Adaptive admission control in real-time systems

In real-time service provisioning platforms the existence of an efficient and flexible admission control mechanism is essential for providing quality of service in a reliable and stable way, avoiding congestion scenarios caused by indiscriminate and uncontrolled service request admission. The capability of modeling and regulating the rate of call acceptance, and provide service differentiation allow indirect control of the load submitted to the platform. This paper presents a service differentiated admission control solution that allows to limit and modulate the rate by which service requests are submitted into a service provisioning platform. The solution is focused on providing a fair level of bandwidth sharing among service classes, in a configurable and dynamic way so that it can adapt the distribution by which service requests are served. To sustain the design decisions of our solution, major scheduling disciplines and rate control mechanisms, some of them proposed recently, are studied and compared. The solution was submitted to unit and charge tests, whose results show its effectiveness and robustness

Adaptive admission control in a NGN service platform

http://wts2010.eng.usf.edu/In NGN service-provisioning platforms the existence of an efficient and flexible admission control mechanism is essential for providing quality of service in a reliable and stable way, avoiding congestion scenarios caused by indiscriminate and uncontrolled service requests. The capability of modulating and regulating the rate of call acceptance, and provide service differentiation allow indirect control of the load submitted to the platform. This paper presents a service admission control solution that enables to differentiate, limit and modulate the rate by which service requests are submitted into a NGN service-provisioning platform. The solution is focused on providing a fair level of bandwidth sharing among service classes, in a configurable and dynamic way so that it can adapt the distribution by which service requests are served. To sustain the design goals of our solution, major scheduling disciplines and rate control mechanisms are here studied and compared in order to elect the more adequate components. The implemented solution was submitted to unit and charge tests; the results show its effectiveness and robustness in controlling and differentiating incoming service calls

Providing cost-effective QoS monitoring in multiservice networks

http://www.ngi2009.eu/In multiservice networks, QoS monitoring needs to be carried out in a per-class basis so that each service class measuring requirements and behavior are met and sensed properly. Facing the shortage of off-the-shelf class-based monitoring solutions, this work is focused on the development of a flexibly QoS monitoring tool oriented to multiservice networks. In this context, after discussing main QoS monitoring issues, we propose a flexible QoS monitoring Java application, totally user parameterized and supporting service differentiation. Benefiting from an edge-to-edge design perspective, this service-oriented tool is able to make a periodic evaluation of relevant QoS metrics for each service class, on an intra-domain or end-to-end path basis. Monitoring results, stored in a MySQL database, are useful to drive both online and offline traffic engineering and service management tasks

Impact of personality traits on prosthodontic patients

Determining oral health-related quality of life in elderly patients with removable prostheses who have increased difficulty in reporting oral issues is imperative for a successful rehabilitation. Aim: Our objective is to assess the extent to which a trace, or personality dimension, can influence oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in rehabilitated patients. Methods: 135 participants rehabilitated with removable prosthesis were evaluated in the Clinical Unit of Removable Prosthodontics of the Faculty of Dental Medicine of Porto University, Portugal. The Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) questionnaire was applied to evaluate oral health-related quality of life, along with the Eysenck Personality Inventory (E.P.I.) to determine a personality trait. Statistical analysis was carried out using Mann-Whitney, Student's t-test, Spearman's rho and linear regression. Results: No statistical correlation was found concerning age, gender and oral health-related quality of life. Regarding the latter, the highest agreement was found on the question involving “pain in teeth”. The prevalence of acrylic partial dentures, as opposed to partial dentures with metallic framework, was substantially higher. No signi?cant association between both extraversion/neuroticism (E.P.I.) and oral health-related quality of life (OHIP-14) upon rehabilitation with removable prostheses was found (p>0,05). In our study, personality traits neuroticism and extraversion did not influence oral health-related quality of life with removable prostheses. However, we should not overlook the importance of other psychological factors (such as motivation or perception) and their role in determining oral health-related quality of life. Conclusion: Personality traits “extraversion” and “neuroticism” did not influence oral health-related quality of life.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Paternal physical exercise modulates global DNA methylation status in the hippocampus of male rat offspring

It is widely known that maternal physical exercise is able to induce beneficial improvements in offspring cognition; however, the effects of paternal exercise have not been explored in detail. The present study was designed to evaluate the impact of paternal physical exercise on memory and learning, neuroplasticity and DNA methylation levels in the hippocampus of male offspring. Adult male Wistar rats were divided into two groups: sedentary or exercised fathers. The paternal preconception exercise protocol consisted of treadmill running, 20 minutes daily, 5 consecutive days per week for 22 days, while the mothers were not trained. After mating, paternal sperm was collected for global DNA methylation analysis. At postnatal day 53, the offspring were euthanized, and the hippocampus was dissected to measure cell survival by 5-bromo-2′-deoxiuridine and to determine the expression of synaptophysin, reelin, brain-derived neurotrophic factor and global DNA methylation levels. To measure spatial memory and learning changes in offspring, the Morris water maze paradigm was used. There was an improvement in spatial learning, as well as a significant decrease in hippocampal global DNA methylation levels in the offspring from exercised fathers compared with those from sedentary ones; however, no changes were observed in neuroplasticity biomarkers brain-derived neurotrophic factor, reelin and 5-bromo-2′-deoxiuridine. Finally, the global DNA methylation of paternal sperm was not significantly changed by physical exercise. These results suggest a link between paternal preconception physical activity and cognitive benefit, which may be associated with hippocampal epigenetic programming in male offspring. However, the biological mechanisms of this modulation remain unclear

