SAFETY PATROL: UTILIZING TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE RESPONSE TIMES IN EMERGENCY EVENT SITUATIONS

Mass shootings have, tragically, been on the rise in recent years and, heartbreakingly, those incidents can and do take place on school grounds. Techniques are presented herein that support a Safety Patrol facility that accelerates emergency services response times and equips first responders with the critical information that is required to act quickly in an emergency situation. According to the presented techniques, after an emergency event (such as a gunshot, a fire alarm, etc.) is detected, a network may react to the notification of that event by automatically creating a new Wi-Fi service set identifier (SSID) named FirstResponders and generating a splash page for first responder login. After successfully logging in, the presented techniques provide an overview of a facility (through floor plan maps) and identify the locations of video cameras which may be selected to receive live video feeds. Additionally, according to the presented techniques detected events may be displayed on a floor plan along with timestamps to provide historical situational awareness and equip first responders with not just information regarding what occurred where, but also access to the live feeds depicting what is currently happening

APPLICATION-DRIVEN OPTIMIZED SLA-AWARE PATH SELECTION FOR COLLABORATION APPLICATIONS

Currently, applications are at the mercy of a network’s infrastructure for the selection of a path within a network environment where more than one path exists between a source and a destination. Too often, the network infrastructure elements are unaware of an application’s requirements, or are aware of them in only a very rudimentary way. This situation is particularly dire for collaboration applications, which often have the most stringent requirements for path characteristics including delay, jitter, and packet loss. Techniques are presented herein that move the point of control for path selection to a collaboration application through a lightweight, in-band signaling mechanism that is exposed by the application to a network’s infrastructure for appropriated and differentiated traffic routing. Aspects of the presented techniques support the use of a per-application tunneled path for traffic flows, combined with a measurement methodology for those multiple paths and a mechanism for the application-level designation of specific and differentiated traffic pathing via an upstream router, allowing an application to measure performance across multiple paths and then signal to a network which path to choose based on per-application preference and service-level agreement (SLA) criteria

SAFETY PATROL: MECHANISMS FOR IMPROVING EMERGENCY RESPONSE TIMES

To equip first responders with critical, time-sensitive information and accelerate emergency services response times, various solutions are provided herein through several techniques. Under a first technique, after an emergency event such as a gunshot is either automatically detected by a camera or manually initiated by a user, or when a dangerous object such as a gun is detected by a camera, a network may react by associating the source of the dangerous event or object with a person based on proximity data; identifying the physical characteristics of the person (such as height, hair color, clothing, visible tattoos, etc.); attaching such characteristics as textual metadata; and then transmitting that metadata to first responders. A second technique automatically develops a radio frequency (RF) signature profile of a person of interest (from RF signals emitted by devices carried by the person), associates that profile to the person, and leverages that profile to track the person as they move throughout a building or campus, allowing a user to look back in time (to, for example, identify where a person came from and how they entered a building) by tracking the RF profile over time. The above-described data is extremely important during any ongoing emergency and equips first responders with critical information which only a network can provide

GAMIFICATION OF VIRTUAL MEETING PARTICIPANT ENVIRONMENT AND SETTINGS

During an online video meeting, receiving poor quality video or audio from other meeting participants can be distracting, frustrating, or disruptive. To address such issues, techniques are presented herein that employ a gamification paradigm through which a user interface is provided that is fun and engaging, which entices a user to look and sound their best by providing visual cues to encourage specific actions that will improve their sound and appearance. Aspects of the presented techniques encompass a first set of checks that evaluate video performance and which comprise the display of a silhouette outline of a person\u27s head and shoulders (to allow a user to correctly position themselves), a detection of background motion (with the overlay of a visual cue on the source of such motion so that a user can remove the item or enable virtual backgrounds), and an assessment of the lighting quality within the video stream (with the display of appropriate visual cues to allow a user to properly adjust lighting sources). Aspects of the presented techniques encompass a second set of checks that evaluate audio performance and which comprise an online video meeting facility listening as a user recites a displayed tongue twister phrase (with, for example, automatic adjustments to volume level) and analyzing the audio for background noise, echo, and feedback

Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network Toxicity Committee Consensus Summary: Thrombotic Microangiopathy after Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

AbstractThe syndrome of microangiopathic hemolysis associated with renal failure, neurologic impairment, or both is a recognized complication of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. This entity is often called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) or thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP), yet it is clear that the pathophysiology of transplant-associated HUS/TTP is different from that of classic HUS or TTP. Furthermore, the incidence of this syndrome varies from 0.5% to 76% in different transplant series, primarily because of the lack of a uniform definition. The toxicity committee of the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network has reviewed the current literature on transplant-related HUS/TTP and recommends that it be henceforth renamed posttransplantation thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA). An operational definition for TMA based on the presence of microangiopathic hemolysis and renal and/or neurologic dysfunction is proposed. The primary intervention after diagnosis of TMA should be withdrawal of calcineurin inhibitors. Plasma exchange, although frequently used in this condition, has not been proven to be effective. In the absence of definitive trials, plasma exchange cannot be considered a standard of care for TMA. It is hoped that these positions will improve the identification and reporting of this devastating complication after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and facilitate future clinical studies for its prevention and treatment

