Evaluation of policy based admission control mechanisms in NGN

The 3GPP consortium proposed in the release 7 of the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) a Diameter interface for the resource admission communication process replacing the previous COPS solution. Although both academic and industry communities have deeply debate the advantages and disadvantages of each protocol, its impact in NGN may have not been thoroughly quantified. This paper compares both protocols in terms of messages exchanged between network entities, and of bandwidth requirements during the admission control process. Based on general network operator environment characteristics, we present several exploitation scenarios where it is analyzed the scalability and adequacy of each protocol

A combined approach for comparative exoproteome analysis of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis

Background: Bacterial exported proteins represent key components of the host-pathogen interplay. Hence, we sought to implement a combined approach for characterizing the entire exoproteome of the pathogenic bacterium Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis, the etiological agent of caseous lymphadenitis (CLA) in sheep and goats. Results: An optimized protocol of three-phase partitioning (TPP) was used to obtain the C. pseudotuberculosis exoproteins, and a newly introduced method of data-independent MS acquisition (LC-MSE) was employed for protein identification and label-free quantification. Additionally, the recently developed tool SurfG+ was used for in silico prediction of sub-cellular localization of the identified proteins. In total, 93 different extracellular proteins of C. pseudotuberculosis were identified with high confidence by this strategy; 44 proteins were commonly identified in two different strains, isolated from distinct hosts, then composing a core C. pseudotuberculosis exoproteome. Analysis with the SurfG+ tool showed that more than 75% (70/93) of the identified proteins could be predicted as containing signals for active exportation. Moreover, evidence could be found for probable non-classical export of most of the remaining proteins. Conclusions: Comparative analyses of the exoproteomes of two C. pseudotuberculosis strains, in addition to comparison with other experimentally determined corynebacterial exoproteomes, were helpful to gain novel insights into the contribution of the exported proteins in the virulence of this bacterium. The results presented here compose the most comprehensive coverage of the exoproteome of a corynebacterial species so far

Main and moderated effects of multimorbidity and depressive symptoms on cognition

Objective: Multimorbidity, or the occurrence of two or more chronic conditions, is a global challenge, with implications for mortality, morbidity, disability, and life quality. Psychiatric disorders are common among the chronic diseases that affect patients with multimorbidity. It is still not well understood whether psychiatric symptoms, especially depressive symptoms, moderate the effect of multimorbidity on cognition. Methods: We used a large (n=2,681) dataset to assess whether depressive symptomatology moderates the effect of multimorbidity on cognition using structural equation modelling. Results: It was found that the more depressive symptoms and chronic conditions, the worse the cognitive performance, and the higher the educational level, the better the cognitive performance. We found a significant but weak (0.009; p = 0.04) moderating effect. Conclusion: We have provided the first estimate of the moderating effect of depression on the relation between multimorbidity and cognition, which was small. Although this moderation has been implied by many previous studies, it was never previously estimated

Integração party-granlog: interpretação abstrata aplicada a paralelização de programas em lógica

Este trabalho apresenta a integração dos modelos ParTy e Granlog. O ParTy (Parallel Types Analyzer) é um interpretador abstrato de tipos. O Granlog (Granularity Analyzer for LOGic programming) é um analisador automático de granulosidade na Programação em Lógica. O modelo Granlog necessita da análise estática de modos, tipos, medidas e dependências dos argumentos de um programa Prolog. Atualmente a análise de modos, tipos e medidas não é automática, o programador adiciona estas informações ao código fonte. A análise estática pode ser realizada através da técnica de Interpretação Abstrata. Esta técnica simula a execução de um programa segundo um domínio abstrato obtendo informações sobre o seu comportamento. O ParTy realiza a interpretação abstrata de tipos para os argumentos de um programa Prolog. A integração ParTy-Granlog torna automática a análise de tipos no modelo Granlog.Eje: TeoríaRed de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Integração party-granlog: interpretação abstrata aplicada a paralelização de programas em lógica

