Performance evaluation of an open distributed platform for realistic traffic generation

Network researchers have dedicated a notable part of their efforts to the area of modeling traffic and to the implementation of efficient traffic generators. We feel that there is a strong demand for traffic generators capable to reproduce realistic traffic patterns according to theoretical models and at the same time with high performance. This work presents an open distributed platform for traffic generation that we called distributed internet traffic generator (D-ITG), capable of producing traffic (network, transport and application layer) at packet level and of accurately replicating appropriate stochastic processes for both inter departure time (IDT) and packet size (PS) random variables. We implemented two different versions of our distributed generator. In the first one, a log server is in charge of recording the information transmitted by senders and receivers and these communications are based either on TCP or UDP. In the other one, senders and receivers make use of the MPI library. In this work a complete performance comparison among the centralized version and the two distributed versions of D-ITG is presented

The 2009 L'Aquila Earthquake: Postseismic Deformation with High Temporal Resolution Using the new GPS "Carrier Range" Data Type

The availability of continuous GPS measurements during or soon after significant (Mw > 6) seismic events is important to record the coseismic displacements, the initial postseismic evolution and to evaluate their relative contribution to the overall crustal deformation and total moment release (both seismic and aseismic). Here we present the result of the analysis of continuously operating GPS permanent stations already active or rapidly deployed after the Mw 6.3 2009 April 6th L'Aquila earthquake. In contrast to the observations made for previous earthquakes in Italy, our observations capture the 2009 mainshock allowing an improved temporal resolution on the early postseismic deformation. In order to better define initial postseismic displacements and investigate sub-daily station motions we calculate epoch-by-epoch (0.1 - 30 sec) position time series with the new "carrier range" data type based on the JPL GIPSY-OASIS package. This new approach is based on the calibration of carrier phase data of each station using estimates of one-way carrier phase biases from an ambiguity-fixed network of ~3,500 stations worldwide [see Blewitt, Bertiger and Weiss, 2009 Fall AGU Meeting]. Carrier range data (a precise pseudorange data type) were constructed for GPS stations in the epicentral area, and were processed without carrier phase bias estimation. Time-dependent postseismic displacements were then modeled with a logarithmic time-dependent function. Since postseismic deformation begins immediately after the mainshock and is large within the first day following the mainshock, the actual estimate of amount of coseismic deformation depends upon the temporal character of the deformation and the availability of high-rate GPS time series immediately after the mainshock. The results of our analysis are then used to characterize the characteristics of the initial postseismic evolution after the 2009 mainshock and to investigate the time-dependent distribution of afterslip on the fault

Expression levels of the focal adhesion-associated proteins paxillin and p130CAS in canine and feline mammary tumors

International audiencePaxillin and p130$^{{\rm CAS}}$ are two adaptor proteins localized at the focal adhesions which play an important role in cell signaling, cell motility and oncogenic transformation. In this study we evaluated the levels of paxillin and p130$^{{\rm CAS}}$ in feline and canine mammary tumor tissues at different stages of malignancy. The results obtained by Western blotting analysis showed no significant differences in the amounts of paxillin and p130$^{{\rm CAS}}$ between normal and non-invasive tumor tissues. By contrast, mammary tumor tissues with the invasive phenotype showed lower levels of paxillin $P < 0.01$ and higher levels of p130$^{{\rm CAS}}$ $P < 0.001$ than normal tissues. The decrease $P < 0.001$ of the amount of paxillin and the increase $P < 0.001$ of p130$^{{\rm CAS}}$ levels were correlated with the progression stage of malignancy. Since paxillin and p130$^{{\rm CAS}}$ are involved in regulating cell migration, our results suggest that low levels of paxillin together with high levels of p130$^{{\rm CAS}}$ expression may cause certain breast cancers to be more motile and possibly more aggressive. Thus, both paxillin and p130$^{{\rm CAS}}$ may represent useful prognosticators of feline and canine breast cancer malignancy

Joint Inversion of Coseismic and Early Postseismic Slip to Optimize the Information Content in Geodetic Data: Application to the 2009 M_w 6.3 L'Aquila Earthquake, Central Italy

When analyzing the rupture of a large earthquake, geodetic data are often critical. These data are generally characterized by either a good temporal or a good spatial resolution, but rarely both. As a consequence, many studies analyze the coseismic rupture with data that also include one or more days of early postseismic deformation. Here, we invert simultaneously for the coseismic and postseismic slip with the condition that the sum of the two models remains compatible with data covering the two slip episodes. We validate the benefits of this approach with a toy model and an application to the 2009 M_w 6.3 L'Aquila earthquake, using a Bayesian approach and accounting for epistemic uncertainties. For the L'Aquila earthquake, we find that if early postseismic deformation is not an explicitly acknowledged coseismic signal, coseismic slip models may overestimate the peak amplitude while long‐term postseismic models may largely underestimate the total postseismic slip amplitude. This example illustrates how the proposed approach could improve our comprehension of the seismic cycle, fault frictional properties, and the spatial and temporal relationship between seismic rupture, afterslip, and aftershocks

Modulation of thymidilate synthase and p53 expression by HDAC inhibitor vorinostat resulted in synergistic antitumor effect in combination with 5FU or raltitrexed.

