Energy Savings in Heterogeneous Networks with Clustered Small Cell Deployments

Abstract-Ultra dense small cell deployments will play a critical role in addressing future capacity requirements in dense urban outdoor and indoor environments such as train stations and shopping malls. Effective interference and energy management schemes will be needed to make such deployments technically and economically viable. In this paper, we demonstrate the benefits of a database-aided energy savings scheme for clustered small cell deployments. System-level simulations demonstrate that the proposed scheme can yield energy savings of up to 30% even when the network is heavily utilized, and offer throughput gains of up to 25% in case few users are present in the network, with respect to a conventional small cell deployment without the energy savings feature

Massive subchorionic thrombohematoma: a case report demonstrating serial sonographic changes

Massive subchorionic thrombohematoma (MST) is the presence of a large hematoma or thrombus confined to the subchorionic space. Sonographic findings vary and include placenta descriptions such as heterogeneous, homogeneous, hypoechogenic, or jelly-like mass, which can be differentiated from the normal placenta. Our case report highlights the serial sonographic features observed in a singleton pregnancy from 13 to 29 weeks of gestation. Ultrasound findings of the placenta changed from a 65 ml subchorionic hematoma at 16 weeks to a well-defined placental mass with cystic areas at 20 weeks to an amorphous gelatinous mass at 23 weeks which became primarily replaced by an anechoic lesion with internal septations at 27 weeks. She delivered a live female at 29 weeks. MST usually has a dramatic initial presentation, but these findings may be compatible with a favourable outcome. Serial ultrasound assessment of the placenta is helpful to define the perinatal prognosis and may demonstrate gradual changes and eventual resolution

D2.1 Performance evaluation framework

This deliverable contains a proposal for a performance evaluation framework that aims at ensuring that multiple projects within 5G-PPP wireless strand can quantitatively assess and compare the performance of different 5G RAN design concepts. The report collects the vision of several 5G-PPP projects and is conceived as a living document to be further elaborated along with the 5G-PPP framework workshops planned during 2016.Weber, A.; Agyapong, P.; Rosowski, T.; Zimmerman, G.; Fallgren, M.; Sharma, S.; Kousaridas, A.... (2016). D2.1 Performance evaluation framework. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.35447.2192

Economic Incentives in Content-Centric Networking: Implications for Protocol Design and Public Policy

<p>Content-centric networking (CCN) has emerged as a dominant paradigm for future Internet architecture design due to its efficient support for content dissemination, which currently dominates Internet use. This dissertation shows how economic and social welfare analysis can be used to inform the design of a CCN architecture that provides network stakeholders with incentives to deploy and use.</p> <p>Firstly, the dissertation investigates the economic incentives of different stakeholders to deploy content-centric network Internet architectures and shows that network operators will fail to deploy sufficient storage infrastructure to support CCN without payment ows from publishers. However, the level of payment required differs for different network players, which gives them different competitive advantages in providing storage infrastructure and content delivery services.</p> <p>Secondly, it evaluates the social welfare implications of different storage deployment scenarios in a CCN-based architecture and identifies two deployments that maximize social welfare. In the first, edge networks provide the storage infrastructure through a transaction broker. In the second, edge networks pay third-parties an amount, equivalent to the realized benefits from a storage node, to deploy storage infrastructure in the network. All other deployment scenarios lead to a deadweight loss.</p> <p>Thirdly, the dissertation identifies content delivery functionalities that break in a CCN-based architecture and shows how these functionalities can be successfully replicated and enhanced by a careful design of the structure of routable content, content naming and the meta-information added to content. The proposed design supports several content delivery applications and can be easily extended to other networking principals.</p> <p>Finally, the dissertation identifies and discusses threats in the CCN content delivery model and proposes some mechanisms to address these threats. In addition, the dissertation identifies some policy implications of the CCN content delivery model and proposes some policy interventions that may lead to desirable deployment outcomes.</p

Channel Asymmetry in Cellular OFDMA-TDD Networks

Abstract This paper studies time division duplex- (TDD-) specific interference issues in orthogonal frequency division multiple access- (OFDMA-) TDD cellular networks arising from various uplink (UL)/downlink (DL) traffic asymmetries, considering both line-of-sight (LOS) and non-LOS (NLOS) conditions among base stations (BSs). The study explores aspects both of channel allocation and user scheduling. In particular, a comparison is drawn between the fixed slot allocation (FSA) technique and a dynamic channel allocation (DCA) technique for different UL/DL loads. For the latter, random time slot opposing (RTSO) is assumed due to its simplicity and its low signaling overhead. Both channel allocation techniques do not obviate the need for user scheduling algorithms, therefore, a greedy and a fair scheduling approach are applied to both the RTSO and the FSA. The systems are evaluated based on spectral efficiency, subcarrier utilization, and user outage. The results show that RTSO networks with DL-favored traffic asymmetries outperform FSA networks for all considered metrics and are robust to LOS between BSs. In addition, it is demonstrated that the greedy scheduling algorithm only offers a marginal increase in spectral efficiency as compared to the fair scheduling algorithm, while the latter exhibits up to 20% lower outage.</p

Economic Incentives in Content-Centric Networking: Implications for Protocol Design and Public Policy

