A cross-layer mobility management framework for next-generation wireless roaming

Word processed copy.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 62-64).This thesis proposes a mobility management framework that aims to provide a framework for advanced mobility algorithms that allows the challenges of next-generation roaming to be met. The framework features tools that gather context and content information, guarantee low-level QoS, provide security, and offer link and handoff management. The framework aims to be scalable and reliable for all-IP heterogeneous wireless networks whilst conforming to 4G service requirements

Variations in cesarean deliveries associated with payer type

Objective: The rates of cesarean deliveries (CD) in the United States (U.S.) have been increasing since the 1990s making it the most common operating room procedure in U.S. hospitals. CD may be necessary due to a variety of medical indications; however, it is not clear whether socioeconomic factors affect CD rates. This study examines the association between type of insurance coverage pregnant women have and rates of CD in the U.S.Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of the discharge records of pregnant women admitted to U.S. hospitals between 2012 and 2014 extracted from the National Inpatient Sample dataset. The study population was divided into two groups according to insurance coverage (public vs private). Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association between type of insurance and CD rates while controlling for an array of demographic, medical, social and behavioral confounding factors.Results: 12,450,349 subjects were included in the analysis, of those, 29.9% had a CD. 82.6% of women are between 18-34 years old and 49.5% are Caucasians. 48.9% of women have private insurance. Women with private insurance received a higher percentage of cesarean deliveries (31.8%) compared to women with public insurance (28.3%), adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 1.30 (CI: 1.29-1.30, p<0.001). This ratio was more significant in AMA women (aOR: 1.37) but not among teenagers. Although, higher in all race/ethnicity groups, African American, Hispanic and Native American women have more significant association to receive CD when covered by private insurance compared to Caucasian women. Giving birth at an urban-teaching hospital was associated with a higher CD rate (31.9% vs. 27.4%), aOR: 1.42. Delivery in the Northeast was associated with increased CD rates (32.8% vs. 27.5%) when covered with private insurance, aOR: 1.43, while in the West, private insurance was associated with less CD, aOR: 1.17.Conclusion: After controlling for demographic, clinical, behavioral, and system variables, private insurance was associated with a 30% increase in rate of CD compared to public insurance

DEFINING THE MORPHO-FUNCTIONAL INDICATORS FOR THE SELECTION OF FOOTBALLERS ACCORDING TO THEIR PLAY LINES

This study aims at defining the morphological and functional indicators for the selection of footballers according to the three play lines (defence, midfield, attack) for the category of under 18 years old. We will work on finding the differences in these morpho-functional indicators and their relation with the play lines and their requirements. For this, we made the morphological measurements, namely : height, weight, fat-weight, muscle weight, bone weight, and the functional tests, namely : Luc Leger’ Test to measure the maximal oxygen consumption (Vo2max), the retrieval capacity via Ruffier Dickson Test and Vitality Capacity Test V.C, for 10 first level clubs in the West of Algeria; as we selected 18 players from each team with the average of 6 players of each play line (180 players), making a rate of 32% of the original society as a sample. We also used the descriptive and statistical comparative methods among those indicators and each play line in order to know to what extent those morpho-functional variables cause differences among players according to their play lines, while defining those indicators as a reference to be adopted in the players selection process for this age category in order to support the selection process with observation. The results revealed clear differences in the morph-functional indicators among the target category of players according to the differences in their playing lines at the level of the height indicator, as the significance value of selection reached 0.015 which is less than the significance level of the null hypotheses, while we did not find significant differences between the other morphological indicators. Meanwhile, there was a difference in the functional indicator at the level of the retrieval capacity, as the significance value reached 0.011 which is less than the test significance level 0.05; there was no difference at the level the other significances. Thence, the researcher recommends the necessity of consolidating the selection process by the inclusion of observation through the use of some morphological measurements such as height, in addition to functional tests such as the retrieval capacity as important indicators in the players selection process according to the requirements of the play lines for this age category of players, in order to select the best talents that can be beneficial to Algerian football in the future

