre‐
gator (AggM) and another one intended for the SP (SpM). The SpM is encrypted
using SP’s public key so that the AGR is not able to see its content. Hence, DReQ
will be expressed as: DReQ = AggM || SpM || Ts1 where AggM = PRI || DS ||
h(URI), SpM = EKUSP[URI || DS || h(PRI)], and Ts1 is a time stamp.
The SC sends the DReQ to EVSE. The message is then delivered from EVSE to SM,
then from SM to AGR and finally to SP. Starting from EVSE, the message is encrypted
using the public key of the receiver and signed by the private key of the sender after
 A Secure Discharging Protocol for Plug in Electric Vehicle 21

hashing. At the receiver end, the receiver verifies the integrity and source authenticity
of the message using the public key of the sender. For example, the DReQ as it travels
from EVSE to SM can be represented as: EVSE → SM: = Sig(EVSE, DReQ) || EKUSM
[DReQ], Sig(X, M) is the signature of entity X over message M and is equal to EKRX
(h(M)) where h(M) is the hash of M and EKRX (h(M)) is the encryption of h(M) with the
private key of entity X. The verification of DReQ at the SM is performed as Ver(DReQ,
KUEVSE) where Ver(M, KUY) => DKUY (Sig(Y, M)) = h(M) and reads as the verification
of message M using the public key of entity Y.
(e) Upon receiving the DReQ message from the SM, the AGR saves the AggM for
future use (e.g. payment disputes with the SP) and sends the message SpM || Ts2 to
the SP. The interaction diagram for the discharging request is shown in Fig. 3.

U SC EVSE SM AGR SP

Insert the SC Card

to the Card Reader
Prompt for
Password

Enter Password

User selects
discharging Service
and amount of power
to be discharged D||PD
D || PD

D || PD || TID || DR || P

DReQ= AggM ||SpM where

AggM=PRI || DS || h(URI) and
SpM= EKUSP(URI||DS||h(PRI))

Sig(EVSE,DReQ)
|| EKUSM(DReQ)

Ver(DReQ,KUEVSE)

Sig(SM,DReQ) ||
EKUAGR(DReQ)

Ver(DReQ,KUSM)

Sig(AGR,SpM) ||
EKUSP(SpM)

Ver(SupM,KUAGR)

Authorization Check

Fig. 3. Interaction diagram for discharging request

22 K. Shuaib et al.

3.2 Mutual Authentication

In V2G networks, both the SP and the user should be mutually authenticated to verify
that the user is legitimate and proper payments are done. After receiving the SpM || Ts2
from AGR, the SP decrypts it and gets the URI part which includes the user ID (U1), the
vehicle ID (V1), and the requested service (D). The SP checks if there exists an entry
{U1, V1, D} in the ACL table to authenticate the user and verify his access rights. An
authorization response (AuthRes) will be sent back which takes the following format:
AuthRes = EKRSP[DEC || D || TID] where DEC stands for decision and takes two values,
Allow or Deny. For example, the AuthRes = Allow || D || TID conveys the meaning
“Allow Discharging for the transaction with ID of TID”. The AuthRes is delivered to
the user (SC) as shown on the interaction diagram in Fig. 4. When the AuthRes reaches
the SC, the SC first verifies that the AuthRes was generated by the expected SP by using
the SP’s public key. SC also makes sure that the TID in the AuthRes is the same as the

Fig. 4. Interaction diagram for mutual authentication

 A Secure Discharging Protocol for Plug in Electric Vehicle 23

one sent in the DReQ. The SC then informs the EVSE of the decision (allow or Deny)
with respect to the discharging request.

3.3 Payment Capture

The EVSE records the actual power discharged (APD) to the grid by the PEV. The EVSE
will stop the discharging process if the PD amount mentioned in the DReQ is reached
or the user deliberately interrupts the process. When discharging is completed, the EVSE
prepares a power discharging report (PDR) containing the TID, the APD and the actual
payment (AP) calculated based on the APD. EVSE then encrypts it with its private key
and is sent to the SP as: PDR = EKREVSE[TID||APD||AP]. The message is sent to the SP
in a similar fashion as before (encrypting with the public key of the receiver and signing
with private key of the sender). The EVSE also provides the user with a report containing
the APD, the TID, and the AP.

4 Security Analysis

One of the security issues associated with PEVs is the lack of access control mechanisms
for charging and discharging. The usage of PEVs by multiple drivers, such as in the
cases of fleet management or in car renting companies, can lead to the misuse of the
vehicles and can result in unfair payments if access to PEVs is not properly controlled/
managed. Adversaries may try to charge/discharge the PEV to gain financial benefits
taking advantage of the price changes due to supply and demand. For example, a
dishonest employee using a company’s vehicle will conduct multiple charging/
discharging at different charging locations and times at the expense of the PEV owner
for personal benefits. Therefore, there is a need to authenticate users who are allowed
to use a PEV while controlling their access rights on the PEV i.e. charging/discharging.
In addition, messages exchanged between all entities need to be protected against any
possible passive or active attacks such as traffic analysis, message content modification,
intentional delays and others while not violating the privacy of users and the confiden‐
tiality of exchanged information. As was seen in the above description of the proposed
protocol, this can be achieved through the utilization of proper encryption techniques,
the use of time stamps and hash functions.

4.1 Formal Verification Using AVISPA

One of the important criteria for security protocols is their robustness against various
security attacks. In this section, we present the formal verification of the proposed
discharging protocol to show that it is safe from several security attacks. The formal
verification of our protocol is performed by using the well-known security protocol
verification tool known as Automatic Verification and Analysis of Internet Security
Protocols (AVISPA) [22]. AVISPA verification works under the assumption that the
intruder has full control over the communication channels. To analyze a protocol using
24 K. Shuaib et al.

AVISPA, it has to be described in a language called High Level Protocols Specification

Language (HLPSL) [23]. AVISPA is composed of four back end servers for verification
(OFMC, CL-AtSe, SATMC and TA4SP). Verification of a protocol can be performed
by using any one of the four back-end servers. We verified our protocol based on OFMC
and CL-AtSe and the test results show that the protocol is safe from attacks such as
confidentiality breaches, message modification, nonrepudiation, source authentication,
and replay attacks as shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Attacks which were tested for using AVISPA

Attack type Safe
Message secrecy attacks ✓
Message integrity attacks ✓
Impersonation ✓
Replay attacks ✓
Repudiation ✓

5 Conclusions

Charging and Discharging of PEVs in a smart grid environment where two-way commu‐
nication is needed implies the need for additional information security measures to be
implemented to ensure confidentiality, integrity, availability and accountability. In this
paper, we have introduced a secure protocol which can be used to guarantee these
security features when PEVs discharge their batteries selling power back to the grid.
The protocol was based on the use of the dual signature mechanism and validated using
AVISPA to show that it is safe from certain possible information based security attacks.

Acknowledgment. This research was funded by a United Arab Emirates University, research
grant, UPAR, number 31T060.

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 ECGalert: A Heart Attack Alerting System

Marjan Gusev1(B) , Aleksandar Stojmenski1 , and Ana Guseva2

1
FCSE, Ss. Cyril and Methodious University, Skopje, Macedonia
{marjan.gushev,aleksandar.stojmenski}@finki.ukim.mk
2
Innovation Dooel, Skopje, Macedonia
[email protected]

Abstract. This article presents a system for early detection and alert-
ing of the onset of a heart attack. The system consists of a wireless
and mobile ECG biosensor, a data center, smartphone and web applica-
tions, and a remote 24 h health care. The scientific basis of this system
is founded on the fact that a heart attack can be detected at least two
hours before its onset, and that a timely medical attention can dramat-
ically reduce the risk of death or serious tissue damage.
So far, there are no commercial products matching the goals and func-
tionalities proposed by this system, even though there are a number of
proof-of-concept studies, and a number of similar products on the mar-
ket. For the greater part, these currently offered solutions are specifically
intended for conducting stress tests in modern hospitals, or as personal
fitness devices. Most of them have limited battery power, do not use algo-
rithms for heart attack detection, and/or require constant supervision by
medical personnel.