<p>In this article, we build a simple engineering-economic model to evaluate the incentives of various network players to deploy distributed storage nodes (content stores and caches) to support information-centric network (ICN) architectures and the implications of those incentives on protocol design, industry structure and other policy issues, such as competition and network- neutrality. We find that without some explicit monetary compensation from publishers, networks will fail to deploy the socially optimal number of caches. We also study the social welfare implications of different cache deployment scenarios and identify two deployment scenarios that maximize social welfare. Finally, we show that ICN architectures provide numerous opportunities for large eyeball networks to leverage their terminating access monopoly to extract more profits from other network players. Hence, regulators must take steps to address issues such as interconnection and the role of caching infrastructure in differential quality of service provisioning in an ICN-based network architecture, in order to ensure socially desirable outcomes from their deployment.</p

Exploring the perspective of young adults about anaemia prevention; the contributions of knowledge about at-risk groups and consequences of anaemia

Abstract Background Anaemia persistently remains a grave public health challenge in most sub-Saharan African countries. Understanding the perspectives of young adults concerning the multi-factorial nature of anaemia may be an important step towards meeting the 2025 global nutrition target of halving anaemia since these individuals might be in the process of reproductive decisions. Aim To explore the relationship between students’ knowledge about individuals at risk of developing anaemia, and anaemia consequences, and anaemia prevention strategies in a tertiary student cohort. Methods This sequential exploratory study adopted a mixed-methods approach to triangulate the data collection. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to gather baseline data regarding students’ perspective on anaemia. Themes that emerged from the initial questionnaire data analyses guided a focus group discussion (FGD) to further explore students’ perspectives on anaemia. FGD data was thematically analysed to unearth reasons behind questionnaire item selection. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to explore the relationship between constructs in the anaemia knowledge questionnaire. Results Overall, 543 students participated in the initial questionnaire data acquisition compared to 16 in the FGD. Our latent variable structural model showed that knowing the causes of anaemia did not significantly (p > 0.05) associate with either knowledge about anaemia consequences (b = 0.113) or knowledge about anaemia prevention strategies (b = 0.042). However, knowledge about individuals at-risk of anaemia was significantly positively associated with both anaemia prevention strategies (b = 0.306, p < 0.05) and knowledge about consequences of anaemia (b = 0.543, 95%). Moreover, knowing the consequences of anaemia seemed to significantly positively mediate the association between knowledge about at-risk groups and preventive measures that could be adopted (b = 0.410, p < 0.05). Conclusions Systems thinking public health educational campaigns that highlight the consequences of anaemia and at-risk groups are more likely to inspire the adoption of preventive strategies among young adults

Evaluation of infectious bursal disease antibody titre in layers immunized with VAXXITEK HVT+IBD in Ghana

Infectious bursal disease has hampered the development of commercial poultry production in Ghana, with outbreaks continually occurring despite the introduction of the harmonized national poultry vaccination protocol (HNPVP) that incorporates two types of live IBD vaccines. One major reported reason for these vaccination failures is the vaccine neutralization by maternally-derived antibodies (MDA). This study compared the antibody titres of layers vaccinated with the HNPVP to layers vaccinated with VAXXITEK HVT+IBD, a viral vectored vaccine. An agar gel immunodiffusion test and an indirect enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were used to detect and quantify antibodies. The results of this experiment show that high MDA did not affect VAXXITEK HVT + IBD as there was a measurable antibody response with high titre values. However, the delay before this antibody response and the resultant low antibody levels at the most susceptible period may create an opportunity for field infection. However high MDA interfere with and can neutralize live IBD vaccines even when they are applied strictly as advised in the HNPVP. It is therefore quite likely that a significant portion of the reported IBD vaccination failures in Ghana are due to failure of the HNPVP due to interference with MDA hence specific ‘farm-tailored’ vaccination schedules based on flock profiling, and recombinant vectored vaccines that have been shown to produce universal protection unaffected by high MDA may be the solutions to post vaccination outbreak commonly observed in Ghana

Ability of Vital and Fluorescent Staining in the Differentiation of <i>Schistosoma haematobium</i> Live and Dead Eggs

This study reports (for the first time) the staining ability of vital (0.4% trypan blue and 1% neutral red) and fluorescent (Hoechst 33258) dyes to differentiate between live and dead Schistosoma haematobium (S. haematobium) eggs in human urine samples. Since S. haematobium egg is important in disease pathology, diagnosis, transmission, and drug development research, it is essential to be able to easily distinguish live eggs from dead ones. Staining is considered a way of enhancing the identification of live and dead eggs. Urine samples from school children were examined for the presence of S. haematobium eggs. Vital and fluorescent dyes were used to stain the samples that contained S. haematobium eggs, after which they were observed using light and fluorescent microscopes, respectively. The Hoechst 33258 provided a good staining outcome for differentiation between live and dead eggs, followed by 0.4% Trypan blue. Regarding the 1% neutral red stain, even though it provided some evidence of which egg was alive or dead, the distinction was not very clear; therefore, it could be useful when used in combination with other stains for egg viability determination. The benefits of this study will include assessing the effect of drugs on S. haematobium eggs in Schistosomiasis research