Evaluation of Radio Resource Management Impact on RoF Signal Transmission for Downlink LTE

Analog radio-over-fiber (RoF) is a suitable technology for efficiently developing the cloud-RAN concept in fifth generation deployments based on long-term evolution advanced (LTE-A). Distortion and radiofrequency (RF) power amplifier gain should be taken into account in order to achieve the desired transmission power at the base station. Both mainly depend on several parameters that characterize the optical link, such as the RF input power and bias current. This paper analyzes the link performance due to variations on the traffic load as expected under real operation. In this paper, we show that it is possible in this scenario to adaptively choose the optimum RF input power to minimize the measured error vector magnitude and reduce the RF subsystem gain. Results show that this adaptation allows to relax the RF amplifier gain requirements up to 3-4 dB for medium load conditions

Extreme wave events in the southeastern Iberia coast: Blocks and megablocks as an indicator of tsunamis or extreme storms

Whilst the SW coast of the Iberian Peninsula has a significant record of extreme wave events (EWE), mostly associated with tsunamis, the Mediterranean coast offers a smaller record of these events, although some historical tsunamis with limited impact have been cited on the coast. In general, these studies have been based on the geological record of detrital sequences of sands and silts. In this case, we have focused on the study of coastal deposits of blocks and megablocks in Cope, Murcia (SE of Iberian Peninsula). Here, blocks greater than 1 m and located up to 4 masl were generated by an EWE associated to either a tsunamis or great storm. An unmanned aerial vehicle (drone) has been utilized to perform aerial photogrammetry, which complemented terrestrial photogrammetry of higher resolution.This has been processed to develop a 3D model of the terrain and obtain the dimensional and spatial parameters of these blocks. Different models have been used to calculate potential tsunami wave heights and scale of storms capable of generating such deposits (Nott, 2003; Engel and May, 2012). The results confirm the process of generating force required to generate the block ridges at this site

Estimating the Underwater Diffuse Attenuation Coefficient with a Low-Cost Instrument: The KdUINO DIY Buoy

A critical parameter to assess the environmental status of water bodies is the transparency of the water, as it is strongly affected by different water quality related components (such as the presence of phytoplankton, organic matter and sediment concentrations). One parameter to assess the water transparency is the diffuse attenuation coefficient. However, the number of subsurface irradiance measurements obtained with conventional instrumentation is relatively low, due to instrument costs and the logistic requirements to provide regular and autonomous observations. In recent years, the citizen science concept has increased the number of environmental observations, both in time and space. The recent technological advances in embedded systems and sensors also enable volunteers (citizens) to create their own devices (known as Do-It-Yourself or DIY technologies). In this paper, a DIY instrument to measure irradiance at different depths and automatically calculate the diffuse attenuation Kd coefficient is presented. The instrument, named KdUINO, is based on an encapsulated low-cost photonic sensor and Arduino (an open-hardware platform for the data acquisition). The whole instrument has been successfully operated and the data validated comparing the KdUINO measurements with the commercial instruments. Workshops have been organized with high school students to validate its feasibility

Plasmid replicons from Pseudomonas are natural chimeras of functional, exchangeable modules

14 p.-5 figPlasmids are a main factor for the evolution of bacteria through horizontal gene exchange, including the dissemination of pathogenicity genes, resistance to antibiotics and degradation of pollutants. Their capacity to duplicate is dependent on their replication determinants (replicon), which also define their bacterial host range and the inability to coexist with related replicons. We characterize a second replicon from the virulence plasmid pPsv48C, from Pseudomonas syringae pv. savastanoi, which appears to be a natural chimera between the gene encoding a newly described replication protein and a putative replication control region present in the widespread family of PFP virulence plasmids. We present extensive evidence of this type of chimerism in structurally similar replicons from species of Pseudomonas, including environmental bacteria as well as plant, animal and human pathogens. We establish that these replicons consist of two functional modules corresponding to putative control (REx-C module) and replication (REx-R module) regions. These modules are functionally separable, do not show specificity for each other, and are dynamically exchanged among replicons of four distinct plasmid families. Only the REx-C module displays strong incompatibility, which is overcome by a few nucleotide changes clustered in a stem-and-loop structure of a putative antisense RNA. Additionally, a REx-C module from pPsv48C conferred replication ability to a non-replicative chromosomal DNA region containing features associated to replicons. Thus, the organization of plasmid replicons as independent and exchangeable functional modules is likely facilitating rapid replicon evolution, fostering their diversification and survival, besides allowing the potential co-option of appropriate genes into novel replicons and the artificial construction of new replicon specificities.This work was funded by the Spanish Plan Nacional I+D+i grant AGL2014-53242-C2-2-R, fromthe Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO), co-financed by the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER). M.A. was supported by an FPI fellowship (reference BES-2012-054016, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación/Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Spain).Peer reviewe