Keywords: Heart monitoring system · ECG wearable sensor

1 Introduction
The motivation for realization of such a product arises from the latest statistics
claiming that more than half of mortalities are caused by cardio vascular diseases.
When it comes to matters of the heart, the statistics are dire: Cardiovascular
disease is the top cause of death in the United States and around the globe.
Americans spend more than $300 billion annually on the costs of heart disease,
stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases [17]. Statistics on the mortality rate
in EU and wider show that more than 40% of deaths are due to cardiovascular
diseases [12]. However, 80% of premature heart disease and stroke is preventable
[21]. Additionally, because of dynamic and stressful lifestyle, recently the age
limit for incidences of cardiac arrests has shifted from people aged 65 to people
aged 40 or older.
It’s no wonder, then, that many observers are making alarming predictions
about the future of heart health. Unless current trends are halted or reversed,
a World Health Organization report noted, over a billion people will die from
cardiovascular diseases in the first half of the 21st century.

c Springer International Publishing AG 2017
D. Trajanov and V. Bakeva (Eds.): ICT Innovations 2017, CCIS 778, pp. 27–36, 2017.
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-67597-8 3
28 M. Gusev et al.

Within the cardiovascular diseases, a heart attack is a serious medical emer-

gency, which occurs when blood flow (and oxygen supply) stops to a part of the
heart. If impaired blood flow to the heart lasts long enough, it triggers a process
called an ischemic cascade - the heart cells die (mainly by necrosis followed by
apoptosis) and do not grow back. A timely medical attention, however, may save
the patient of premature death, and drastically reduce the risk of serious damage
to the heart [11]. Interestingly, studies show that a heart attack may be predicted
a couple of hours before its onset by detecting changes in the Electrocardiogram
(ECG) of the patient [10]. This, indeed, is the starting point and the motivation
for our innovation.
Traditional EKG/ECG tests are done in a special medical institution with
the proper equipment and with professional medical personnel who will read
the results and look for patterns and problems with the electrical activity of
the patient”s heart. Recently, with the advent of new advanced portable and
wireless technologies, the medical institution need not be the only place where
ECG tests are conducted [15]. The latest ECG sensors are wireless and easy to
wear on the human body, they do not cause any discomfort and can be worn at
all times and wherever the patient goes.
We have discussed challenges to develop an mHealth ECG monitoring solu-
tion [7] by analyzing the mobile application. Here we give details on realization
of a cloud-based system that alerts an onset of a heartattack.
Even though there is much research on the subject of early prediction of
heart attacks, to our knowledge there are no commercialized solutions to this
problem. In Sect. 2 we propose an innovative solution for early warning and
quick medical attention in case of a heart attack, by introducing a new product
(sensor and smartphone application), and a new service (giving medical advice
as a service) to patients with heart disease. Section 3 gives related work and
Sect. 4 discusses the value, market potential and innovation impacts, and also
compares our approach to the others. Finally, conclusions are given in Sect. 5.

2 ECGalert Solution
In this section we present a functional description and system architecture of
the overall system that consists of a wearable ECG sensor, dew server (smart-
phone) and cloud-based server. The user attaches a sensor on the body and
communicates to the smartphone and cloud web application.

2.1 Functional Description

The system presented in [7] consists of attaching a small portable wireless ECG
biosensor on the patient’s body and installing an application on the patient’s
smartphone that receives ECG signals from the sensor, passes them to the data
center, which in turn, processes them and determines if there’s any abnormal
heart activity. The system is also connected to a web application on the cloud
 ECGalert: A Heart Attack Alerting System 29

(cloud computing) that communicates with doctors who are in charge of pro-
viding a 24 h remote medical care as a service. In case of a detected onset of a
heart attack, doctors are notified by the system and may call the patient with
instructions and medical advice. Additionally, 24 h medical care service centers
are notified by the system to send an ambulance on the location given by the
patient’s smartphone. This timely medical attention may save a patient’s life.
Even though there is much research on the subject of early prediction of
heart attacks, still there is no commercialized solution to this problem. Wie
propose an innovative solution for early warning and quick medical attention in
case of a heart attack, by introducing a new product (sensor and smartphone
application), and a new service (giving medical advice as a service) to patients
with heart disease.

2.2 System Architecture

A wearable ECG sensor that is attached to the patient body transmits signals
to the patient’s smartphone (or mobile device) and then it transmits the signal
to the cloud-based data center.
The overall architecture and organization of the processing modules is pre-
sented in Fig. 1.

Data processor U/i processor U/I processor Data processor

Analog processing
Data ECG Monitoring Extended
Signal Visualization Monitoring Alerting Visualization
Sensing

Data Analysis Activation and User Analysis and

Signal Classification Control Interface Diagnosis
Amplification

Pre-processing User Feature extraction

ADC (DSP Filtering) Administration (DSP Filtering)
convertor

Digital processing Streaming processor Streaming processor

Data Chunk Data Manager File Database
Temporal Storage ECG files Manager Manager
Data Storage

Low power radio Communication manager Communication manager

Long distance radio
communication communication
Data Chunk Data Chunk ECG Files Data File
Dispatch Collection Transmission Reception
Bluetooth 3G/4G or LAN/WAN

Customization Device Status

and Control Control Device controller

Sensor Dew Server (Smartphone) Cloud/Cloudlet/Fog server

Fig. 1. System architecture and module organization

The sensor functions are based on two parts: the analog and digital process-
ing. The analog part senses micro electrical signals on the human skin, ampli-
fies them, and realizes analog to digital conversion. The digital part consists
of temporal data sample storage in small buffers, their organization in small
data chunks and then their dispatching via a Bluetooth channel. In addition the
sensor realizes several customization and control functions, such as Bluetooth
30 M. Gusev et al.

pairing and connection, and customization of several parameters including sam-

pling frequency, time synchronization, etc.
The nearby smartphone receives the measured and dispatched data chunks
via Bluetooth channel. Then, it stores them in temporal buffers and creates
files for permanent storage on the local internal storage media. In case of inter-
net connection, the files are transmitted to the higher level servers for further
processing. In addition, the smartphone, realizes data processing by applying an
efficient DSP filter and data analysis with QRS detection and heart rate deter-
mination. Besides this, it uses a UI interface to communicate with the user and
realizes data visualization and ECG monitoring.
The cloud realizes data collection and processing features via a more com-
plex data analysis for diagnosis and monitoring purposes. In addition, the web
application needs user administration, and user interface to communicate with
doctors and end-users.
The identified system modules are presented in Fig. 1. The smartphone is
based on organization of the following five modules: device controller, commu-
nication manager, streaming processor, data processor and U/I processor. The
cloud does not realize device control since all data is pushed by the smart-
phone and the only communication that might happen is alerting via standard
voice telecommunication system. The other four modules (communication man-
ager, streaming processor, U/I processor and Data processor) include extensive
processing, and database storage.
The smartphone actually realizes data collection, preprocessing, storing, and
transmitting to the higher level servers. The cloud realizes data reception and
extensive data processing. This belongs to a specific architecture described for
cloud-based processing of streaming IoT sensors [4]. This is why the smartphone
is a realization of a dew server in the dew computing scenario, where the process-
ing is brought close to the user, by enabling an independent and collaborative
server. Since the system uses a wearable and wireless sensor, the dew server
needs also to be a moveable device close to the user using a low power radio
connection (Bluetooth) to the sensor and long distance radio communication,
such as 3G/4G communication to the mobile operator or LAN/WAN wireless
connection.

2.3 ECG Data Processing

A typical ECG consists of a QRS complex (with identified Q, R and S points) and
P and T waves (Fig. 2). The data path and processing of ECG data is organized
as presented in Fig. 3. The preprocessing and feature extraction is realized in
two paths. The first path uses a DSP bandpass filter (5–20 Hz) to eliminate the
noise and reduce feature space, and the other just to eliminate the noise by a
DSP bandpass filter (0.5 Hz–30 Hz). As DSP filters we use an improved pipelined
wavelet implementation for filtering ECG signals [13].
The first feature extraction phase is the QRS detection algorithm to detect
the R peaks on the signal with reduced feature space. The R peak within the
QRS complex is detected by an adaptive differential technique to compare the
 ECGalert: A Heart Attack Alerting System 31

Fig. 2. A typical PQRST waveform of an ECG.

