An Investigation of the Effects of Modeling Application Workloads and Path Characteristics on Network Performance

Network testbeds and simulators remain the dominant platforms for evaluating networking technologies today. Central to the problem of network emulation or simulation is the problem modeling and generating realistic, synthetic Internet traffic as the results of such experiments are valid to the extent that the traffic generated to drive these experiments accurately represents the traffic carried in real production networks. Modeling and generating realistic Internet traffic remains a complex and not well-understood problem in empirical networking research. When modeling production network traffic, researchers lack a clear understanding about which characteristics of the traffic must be modeled, and how these traffic characteristics affect the results of their experiments. In this dissertation, we developed and analyzed a spectrum of empirically-derived traffic models with varying degrees of realism. For TCP traffic, we examined several choices for modeling the internal structure of TCP connections (the pattern of request/response exchanges), and the round trip times of connections. Using measurements from two different production networks, we constructed nine different traffic models, each embodying different choices in the modeling space, and conducted extensive experiments to evaluate these choices on a 10Gbps laboratory testbed. As a result of this study, we demonstrate that the old adage of garbage-in-garbage-out applies to empirical networking research. We conclude that the structure of traffic driving an experiment significantly affects the results of the experiment. And we demonstrate this by showing the effects on four key network performance metrics: connection durations, response times, router queue lengths, and number of active connections in the network

Interactive Data Validation and Data Preprocessing of Contactless Medical Devices

Many current popular devices such as Fitbit and Apple Watch continuously monitor movement and activity, but they are primarily marketed towards individuals aiming for fitness improvements, and not those with chronic medical conditions. For people with chronic conditions, or elderly individuals, having to use a wearable can be obstructive and annoying. Furthermore, when trying to study patient motion or behavior, the use of the wearable can impact their actions due to the burden of having to wear the device. Thus, there is a need for a contactless medical device that does not apply this burden to its users. Given this, there is a related need to ensure appropriate validation and preprocessing of data collected from these devices. Using data from the Emerald Device of the Katabi Lab at MIT, this thesis aims to work on the issue of validation and preprocessing of this data.Bachelor of Scienc

Aspergillus fumigatus

A cellulolytic fungal strain, Aspergillus fumigatus NITDGPKA3, was isolated from straw retting ground. Cellulase and xylanase production by A. fumigatus NITDGPKA3 in submerged fermentation of rice straw was studied. The culture conditions for maximum enzyme production were found to be initial pH 4, 1% substrate concentration, temperature 30°C, incubation time 5 days, 0.2% tryptone as nitrogen source, and inoculum volumes 7% v/v (for cellulase) and 5% v/v (for xylanase). Addition of Tween 80 in fermentation broth improved xylanase production (193.58 IU/ml) much more compared to cellulase production (6.53 IU/ml). Xylanase activity found in the culture broth was approximately 50% higher compared to most of the reported data. The crude enzyme was further applied for reducing sugar production from alkali pretreated rice straw, where a dosage of 40 IU/g CMCase produced 0.522 g reducing sugar/g dry substrate after 36 hours which was higher than that in the reported literature. The high concentration of reducing sugar yield was most probably due to the extraordinarily high titer of β-glucosidase (80.1 IU/ml) found in the crude enzyme. The crude enzymes secreted by Aspergillus fumigatus NITDGPKA3 efficiently hydrolyzed alkali pretreated rice straw suggesting that Aspergillus fumigatus NITDGPKA3 is a robust microorganism

Impact of International Collaborative Project on Cultural Competence among Occupational Therapy Students

Occupational therapy (OT) educators recognize a need to ensure that OT students are culturally competent. The researchers developed the International Collaborative Project on Cultural Competence (ICPCC) to help students understand the impact of cultural context on client care. Entry-level MOT students from a university in the US (N = 18) collaborated with BOT students (N = 4) and advanced MOT students (N = 9) from two universities in India using an online course management system WebCT. The study explored the impact of the ICPCC on OT students’ cultural competence and discusses students’ perceptions of culture on the OT process. The Inventory for Assessing the Process of Cultural Competence Among Health Care Professionals Revised© measured students’ cultural competence at baseline and immediately after participation in the ICPCC. Qualitative data was collected using a Self-Reflection Form. There was an increase in the cultural competence scores among all three groups of students after participating in the ICPCC at p value \u3c .05. Three themes emerged from the qualitative data analysis: meaning of the term culture, impact of cultural on client-centered practice, and impact of cultural on OT outcomes. OT students recognized the role that cultural differences play in OT evaluation and intervention

New Oral Anticoagulants are Not Superior to Warfarin in Secondary Prevention of Stroke or Transient Ischemic Attacks, but Lower the Risk of Intracranial Bleeding: Insights from a Meta-Analysis and Indirect Treatment Comparisons

