Cognitive Dynamic Optical Networks

Cognitive networks are a promising solution for the control of heterogeneous optical networks. We review their fundamentals as well as a number of applications developed in the framework of the EU FP7 CHRON project

Mortality and pulmonary complications in patients undergoing surgery with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection: an international cohort study

Background: The impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on postoperative recovery needs to be understood to inform clinical decision making during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This study reports 30-day mortality and pulmonary complication rates in patients with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods: This international, multicentre, cohort study at 235 hospitals in 24 countries included all patients undergoing surgery who had SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed within 7 days before or 30 days after surgery. The primary outcome measure was 30-day postoperative mortality and was assessed in all enrolled patients. The main secondary outcome measure was pulmonary complications, defined as pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, or unexpected postoperative ventilation. Findings: This analysis includes 1128 patients who had surgery between Jan 1 and March 31, 2020, of whom 835 (74·0%) had emergency surgery and 280 (24·8%) had elective surgery. SARS-CoV-2 infection was confirmed preoperatively in 294 (26·1%) patients. 30-day mortality was 23·8% (268 of 1128). Pulmonary complications occurred in 577 (51·2%) of 1128 patients; 30-day mortality in these patients was 38·0% (219 of 577), accounting for 81·7% (219 of 268) of all deaths. In adjusted analyses, 30-day mortality was associated with male sex (odds ratio 1·75 [95% CI 1·28–2·40], p\textless0·0001), age 70 years or older versus younger than 70 years (2·30 [1·65–3·22], p\textless0·0001), American Society of Anesthesiologists grades 3–5 versus grades 1–2 (2·35 [1·57–3·53], p\textless0·0001), malignant versus benign or obstetric diagnosis (1·55 [1·01–2·39], p=0·046), emergency versus elective surgery (1·67 [1·06–2·63], p=0·026), and major versus minor surgery (1·52 [1·01–2·31], p=0·047). Interpretation: Postoperative pulmonary complications occur in half of patients with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection and are associated with high mortality. Thresholds for surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic should be higher than during normal practice, particularly in men aged 70 years and older. Consideration should be given for postponing non-urgent procedures and promoting non-operative treatment to delay or avoid the need for surgery. Funding: National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland, Bowel and Cancer Research, Bowel Disease Research Foundation, Association of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons, British Association of Surgical Oncology, British Gynaecological Cancer Society, European Society of Coloproctology, NIHR Academy, Sarcoma UK, Vascular Society for Great Britain and Ireland, and Yorkshire Cancer Research

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

A case of COVID‐19‐related necrotic nasal ulceration

Abstract We are reporting a case of a COVID‐19‐related necrotic nasal ulcer. All other common etiologies were excluded after a full round of investigations. Even though COVID‐19 has been known to cause skin ulcers via different mechanisms, this is the first nasal ulcer to be reported in the current literature

Γεωλογικές & Τεχνικογεωλογικές Συνθήκες των Κατολισθητικών Φαινομένων στην Επαρχιακή Οδό Λυκαίου-Νέδα, Νομού Αρκαδίας