5-20 Hz QRS Rhythm

DSP Filter Detection Analysis

ECG data Diagnosis

QRS length
0.5-30 Hz P and T wave
PQ and ST
DSP Filter Detection
segement

Fig. 3. Organization of the software

slope and adapt its magnitude to the signal energy, using a partial pattern
matching algorithm [6] The second phase of the feature extraction follows a
detected R peak with detection of the other characteristic waves, such as P and
T are determined by appropriate analysis on the signal with eliminated noise.
Once the characteristic peaks are determined, the results from this feature
extraction phase are forwarded to morphological processing to determine the
QRS length, PQ and ST segments and other morphological features. In parallel,
the rhythm is analyzed for the occurrence of the R peaks to determine regularity
of the heart rate and rhythm.
Both the morphological and heart rate analysis are used to establish the diag-
nosis and support the monitoring and alerting system. This phase will diagnose
arrhythmia and finishes with determination of a set of heart malfunction diag-
noses and eventually an onset of heart attack. A heart attack can be detected
by ST segment elevation in the morphological analysis of the ECG [1].
This system will not result with detecting of all possible diagnoses, due to
the limitation of the used wearable sensor to detect only one ECG channel that
exposes most characteristic features. To establish a more elaborated diagno-
sis, one needs more channels and analyze 3D heart positioning by more precise
detecting the source of the identified problems. Note that by using two wearable
sensors and principles of the physics, one can reconstruct 12 lead ECG [20].

3 Related Work

For our proposed solution, there are numerous clinical trials and scientific studies
published in the form of proof-of-concept [2]. In this section we overview latest
32 M. Gusev et al.

ECG sensors, patents describing monitoring systems and similar commercial

products.
We have analyzed the State-of-the-art of Cloud Solutions Based on ECG Sen-
sors [5]. including analysis of related patents, existing mobile solutions and cloud-
based architectures, including, cloudlet, fog and dew computing approaches.
So far, many studies have proposed how to develop a remote ECG monitor-
ing system, in theory. Unfortunately, none of these ideas are fully implemented
in the way that we propose. For instance, most of the solutions on the market
[14,16,19], perform continuous recording of vital signs (ECG, heart rate, respi-
ration rate, body temperature), consequently the battery lifetime is short. Other
solutions are based on constant monitoring by a medical expert [14].
The competing solutions on the market only partially accomplish the goals
and functionalities that are subject of this project proposal. Predominately, sim-
ilar state-of-the-art solutions are intended for easier conducting of stress tests
[14], for prioritizing medical care in hospitals [19], or even for personal fitness
[16]. The existing solutions are limited to monitoring of vital parameters and
signaling on simple preprogrammed thresholds. This basic data processing is
insufficient for detecting the onset of a heart attack.
For instance, the sensor Shimmer3 ECG [19] provides a continuous recording
of vital signs, but does not process the data and has no system for early warning.
Similarly, NeuroSky [14] provides a recording of vital signs but is more intended
for conducting stress tests in hospitals. QardioCore [16] is a multi-sensor platform
that besides ECG, measures body temperature, the level of activity, and other
vital signs, and thus presents a more complete picture of the patient’s health.
Nonetheless, the data is only presented, and not processed at all. ZIO XT Patch
[8] is a sensor in the form of a replaceable patch where the battery lasts for
up to 14 days and sends data to a clinical software iRhythm, where medical
professionals set a diagnosis and therapy. While this is a good starting point,
no warning in case of emergencies, however, is offered with ZIO XT Patch.
Savvy [18] is a commercially available solution and is used for realization of the
ECGalert project.
On the same note, many scientific studies deal with wireless, mobile, and
remote ECG biosensors. One such comprehensive study [2] examined 120 differ-
ent ECG biosensors from several aspects. The authors conclude that this area
is a hot research topic, and that innovative, applicative solutions may seize a
unique market chance.
The end-user benefit is the reduced mortality rate due to early alerting of
potential heart attack, and prolonged patient life. The benefit of the medical
experts that will actively participate is in the possibility to react faster and be
more successful in the treatment of the patients, and in financial incentives with
the monthly fee subscription for providing a medical care on the basis of early
alerting. This is a kind of a ‘win-win’ situation where both the care providers
and clients will benefit of the proposed system.
The development of wireless sensors that can communicate with personal
electronic devices is still at an early phase of development. In Macedonia there
 ECGalert: A Heart Attack Alerting System 33

are no suppliers of such an equipment yet. It is, therefore, an excellent market

position/opportunity to use sophisticated technology (sensors in combination
with personal smart devices) to early alert of potential medical risks, as well as to
provide a medical care as a service (web application on cloud). This, coupled with
the chance to emerge first on the market significantly increases the probability
of success of the project.
Although much research exists on this topic, none of it resulted with a definite
commercialized solution. Partial, incomplete, or un-implemnted solutions include
the design of a wireless ECG system for continuous recording and communication
with clinical alarm station [3], the procedure for self-test to detect a heart attack
using mobile phone and wearable sensors [10], and an overview of mobile phone
sensing systems [9].

4 Discussion
This section discusses the product value, market potential, foreseen impacts,
and compares our proposed solution with the others available commercialized
products.

4.1 Value and Market Potential

The value for customers is in developing a system that will alert early of a
potential medical emergency (heart attack). Interestingly, it has been scientifi-
cally proven that heart attacks can be detected at least two hours prior to their
onset, by patterns in the heart’s electrocardiogram [11], and that a quick medical
attention significantly reduces the dangers of tissue degeneration and possible
death [10]. Recently, small, wireless and wearable ECG biosensors have emerged
on the market that can keep track of the patient’s heart output and other vital
parameters. In this context, our system makes use of newly available technologies
and advances their application. We propose a solution for early alerting of heart
abnormal function, doctor’s access to the patient’s history and recent ECGs,
and a quick medical treatment.
The idea is to sell such sensors, which will be connected with a smartphone
application and a system for early alerting of abnormal heart function. The
business model is based on selling the smartphone application together with the
sensor, whereas the 24 h medical care, based on the application’s early alerting
of abnormal heart function, will be charged on a monthly subscription basis.
The main customers are patients with cardiovascular diseases, under the risk of
heart attack.
The main partners are clinics and ambulances for cardio-vascular diseases.
This system is based on an active participation of the medical professionals, not
only in their recommending of the product to patients, but also in giving medical
expertise at regular intervals, or intervening in the case of an alert of abnormal
heart function - services for which the patients will be charged a monthly fee.
34 M. Gusev et al.

From informal discussions with patients, we have concluded that our pro-
posed system is of interest to a wider circle of clients, especially keeping in mind
the fact that in recent years the dynamic lifestyle and stress have shifted the age
limit for incidences of heart attack from people of 65 years of age to people of
40 years of age or older.

4.2 Foreseen Impacts

The proposed innovation will contribute in the area of applying ICT solutions
for medical care as a service, based on remote sensors. Here we address two
important areas: the use of wearable sensors in combination with smart personal
devices for health monitoring, and timely action in case of an emergency.
The designed system does not affect or harm the environment. Smartphones
are electrical devices used daily by everyone in society, and the sensors do not
pose any environmental threat. The development of smartphone application and
web application in the cloud also do not harm the environment.
Implementation of this system will have a significant impact in lowering the
mortality rate of patients with cardiovascular diseases, and in prolonging their
life. Therefore, it will have positive social and societal implications. Estimates
show that at least 80% of all heart disease and stroke could have been prevented.
It is known that heart attacks can be detected at least two hours prior to
their onset [11], but at the moment ECG devices are fixed, stationary equip-
ment confined in medical facilities. Latest state-of-the-art advances in technol-
ogy enable the production of portable, mobile and wireless sensors, which are
worn by patients as a sticker patch.