Bluetooth Mesh Analysis, Issues, and Challenges

BLE is a widely used short-range technology which has gained a relevant position inside the Internet-of-Things (IoT) paradigm development thanks to its simplicity, low-power consumption, low-cost and robustness. New enhancements over BLE have focused on supporting mesh network topology. Compared to other mesh networks, BLE mesh has only considered a managed flooding protocol in its first version. Managed flooding may generally seem inefficient in many contexts, but it is a high desirable option when data transmission is urgent, the network is small or its configuration changes in a very dynamic way. Knowing the interest to many application contexts, this paper analyses the impact of tweaking several features over the reliability and efficiency of the mesh network. These features are configured and controlled in different layers: message repetition schemes, the transmission randomization, the election of a scheme based on an acknowledged or unacknowledged transmission, etc. In order to estimate the real performance of a mesh network deployment, this paper evaluates the effects of the interaction of the chosen parameters, their appropriate adjustment in relation with the characteristics of real implementations and the true overhead related to the whole protocol stack. The paper identifies configuration challenges, proposes network tuning criteria and outlines possible standard improvements. For this purpose, a detailed assessment on the implementation and execution of real devices has been performed with their chipset limitations

Amidated and ibuprofen-conjugated kyotorphins promote neuronal rescue and memory recovery in cerebral hypoperfusion dementia model

Copyright © 2016 Sá Santos, Santos, Pinto, Ramu, Heras, Bardaji, Tavares and Castanho. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.Chronic brain ischemia is a prominent risk factor for neurological dysfunction and progression for dementias, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). In rats, permanent bilateral common carotid artery occlusion (2VO) causes a progressive neurodegeneration in the hippocampus, learning deficits and memory loss as it occurs in AD. Kyotorphin (KTP) is an endogenous antinociceptive dipeptide whose role as neuromodulator/neuroprotector has been suggested. Recently, we designed two analgesic KTP-derivatives, KTP-amide (KTP-NH2) and KTP-NH2 linked to ibuprofen (IbKTP-NH2) to improve KTP brain targeting. This study investigated the effects of KTP-derivatives on cognitive/behavioral functions (motor/spatial memory/nociception) and hippocampal pathology of female rats in chronic cerebral hypoperfusion (2VO-rat model). 2VO-animals were treated with KTP-NH2 or IbKTP-NH2 for 7 days at weeks 2 and 5 post-surgery. After behavioral testing (week 6), coronal sections of hippocampus were H&E-stained or immunolabeled for the cellular markers GFAP (astrocytes) and NFL (neurons). Our findings show that KTP-derivatives, mainly IbKTP-NH2, enhanced cognitive impairment of 2VO-animals and prevented neuronal damage in hippocampal CA1 subfield, suggesting their potential usefulness for the treatment of dementia.Funding was provided by the Portuguese Agency Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia SFRH/BPD/79542/2011 fellowship)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Corrigendum: Chronic Exposure to Malaria Is Associated with Inhibitory and Activation Markers on Atypical Memory B Cells and Marginal Zone-Like B Cells

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2017.00966.]

Endothelium-mediated action of analogues of the endogenous neuropeptide kyotorphin (tyrosil-arginine) : mechanistic insights from permeation and effects on microcirculation

© 2016 American Chemical SocietyKyotorphin (KTP) is an endogenous peptide with analgesic properties when administered into the central nervous system (CNS). Its amidated form (l-Tyr-l-Arg-NH2; KTP-NH2) has improved analgesic efficacy after systemic administration, suggesting blood-brain barrier (BBB) crossing. KTP-NH2 also has anti-inflammatory action impacting on microcirculation. In this work, selected derivatives of KTP-NH2 were synthesized to improve lipophilicity and resistance to enzymatic degradation while introducing only minor changes in the chemical structure: N-terminal methylation and/or use of d amino acid residues. Intravital microscopy data show that KTP-NH2 having a d-Tyr residue, KTP-NH2-DL, efficiently decreases the number of leukocyte rolling in a murine model of inflammation induced by bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS): down to 46% after 30 min with 96 μM KTP-NH2-DL. The same molecule has lower ability to permeate membranes (relative permeability of 0.38) and no significant activity in a behavioral test which evaluates thermal nociception (hot-plate test). On the contrary, methylated isomers at 96 μM increase leukocyte rolling up to nearly 5-fold after 30 min, suggesting a proinflammatory activity. They have maximal ability to permeate membranes (relative permeability of 0.8) and induce long-lasting antinociception.FCT-MCTES is acknowledged for PhD fellowship SFRH/BD/52225/2013 to J.P. Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE) is acknowledged for funding: call H2020-MSCA-RISE-2014, Grant agreement 644167, 2015-2019.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