Este trabalho apresenta a integração dos modelos ParTy e Granlog. O ParTy (Parallel Types Analyzer) é um interpretador abstrato de tipos. O Granlog (Granularity Analyzer for LOGic programming) é um analisador automático de granulosidade na Programação em Lógica. O modelo Granlog necessita da análise estática de modos, tipos, medidas e dependências dos argumentos de um programa Prolog. Atualmente a análise de modos, tipos e medidas não é automática, o programador adiciona estas informações ao código fonte. A análise estática pode ser realizada através da técnica de Interpretação Abstrata. Esta técnica simula a execução de um programa segundo um domínio abstrato obtendo informações sobre o seu comportamento. O ParTy realiza a interpretação abstrata de tipos para os argumentos de um programa Prolog. A integração ParTy-Granlog torna automática a análise de tipos no modelo Granlog.Eje: TeoríaRed de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Use of Wild Type or Recombinant Lactic Acid Bacteria as an Alternative Treatment for Gastrointestinal Inflammatory Diseases: A Focus on Inflammatory Bowel Diseases and Mucositis

The human gastrointestinal tract (GIT) is highly colonized by bacterial communities, which live in a symbiotic relationship with the host in normal conditions. It has been shown that a dysfunctional interaction between the intestinal microbiota and the host immune system, known as dysbiosis, is a very important factor responsible for the development of different inflammatory conditions of the GIT, such as the idiopathic inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), a complex and multifactorial disorder of the GIT. Dysbiosis has also been implicated in the pathogenesis of other GIT inflammatory diseases such as mucositis usually caused as an adverse effect of chemotherapy. As both diseases have become a great clinical problem, many research groups have been focusing on developing new strategies for the treatment of IBD and mucositis. In this review, we show that lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have been capable in preventing and treating both disorders in animal models, suggesting they may be ready for clinical trials. In addition, we present the most current studies on the use of wild type or genetically engineered LAB strains designed to express anti-inflammatory proteins as a promising strategy in the treatment of IBD and mucositis

A Bacia do Algarve: estratigrafia, paleogeografia e tectónica

A “Bacia do Algarve” corresponde, segundo a literatura científica tradicional, aos terrenos mesocenozóicos que orlam o Sul de Portugal, desde o Cabo de São Vicente ao rio Guadiana (~140km), penetrando irregularmente para o interior entre 3 km a 25 km, sobre terrenos de idade carbónica da Zona Sul Portuguesa. O hiato, de aproximadamente 70 milhões de anos, materializado pela discordância angular entre as rochas sedimentares de tipo flysch do Carbónico, metamorfizadas e deformadas durante a orogenia varisca, e as rochas sedimentares continentais do Triásico inferior provável, separa dois ciclos de Wilson. Os sedimentos carbónicos metamorfizados resultam do empilhamento orogénico de um possível prisma de acrecção associado à orogenia varisca e ao fecho de um oceano paleozóico e formação da Pangeia, enquanto que os sedimentos continentais triásicos resultam do fim do colapso e do arrasamento do orógeno varisco e início do estiramento continental que viriam a culminar com a separação das placas litosféricas África, Eurásia e América.Os sedimentos mais recentes do Mesozóico e os mais antigos bem datados do Cenozóico encontram-se separados por um outro hiato que ultrapassa ligeiramente os 70 milhões de anos na área emersa. Este hiato resulta duma alteração tectónica radical no contexto onde nessa época geológica se inseria a Bacia do Algarve. Esta mudança, que ocorreu no fim do Cenomaniano, resultou da rotação do vector de deslocamento da trajectória de África em relação à Eurásia, de aproximadamente NW-SE para SW-NE (segundo as coordenadas actuais, e.g. Dewey et al, 1989), poria termo ao regime distensivo e de bacia de tipo rifte na Bacia do Algarve, com o fim do regime transtensivo entre a região noroeste da placa África e sudoeste da placa Eurásia e início da colisão

Efficient differentiation of Corynebacterium striatum, Corynebacterium amycolatum and Corynebacterium xerosis clinical isolates by multiplex PCR using novel species-specific primers