4.3 Comparison to the Other Solutions

Our idea is to translate these results in an efficient IT solution. Making use of
the fact that the ECG sensors and smartphones are more sophisticated in recent
years, we intend to use the personal network established by the smartphone
to accept these ECGs and transfer them to the data center. A specialized web
service will process the data and alert on abnormal heart function. The doctor
will have the opportunity to see the patient’s medical history and recent ECGs,
establish a proper diagnosis and react accordingly.
Differences to other competing products are:
1. Instead of continuous recording and sending ECG data, the sensor works in
time intervals (20, 30 or 60 min) and thus considerably saves battery life;
2. Instead of a complex smartphone application, the smartphone receives sensor
data via a personal network and sends data to data center via Internet;
3. Instead of continuous monitoring, the doctor on duty monitors on regular
time intervals and on alerts send by the alerting system;
4. Instead of using a stationary equipment in the medical institution, diagnosis
of cardiovascular diseases can be done remotely, using the sensors and the
system for early alerting;
 ECGalert: A Heart Attack Alerting System 35

5. Instead of a specialized device with sensor and communicator to the data

center, our solution uses sensor accessed by the personal network and mobile
smartphone to access WiFi and the data center.

5 Conclusion
Our approach goes beyond this by a product innovation in that a constant med-
ical attention is not necessary. ECG data is sent periodically via a smartphone to
a data center, prolonging in this manner, the sensor’s battery life. In addition,
we introduce an application, based on specially developed algorithms, which
analyzes the QRS signals from the ECG and determines if there is abnormality.
Therefore, there is no need of a constant monitoring by a medical expert, but
only in the case of emergency.
In this paper, we presented the system architecture and organization of the
software modules, along with details on data processing of the signals. We have
realized a prototype solution and are currently in a process of testing and improv-
ing the solution, that will be elaborated in a future work.
Precisely this idea of a response only in case of an emergency is a service
innovation. In such a case, the doctor on duty would be able to remotely get a
visual of the ECG diagram, call the patient and if necessary call an ambulance.
To enable this remote health care system with a doctor on duty who will inter-
vene in the event of an emergency, patients will be charged a low monthly fee not
exceeding that of other standard communal utilities, such as fixed-phone line, or
Internet subscription, or selected TV channel subscription by a cable operator.

References
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2007 guidelines for the management of patients with unstable angina/non-st-
elevation myocardial infarction. J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. 50(7), e1–e157 (2007)
2. Baig, M.M., Gholamhosseini, H., Connolly, M.J.: A comprehensive survey of wear-
able and wireless ECG monitoring systems for older adults. Med. Biol. Eng. Com-
put. 51(5), 485–495 (2013)
3. Fensli, R., Gunnarson, E., Hejlesen, O.: A wireless ECG system for continuous
event recording and communication to a clinical alarm station. In: 26th Annual
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Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
discriminations appear as a never-ceasing characteristic of human
thought. They come to us out of the remotest past and from regions
untaught by the decalogue of Sinai. They illuminate, as already
implied, the sacred books of India, China, Egypt, Persia and
Babylonia, as well as the classic writings of ancient Greece and
Rome and the Saga writing of Northern Europe. They not only form
the body of the moral disquisitions of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Cato,
Cicero, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius and many others, but color and
shape the drama and lyric poetry in which the thought and
sentiment of the race have been embalmed. To see illustrations of
this we need only read the tragedies of Sophocles, for instance
Œdipus Tyrannus, lines 863-871, or Antigone, lines 449–460, or
listen to the verse of Horace, Book III, Ode 3, tracing the supremacy
and triumph of a consciousness of right over all other authority and
power. With the advance of humanity as the centuries have passed
away literature is more and more the representation of human
sentiment and life under the action and reaction of these ethical
discriminations in the ever-changing conditions of the world.
Philosophy and science and fiction and poetry and politics and
jurisprudence are occupied in dealing with the principles and
questions thus raised, and our modern libraries are largely the
accumulated treasures of the thinking world on the significance and
application of these principles.

Anthropol­‐ 6. The ethnic and anthropological information of

ogical the present day reports no people or tribe, even the
Confirma­‐ rudest, altogether without moral ideas and some
tion. measure of application of them to conduct.
Enthusiastic scientists, travelers and missionaries,
traversing the earth, have thoroughly established this point. Often,
indeed, has the universality here asserted been disputed. Reports
were brought of tribes discovered altogether destitute of the ethical
sense. But closer inspection of the tribal and personal life has
corrected the first impression, and evidences of the disputed fact
have become indubitable. A low and confused manifestation had
been mistaken as none whatever. In degraded and besotted
conditions of human life, it is altogether reasonable to believe that
the particular discrimination in question would appear only in the
crude and uncertain forms in keeping with the undeveloped grade of
all the functions of thought and sentiment. The sunken humanity has
carried down and buried its proper and normal manifestations
almost out of sight. As soon as uplift comes to a tribe, the powers of
moral discernment and knowledge, whose action was scarcely
discoverable before, emerge in unmistakable certainty and force.
And no phenomenon that science is seeking to investigate to-day
can be more justly regarded as universally human than the fact
under consideration.

Not 7. It needs to be distinctly fixed in mind that this

Affected great fact is not at all affected by any offered
by theory of its cause and significance. It stands
Explanatio independent of any particular explanation of it, and
ns. indeed of all solutions. If, for instance, the origin of
these moral judgments should be traced back and
accounted for, as is done by Herbert Spencer, as the result of
accumulated experiences of utility, gradually organized and inherited
as spontaneous approval and disapproval, the theory still recognizes
the fact of ethical judgments while endeavoring to account for them.
Or, when the older utilitarianism seeks to explain them as resolvable
into the pleasure or satisfaction men feel toward certain forms of
conduct or principles of behavior that are found to be useful and
promotive of happiness, the fact still remains that judgments of right
and wrong are actually established and dominate the thought and
life of men. The very attempt to identify the virtues of life with its
utilities, while making the virtues only its utilities, concedes that the
obligation to them is part of the recognized reality of human life. Or,
further, should a bolder and more radical view allege that these
notions of right and wrong are mere matters of taste and prejudice,
a fictitious product of adventitious circumstances and education,
without verity or validity at bottom, the offered explanation would be
simply a denial, but no disproof of the fact concerned. For it would
amount to a claim that in the absolute sense one thing is essentially
as good as another, and would thus disregard the real affirmation as
it stands in the moral judgment of mankind. Such a claim, it has
been well said, no theorist of the present day would pretend to
maintain outside of his closet.9 Not in any race or people has the
ethical sense allowed that essentially and at bottom all acts are
equally right. This is the very point of the great phenomenon
presented. Whatever may be the final explanation of it, somehow or
other the reason, sentiment and practical sense of mankind insist on
a real difference, and look upon all denial of the distinction as a
manifest and intolerable absurdity.
The universal recognition of this distinction, revealed in every
man's consciousness, involved in the organic relations of society,
testified to everywhere in the pages of history, embodied essentially
in the religious nature and sentiments of mankind, woven into
general literature, found to-day unmistakably in the thinking, laws
and customs of all races and tribes, and acknowledged in the
philosophical view of humanity wherever man is studied, irreducible
as a fact by any account of its genesis or explanation of its
significance, presents the occasion and primary materials of ethical
science. The great phenomenon calls for investigation. We want to
know the reasons for it and the import of it.
 CHAPTER III.
FACULTY OF MORAL DISTINCTIONS—THE

EXISTENCE OF CONSCIENCE.