HIGH QUALITY MULTI-PARTICIPANT CONFERENCE RECORDINGS USING DISTRIBUTED INTELLIGENT LOCAL BUFFERS

Online meeting audio and video recordings are typically performed in the cloud. As a result, conference call recordings may contain call quality imperfections that are caused by, for example, network impairments that may have arisen during the meeting. A recording may also be limited by, for example, any bandwidth constraints that were present between the meeting participants and the cloud. To address these types of challenges, various solutions are presented herein through several techniques. In particular, the techniques may include the distributed local recording of a meeting to allow for, among other things, high quality cloud-constructed playback of a meeting while minimizing the cost of local storage on each device. The techniques may further provide for high quality audio recordings by, for example, initiating local recording on a speaker’s device when bandwidth issues arise and then through a cloud agent collecting and integrating such local recordings into a final recording that may subsequently be published and reused

Synthesis, conformational analysis, and cytotoxicity of conformationally constrained aplidine and tamandarin A analogues incorporating a spirolactam β-turn mimetic

With the aim of studying the contribution of the β II turn conformation at the side chain of didemnins to the bioactive conformation responsible for their antitumoral activity, conformationally restricted analogues of aplidine and tamandarin A, where the side chain dipeptide Pro8-N-Me-d-Leu7 is replaced with the spirolactam β II turn mimetic (5R)-7-[(1R)-1-carbonyl-3-methylbutyl]-6-oxo-1,7-diazaspiro[4.4]nonane, were prepared. Additionally, restricted analogues, where the aplidine (pyruvyl9) or tamandarin A [(S)-Lac9] acyl groups are replaced with the isobutyryl, Boc, and 2-methylacryloyl groups, were also prepared. These structural modifications were detrimental to cytotoxic activity, leading to a decrease of 1−2 orders of magnitude with respect to that exhibited by aplidine and tamandarin A. The conformational analysis of one of these spirolactam aplidine analogues, by NMR and molecular modeling methods, showed that the conformational restriction caused by the spirolactam does not produce significant changes in the overall conformation of aplidine, apart from preferentially stabilizing the trans rotamer at the pyruvyl9−spirolactam amide bond, whereas in aplidine both cis and trans rotamers at the pyruvyl9−Pro8 amide bond are more or less equally stabilized. These results seem to indicate a preference for the cis form at that amide bond in the bioactive conformation of aplidine. The significant influence of this cis/trans isomerism upon the cytotoxicity suggests a possible participation of a peptidylprolyl cis/trans isomerase in the mechanism of action of aplidine.This work was supported by CICYT (Grant SAF2000-0147), MCYT-FEDER (Grant BIO2002-2301), Generalitat de Catalunya (Group Consolidat 1999SGR0042 and Centre de Referència en Biotecnologia), and Pharma Mar, S.A

Striatal-Enriched Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase Expression and Activity in Huntington's Disease: A STEP in the Resistance to Excitotoxicity

Striatal-enriched protein tyrosine phosphatase (STEP) is highly expressed in striatal projection neurons, the neuronal population most affected in Huntington's disease. Here, we examined STEP expression and phosphorylation, which regulates its activity, in N-terminal exon-1 and full-length mutant huntingtin mouse models. R6/1 mice displayed reduced STEP protein levels in the striatum and cortex, whereas its phosphorylation was increased in the striatum, cortex, and hippocampus. The early increase in striatal STEP phosphorylation levels correlated with a deregulation of the protein kinase A pathway, and decreased calcineurin activity at later stages further contributes to an enhancement of STEP phosphorylation and inactivation. Accordingly, we detected an accumulation of phosphorylated ERK2 and p38, two targets of STEP, in R6/1 mice striatum at advanced stages of the disease. Activation of STEP participates in excitotoxic-induced cell death. Because Huntington's disease mouse models develop resistance to excitotoxicity, we analyzed whether decreased STEP activity was involved in this process. After intrastriatal quinolinic acid (QUIN) injection, we detected higher phosphorylated STEP levels in R6/1 than in wild-type mice, suggesting that STEP inactivation could mediate neuroprotection in R6/1 striatum. In agreement, intrastriatal injection of TAT-STEP increased QUIN-induced cell death. R6/2, Tet/HD94, and Hdh(Q7/Q111) mice striatum also displayed decreased STEP protein and increased phosphorylation levels. In Tet/HD94 mice striatum, mutant huntingtin transgene shutdown reestablished STEP expression. In conclusion, the STEP pathway is severely downregulated in the presence of mutant huntingtin and may participate in compensatory mechanisms activated by striatal neurons that lead to resistance to excitotoxicity

Safety and efficacy of defibrotide for the treatment of severe hepatic veno-occlusive disease

Hepatic veno-occlusive disease (VOD), also known as sinusoidal obstruction syndrome, is a potentially life-threatening complication of chemotherapeutic conditioning used in preparation for hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (SCT). VOD may occur in up to 62% of patients undergoing SCT, with onset generally within the first month after SCT. In severe cases, 100-day mortality is in excess of 80%. Current management consists of best supportive care, with no agents to date approved for treatment in the USA or the EU. Defibrotide, a polydisperse oligonucleotide, has been shown in phase II and III trials to improve complete response and survival in patients undergoing SCT with severe VOD. This article reviews our current understanding of VOD, and examines recent clinical findings on defibrotide for the treatment and prophylaxis of VOD