Maternal inflammatory bowel disease, racial diversity and adverse birth outcomes

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a term used to describe two conditions, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis (UC), that currently have no definite cure. The incidence of IBD worldwide has increased, frequently affecting women during their reproductive years. Objectives: This study examines the association of Crohn\u27s disease and ulcerative colitis (UC) with adverse pregnancy outcomes and looks at the interactions of race/ethnicity on these associations. Study Design: We examined hospital birth records in the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) data sets in 2011 and 2012. We identified maternal demographics and clinical characteristics using international classification of disease-9 codes. Chi-square and Fisher exact tests were used to examine associations and logistic regression models were used to control for confounders. Results: Crohn\u27s disease is associated with small for gestational age, aOR 1.70(CI:1.53-1.89,p<0.001) but not premature delivery, whereas UC was associated with prematurity, aOR 1.5(CI:1.36-1.66,p<0.001) to a greater extent than with SGA. Analyses by race/ethnicity showed Crohn’s disease to be associated with SGA among newborns of all racial groups, but most evident among African Americans, aOR 2.55(CI:2.06-3.15,p<.001). Crohn’s disease was associated with prematurity only in Caucasian women, aOR 1.21(CI:1.10-1.34,p<.001). UC was associated with SGA newborns only in Hispanic mothers, aOR 3.40(CI:2.24-5.15,p<0.001), and with premature delivery only among Caucasian mothers, aOR 1.60(CI:1.42-1.80,p<.001). Conclusion: Both Crohn\u27s disease and ulcerative colitis are associated with prematurity and small for gestational age in a way that is significantly affected by maternal race. Qualitative studies are needed to understand mechanisms for these associations and the role of race/ethnicity

THE EVALUATION OF THE AEROBIC AND ANAEROBIC CAPACITIES AS A SETTER FOR DIGITAL ACHIEVEMENT AND AS AN INDEX FOR SELECTING AND GUIDING THE BEGINNER'S ATHLETICS

The research aims to the physiological side from the athletics beginner’s training according to scientific basics and principles which is must include the measurements and testing operations because of its selection processes importance and to determine the results, evaluate the current level of the players, and how do they should be in future. Through the capacity assessment and adopted to determine the level of digital achievement and takes it as an index to guide athletics beginners for its various events and this is what we sought to search in it in athletics beginners category (16-17). For Algerian west clubs (210 athlete by 33.92% from the origin community) relying on some special field measurements and down to highlight the connectivity relations and comparison of the aerobic and anaerobic capacities with the digital achievement for the various practiced events and to reach the goals of the research we used the descriptive method with a survey style. After testing and collecting and processing the information, it was reached to detect the level of the aerobic and anaerobic capacities for the beginners, we found the relationship of these capacities with the digital achievement in various practiced events besides the existence of differences between the beginners in some capacities because of the different events within the per class (jogging, jumping, throwing).  Article visualizations

Cartografía estructural y mineral mediante imagen multiespectral en el Alto Atlas Central de Marruecos

The Central High Atlas is one of the geological structures that belong to the Moroccan Atlas massif. It presents a great geological diversity and many structural and facies features. It is controlled by main faults of N70 to E-W direction that are visible at different scales and is rich in numerous mineralized veins. This area was the subject of the present work, in which we simulated the images of Landsat 8 OLI, Sentinel 2, and Aster sensors to map the hydrothermal alteration minerals associated with a lithostructural mapping that can provide more information on the mineralization of this study area. We highlight different approaches to remote sensing, considering first the methods of extraction of lineaments from the infrared-band of the Landsat 8 OLI image and from the GDEM ASTER to highlight the geological features of the study area. To obtain a good discrimination of the lithological units, Principal Component Analysis and Optimal Index Factor were applied to create colored composites with a better visual interpretation in order to generate a good lithological mapping, and finally, many band ratios are proposed for ASTER, Landsat 8 OLI and Sentinel 2 to derive several maps corresponding to the hydrothermal alteration zones that are compared to the geological map of the studied site, presenting a favorable correlation between them. The analysis of the results of the obtained maps allowed us to identify the main structural directions encompassing the NE-SW to E-W, NNE-SWSW and ENE-WSW families and also allowed us to highlight two potential zones of mineralization; one located to the south of Demnate at the western end of the Central High Atlas and the other in the middle part of the Central High Atlas. The superposition of the alteration maps and the fracturing map shows that the zones that are favorable for mineralization deposits are affected by faults in a generally NE-SW direction.El Alto Atlas Central es una de las estructuras geológicas que pertenecen al Macizo del Atlas marroquí. Presenta una gran diversidad geológica y muchas características estructurales y de facies. Está controlada por fallas principales de dirección N70 a E-O, visibles a diferentes escalas y ricas en numerosas vetas mineralizadas. Esta zona ha sido objeto del presente trabajo, en el que hemos simulado las imágenes de los sensores Landsat 8 OLI, Sentinel 2 y Aster para cartografiar los minerales de alteración hidrotermal asociados a una cartografía litoestructural que puede aportar más información sobre la mineralización de esta zona de estudio. En este punto destacamos los diferentes enfoques de teledetección adoptados, citando en primer lugar los métodos de extracción de lineamientos a partir de la banda infrarroja de la imagen Landsat 8 OLI y del GDEM ASTER para destacar la fracción geológica del área de estudio. Para obtener una buena discriminación de las unidades litológicas se realizó un Análisis de Componentes Principales y se aplicó el Factor de Índice Óptimo para crear composiciones de color con mejor interpretación visual para tener una buena cartografía litológica, y finalmente, se proponen muchas relaciones de bandas para ASTER, Landsat 8 OLI y Sentinel 2 para derivar varios mapas correspondientes a las zonas de alteración hidrotermal que se comparan con el mapa geológico del lugar estudiado, que presenta una correlación favorable entre ellos. El análisis de los resultados de los mapas obtenidos permitió identificar las grandes direcciones estructurales materializadas por las familias NE-SW a E-W, NNE-SWSW y ENE-WSW y también permitió destacar dos zonas potenciales de mineralización: una situada al sur de Demnate en el extremo occidental del Alto Atlas Central y la otra en la parte central del Alto Atlas Central. La superposición de los mapas de alteración y del mapa de fracturación muestra que las zonas que pueden ser favorables para los depósitos de mineralización están afectadas por fallas en dirección generalmente NE-SW