The Moral The great fact of moral distinctions, found to be

Faculty. universal in human thought and life, must be traced
back to the particular power of the mind which
discerns and feels these distinctions. Back of the phenomenon must
be recognized the psychical capacity and action out of which the
discriminations arise. The moral faculty answers to and in part
accounts for the moral fact. In modern general literature it is usually
called the conscience. Ethical science properly accepts the
designation. It is sometimes called the moral consciousness, or the
moral sense. It expresses a power of the personal ego or self to
make the moral discrimination and discern the obligation to
rectitude. Without such power, as an adequate capacity for the
ideas, it is plain that the ethical judgments could not arise. The very
idea of obligation, the ethical "ought," would be wanting. The whole
realm of what this science considers would be a blank. In the moral
faculty or conscience itself, as the immediate source of the ethical
distinctions and laws of duty, we are furnished with additional
material for this study.
No particular stress is here laid on the term "faculty," as a
designation of the moral power. There is, indeed, no validity in the
claim of some recent psychologists that the term must be
abandoned on the ground that psychology discovers only mental
acts, without a psychic subject with distinct faculties back of the
acts. Yet the term faculty has often been used and understood in a
way inconsistent with the essential and conscious unity of the
personal ego or self, making the soul seem a bundle of independent
and separately acting parts of a psychical organism. The perfect
oneness of the personal self must be maintained, and the term
faculty, when used for any form of psychical ability, must be
understood simply as expressing the soul's capacity or power to do
any specific form of work, or to act in any particular and distinctively
definable way, as, for instance, to know, to feel, to will, to
remember, to compare. In this sense the use of the term stands fully
justified in psychological usage and propriety. But the reason for
abating from the claim of strict exactness in the term in this
connection is that the conscience, in its full conception and action,
as will hereafter appear, while exhibiting a specific and simple power
as its central reality, will be found to include also subordinately the
conjoint action of several other forms of psychical power. It stands
for a complex of capacities and powers. This will appear when we
reach its analysis. But the question of the absolute simplicity of the
faculty does not affect the substance of our inquiry into its existence
nor the propriety of employing the term for the power in its totality.
For, as naming the central and decisive reality in the conscience, it is
justly spoken of as a special faculty. Even when it is viewed as
standing for a complex of powers converging, in their functions, to
the discernment of moral distinctions and the reality of duty, it has
sufficient individuality to be rightly and scientifically designated in
this way. The question to be considered, and upon which the logical
conclusions of the science will depend, is not its absolute simplicity,
but the fact of such a power as a normal part in the soul's essential
constitution of powers. If the power be found integral and normal in
the soul's actual capacities, we have all that is essential for the
foundation of ethics.
The existence of the conscience as a specific and natural faculty
of discernment of right and duty may seem to the student or reader
to need no formal proof, as something substantially everywhere
acknowledged. But as various theories undertake to question its
existence, in the sense thus explained, and resolve the affirmations
of right and duty into pseudo-products developed in a roundabout
way, or by some illusive transformation of ideas or sentiments given
by the other faculties of the soul, ideas or sentiments which in fact
are really unethical, it becomes necessary to vindicate the asserted
existence of this moral faculty.

Moral 1. The primary and fundamental evidence is the

Distinction great fact, already set forth, of the moral
s Prove distinctions which arise out of its action and fill
Conscienc personal consciousness and the life of the world
e. with their attesting presence. The known object
implies a power by which it is known. Without the
faculty, in the sense of a power to know, the knowledge here in
question could not exist. Its existence is proof of the reality and
action of the faculty perceptive of it. The only alternative to this
would be a total denial of the ethical distinction, even as a genuine
phenomenon, and an assertion that the supposed knowledge of it is,
and always has been, illusory and unreal. And this would be
equivalent to a claim that men may and should abandon the ethical
distinction and believe that there is absolutely no moral difference
between justice and injustice, between kindness and hatred,
between truth and lying, between friendship and treachery, between
charity and murder. And this again would mean that we are to
repudiate, as without validity, the whole notion which the ages,
especially the most intelligent and best ages, have cherished, that
man is capable of character, as good or bad, excellent or
blameworthy. But this whole alternative becomes impossible, by
reason of the necessary and invincible contrary judgment by which
the moral distinctions are affirmed as actual and valid for human life.
The faculty of moral discernment proves its existence by making the
contrary of its discernment an impossible conception.

The Moral 2. Its existence is further proved by the unique and

Perception peculiar character of its data or perceptions. These
are unlike any other, sui generis. They are original
s Peculiar. and cannot be deduced from other data. The
ethical percept is something that can be understood
only in terms of itself. It cannot be described or expressed in the
terms of the percepts or knowledge given by the other faculties of
the soul, either general or special, either separately or in
combination. Hence we must, according to all sound psychological
procedure, postulate a special faculty, as distinctive and normal as is
the percept, for this original and irresolvable ethical idea.
A little explanation will help to show this. Let us make search for
the ethical idea or perception among the well-known data of the
other faculties. Manifestly it is not given by the "sense-perception,"
for it presents none of the physical properties which this makes
known. Clearly, too, it is not created by the "consciousness," which
presents simply the states or acts of the mind, with the personal self
as their subject, but which does not itself originate the states or acts
it reveals—any more than does the light of the morning create the
objects of the landscape which it discloses. Further, it is evidently
not given by the power of "representation," for this merely
reproduces and re-knows what was before known through the
"sense-perception" and revealed in "consciousness," revived in the
form of memory or rearranged and recombined in the forms of the
constructive imagination. It supplies no original data. It, further still,
cannot be the product of the "logical" faculty, as the power or
function of discursive reasoning, because this originates no new
material, but only reconnects and judges of relations in the material
already known, simply dealing with ideas furnished to it. Nor can the
ethical percept, as an intuition to the obligation to rectitude, be at all
identified with the a priori ideas of time and space, or the categories
of substance and attribute, identity and difference, means and end,
or the law of causation. And yet it stands out in an originality as
positive and distinct as do any of the unquestionable data or
percepts of the soul's acknowledged specific faculties.
Just as little can the ethical idea, as the discrimination of right
and wrong, be referred to the "sensibility," as the pleasure or dislike
with which we regard what is found useful and conducive to
enjoyment or the reverse. For, though a certain pleasure is
connected with the ethically right, this specific feeling follows, and is
dependent on no other perception than of the right. It is a
satisfaction which the ethically good thus awakens. But the
knowledge which experience gives of what is useful and conducive
to enjoyment is generically different from the moral idea and its
sense of obligation. Utility and the ethical discrimination are not the
same conception. They belong to two diverse realms of thought and
knowledge. Whatever relations may be traced between them, they
cannot be identified or held as convertible percepts. The
autonomous imperative of the ethical idea often positively prohibits
the very things men judge to be profitable and pleasurable. It is a
remarkable fact that the testimonies from literature and life to the
phenomenon of moral distinctions everywhere maintain the
difference between the idea of right and that of the pleasurable or
profitable. What is right is one thing; what is agreeable is another
thing. The two conceptions are not identical, but are often placed in
immediate and irreducible antithesis. Those who do right, choosing it
and heroically loyal to it despite the appeals of ambition, the
temptations of avarice, the enticements of ease, and the favor or the
wrath of the wicked, are approved and honored. To such the gates
of the divine favor and recompense are pictured as ever standing
open.
There is another consideration in this connection which shows
beyond question that this ethical faculty, whose action is everywhere
traceable, is not to be confounded with mere intellectuality or the
action of simply the general intellectual powers. It exhibits itself in a
distinct line of working and results, like a particular current in the
common sea, and often in open contrast. It is a peculiar and
significant fact, often observed by historians, that as the civilizations
of antiquity, of Assyria, Egypt, Phenicia, Greece and Rome, advanced
in intellect they declined in morals. Intellectualism may be at its
height while the moral side of life may suffer a submergence
beneath the floods of luxury and refined social vices. Buckle
confesses that intellect and morals are not only distinguishable, but
separable.10 Herbert Spencer says: "The belief in the moralizing
effects of intellectual culture, flatly contradicted by facts, is absurd a
priori."11 Lord Wolseley makes a statement not flattering to the
boasted advantage claimed for simple intellectualism: "The virtue of
the Zulu women was superior to that of any civilized people I know
of."12 The function of the conscience in human nature and life stands
clearly distinguishable from the common data and powers of mere
intellectualism. The world will not be ethically saved by intellect
alone. The conscience must dominate mere intellectual results and
forces. And the high distinctive place and peculiar character of the
conscience-perception is seen when it is thus observed that the
perception is not of something that is, but of what ought to be, in
the sphere of conduct and character. Its object is apprehended as
lying in the ideal realm of obligation. The reality perceived is
transcendent, as what should be in life, in order that life may accord
with a super-sensible reality in the realm of righteousness. It as truly
reaches beyond sense as do the intuitions of time and space or the
law of causation; and, as truly as they, it calls for the recognition of
a special and original psychical faculty or provision, among the
powers of the soul, for its perception. The conscience,
"Deep-seated in our mystic frame,"
discerns a law of righteous obligation, which is not the dictate of
mere desire or pleasure or self-advantage, but a law established at
once over us and in us not dependent on our will or choice but
demanding conformity of will and choice to itself.

Feelings 3. The existence of the conscience as an integral

from power of the human constitution is evidenced also
Conscienc by the special feelings which attend its perceptions.
e They are distinctively peculiar. This is illustrated in
Perception the sense of obligation arising from the idea of
s. right and the perception of duty. It is even more
clearly illustrated in the satisfaction which attends
and follows duty done, and the remorse which follows wrong or
crime committed.
 The sense of obligation, i. e. the emotion awakened by the
perception of obligation, is unique among the emotions of the
sensibility. In the presence of recognized right or wrong men feel
bound to correspondent action as they feel bound under no other
perceptions. The conscience, indeed, uses no compulsion, but it
presents the right or wrong and correspondent obligation. Freedom
is not annulled, but appealed to. The feeling, as the sensibility
excited, is the feeling of ought or ought not, added to the perception
of it. Nothing like this appears in connection with any of the other
perceptions. We may perceive truth, but if the truth is not the
particular truth of obligation itself, there is only the pleasure,
gratification or admiration in its discovery and attainment. We may
perceive beauty, but if the beauty be apart from that of ethical
excellence, the feeling is simply æsthetic and different from the
obligatory feeling: "I ought." We may perceive utility or understand
what is simply profitable, but the feeling awakened is but desire. All
these and like simply intellectual perceptions awaken no sense of
obligation to cherish any special sentiments or perform any special
acts. But as soon as men, in pure and normal state of their rational
and emotional nature, perceive the right as over against the wrong,
the sensibility which always in greater or less degree responds to
every act of knowledge, presents a form of feeling, in the ethical
"ought," generically different from the feelings that arise out of all
other kinds of knowledge. This feeling is itself a part and parcel of
the aggregate or complex of the conscience. But its presence marks
the conscience as a special power normally constituent of human
nature.
The other moral emotions named, viz.: satisfaction in duty done
and remorse or compunction for wrong, bring us to the same
conclusion. These feelings are sui generis. They are distinctively
characteristic, and are never called forth but in connection with the
moral intuitions. These peculiar satisfactions or compunctions never
appear upon perception of a truth of mathematics or a fact in
chemistry or a gem of art. Such knowledge evokes no sense of duty
and is followed by no feeling of remorse or rush of compunction,
flooding the soul with self-condemnation. A sense of loss, in failing
to gain a possible advantage, is incapable of being confounded with
the feeling of having done wrong. Some of the highest elevations of
ethical satisfaction are felt when men have maintained their fidelity
to the right in face of the most enormous losses and of the most
desolating sufferings. The deepest remorse the human soul ever
knows may spring up in view of ways and acts which have given
men all the things they have coveted and judged to be the most
useful and enjoyable. There must surely be a special power whose
peculiar discernments call the sensibilities into such unique and
peculiar forms of feeling.

Conflict of 4. This conclusion is not weakened, as has

Moral sometimes been supposed, by the diversity and
Judgemen seeming conflict of moral judgments among men.
ts. This diversity seems, in the view of many persons,
inconsistent with the supposition of a conscience, in
the sense given. The fact of such diversity is freely conceded. The
progress of history shows many changes in moral judgments. An
advance is clearly traceable, in which once accepted rules of conduct
have been superseded by different requirements. Things approved in
one land and tribe are condemned in another. Pascal has said that
conscience is one thing north of the Pyrenees and another south. In
every community what some look upon as right others declare
wrong. Infanticide, which under our civilization is punished as
murder, on the banks of the Ganges has been esteemed a high
religious duty. Polygamy, which our government is trying to wipe out
as an immorality and foul blot, is held by the Mormons as a sacred
right. Slavery is still regarded by some as right though condemned
by the convictions of the nation as morally indefensible. Most
startling diversities and contrasts are continually appearing. Hence it
has often been said that our moral judgments rest, in fact, on no
original and permanent principles discerned by a distinct and
universal faculty of the soul, but are a purely adventitious and
accidental product, shaped in ideas that come of circumstances,
education or the shifting spirit of the age.13 The law of morality is
reduced to the dictates of expediency or to sentiment and caprice
born of our changeful desires. This virtually denies both the validity
of the ethical behests and the reality of an ethical faculty provided
for perception of rectitude and duty. But the difficulty from this
diversity and apparent contradiction loses its force when carefully
considered. It disappears when we recall the following indubitable
facts:
Ethical First, that in the midst of this variety and conflict in
Sense the moral judgments, the ethical sense still persists
Persists. in maintaining its function. If convicted of acting
inconsistently, it still acts. Though it is found
judging differently, it still judges, asserting its place and office, and
imposing its decisions as obligatory in conduct. Under the view
alleged in the objection, the sense of obligation ought to disappear,
its supposed authority having been explained away. The person finds
that in very truth the moral behest, though in him is not of him, is
not of his will or choice, but arises out of the necessary action of a
power that he cannot displace by refusal to obey it. The faculty or
power does not consent, so to speak, to omit or withdraw its ethical
distinction and assertion of duty. It does not abdicate, when men
allege the illegitimacy of its authority.
Agreemen Secondly, that while there is diversity as to many
t in points, there is none in its judgments as to the
Judgment great body of virtues and vices of human life. As to
s. all the leading qualities of character and conduct
there is full and universal agreement. With respect
to all the cardinal virtues, such as justice, kindness, veracity, love,
courage, fidelity, generosity, the moral judgments approve them as
the magnet owns its pole, in all the multi-form relations and offices
of life. On the other hand, injustice, falsehood, enmity, treachery,
cruelty, adultery, theft, murder and similar dispositions and acts in
their thousand forms of unmistakable manifestation, are universally
condemned. There is no question anywhere around our globe that
one who deliberately kills his mother or mangles his father, or
tortures the innocent or defrauds his friend, is a wrong-doer, of
abhorrent guilt. Over almost the entire broad field of moral
obligation there is a consentient, clear and consistent judgment by
the moral sense of man in all ages and places. It is only along
dividing lines, wider or narrower as they may be, that, by reason of
the fainter presence of the moral element or the complexity of the
relations concerned, the moral judgments exhibit this diversity or act
with less assured and certain accuracy. The perplexity and difference
find place only in limited degree and on remoter points, where the
distinctions are so subtle as to require the nicest balancing of all the
complex relations and elements which develop the ethical
obligations.
If, indeed, the conscience reported entirely different codes
throughout, from bottom to top and from center to circumference, or
codes with contradictions as to the cardinal virtues and vices, then
we might well question the existence and action of a real, original
and normal faculty as actually perceiving a real moral distinction and
principle of duty. But if such diversities are found only in limited
degree, on marginal ground and in complex situations, we are
simply in the presence of a fact of great similarity of the conscience
with all the rest of the finite and fallible faculties of the human mind.
Upon a hundred points of practical morals the intelligent conscience
would be likely to agree quite as well as the judgments of men in
any other sphere of practical knowledge and life.
Agreemen Thirdly, that even with respect to the cases in
t in which there is the most startling diversity, there is
Principles. often an underlying agreement, overlooked by
superficial thought. Take, for instance, the Hindu
mother's act of infanticide. Underneath her act and guiding it, is one
or the other, or possibly both, of these principles: 1. Whatever
sacrifice God calls for ought to be made; or, 2. Whatever is best for
the child ought to be done. Falsely taught to believe that God calls
for the sacrifice of her child, or that this surrender of it to him is the
best thing for it, the mother makes the offering. Essentially as to the
principles from which she acts her conscience and the Christian
conscience are at one. But she has been misled as to the will of God.
Her understanding is without correct information as to matters of
fact, and she applies mistakenly the principles of duty which are in
her moral nature. Take, again, the crimes of religious intolerance and
persecution. The religious zealot believes that every man is to be,
without weakness or shadow or turning, faithful to the truth. So also
does the dissenter from the creed which the persecutor defends.
They agree as to the underlying principle of action. Each feels bound
by the same ethical law of "fidelity to the truth," but the persecutor
is in grievous error in understanding that this fidelity binds him to
coerce the mind of his dissenting brother.
Difference Fourthly, the difference must be clearly kept in view
of between the essential ethical perception, viz.: the
Perception distinction of right and wrong with the involved
s. obligation, and the application of that perception—
between the primary and secondary moral
judgment. The primary is the intuition of the law of right, the
secondary affirms the quality of right or wrong with respect to
particular actions. In the one case the moral sense perceives that
justice, love, veracity, kindness, etc., are right, and injustice, hatred,
falsehood and cruelty are wrong; in the other the judgment is
concerned with the further question whether this, that, or the other
act comes under one or the other of these categories. The
fundamental ethical distinction and obligation, with approval of
justice, truth, etc., are generic, and altogether irrespective of any
particular actions or instances. The secondary judgments apply the
distinction to particular modes of conduct or forms of temper and
feeling. The latter are only in part moral judgments, i. e. only so far
as the particular feeling or deed exhibits to the conscience the
presence of the ethical quality. It is an unquestionable fact that in
many of the activities of life there are open alternatives of choice
where the question of moral quality is not raised at all. As, for
instance, between taking one path or another to a certain point, or
in writing a letter with a pen or typewriter, the choice is morally
indifferent. The decision involves no ethical judgment. But in most
contemplated action there are relations that raise the question of
right or wrong—in some cases only by remote implication, in others
in clear and burning emphasis. There are degrees in this respect, all
the way from the faintest glimmering of ethical quality to the boldest
and most transparent certainty. We are by no means entitled to
doubt the existence of conscience, because in all these unequal
conditions, with imperfect knowledge of the relations of particular
actions and feelings, it fails to apply its unchanging affirmations of
generic duty, with equal or unmistaken certainty and exactness, to
all the varied motives, feelings and deeds of men. It is clear how
differing moral judgments may occur, without any impeachment
whatever of either the ethical reality or the existence of the faculty
for its discernment.
Infallibilit Fifthly, we must add that the reality of this faculty,
y Not as an essential endowment of the human soul, by
Involved. no means involves infallibility in its action. No one
of the human faculties is, in all its range and the
application of its data, absolutely infallible, incapable of error or of
being misled. The sense-perceptions, the memory, the logical power,
the power of applying the notions of time and space, are all liable to
error. Yet these are all original, constitutional and normal faculties of
man, divinely-given guides for his self-direction and suited to the
ends for which they exist. The reality of a faculty is not disproved by
its fallibility. Finiteness, limitation and consequent incompetence to
exclude mistake or only partial discernment, are no reason for
denying the existence of any faculty within the range of its given
action and real discriminations. The very errors that appear in its
action are at once evidence of its existence and proof of limitations
which harmonize it with the aggregate human psychology. The
objection against the conscience from its fallibility, which is but
another name for this diversity in its applicatory judgments, if
applied to all the psychical faculties, would discredit the reality of the
aggregate complex of the psychical powers and overthrow the basis
of all our knowledge, even of that which is employed to effect such
overthrow. No diversity occurs in the primary judgment of distinction
between moral good and evil. As already explained, it is easy to see
how differences, varied and great, should appear in the application
of the distinction to the complicated, obscure and ever-changing
aspects and relations of human conduct.

