Traffic placement policies for a multi-band network

Recently protocols were introduced that enable the integration of synchronous traffic (voice or video) and asynchronous traffic (data) and extend the size of local area networks without loss in speed or capacity. One of these is DRAMA, a multiband protocol based on broadband technology. It provides dynamic allocation of bandwidth among clusters of nodes in the total network. A number of traffic placement policies for such networks are proposed and evaluated. Metrics used for performance evaluation include average network access delay, degree of fairness of access among the nodes, and network throughput. The feasibility of the DRAMA protocol is established through simulation studies. DRAMA provides effective integration of synchronous and asychronous traffic due to its ability to separate traffic types. Under the suggested traffic placement policies, the DRAMA protocol is shown to handle diverse loads, mixes of traffic types, and numbers of nodes, as well as modifications to the network structure and momentary traffic overloads

“manual para el procesamiento de agua de inyección en un campo petrolero”

El presente trabajo trata acerca de resumir las operaciones más comunes realizadas en un campo petrolero para el análisis de aguas de rio en un proyecto de inyección de aguas. Entre los puntos que destacamos están los problemas mas comunes en el agua de rio como son la corrosión, la escala, la presencia de gases disueltos, presencia bacterial y los solidos disueltos. Además se hizo un pequeño estudio de las pruebas mas comunes antes de una inyección, con datos reales de un pozo del campo ecuatoriano, entre los puntos analizados tenemos las pruebas de compatibilidad y la prueba de Fall off test. Las cuales nos dan la máxima tasa de inyección a la cual se podrá someter el pozo inyector, con esta prueba podremos hallar de igual manera la presión de fractura. La importancia de realizar estos tipos de análisis son para evitar problemas futuros en las líneas de superficie, en el fondo del pozo o para la realización de futuras recuperaciones mejoradas con base a la presión de fondo de pozo y su presión de fractura. Para la realización del tratamiento del agua se recomienda un orden, el cual mejorara su calidad, los cuales son: Desbaste Desarenado Clarificación Filtración Des aeración Tratamiento Bacteriológico Tratamiento anticorrosivo Así mismo para realización de un adecuado tratamiento los parámetros a medir son: Cationes y aniones Ph Bacterias Solidos Suspendidos Turbidez Calidad de Agua Gases Disueltos Temperatura Conductividad

Epidemiology of Distal Renal Tubular Acidosis: A Study Using Linked UK Primary Care and Hospital Data

Introduction: Distal renal tubular acidosis (dRTA), or RTA type 1, a rare inherited or acquired disease, is a disorder of the distal tubule caused by impaired urinary acid secretion. Due to associated conditions and nonspecific symptoms, dRTA may go undetected. This analysis aims to estimate the prevalence of dRTA in the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) databases and extrapolate it to European Union Five (EU5) populations. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted using the CPRD GOLD database and linked Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data to identify diagnosed and potentially undiagnosed or miscoded patients (suspected patients). Patients’ records with at least one diagnosis code for dRTA, RTA, specific autoimmune diseases, or renal disorders recorded between January 1987 and November 2017 were obtained and analyzed. An algorithm was developed to detect potentially undiagnosed/miscoded dRTA, based on associated conditions and prescriptions. Results: A total of 216 patients with diagnosis of RTA or dRTA were identified (with 98 linked to hospital data), and 447 patients were identified as having suspected dRTA. dRTA prevalence for 2017 was estimated between 0.46 (recorded cases, of which 22.1% were considered primary) and 1.60 when including suspected cases (7.6% primary) per 10,000 people. Prescription and clinical records of diagnosed patients revealed a wide range of comorbidities and a need for pharmacological treatment to manage associated symptoms. Conclusion: The study provides new estimates of dRTA prevalence in Europe and suggests that patients may often be unreported or miscoded, potentially confounding appropriate disease management

Temporal regulation of expression of immediate early and second phase transcripts by endothelin-1 in cardiomyocytes