A multiplex-PCR (mPCR) assay was designed with species-specific primers which generate amplicons of 226 bp, 434 bp and 106 bp for differentiating the species C. striatum, C. amycolatum, and C. xerosis, respectively. mPCR results were 100% in agreement with identifications achieved by 16S rRNA and rpoB gene sequencing and by VITEK-MS.This work was supported by grants from FAPESB (JCB0031/2013) and CAPES (PROCAD 071/2013)

Compliance With Guideline-Directed Medical Therapy in Contemporary Coronary Revascularization Trials

Background: Despite the well-established benefits of secondary cardiovascular prevention, the importance of concurrent medical therapy in clinical trials of coronary revascularization is often overlooked. Objectives: The goal of this study was to assess compliance with guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) in clinical trials and its potential impact on the comparison between percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Methods: The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and MEDLINE were searched from 2005 to August 2017. Clinical trial registries and reference lists of relevant studies were also searched. Randomized controlled trials comparing PCI with drug-eluting stents versus CABG and reporting medical therapy after revascularization were included. The study outcome was compliance with GDMT, defined as the following: 1) any antiplatelet agent plus beta-blocker plus statin (GDMT1); and 2) any antiplatelet agent plus beta-blocker plus statin plus angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor/angiotensin receptor blocker (GDMT2). Data collection and analysis were performed according to the methodological recommendations of The Cochrane Collaboration. Results: From a total of 439 references, 5 trials were included based on our inclusion and exclusion criteria. Overall, compliance with GDMT1 was low and decreased over time from 67% at 1 year to 53% at 5 years. Compliance with GDMT2 was even lower and decreased from 40% at 1 year to 38% at 5 years. Compliance with both GDMT1 and GDMT2 was higher in PCI than in CABG at all time points. Meta-regression suggested an association between lower use of GDMT1 and adverse clinical outcomes in PCI versus CABG at 5 years. Conclusions: Compliance with GDMT in contemporary clinical trials remains suboptimal and is significantly lower after CABG than after PCI, which may influence the comparison of clinical trial endpoints between those study groups

Structural and spectroscopic investigation of the charge-ordered, short-range ordered, and disordered phases of the Co3O2BO3 ludwigite

Charge ordering is prone to occur in crystalline materials with mixed-valence ions. It is presumably accompanied by a structural phase transition, with possible exceptions in compounds that already present more than one inequivalent site for the mixed-valence ions in the charge-disordered phase. In this work, we investigate the representative case of the homometallic Co ludwigite Co2+2Co3+O2BO3 (Pbam space group) with four distinct Co crystallographic sites [M1–M4] surrounded by oxygen octahedra. The mixed-valent character of the Co ions up to at least T=873 K is verified through x-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) experiments. Single crystal x-ray diffraction (XRD) and neutron powder diffraction (NPD) confirm that the Co ions at the M4 site are much smaller than the others at low temperatures, consistent with a Co3+ oxidation state at M4 and Co2+ at the remaining sites. The size difference between the Co ions in the M4 and M2 sites is continuously reduced upon warming above ≈370 K, indicating a gradual charge redistribution within the M4−M2−M4 (424) ladder in the average structure. Minor structural anomalies with no space group modification are observed near 475 and 495 K, where sharp phase transitions were previously revealed by calorimetry and electrical resistivity data. An increasing structural disorder, beyond a conventional thermal effect, is noted above ≈370 K, manifested by an anomalous increment of XRD Debye-Waller factors and broadened vibrational modes observed by Raman scattering. The local Co-O distance distribution, revealed by Co K-edge extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) data and analyzed with an evolutionary algorithm method, is similar to that inferred from the XRD crystal structure below ≈370 K. At higher temperatures, the local Co-O distance distribution remains similar to that found at low temperatures, at variance with the average crystal structure obtained with XRD. We conclude that the oxidation states Co2+ and Co3+ are instantaneously well defined in a local atomic level at all temperatures, however the thermal energy promotes local defects in the charge-ordered configuration of the 424 ladders upon warming. These defects coalesce into a phase-segregated state within a narrow temperature interval (475<T<495 K). Finally, a transition at ≈500 K revealed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) in the iron ludwigite Fe3O2BO3 is discussed