Despite the introduction of several novel anticancer agents almost 50% of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients die for cancer suggesting the necessity of new therapeutical approaches. In this study we demonstrated that the HDAC inhibitor vorinostat exerted potent antiproliferative effect in a panel of mut- and wt-p53 human CRC cell lines. Moreover, in combination with 5-fluorouracil modulated by folinic acid (5FU-FA) or with Raltitrexed (RTX), both commonly used in the treatment of this disease, it showed a clear schedule-dependent synergistic antiproliferative interaction as demonstrated by calculating combination indexes. Only simultaneous, or 24 h pretreatment with vorinostat followed by either agent, produced synergistic effect paralleled by evident cell cycle perturbations with major S-phase arrest. Moreover, we provided for the first time evidences that vorinostat can overcome resistance to both 5FU and RTX. Downmodulation of Thymidilate synthase (TS) protein induced by vorinostat within 24 h, represented a key factor in enhancing the effects of both drugs in sensitive as well as resistant tumor cells. Furthermore, p53, whose wild-type expression is critical for sensitivity to 5FU and RTX, was upregulated by vorinostat in wt- and downregulated in mut-p53 cells, suggesting an additional mechanism of the antiproliferative synergistic interactions observed. Overall these data add new insights in the mechanism of vorinostat antitumor effect and suggested that the association of vorinostat plus 5FU-FA and/or RTX should be clinically explored

Evaluation of Tumor Response after Short-Course Radiotherapy and Delayed Surgery for Rectal Cancer.

PURPOSE: Neoadjuvant therapy is able to reduce local recurrence in rectal cancer. Immediate surgery after short course radiotherapy allows only for minimal downstaging. We investigated the effect of delayed surgery after short-course radiotherapy at different time intervals before surgery, in patients affected by rectal cancer. METHODS: From January 2003 to December 2013 sixty-seven patients with the following characteristics have been selected: clinical (c) stage T3N0 ≤ 12 cm from the anal verge and with circumferential resection margin > 5 mm (by magnetic resonance imaging); cT2, any N, < 5 cm from anal verge; and patients facing tumors with enlarged nodes and/or CRM+ve who resulted unfit for chemo-radiation, were also included. Patients underwent preoperative short-course radiotherapy with different interval to surgery were divided in three groups: A (within 6 weeks), B (between 6 and 8 weeks) and C (after more than 8 weeks). Hystopatolgical response to radiotherapy was measured by Mandard's modified tumor regression grade (TRG). RESULTS: All patients completed the scheduled treatment. Sixty-six patients underwent surgery. Fifty-three of which (80.3%) received a sphincter saving procedure. Downstaging occurred in 41 cases (62.1%). The analysis of subgroups showed an increasing prevalence of TRG 1-2 prolonging the interval to surgery (group A-16.7%, group B-36.8% and 54.3% in group C; p value 0.023). CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative short-course radiotherapy is able to downstage rectal cancer if surgery is delayed. A higher rate of TRG 1-2 can be obtained if interval to surgery is prolonged to more than 8 weeks

Triple-Negative Breast Cancer comparison with Canine Mammary Tumors from light microscopy to molecular pathology

Many similar characteristics in human and dog cancers including, spontaneous development, clinical presentation, tumor heterogeneity, disease progression, and response to standard therapies have promoted the approval of this comparative model as an alternative to mice. Breast cancer represents the second most frequent neoplasm in humans after lung cancer. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) constitute around 15% of all cases of breast cancer and do not express estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) or overexpress human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). Breast cancer is the second most frequent neoplasm in sexually intact female dogs after skin cancer. The majority of canine mammary tumors (CMTs) are triple-negative. Due to the high morphological, histologic, and molecular similarities between CMT and human breast cancers (HBC), human biomarkers of HBC are also observable in cases of CMT. Promising breast cancer biomarkers in both humans and canines are cancer-associated stroma (CAS), circulating tumor cells and tumor DNA (ctDNA) ), exosomes and miRNAs, and metabolites

IMPROVEMENT OF THE TROPOSPHERIC CORRECTION BY ADAPTED PHASE FILTERING

Tropospheric inhomogeneities can form a major error source in DinSAR (Differential SAR Interferometry) measurements used in slow deformation monitoring. Previous studies introduced techniques to correct these artefacts. In [1] they propose to evaluate and correct tropospheric effects directly from raw differential interferograms by estimating the phase/altitude correlation. Since the wrapped phase noise in these interferograms influences the correction of tropospheric artefacts its removal is mandatory. In this paper, we aim to show that adapted wrapped phase filtering greatly improves the retrieval of tropospheric effects. The filtered interferograms are then used to model these artefacts. Filtered and unfiltered results are compared to quantify the improvement