Αντικείμενο της παρούσας διπλωματικής εργασίας είναι, η διερεύνηση των γεωλογικών, τεχνικογεωλογικών και γεωτεχνικών συνθηκών που σχετίζονται με την εκδήλωση της κατολίσθησης στην Επαρχιακή Οδό Λυκαίου-Νέδα, καθώς και η σύνθεση και αξιολόγηση των διαθέσιμων στοιχείων και πρόταση μέτρων αντιμετώπισης για την σταθεροποίηση του πρανούς. Η Επαρχιακή Οδός αποτελεί δίοδο για τους εργαζομένους του λιγνιτωρυχείου της Μεγαλόπολης. Επίσης οδηγεί στον αρχαιολογικό χώρο του ναού του Επικούριου Απόλλωνα άρα η χρήση της οδού είναι συχνή και από τουρίστες. Οπότε η διερεύνηση της κατολίσθησης κρίνεται απαραίτητη για την τοπική κοινωνία. Τα κατολισθητικά φαινόμενα, τα οποία οδήγησαν σε μη ασφαλή διέλευση του δρόμου, άρχισαν να εκδηλώνονται μετά από μια έντονη περίοδο βροχοπτώσεων τον Δεκέμβριο του 2011. Κατά το χρονικό διάστημα Απριλίου-Μαΐου 2014 πραγματοποιήθηκαν οι δειγματοληπτικές γεωτρήσεις και οι εργαστηριακές δοκιμές. Στα πλαίσια της διερεύνησης, συγκεντρώθηκαν βιβλιογραφικά δεδομένα (γεωλογικά, τεκτονικά, γεωτεχνικά, υδρογεωλογικά), που αφορούν την ευρύτερη περιοχή αλλά και την περιοχή έρευνας. Ακόμη λήφθηκαν υπόψιν δεδομένα για την σεισμικότητα και τη σεισμική επικινδυνότητα της ευρύτερης περιοχής. Έγιναν επιτόπου επισκέψεις όπου πραγματοποιήθηκαν εργασίες υπαίθρου στην περιοχή της κατολίσθησης, με σκοπό την χαρτογράφηση της ζώνης καθώς και την γεωλογική χαρτογράφηση της ευρύτερης περιοχής. Έγιναν μετρήσεις κλίσεων των στρώσεων και των διακλάσεων των σχηματισμών όπου παρατηρούνται στην περιοχή μελέτης. Από τα στοιχεία που συλλέχθηκαν κατά τις εργασίες υπαίθρου και τα στοιχεία των εργαστηριακών δοκιμών συντάχτηκε γεωτεχνικός χάρτης και γεωτεχνικές τομές με τη χρήση του λογισμικού AutoCAD 2008. Επιπρόσθετα στα πετρώματα όπου παρατηρούνται στρώσεις και διακλάσεις μετρήθηκε η κλίση αυτών. Με βάση το πρόγραμμα Dips 6.0, συντάχθηκαν τεκτονικά διαγράμματα με τις κύριες διευθύνσεις των σχηματισμών της περιοχής μελέτης. Και τέλος με την σύνθεση και την αξιολόγηση όλων των παραπάνω στοιχείων προτείνονται λύσεις με στόχο την βελτίωση της ευστάθειας του πρανούς.The subject of this study is further investigation and enrichment of geological and geotechnical knowledge on conditions related to the event of landslide at the provincial road of “Lykaion-Neda” as well as composition and evaluation of the available data and a proposal of counter measurements to ensure slope’s stability. “Lykaion-Neda” road is the mean connection between lignite mines of Megalopolis with the nearest settlement. It’s also leads to the archeological monument of the ancient god Apollo’s temple which is an important ancient legacy for the area. So the safe use of the road is important for the local society, workers, and tourists and makes this study of the landslide crucial. The landslide phenomena began manifesting in the area during December of 2011, after intense rainfall period. Boreholes sampling and laboratory testing took place between April and May 2014. In the context of the investigation bibliographic data were collected (geological, tectonic, geotechnical, hydrogeological concerning the wider area and the research area). Data on the seismicity and seismic risk of the wider area have also been taken into account. Fieldwork was carried out in the area of landslide, in purpose of mapping the zone as well as geological mapping of the wider region. Slope measurements of layers and joints of geological formations were taken in the study area. Data collected during fieldwork and laboratory test data compiled a geotechnical map and geotechnical sections using the AutoCAD 2008 software. Additionally to that, slope of the geological formations were measured. Based on the Dips 6.0 program, tectonic diagrams were drawn with the main directions of the formations on the study area. Finally, with the composition and evaluation of all the above elements, counter measurements are proposed aiming to improve slope stability

Distributed Indexing of Web Scale Datasets for the Cloud ∗

In this paper, we present a distributed architecture for indexing and serving large and diverse datasets. It incorporates and extends the functionality of Hadoop, the open source MapReduce framework, and of HBase, a distributed, sparse, NoSQL database, to create a fully parallel indexing system. Experiments with structured, semi-structured and unstructured data of various sizes demonstrate the flexibility, speed and robustness of our implementation and contrast it with similarly oriented projects. Our 11 node cluster prototype managed to keep full-text indexing time of 150GB raw content in less than 3 hours, whereas the system’s response time under sustained query load of more than 1000 queries/sec was kept in the order of milliseconds

A case of Eagle syndrome with a marked elongation of the styloid process; investigating its relation to ankylotic spondylitis

Abstract Eagle syndrome is characterized by the presence of an abnormally elongated styloid process and has been related to different etiologies, including enthesitis, a known feature of spondyloarthropathies. We are describing a case of marked elongation of the styloid process in a patient with pre‐existing ankylosing spondylitis and associated enthesopathy

On the Elasticity of NoSQL Databases over Cloud Management Platforms

NoSQL databases focus on analytical processing of large scale datasets, offering increased scalability over commodity hardware. One of their strongest features is elasticity, which allows for fairly portioned premiums and high-quality performance and directly applies to the philosophy of a cloudbased platform. Yet, the process of adaptive expansion and contraction of resources usually involves a lot of manual effort during cluster configuration. To date, there exists no comparative study to quantify this cost and measure the efficacy of NoSQL engines that offer this feature over a cloud provider. In this work, we present a cloud-enabled framework for adaptive monitoring of NoSQL systems. We perform a study of the elasticity feature on some of the most popular NoSQL databases over an open-source cloud platform. Based on these measurements, we finally present a prototype implementation of a decision making system that enables automatic elastic operations of any NoSQL engine based on administrator or application-specified constraints