RETRAÇÃO TARDIA DO SACO ANEURISMÁTICO DA AORTA ABDOMINAL APÓS COLOCAÇÃO DE ENDOPRÓTESE

Introdução: Nos últimos anos o EVAR tem se afirmado cada vez mais como principal opção cirúrgica para correção do AAA sem rotura. Este procedimento apresenta indicações clínicas e anatómicas específicas, no entanto estas não impedem o aparecimento de complicações a longo prazo associadas ao EVAR. Materiais e Métodos: Estudo retrospetivo de todos os doentes submetidos a EVAR no Hospital em estudo, entre 01/01/2010 e 31/12/2016. Após seleção de 52 doente, aplicaram-se os critérios de exclusão e obteve-se 26 doentes para estudo. Procedeu-se à análise estatística dessa amostra com o intuito de avaliar a existência de algum fator que se relacionasse ou permitisse prever a retração aneurismática pós-EVAR. Resultados: Realizaram-se testes de correlação onde apenas a variável História de Tabagismo mostrou significância estatística (Spearman r=-,390; p=0,049). Esta alteração foi posteriormente comprovada com uma análise de Comparação de médias onde ser verificou a existência de diferença significativa das médias de retração entre o grupo com História de Tabagismo (este com maior retração) e o grupo sem História de Tabagismo. Verificou-se a influência desta variável na retração através da análise de Regressão linear, na qual se verificou significância estatística (p=0,032; B=-6,538) comprovando a influência na retração. Numa análise de regressão linear para as restantes variáveis, apesar de mais nenhuma demonstrar significância, a variável maior diâmetro do colo foi a que apresentou maior influência na retração, com B=8,047 e valor de p mais perto da significância (p=0,058). Na regressão Binária apenas a variável % trombo no colo apresentou significância fora da equação, não apresentando posteriormente significância estatística (p=0,071; Exp(B)=0,121) na equação. Conclusão: Em suma, este estudo permite-nos inferir que a realização de EVAR em doentes com AAA apresenta melhores resultados quando os doentes possuem história de tabagismo. Adicionalmente verifica-se uma tendência para a existência de uma relação da variável % trombo no colo com a retração do AAA pós-EVAR

Hábitos Alimentares das Pessoas com Diabetes Mellitus Tipo 2 em Portugal: Um Estudo Transversal

Introdução: A nutrição é uma área de intervenção na prevenção e gestão da diabetes mellitus; por isso, é fulcral promover a capacitação da população para a adoção de hábitos alimentares saudáveis. Ainda que existam alguns estudos nesta área, não se conhecem os principais erros nos hábitos alimentares das pessoas com diabetes em Portugal. Os objetivos deste estudo foram identificar os principais erros nos hábitos alimentares das pessoas com diabetes mellitus tipo 2 em Portugal e avaliar a sua relação com variáveis sociodemográficas. Métodos: Estudo transversal multicêntrico, em amostra de conveniência de pessoas com diabetes mellitus tipo 2 seguidas em Unidades de Cuidados de Saúde Primários. Aplicação do UK Diabetes and Diet Questionnaire (UKDDQ) – traduzido e adaptado, de julho a outubro de 2022. Análise estatística descritiva e inferencial. Resultados: Amostra de 550 participantes, 52,2% do sexo feminino, 68,3% com 65 anos ou mais, 55,8% com nível de escolaridade igual ou inferior ao 1.º ciclo do ensino básico, 24,7% com insuficiência económica e tempo desde o diagnóstico médio de 10,60 ± 8,13 anos. Apenas 36,2% da amostra obteve um score UKDDQ considerado saudável. Menos de 50% obteve scores saudáveis para os itens “arroz ou massa ricos em fibras”, “pão integral”, “manteiga, margarina e óleos vegetais” e “vegetais e leguminosas”. Somente 8,9% da amostra obteve score saudável para o consumo de fibras. Cerca de 70,4% obteve score saudável para o consumo de açúcares livres e 54,7% para o consumo de ácidos gordos saturados. Verificou-se a existência de uma correlação com significado estatístico positiva fraca entre o score UKDDQ e a idade (ρ = 0,201, p < 0,001), com escolha mais frequente de alimentos saudáveis com o aumentar da idade. As pessoas do sexo feminino reportaram hábitos alimentares mais saudáveis, particularmente no consumo de fibras e ácidos gordos saturados. Conclusão: A maior parte da nossa amostra não usufruiu do potencial efeito positivo de uma alimentação saudável. Individualizam-se grupos de alimentos cujos consumos devem ser enfatizados ou desencorajados, particularmente, a necessidade de incentivar o consumo de alimentos ricos em fibra. Ações educacionais dirigidas devem ter especial foco em pessoas mais jovens e/ou do sexo masculino

Sistema tracionador de intervenção compreendendo um umbilical

PETROBRASUniversidade Federal do Rio Grande do SulEngenhariaInformáticaDepositad

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio