An Enhanced Reservation-Based MAC Protocol for IEEE 802.15.4 Networks

The IEEE 802.15.4 Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol is an enabling standard for wireless sensor networks. In order to support applications requiring dedicated bandwidth or bounded delay, it provides a reservation-based scheme named Guaranteed Time Slot (GTS). However, the GTS scheme presents some drawbacks, such as inefficient bandwidth utilization and support to a maximum of only seven devices. This paper presents eLPRT (enhanced Low Power Real Time), a new reservation-based MAC protocol that introduces several performance enhancing features in comparison to the GTS scheme. This MAC protocol builds on top of LPRT (Low Power Real Time) and includes various mechanisms designed to increase data transmission reliability against channel errors, improve bandwidth utilization and increase the number of supported devices. A motion capture system based on inertial and magnetic sensors has been used to validate the protocol. The effectiveness of the performance enhancements introduced by each of the new features is demonstrated through the provision of both simulation and experimental results

PHI-base: the pathogen-host interactions database.

The pathogen-host interactions database (PHI-base) is available at www.phi-base.org. PHI-base contains expertly curated molecular and biological information on genes proven to affect the outcome of pathogen-host interactions reported in peer reviewed research articles. PHI-base also curates literature describing specific gene alterations that did not affect the disease interaction phenotype, in order to provide complete datasets for comparative purposes. Viruses are not included, due to their extensive coverage in other databases. In this article, we describe the increased data content of PHI-base, plus new database features and further integration with complementary databases. The release of PHI-base version 4.8 (September 2019) contains 3454 manually curated references, and provides information on 6780 genes from 268 pathogens, tested on 210 hosts in 13,801 interactions. Prokaryotic and eukaryotic pathogens are represented in almost equal numbers. Host species consist of approximately 60% plants (split 50:50 between cereal and non-cereal plants), and 40% other species of medical and/or environmental importance. The information available on pathogen effectors has risen by more than a third, and the entries for pathogens that infect crop species of global importance has dramatically increased in this release. We also briefly describe the future direction of the PHI-base project, and some existing problems with the PHI-base curation process

Bladder sensory desensitization decreases urinary urgency

Research articl

Prior upregulation of interferon pathways in the nasopharynx impacts viral shedding following live attenuated influenza vaccine challenge in children.

In children lacking influenza-specific adaptive immunity, upper respiratory tract innate immune responses may influence viral replication and disease outcome. We use trivalent live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) as a surrogate challenge model in children aged 24-59 months to identify pre-infection mucosal transcriptomic signatures associated with subsequent viral shedding. Upregulation of interferon signaling pathways prior to LAIV is significantly associated with lower strain-specific viral loads (VLs) at days 2 and 7. Several interferon-stimulated genes are differentially expressed in children with pre-LAIV asymptomatic respiratory viral infections and negatively correlated with LAIV VLs. Upregulation of genes enriched in macrophages, neutrophils, and eosinophils is associated with lower VLs and found more commonly in children with asymptomatic viral infections. Variability in pre-infection mucosal interferon gene expression in children may impact the course of subsequent influenza infections. This variability may be due to frequent respiratory viral infections, demonstrating the potential importance of mucosal virus-virus interactions in children

Evaluating the ability of an artificial-intelligence cloud-based platform designed to provide information prior to locoregional therapy for breast cancer in improving patient's satisfaction with therapy: the CINDERELLA trial

Background: Breast cancer therapy improved significantly, allowing for different surgical approaches for the same disease stage, therefore offering patients different aesthetic outcomes with similar locoregional control. The purpose of the CINDERELLA trial is to evaluate an artificial-intelligence (AI) cloud-based platform (CINDERELLA platform) vs the standard approach for patient education prior to therapy. Methods: A prospective randomized international multicentre trial comparing two methods for patient education prior to therapy. After institutional ethics approval and a written informed consent, patients planned for locoregional treatment will be randomized to the intervention (CINDERELLA platform) or controls. The patients in the intervention arm will use the newly designed web-application (CINDERELLA platform, CINDERELLA APProach) to access the information related to surgery and/or radiotherapy. Using an AI system, the platform will provide the patient with a picture of her own aesthetic outcome resulting from the surgical procedure she chooses, and an objective evaluation of this aesthetic outcome (e.g., good/fair). The control group will have access to the standard approach. The primary objectives of the trial will be i) to examine the differences between the treatment arms with regards to patients' pre-treatment expectations and the final aesthetic outcomes and ii) in the experimental arm only, the agreement of the pre-treatment AI-evaluation (output) and patient's post-therapy self-evaluation. Discussion: The project aims to develop an easy-to-use cost-effective AI-powered tool that improves shared decision-making processes. We assume that the CINDERELLA APProach will lead to higher satisfaction, better psychosocial status, and wellbeing of breast cancer patients, and reduce the need for additional surgeries to improve aesthetic outcome

Retinofugal Projections Into Visual Brain Structures in the Bat Artibeus planirostris: A CTb Study

A well-developed visual system can provide significant sensory information to guide motor behavior, especially in fruit-eating bats, which usually use echolocation to navigate at high speed through cluttered environments during foraging. Relatively few studies have been performed to elucidate the organization of the visual system in bats. The present work provides an extensive morphological description of the retinal projections in the subcortical visual nuclei in the flat-faced fruit-eating bat (Artibeus planirostris) using anterograde transport of the eye-injected cholera toxin B subunit (CTb), followed by morphometrical and stereological analyses. Regarding the cytoarchitecture, the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN) was homogeneous, with no evident lamination. However, the retinal projection contained two layers that had significantly different marking intensities and a massive contralateral input. The superior colliculus (SC) was identified as a laminar structure composed of seven layers, and the retinal input was only observed on the contralateral side, targeting two most superficial layers. The medial pretectal nucleus (MPT), olivary pretectal nucleus (OPT), anterior pretectal nucleus (APT), posterior pretectal nucleus (PPT) and nucleus of the optic tract (NOT) were comprised the pretectal nuclear complex (PNT). Only the APT lacked a retinal input, which was predominantly contralateral in all other nuclei. Our results showed the morphometrical and stereological features of a bat species for the first time

Impact of observing hand hygiene in practice and research: a methodological reconsideration

The purpose of hand hygiene is to break the chain of healthcare-associated infection. In many countries hand hygiene is regularly audited as part of quality assurance based on recommendations from the World Health Organization. Direct observation is the recommended audit method but is associated with disadvantages, including potential for being observed to alter usual behaviour. The Hawthorne effect in relation to hand hygiene is analogous with productivity improvement by increasing the frequency with which hand hygiene is undertaken. Unobtrusive and/or frequent observation to accustom staff to the presence of observers is considered an acceptable way of reducing the Hawthorne effect, but few publications have discussed how to implement these techniques or examine their effectiveness. There is evidence that awareness of being watched can disrupt the usual behaviour of individuals in complex and unpredictable ways other than simple productivity effect. In the presence of auditors, health workers might defer or avoid activities that require hand hygiene, but these issues are not addressed in guidelines for practice or research studies. This oversight has implications for the validity of hand hygiene audit findings. Measuring hand hygiene product use overcomes avoidance tactics. It is cheaper and generates data continuously to assess the compliance of all clinicians without disrupting patient care. Disadvantages are the risk of overestimating uptake through spillage, wastage, or use by visitors and non-clinical staff entering patient care areas. Electronic devices may overcome the Hawthorne and avoidance effects but are costly and are not widely used outside research studies