PURPOSE: Patients with Atrial Fibrillation (AF) and prior stroke are classified as high risk in all risk stratification schemes. A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed to compare the efficacy and safety of New Oral Anticoagulants (NOACs) to warfarin in patients with AF and previous stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA). METHODS: Three randomized controlled trials (RCTs), including total 14527 patients, comparing NOACs (apixaban, dabigatran and rivaroxaban) with warfarin were included in the analysis. Primary efficacy endpoint was ischemic stroke, and primary safety endpoint was intracranial bleeding. Random-effects models were used to pool efficacy and safety data across RCTs. RevMan and Stata software were used for direct and indirect comparisons, respectively. RESULTS: In patients with AF and previous stroke or TIA, effects of NOACs were not statistically different from that of warfarin, in reduction of stroke (Odds Ratio [OR] 0.86, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.73- 1.01), disabling and fatal stroke (OR 0.85, 95% CI 0.71-1.04), and all-cause mortality (OR 0.90, 95% CI 0.79 -1.02). Randomization to NOACs was associated with a significantly lower risk of intracranial bleeding (OR 0.42, 95% CI 0.25-0.70). There were no major differences in efficacy between apixaban, dabigatran (110 mg BID and 150 mg BID) and rivaroxaban. Major bleeding was significantly lower with apixaban and dabigatran (110 mg BID) compared with dabigatran (150 mg BID) and rivaroxaban. CONCLUSION: NOACs may not be more effective than warfarin in the secondary prevention of ischemic stroke in patients with a prior history of cerebrovascular ischemia, but have a lower risk of intracranial bleeding

Efficacy of Virtual Reality in Upper Limb Rehabilitation in Patients with Spinal Cord Injury: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Study Design Pilot randomized controlled trial. Purpose To compare the efficacy between virtual reality intervention (using Nintendo Wii) along with conventional occupational therapy and conventional occupational therapy alone in improving upper limb function in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI). Overview of Literature The use of virtual reality has gained importance in the rehabilitation sector over the last few years. Nintendo Wii has the potential to encourage upper limb function while engaging in an interesting activity, which is important in long-term interventions, such as the treatment of SCI. Methods Overall, 22 patients with SCI participated in the study. They were randomly assigned to two groups. Group I received 30 minutes of virtual reality intervention (using Nintendo Wii) and 30 minutes of conventional therapy, whereas group II received conventional therapy only for 30 minutes. Both groups received therapy 3 days a week for 4 weeks. One hand of each patient was identified as the target hand based on the inclusion criteria. All patients were assessed at baseline, 2 weeks and 4 weeks (post-intervention), and 6 weeks (follow-up). The functional ability of the target hand was assessed using the Capabilities of Upper Extremity (CUE) questionnaire. Gross motor dexterity was assessed using the Box and Block Test (BBT). The level of independence in activities of daily living was assessed by the Spinal Cord Independence Measure-Self Report and quality of life by the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF. Results After 4 weeks of intervention, there was no significant difference in improved hand function between the groups. Mean scores were higher for group I than for group II, with a higher percent change (31.5% in CUE questionnaire and 51.7% in BBT) in group I. Conclusions Virtual reality along with conventional therapy produces similar results in upper limb function as does conventional therapy alone

TCP Libra: Exploring RTT-Fairness for TCP

The majority of Internet users rely on the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) to download large multimedia files from remote servers (e.g. P2P file sharing). TCP has been advertised as a fair-share protocol. However, when session round-trip-times (RTTs) radically differ from each other, the share (of the bottleneck link) may be anything but fair. This motivates us to explore a new TCP, TCP Libra, that guarantees fair sharing regardless of RTT. TCP Libra is source only based and thus easy to deploy. Via analytic modeling and simulations we show that TCP Libra achieves fairness while maintaining efficiency and friendliness to TCP New Reno. A comparison with other TCP versions that have been reported as RTT-fair in the literature is also carried out

Measurements in first-trimester abortion products a pathologic study

Context.-Related to the advances in prenatal diagnosis and the emergence of medically challenging situations, there has been an increased interest in conducting a pathologic study of first-trimester abortion products. Objective.-To evaluate measurements across a large group of first-trimester spontaneous abortion specimens. Potential goals include a validation of prenatal embryo and gestational-sac measurements as a function of gestational age (GA). Design.-A retrospective case study of first-trimester spontaneous abortions between June 2015 and April 2017 in Centro de Genética Clínica Embryo-Fetal Pathology Laboratory, Porto, Portugal. Considering the inclusion criteria, 585 complete gestational sacs, 182 embryos, and 116 umbilical cords were selected. We recorded the weight of the gestational sacs and embryos and measurements of gestational sacs, umbilical cords, and embryo crown-rump length. Models were computed using regression techniques. Results.-Gestational-sac diameter percentiles 5, 25, 50, 75 and 95 were calculated according to GA, and at each 1-week interval the diameter increased an average of 3 mm. Umbilical cord length percentiles 5, 25, 50, 75 and 95 were calculated according to GA, and at each 1-week interval, the length increased an average of 1.35 mm. Embryo crown-rump length estimated mean 6 SD values were GA 6 weeks, 5.3 6 2.3 mm; GA 7 weeks, 9.4 6 4.8 mm; GA 8 weeks, 13.7 6 8.2 mm; GA 9 weeks, 20.8 6 9.1 mm; GA 10 weeks, 22.6 6 13.4 mm; GA 11 weeks, 29.4 6 12.9 mm; and GA 12 weeks, 52 mm. Conclusions.-Pathologic measurements obtained should be compared to expected measurements and correlated with ultrasound findings, clinical information, and microscopic findings. Deviations from expected values could lead to an understanding of early pregnancy loss.This work was developed under the scope of the project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000013, NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000023, supported by the Northern Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020) under the Portugal Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER), and through the Competitiveness Factors Operational Programme (COMPETE) and by national funds, through the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), under the scope of the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007038 Centro de Genética Clínica, CGC Genetics, Porto Portugal. The authors have no relevant financial interest in the products or companies described in this article