Background: Endothelin-1 stimulates Gq protein-coupled receptors to promote proliferation in dividing cells or hypertrophy in terminally differentiated cardiomyocytes. In cardiomyocytes, endothelin-1 rapidly (within minutes) stimulates protein kinase signaling, including extracellular-signal regulated kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2; though not ERK5), with phenotypic/physiological changes developing from approximately 12 h. Hypertrophy is associated with changes in mRNA/protein expression, presumably consequent to protein kinase signaling, but the connections between early, transient signaling events and developed hypertrophy are unknown. Results: Using microarrays, we defined the early transcriptional responses of neonatal rat cardiomyocytes to endothelin-1 over 4 h, differentiating between immediate early gene (IEG) and second phase RNAs with cycloheximide. IEGs exhibited differential temporal and transient regulation, with expression of second phase RNAs within 1 h. Of transcripts upregulated at 30 minutes encoding established proteins, 28 were inhibited >50% by U0126 (which inhibits ERK1/2/5 signaling), with 9 inhibited 25-50%. Expression of only four transcripts was not inhibited. At 1 h, most RNAs (approximately 67%) were equally changed in total and polysomal RNA with approximately 17% of transcripts increased to a greater extent in polysomes. Thus, changes in expression of most protein-coding RNAs should be reflected in protein synthesis. However, approximately 16% of transcripts were essentially excluded from the polysomes, including some protein-coding mRNAs, presumably inefficiently translated. Conclusion: The phasic, temporal regulation of early transcriptional responses induced by endothelin-1 in cardiomyocytes indicates that, even in terminally differentiated cells, signals are propagated beyond the primary signaling pathways through transcriptional networks leading to phenotypic changes (that is, hypertrophy). Furthermore, ERK1/2 signaling plays a major role in this response

Negative pressure wound therapy for treating foot wounds in people with diabetes mellitus (Review)

Diabetes mellitus is a common condition that leads to high blood glucose concentrations, with around 2.8 million people affected in the UK (approximately 4.3% of the population). Some people with diabetes can develop ulcers on their feet. These wounds can take a long time to heal, be painful and become infected. Ulceration of the foot in people with diabetes can also lead to a higher risk of amputation of parts of the foot or leg. Generally, people with diabetes are at a higher risk of lower-limb amputation than people without diabetes. Negative pressure wound therapy is a wound treatment which involves applying suction to a wound; it is used increasingly around the world but it is not clear how effective it is. It also expensive compared with treatments such as dressings. We found five randomised controlled trials that compared negative pressure wound therapy with other treatments. We found some preliminary evidence that negative pressure wound therapy increases the healing of foot wounds on people with diabetes compared with other treatments. However, the findings are not conclusive and more, better quality randomised controlled trials are required

5 year retrospective follow-up of new cases of Charcot neuroarthropathy - A single centre experience

Background: Few data describe the natural history of Charcot neuroarthropathy treated with a total contact plaster cast (TCC). Methods: A 5 year retrospective analysis of 50 patients presenting with an acute CN, Assessing time to clinical resolution into appropriate footwear and assessing if initial immobilisation device influenced resolution time. Results: During the study period 42 patients (84%) of patients went into remission, 2 died during their treatment, 4 had major amputations, in 2 patients treatment was ongoing. 36 patients were treated with combination offloading devices, 6 were treated with one modality only. Median time to resolution for patients initially treated with a TCC was not significantly shorter than for those treated with a removable below knee boot. 34.9% required re-casting due to clinical deterioration in the removable device. Conclusions: More precise measures of resolution of CN are needed to assess the impact of initial treatment modality on time to resolution

Crowdfunding biodiversity conservation

Raising funds is critical for conserving biodiversity and hence so too is scrutinizing emerging financial mechanisms that might help achieve this goal. In this context, anecdotal evidence indicates crowdfunding is being used to support a variety of activities needed for biodiversity conservation, yet its magnitude and allocation remain largely unknown. We conducted a global analysis to help address this knowledge gap, based on empirical data from conservation‐focused projects extracted from crowdfunding platforms. For each project, we determined the funds raised, date, country of implementation, proponent characteristics, activity type, biodiversity realm, and target taxa. We identified 72 relevant platforms and 577 conservation‐focused projects that have raised US$4 790 634 since 2009. Whilst proponents were based in 38 countries, projects were delivered across 80 countries, indicating a potential mechanism of resource mobilization. Proponents were from non‐governmental organizations (35%), universities (30%), or were freelancers (26%). Most projects were for research (40%), persuasion (31%), and on‐ground actions (21%). Projects have focused primarily on species (57.7%) and terrestrial ecosystems (20.3%), and less on marine (8.8%) and freshwater ecosystems (3.6%). Projects have focused on 208 species, including a disproportionate number of threatened bird and mammal species. Crowdfunding for biodiversity conservation has now become a global phenomenon and presents signals for potential expansion, despite possible pitfalls. Opportunities arise from its spatial amplifying effect, steady increase over time, inclusion of Cinderella species, adoption by multiple actors, and funding of a range of activities beyond research. Our study paves the way for further research on key questions, such as campaign success rates, effectiveness, and drivers of adoption. Even though the capital input of crowdfunding so far has been modest compared to other conservation finance mechanisms, its contribution goes beyond funding research and providing capital. Embraced with due care, crowdfunding could potentially become an increasingly important financial mechanism for biodiversity conservation