TCA cycle metabolites associated with adverse outcomes after acute coronary syndrome: mediating effect of renal function

AimsTo examine relationships of tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle metabolites with risk of cardiovascular events and mortality after acute coronary syndrome (ACS), and evaluate the mediating role of renal function in these associations.MethodsThis is a prospective study performed among 309 ACS patients who were followed for a mean of 6.7 years. During this period 131 patients developed major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), defined as the composite of myocardial infarction, hospitalization for heart failure, and all-cause mortality, and 90 deaths were recorded. Plasma concentrations of citrate, aconitate, isocitrate, succinate, malate, fumarate, α-ketoglutarate and d/l-2-hydroxyglutarate were quantified using LC-tandem MS. Multivariable Cox regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios, and a counterfactual-based mediation analysis was performed to test the mediating role of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR).ResultsAfter adjustment for traditional cardiovascular risk factors and medications, positive associations were found between isocitrate and MACE (HR per 1 SD, 1.25; 95% CI: 1.03, 1.50), and between aconitate, isocitrate, d/l-2-hydroxyglutarate and all-cause mortality (HR per 1 SD, 1.41; 95% CI: 1.07, 1.84; 1.58; 95% CI: 1.23, 2.02; 1.38; 95% CI: 1.14, 1.68). However, these associations were no longer significant after additional adjustment for eGFR. Mediation analyses demonstrated that eGFR is a strong mediator of these associations.ConclusionThese findings underscore the importance of TCA metabolites and renal function as conjunctive targets in the prevention of ACS complications

The Neuroprotective Action of Amidated-Kyotorphin on Amyloid β Peptide-Induced Alzheimer’s Disease Pathophysiology

Kyotorphin (KTP, l-tyrosyl-l-arginine) is an endogenous dipeptide initially described to have analgesic properties. Recently, KTP was suggested to be an endogenous neuroprotective agent, namely for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In fact, KTP levels were shown to be decreased in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with AD, and recent data showed that intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of KTP ameliorates memory impairments in a sporadic rat model of AD. However, this administration route is far from being a suitable therapeutic strategy. Here, we evaluated if the blood-brain permeant KTP-derivative, KTP-NH2, when systemically administered, would be effective in preventing memory deficits in a sporadic AD animal model and if so, which would be the synaptic correlates of that action. The sporadic AD model was induced in male Wistar rats through i.c.v. injection of amyloid β peptide (Aβ). Animals were treated for 20 days with KTP-NH2 (32.3 mg/kg, intraperitoneally (i.p.), starting at day 3 after Aβ administration) before memory testing (Novel object recognition (NOR) and Y-maze (YM) tests). Animals were then sacrificed, and markers for gliosis were assessed by immunohistochemistry and Western blot analysis. Synaptic correlates were assessed by evaluating theta-burst induced long term potentiation (LTP) of field excitatory synaptic potentials (fEPSPs) recorded from hippocampal slices and cortical spine density analysis. In the absence of KTP-NH2 treatment, Aβ-injected rats had clear memory deficits, as assessed through NOR or YM tests. Importantly, these memory deficits were absent in Aβ-injected rats that had been treated with KTP-NH2, which scored in memory tests as control (sham i.c.v. injected) rats. No signs of gliosis could be detected at the end of the treatment in any group of animals. LTP magnitude was significantly impaired in hippocampal slices that had been incubated with Aβ oligomers (200 nM) in the absence of KTP-NH2. Co-incubation with KTP-NH2 (50 nM) rescued LTP toward control values. Similarly, Aβ caused a significant decrease in spine density in cortical neuronal cultures, and this was prevented by co-incubation with KTP-NH2 (50 nM). In conclusion, the present data demonstrate that i.p. KTP-NH2 treatment counteracts Aβ-induced memory impairments in an AD sporadic model, possibly through the rescuing of synaptic plasticity mechanisms.publishersversionpublishe