Secrecy outage probability of a NOMA scheme and impact imperfect channel state information in underlay cooperative cognitive networks

Security performance and the impact of imperfect channel state information (CSI) in underlay cooperative cognitive networks (UCCN) is investigated in this paper. In the proposed scheme, relay R uses non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) technology to transfer messages e1, e2 from the source node S to User 1 (U1) and User 2 (U2), respectively. An eavesdropper (E) is also proposed to wiretap the messages of U1 and U2. The transmission’s security performance in the proposed system was analyzed and performed over Rayleigh fading channels. Through numerical analysis, the results showed that the proposed system’s secrecy performance became more efficient when the eavesdropper node E was farther away from the source node S and the intermediate cooperative relay R. The secrecy performance of U1 was also compared to the secrecy performance of U2. Finally, the simulation results matched the Monte Carlo simulations well

Outcome and Prognostic Indicators of Patients with Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplants Admitted to the Intensive Care Unit

The prognosis of patients with hematopoietic stem cell transplants (HSCTs) who require admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) has been regarded as extremely poor. We sought to re-evaluate recent outcomes and predictive factors in a retrospective cohort study. Among the 605 adult patients that received an HSCT between 2001 and 2006, 154 required admission to the ICU. Of these, 47% were discharged from the ICU, 36% were discharged from the hospital, and 19% survived 6 months. Allogeneic transplant, mechanical ventilation, vasopressor-use, and neutropenia were each associated with increased mortality, and the mortality of patients with all four characteristics was 100%. Hemodialysis was also associated with increased mortality in a Kaplan-Meier analysis but did not appear important in a multivariate tree analysis. A final Cox model confirmed that allogeneic transplant, mechanical ventilation, and vasopressor-use were each independent risk factors for mortality in the 6 months following ICU admission

Seasonal variation of phytoplankton in My Thanh River, Mekong delta, Vietnam

A study on the seasonal variation of phytoplankton composition was conducted at the upper, middle, and lower parts of the My Thanh River, which supplies an important source of water for aquaculture. Qualitative and quantitative samples of phytoplankton were collected monthly at both high and low tide. The results showed that a total of 171 phytoplankton (algae) species were recorded, belonging to 59 genera and 5 phyla. Diatoms were the most abundant group with the highest species number, followed by green algae. The other phyla possessed a lower number of species. The species composition was more diverse in the rainy season and at high tide at most of the sampling sites. The mean density of algae varied from 30,900-43,521 ind.L^-1^. The density of diatoms was higher in the middle and lower parts. At the same time, euglenoids displayed the highest density in the upper part, showing a difference in the dominant algae group under the influence of salinity. Salinity was found to be significantly positively correlated (p<0.01) with diatoms, whereas it was negatively correlated (p<0.05) with blue-green algae and euglenoids. The algae composition was quite diverse, with the H' index ranging from 2.0-3.3, showing the water quality was slightly to moderately polluted

A Conceptual Design and Numerical Analysis for a Small-Scale and Low-Cost Plastic Recycling Machine

A new conceptual design for a small-scale and low-cost plastic recycling machine is generated by combining melting part and compression process. Starting with one of the outstanding requirements is in terms of an affordable-priced machine that can perform two processes with high accuracy and capacity, some issues related to balancing among quality, capacity and cost of machine occurred during a discussion. After implementing various designing methods such as Quality Function Deployment, Reverse Engineering, Morphological Matrix and Pugh Method, an idea of final concept about using an electric oven and hydraulic system to melt down and compress plastic tile which has a dimension of 300x300x9 mm was created. The design of concept is divided into two parts which are mechanical and electrical systems. In a mechanical section, the technical drawing and simulation are made to see how machine performs under operation. Besides, we examined the forces that applied in the moulds to evaluate the strength of the system. In heating and electricity section, we chose electrical components, designed oven parameters and conducted the heating simulation on the mould. In addition, the heating and cooling time was calculated based on the principles of thermodynamics and heat transfer. Furthermore, the manufacturing plan is created to estimate the essential resources producing a certain number of heat-forming machines. In general, the machine needs to be prototyped for controlling its main function and finding practical issues. After that, some improvements could be made to enhance efficiency and increase capacity by designing an optimal mould to more heat absorb and reduce post process, calculate and design more efficient oven, create faster lock mechanism and other improvements for an automatizing machine

Multiple Wolbachia strains provide comparative levels of protection against dengue virus infection in Aedes aegypti.