A new specimen-based checklist of ferns and lycophytes from Rotuma (Fiji)

ABSTRACT The island of Rotuma lies about 580 km north of the main archipelago of Fiji, and while politically part of that country, it differs culturally and floristically. It has not typically been included in botanical treatments for Fiji as a whole despite visits from several botanists. Pteridophytes of Rotuma were described by St. John in 1954 based on a visit there in 1938, but little additional information is available since then. Much of the original Rotuman forest has been altered by human activity, but pockets of original vegetation persist and substantial areas of secondary forest currently occur there. In June 2019, the first two authors of this report visited Rotuma to study ferns and lycophytes. We added six native species to the total of 31 found by St. John, and we found three species that have become naturalised since St. John was there. We revise the identification of several of those that he found, based on studying his specimens as well as our own, and we update nomenclature for many others to reflect current taxonomy. We conclude that 37 native and three naturalised pteridophyte species are confirmed for Rotuma, and two others may be present as natives based on unconfirmed reports. We discuss geographic relationships of the pteridophyte flora and note that at least four native species on Rotuma are not known from elsewhere in Fiji, but almost all Rotuman pteridophytes are known from Samoa. We speculate that additional pteridophytes remain to be found on Rotuma, and we note that declining coconut cultivation is leading to increased recovery of secondary forest on the island. Additionally, we confirm that the endemic angiosperm Cyrtandra rotumaensis H. St.John Gesneriaceae persists on Rotuma

Analyse des délais de prise en charge des cancers thoraciques : étude prospective

RésuméIntroductionLe cancer broncho-pulmonaire est la première cause de décès par cancer en France. Son diagnostic est le plus souvent tardif, alors que le délai entre le début des symptômes et la prise en charge est considéré comme un facteur aggravant.Matériel et méthodesNotre étude prospective a recueilli les différentes dates de prise en charge de 139 patients consécutifs bénéficiant d’un traitement primaire pour un cancer thoracique dans notre hôpital entre novembre 2008 et mai 2009. L’objectif de cette étude était d’évaluer différents délais de prise en charge des patients porteurs d’un cancer thoracique quelle que soit sa prise en charge thérapeutique (médicale ou chirurgicale) et de déterminer la cause de ces délais.RésultatsLe délai médian entre la première imagerie pathologique et le traitement est de 9,6 semaines. Les délais étaient significativement plus courts dans les stades tardifs et les carcinomes à petites cellules (p=0,001). Il existait une tendance à des délais plus courts pour les femmes et des délais plus longs pour les classes d’âge les plus élevées.ConclusionL’évaluation des délais de prise en charge, en particulier pour les stades précoces, s’intègre dans le contrôle de la qualité de prise en charge de ces pathologies.SummaryIntroductionLung cancer is the main cause of cancer death in France. The diagnosis is often late and the delay between the onset of symptoms and management is considered an aggravating factor.Material and methodsOur prospective study collected the dates of the start of management of 139 consecutive patients receiving first line treatment for thoracic cancer in our hospital between November 2008 and May 2009. The aim of this study was to evaluate the delays in medical or surgical treatments in patients with thoracic cancer and to determine the cause of these delays.ResultsThe median delay between the first abnormal chest X-ray and treatment was 9.6 weeks. The delays were significantly shorter in the late stages and in small cell cancer (P=0.001). There was a tendency for shorter delays in women and for longer delays in older patients.ConclusionEvaluation of the delays in treatment, particularly in the early stages, is part of the quality control of management of these diseases