Fingereye: improvising security and optimizing ATM transaction time based on iris-scan authentication

The tumultuous increase in ATM attacks using eavesdropping, shoulder-surfing, has risen great concerns. Attackers often target the authentication stage where a customer may be entering his login information on the ATM and thus use direct observation techniques by looking over the customer's shoulder to steal his passwords. Existing authentication mechanism employs the traditional password-based authentication system which fails to curb these attacks. This paper addresses this problem using the FingerEye. The FingerEye is a robust system integrated with iris-scan authentication. A customer’s profile is created at registration where the pattern in his iris is analyzed and converted into binary codes. The binary codes are then stored in the bank database and are required for verification prior to any transaction. We leverage on the iris because every user has unique eyes which do not change until death and even a blind person with iris can be authenticated too. We implemented and tested the proposed system using CIMB bank, Malaysia as case study. The FingerEye is integrated with the current infrastructure employed by the bank and as such, no extra cost was incurred. Our result demonstrates that ATM attacks become impractical. Moreover, transactions were executed faster from 6.5 seconds to 1.4 seconds

Case Series

Au Maroc peu d'études ont été menées concernant les facteurs pronostiques du mélanome.L'objectif de cette étude était d'identifier les facteurs de survenue de métastases viscérales à distance à 1an et de mortalité à 2ans chez des patients atteints de mélanome cutané épais. Ont été colligés rétrospectivement tous les cas de mélanomes suivis au service de dermatologie et d'oncologie du CHU de Casablanca de 2006 à 2010.On été inclus les patients qui présentaient un mélanome à localisation  cutanée et/ou muqueuse buccogénitale, confirmés histologiquement ayant un Breslow&gt;2mm. Ont été exclus les patients présentant des métastases viscérales à distance au moment du diagnostic. Les  données sociodémographiques, cliniques et thérapeutiques ont été recueillies au niveau des dossiers; celles relatives à l'évolution ont été complétées par contact téléphonique. L'analyse statistique était de type uni et bivarié. Soixante patients ont été inclus:41hommes et19femmes (sexe ratio de 2,15).La moyenne d'âge était de 60 ans (17-96). L'indice de Breslow était en moyenne de10mm+/-7et78%des  patients(32) avaient un Breslow&gt;4mm. Vingt trois patients (38,3%) avaient des adénopathies  régionales. Quatorze patients ont présenté des métastases à distance après 1an (23,3%) et13patients étaient décédés après 2ans d'évolution (21,7%). Les facteurs associés à la survenue de métastases à distance étaient l'indice de Breslow. Des métastases à 1an ont été retrouvées chez 61,5%des patients avec un Breslow &gt;10mm contre18,8% avec un BreslowKey words: Mélanome, épais, métastases, mortalité, Breslo