The insect bacterium Wolbachia pipientis is being introgressed into Aedes aegypti populations as an intervention against the transmission of medically important arboviruses. Here we compare Ae. aegypti mosquitoes infected with wMelCS or wAlbB to the widely used wMel Wolbachia strain on an Australian nuclear genetic background for their susceptibility to infection by dengue virus (DENV) genotypes spanning all four serotypes. All Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes were more resistant to intrathoracic DENV challenge than their wildtype counterparts. Blocking of DENV replication was greatest by wMelCS. Conversely, wAlbB-infected mosquitoes were more susceptible to whole body infection than wMel and wMelCS. We extended these findings via mosquito oral feeding experiments, using viremic blood from 36 acute, hospitalised dengue cases in Vietnam, additionally including wMel and wildtype mosquitoes on a Vietnamese nuclear genetic background. As above, wAlbB was less effective at blocking DENV replication in the abdomen compared to wMel and wMelCS. The transmission potential of all Wolbachia-infected mosquito lines (measured by the presence/absence of infectious DENV in mosquito saliva) after 14 days, was significantly reduced compared to their wildtype counterparts, and lowest for wMelCS and wAlbB. These data support the use of wAlbB and wMelCS strains for introgression field trials and the biocontrol of DENV transmission. Furthermore, despite observing significant differences in transmission potential between wildtype mosquitoes from Australia and Vietnam, no difference was observed between wMel-infected mosquitoes from each background suggesting that Wolbachia may override any underlying variation in DENV transmission potential

Microbial community management in aquaculture

Microbial community management in aquaculture creates benefits at the nutritional as well as at health level for cultured species. In addition, in case of biofloc application, it allows to link species at different trophic levels, making bioflocs the potential link in integrated multispecies aquaculture

Pichia pastoris versus Saccharomyces cerevisiae:a case study on the recombinant production of human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor

BACKGROUND: Recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (rhGM-CSF) is a glycoprotein that has been approved by the FDA for the treatment of neutropenia and leukemia in combination with chemotherapies. Recombinant hGM-CSF is produced industrially using the baker's yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, by large-scale fermentation. The methylotrophic yeast, Pichia pastoris, has emerged as an alternative host cell system due to its shorter and less immunogenic glycosylation pattern together with higher cell density growth and higher secreted protein yield than S. cerevisiae. In this study, we compared the pipeline from gene to recombinant protein in these two yeasts. RESULTS: Codon optimization in silico for both yeast species showed no difference in frequent codon usage. However, rhGM-CSF expressed from S. cerevisiae BY4742 showed a significant discrepancy in molecular weight from those of P. pastoris X33. Analysis showed purified rhGM-CSF species with molecular weights ranging from 30 to more than 60 kDa. Fed-batch fermentation over 72 h showed that rhGM-CSF was more highly secreted from P. pastoris than S. cerevisiae (285 and 64 mg total secreted protein/L, respectively). Ion exchange chromatography gave higher purity and recovery than hydrophobic interaction chromatography. Purified rhGM-CSF from P. pastoris was 327 times more potent than rhGM-CSF from S. cerevisiae in terms of proliferative stimulating capacity on the hGM-CSF-dependent cell line, TF-1. CONCLUSION: Our data support a view that the methylotrophic yeast P. pastoris is an effective recombinant host for heterologous rhGM-CSF production

IL1B and DEFB1 Polymorphisms Increase Susceptibility to Invasive Mold Infection After Solid-Organ Transplantation

Background. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in immune genes have been associated with susceptibility to invasive mold infection (IMI) among hematopoietic stem cell but not solid-organ transplant (SOT) recipients. Methods. Twenty-four SNPs from systematically selected genes were genotyped among 1101 SOT recipients (715 kidney transplant recipients, 190 liver transplant recipients, 102 lung transplant recipients, 79 heart transplant recipients, and 15 recipients of other transplants) from the Swiss Transplant Cohort Study. Association between SNPs and the end point were assessed by log-rank test and Cox regression models. Cytokine production upon Aspergillus stimulation was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from healthy volunteers and correlated with relevant genotypes. Results. Mold colonization (n = 45) and proven/probable IMI (n = 26) were associated with polymorphisms in the genes encoding interleukin 1β (IL1B; rs16944; recessive mode, P = .001 for colonization and P = .00005 for IMI, by the log-rank test), interleukin 1 receptor antagonist (IL1RN; rs419598; P = .01 and P = .02, respectively), and β-defensin 1 (DEFB1; rs1800972; P = .001 and P = .0002, respectively). The associations with IL1B and DEFB1 remained significant in a multivariate regression model (P = .002 for IL1B rs16944; P = .01 for DEFB1 rs1800972). The presence of 2 copies of the rare allele of rs16944 or rs419598 was associated with reduced Aspergillus-induced interleukin 1β and tumor necrosis factor α secretion by PBMCs. Conclusions. Functional polymorphisms in IL1B and DEFB1 influence susceptibility to mold infection in SOT recipients. This observation may contribute to individual risk stratificatio