Proofs 5. These proofs of conscience as a distinct

Independe endowment of the human mind are independent of
nt of the whole question of the mode of its origin. For
Origin. they consist of facts, as clear, peculiar, indisputable
and irreducible as are the facts that guarantee any
particular science whatever. They are capable of verification under
perpetual tests, as they have been verified in the consentient
experience of mankind in all its normally developed conditions. And
the logic of the facts is altogether irrespective of any theory of the
mode of the origin of conscience. It is needful that this point should
be clearly fixed in mind, especially in view of the wide favor at
present shown to the hypothesis of an evolutionary genesis of man.
Except in the materialistic and atheistic form of the hypothesis the
theory distinctly presents evolution not as the cause, but only as the
mode of the creation of man with all his now given endowments. It
is, of course, incumbent on the supporters of the hypothesis, in any
form whatever, in order to vindicate its scientific claims, to show its
competency to account for the existence and action of the moral
faculty with its ethical discernment and law. An hypothesis that fails
to solve any of the involved phenomena discredits itself, not the
facts. So far as the materialistic, non-teleological form of
evolutionism is concerned, which proposes matter and force as the
full cause and account of man, it is condemned by its own utter
inadequacy to explain the genesis of conscience with its moral law,
as well as of the other great psychical realities in the nature and life
of man. It is helpless before the task. Its only resource is to seek to
resolve both the ethical fact and the ethical faculty into illusion. With
respect to theistic evolutionism, which stands simply as an
hypothesis of the mode of creation by God, the existence of the
moral faculty may still be admitted, as having its all-sufficient cause
in the divine creative power as the source of all things. If, instead of
an immediate creation of man, the idea of his gradual creation from
the inferior animal orders be maintained as the actual method of the
divine work, then the law of evolution must be regarded as having
been adjusted and used for the production of man with the faculty
of moral discernment. The teleological principle, everywhere
illuminating the structure of organisms and the constitution of life,
must, from the first, have guided the development for this
enthronement of right in the human personality. Asserting its
method of a progressive genesis of conscience, this kind of
evolutionism confesses its existence. Whether or not its account is
satisfactory is another question, to be decided according to the
evidence furnished. It is more than doubtful if it has yet succeeded
in making clear the possibility of its origin under the hypothesis.
Some serious difficulties have still to be overcome.14 If it ever does
succeed it must be, not by denial of the conscience, but by showing
the evolutionary movement in some way or other competent to its
creation.
This lengthened presentation of the evidence of the existence of
the conscience as an essential endowment and part of human
nature, may seem to the reader to have been unnecessary or
beyond the importance of the question involved. But, as will appear
hereafter, the firm establishment of this point is vitally needful, in
order to exclude various forms of erroneous teaching and secure a
firm and immovable foundation for a just ethical system.
 CHAPTER IV.
THE FACULTY OF MORAL DISTINCTIONS—THE

NATURE OF CONSCIENCE.

Right View In close connection with the indubitable fact of

Necessary. conscience, as an essential faculty of the human
soul, follows a more careful inquiry into the nature
of this faculty. It is necessary to ascertain precisely, if possible, what
it is as a peculiar psychical power, as revealed and defined in and by
its own action.

1. The importance of determining, at this place, the exact nature

of the conscience is apparent from two considerations.
Scientific (1) Scientific accuracy in the whole ethical view is
Accuracy. possible only through a true and thoroughly
accurate understanding of the power that gives rise
to the whole phenomenon of obligation. The final theoretical view is
dependent on finding the truth at this point. Mistake or inexactness
here must inevitably introduce, or at least allow, confusion or error
in all the dependent questions of the science. A false conception of
the conscience will at once mislead. Even an only partial or obscure
view of it will fail to afford sufficient light for the subsequent steps of
the investigation. A conception of it, with true and false elements
combined, must necessarily introduce perplexity or contradiction and
weaken or distort the conclusion.
Such differing views have in fact introduced the utmost
confusion into the problems of this science. The conscience has
sometimes been spoken of as an "instinct," which identifies it with
the non-intelligent, blind action in the bee which builds cells after
geometrical principles, or in birds or fishes which migrate with the
changing seasons. Often it has been represented as but a special
"feeling" or "sentiment" that arises inexplicably, if not fortuitously,
prior to perception of any ethical quality, itself the basis of
judgments of duty.15 Again it has been made to stand simply for
accumulated or established approbative judgments from experiences
of pleasure or advantage, transformed and fixed as rules of
conduct.16 Sometimes it has been regarded as an immediate, almost
supernatural "voice of God" within men, with its inexplicable direct
imperative of duty. It is plain that these and other differing notions
of conscience must always affect, as they always have affected, the
whole theory of ethics.
Condition (2) A right view of its nature is necessary to a
of correct conception of its authority. This makes the
Authority. question more than simply speculative or important
for correct ethical theory. It involves the interests of
practical morality. The right of the conscience to rule us is sustained
or denied according as one or another conception of its nature is
entertained.
It is natural that we should feel prompted to examine the nature
of a part of our constitution that is constantly obtruding its
distinctions and asserting a ruling authority over us. As it has its
place within us irrespective of our will and presents laws of duty to
the will, we want to see on what ground its asserted authority can
be justified. But not all views of its nature afford equal explanation
of this peculiarity in its action. For instance, if the conscience be
nothing but a blind, irrational "instinct," or a "feeling" without any
perception of reality to give rise or right to the feeling, or if it be but
a standard judgment of prudence or utility from experiences of what
has been helpful or hurtful, perhaps slowly accumulated and
hereditarily transmitted, a clear and rational ground of ethical
authority cannot be made out. Such a power may indicate what is
useful, but can, if this be all, impose on us no obligation. It may tell
us what is pleasurable or desirable, but cannot speak to us
concerning the other question: What is right? It cannot hold us
guilty because we may choose to forego personal advantage or
enjoyment. If, however, examination can show that the conscience is
a faculty of actual perception, discerning a fundamental distinction
between right and wrong and an immutable obligation to apply it in
the constituted relations of life, its rightful authority is at once
vindicated. It is seen to be an authoritative guide in its sphere of
perception, as are the other cognitive powers, each in its own
sphere of real knowledge. When it becomes clear that the moral
faculty, in the presence of the existing conditions and relations of
life, perceives what ought to be done, and what men are obligated
to do, and what they cannot disregard without demerit, ill-desert or
guilt, then the right of conscience to direct conduct is justified.
At any rate, whether the examination may confirm or discredit
this claim of rightful rulership, the inquiry into the nature of the
conscience is essential to a correct settlement of the great question
of its authority and the grounds of it.