Percutaneous repermeabilisation for neoplastic pelvic ureteral obstructions

Introduction : Les sténoses urétérales acquises sont d’étiologies multiples. L’origine néoplasique est fréquente et sa particularité est la localisation pelvienne et ilio-pelvienne avec une prise en charge difficile. La pose d’une sonde urétérale JJ par voie rétrograde sous cystoscopie est l’option idéale mais souvent vouée à l’échec. Objectif : Evaluer les possibilités, les difficultés, l’efficacité et la tolérance de la reperméabilisation percutanée antégrade, associée à une éventuelle résection vésicale dans le traitement des sténoses urétérales pelviennes d’origine néoplasique. Matériels et Méthodes : 112 patients ayant bénéficié d’une reperméabilisation pour sténose néoplasique de l’uretère pelvien ont été suivis de manière prospective de juin 2000 à juillet 2011. Ces sténoses étaient uni ou bilatérales (170 unités rénales au total), secondaires à des cancers urologiques et non urologiques. Les critères d’évaluation de l’efficacité et du succès de la technique étaient l’amélioration de la fonction rénale, la tolérance du geste, la régression de la dilatation et la survenue ou non de complications post opératoires. Les étapes de la technique associent les artifices de la descente antégrade du guide dans la VES à la résection vésicale pour récupérer le guide sous cystoscopie.nRésultats : Les patients avaient une moyenne d’âge de 61 ans (46 à 72 ans). L’index de Karnofsky était > 60 % chez plus de 92 % des patients. L’étendue moyenne de la sténose urétérale était 3,5cm (1,5 - 5,1cm). Les étiologies étaient dominées par le cancer du col utérin (44,5 %), suivi du cancer de la prostate (22,5 %). Le taux de succès par unité rénale était de 117/170 (68,7 %). La résection de la base vésicale a été nécessaire pour 89 unités rénales. Plus de 80 % des patients avaient amélioré leur fonction rénale. Quelques cas de PNA (10 cas), des lombalgies isolées (7 cas), une obstruction des sondes double J (5 cas) et 2 cas d’incrustation de la sonde JJ ont été rapportés à long terme. La survie moyenne de ces patients dépendait essentiellement du cancer pelvien responsable de l’obstruction et variait de 13 mois à 90 mois. Conclusion : La reperméabilisation percutanée associée à une résection vésicale est une technique séduisante, reproductible et bien tolérée. Très peu de complications sont rapportées à long terme. Son échec ne coupe pas les ponts pour les autres types de dérivations urinaires proposées dans le traitement des sténoses néoplasiques urétérales pelviennes.Introduction: Acquired ureteral obstruction has multiple etiologies. The neoplastic origin is common and its characteristics are pelvic and ilio-pelvic location with difficult management. The ureteral catheterization with double J catheter is the ideal option but often fails. Aim: To assess possibility, difficulty, tolerance and efficiency of percutaneous repermeabilisation associated to endovesical resection in the management of neoplastic ureteral obstruction. Material and Methods: 112 patients who underwent percutaneous repermeabilisation for pelvic ureteral neoplastic stenosis were followed prospectively from June 2000 to July 2011. These stenoses were unilateral or bilateral (170 renal units), secondary to urological and non-urological cancers. Essential elements to evaluate success and efficiency were: the tolerance of the operation, renal function amelioration, dilation regression and the occurrence or absence of postoperative complications. Technique steps were: delicate antegrade passage of hydrophilic guide and bladder resection oriented by scope images. These stages allow for retrieving the guide via cystoscopy. Results: Patients had a mean age of 61 (46 to 72 years). The Karnofsky index was > 60% in more than 92% of patients. The average size of ureteral stenosis was 3.5 cm (1.5 - 5.1 cm). The causes were dominated by uterine cervical carcinoma (44.5%), followed by prostate cancer (22.5%). Technique success rate for renal unit was 117/170 (68.7%). Resection of the bladder base was necessary for 89 renal units. Over 80% of patients had improved renal function. Some cases of acute pyelonephritis (10 cases), isolated low back pain (7 cases), obstruction of double J stent (5 cases) and 2 cases of the JJ stent encrustation were reported in the long term. Mean survival depended on responsible pelvic cancer; it ranged from 13 to 90 months. Patients were 42 men and 70 women with a mean age of 61 years old (46-72 years old). Conclusion: Percutaneous repermeabilisation for neoplastic ureteral obstruction is an attractive, efficient and tolerated technique. Its failure did not forbid the other urinary diversion techniques indicated in neoplastic ureteral obstruction treatment