Question 2. The primary and proper source of information to

of settle the question of the nature of this faculty is to
Psycholog be found, not in speculative theorizing or arbitrary
y. assumptions, but in the actual working of the
human mind. It is a psychological question, and
must be settled, as all psychological questions must, by the facts as
they are discovered in experience and consciousness. The method of
inductive inquiry is here the true and essential one. The full
phenomena of action must be carefully examined, analyzed and
traced to their psychical genesis. Such examination can leave but
little doubt in the conclusion. In the facts of consciousness, as found
in connection with the operations of our minds in the sphere of
moral self-determination and action, the entire movement can be
observed, marked and recorded.
 3. In a preliminary way, it must be noted and
Place of remembered that the power and action of
Conscienc conscience can have place only in connection with
e. the total complex of man's psychical powers. It is
not an isolated, independent faculty in the midst of
the different powers of the soul. This truth will require fuller
consideration in another place, but it is necessary to note it here so
far as to show the essential psychological conditions of conscience.
The very possibility of such a faculty or power is conditioned in
all the human faculties of intelligence, sensibility and choice, in
which man becomes a moral agent. While the soul or self is a unit,
its powers act under a law of inter-dependence, exhibiting a striking
and beautiful order of conditioning and being conditioned, from the
primary and fundamental forms of activity to those that are highest
and crown all the rest. At the very base and beginning of its action
are sense-perception and consciousness—these furnishing
knowledge of the outer and inner worlds, of the realities and
relations in the system of things in the midst of which man finds
himself. Dependent upon the percepts by the senses and the states
of consciousness thus furnished comes the further capacity of
"representative knowledge" in the forms of memory and the
imagination. Only as the original acts of perception and
consciousness have supplied their data, is the memory or the
imagination possible. But the representative power and action are
then necessary to the action of the higher powers. Without memory
the logical power, the discursive function in comparison, judgment
and conclusion, in analysis, synthesis and systemization, would have
no materials and could do no work. The mind could not do this
advance work except upon the basis of work of a different kind done
before. And then, too, the reason, as the power of intuitive or a
priori truths, would be without a knowledge of the phenomenal
world, in the midst of which, or on occasion of the experiences of
which, these a priori truths appear and are seen to be necessary.
The various kinds of knowing exercised by the undivided and
indivisible self are plainly arranged in an ascending order, till at their
summit they are crowned with the intuitional power which we may
term, as we here do, the reason—the power of discerning necessary
universal truths. But it is equally clear that of the powers below the
reason—sense-perception and consciousness furnishing facts
objective and subjective, memory restoring them before the mental
eye, and the logical power rushing to necessary conclusions—none,
either singly or together, can stand for the conscience. Sense and
consciousness can give us only what is, not what ethically ought to
be. The memory can but renew to mental view what was before
known. The sense of logical necessity is clearly different from the
perception of moral rightness and obligation. But the action of these
antecedent powers or faculties supplies the conditions for the
existence and action of the conscience—gives knowledge of the
personal self and the relations of life, in the midst of which moral
right and wrong and obligation and duty are developed and are seen
to arise. Upon this knowledge, in which man knows himself and his
relations to the world of which he forms a part, the soul rises to an
outlook in the clear atmosphere of which the reality of ethical
distinctions, duty and responsibility become visible. And to the
crowning power of the reason, as rational insight, must be assigned
the central function of this ethical perception of right and obligation
—somewhat as to it belong, in another field of view, also the
intuitions into the realities of time and space and the categories of
substance, attribute, and causality.
This position of the conscience as, in its fundamental action, a
form of rational intuition, among the summit forms of the mind's
powers, makes evident its relation of dependence on the entire
complex of psychical faculties which furnish the conditions for its
discernments and imperative. But there is something more. As we
shall yet see, its total function, in guiding the moral life, includes the
action of many of the common functions of both intellect and
sensibility.

4. The specific psychology of the conscience itself, under close

and complete analysis, will disclose the following clearly
distinguishable elements in its action. They reveal the nature of the
conscience-power in its total complex reality. These elements are not
separable in fact, but are distinguishable in the analytic thinking that
examines them.
Ethical (1) The primary element is a simple irreducible
Distinction perception of the distinction between right and
s. wrong. This is the first and fundamental ethical
idea. In it we have the initial point in the moral
action of the mind. "The universal ethical fact is the recognition of a
distinction between right and wrong in conduct."17 This distinction
appears among the necessary ideas of the human mind. It is a
phenomenon in the psychology of the race. It is developed, in the
presence of the facts and relations of life, as something provided for
in the normal and necessary action of the rational self-conscious
ego. It must be viewed as an "intuition" of the reason. It can not
otherwise be accounted for. In its nature it is not a feeling, though it
gives rise to feeling. It is not a volition, for it comes irrespective of
choice and asserts its own rights before the will. It is not a mere
experience, though it arises on occasion of experience. The idea
stands for something beyond experience—experience being limited
to the profitable, the enjoyable or the painful. We experience the
useful and the agreeable, but the right, the ethical idea, must be
perceived or rationally seen, as a super-sensible reality in the ideal
realm of the demands of duty. It is not a perception of relations
themselves, but of a distinction as to something due in human
relations and life.
If we describe this primary and fundamental distinction, as it
appears in the action of the conscience, it will be found marked by
the following characteristics. First, the distinction is perceived—a
datum of the cognitive intellect. As discerned by the knowing faculty,
its object, viz.: the distinction, exists. For knowing always involves
that the thing known is. The distinction between right and wrong is
real in the sphere of moral relations. Second, it is universal, marking
the human mind's action everywhere and in all ages. Third, it cannot
be obliterated. Through all questions about it and objections to its
validity, it remains undestroyed and seemingly indestructible. It
disappears only with the wreck of rationality itself. Fourth, it is
unique and simple, an original perception, incapable of being
resolved into more elementary ideas or deduced from them. Fifth, it
is the first of its kind of discernments, i. e. of ethical perceptions.
Obligation (2) Along with, though dependent on, the
Perceived. perception of the moral distinction between right
and wrong, there is also a perception of obligation
with respect to right and wrong—to do or not to do. This is an
essential part of the aggregate conscience-discernment. The
perception of the right is thus the discovery also of law for conduct.
The soul, it must be specially noted, perceives this obligation as
truly as it does the ethical distinction itself. The term "obligation"
may express also a feeling, but the ego, or personal self, perceives
the obligation before it feels it. For in all cases rational emotion or
feeling can arise in the mind only as the mind discerns something to
awaken it.
Belongs to It is to be particularly observed, further, that the
the Agent. obligation, thus perceived and then felt, is
perceived and felt as due by the moral agent with
respect to right and wrong. The ethical quality of rightness belongs
to the act or principle of action. The motive, the intention, the
conduct of men, is in itself morally right or wrong, good or evil. But
the obligation appears as what is owed by the moral agent to what
is right. The relation between right and obligation corresponds to
that between right and duty. Right is in the conduct; duty is for the
responsible person. The terms express two sides in the ethical
reality, the first the objective side, the second the subjective. The
two imply and call for each other. The right in the contemplated
action means obligation or duty in the person. To the right there is
always a corresponding duty; for duty in fact expresses what is due
to the right forever by all persons.18
This perception of obligation, with its attendant feeling of it, is
the central reality of the conscience. It is the very core of it. For in
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