Outage performance analysis and SWIPT optimization in energy-harvesting wireless sensor network deploying NOMA

Thanks to the benefits of non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) in wireless communications, we evaluate a wireless sensor network deploying NOMA (WSN-NOMA), where the destination can receive two data symbols in a whole transmission process with two time slots. In this work, two relaying protocols, so-called time-switching-based relaying WSN-NOMA (TSR WSN-NOMA) and power-splitting-based relaying WSN-NOMA (PSR WSN-NOMA) are deployed to study energy-harvesting (EH). Regarding the system performance analysis, we obtain the closed-form expressions for the exact and approximate outage probability (OP) in both protocols, and the delay-limited throughput is also evaluated. We then compare the two protocols theoretically, and two optimization problems are formulated to reduce the impact of OP and optimize the data rate. Our numerical and simulation results are provided to prove the theoretical and analytical analysis. Thanks to these results, a great performance gain can be achieved for both TSR WSN-NOMA and PSR WSN-NOMA if optimal values of TS and PS ratios are found. In addition, the optimized TSR WSN-NOMA outperforms that of PSR WSN-NOMA in terms of OP.Web of Science193art. no. 61

Chemical profile and antibacterial activity of acetone extract of Homalomena cochinchinensis Engl. (Araceae)

Homalomena cochinchinensis Engl. is a rare species which is found in Southern China, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam and its chemical constituents and bioactivity have not been determined yet. In this study, we identified 32 and 38 compounds in acetone extracts of H. cochinchinensis aerial part and rhizome, respectively via gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The main constituents of acetone extract of the aerial part were 3-((4Z,7Z)-Heptadeca-4,7-dien-1-yl)phenol (18.73%); cis-9,cis-12-Octadecadienoic acid (12.04%); linolenic acid (11.08%); n-Hexadecanoic acid (10.13%); (Z)-3-(Heptadec-10-en-1-yl)phenol (7.09%); ?-Sitosterol (5.58%) and linalool (5.56%). On the other hand, acetone extract of rhizome contained linalool (28.42%); 1,2,3-Propanetriol, 1-acetate (10.13%); 3-((4Z,7Z)-Heptadeca-4,7-dien-1-yl)phenol (5.28%); 3-Buten-2-one, 3-methyl-4-(1,3,3-trimethyl-7-oxabicyclo[4.1.0]heptan-1-yl)- (5.28%) and 4-(2,6,6-Trimethyl-cyclohex-1-enyl)-butyric acid (4.54%). Furthermore, this study has also proved the antibacterial activity of acetone extracts from the aerial part and the rhizome of this species for the first time using disk diffusion method. The results showed that the extract of the aerial part could inhibit the growth of 5 out of a total 6 bacterial strains, including Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella enteritidis and Staphylococcus aureus; while the susceptible strains to the rhizome extract were 5 strains, such as B. cereus, E. coli, P. aeruginosa, Salmonella typhimurium and S. aureus. The findings suggest the further application of this species in pharmacology and medicine

ẢNH HƯỞNG CỦA VITAMIN E BỔ SUNG VÀO THỨC ĂN ĐẾN HIỆU QUẢ SINH SẢN, CHẤT LƯỢNG TRỨNG VÀ ẤU TRÙNG CÁ KHOANG CỔ NEMO (Amphiprion ocellaris (CUVIER, 1830))

This study was carried out to determine the effects of vitamin E (a-tocopherol) in five levels (0, 125, 250, 375 and 500 mg vitamin E/kg feed) in broodfish diets on reproductive, egg and larval quality parameters of clownfish (Amphirion ocellaris). Each treatment was repeated in triplicate and the supplemental feeding trial was arranged for 13 months. The result showed that there were no significant differences in re-maturation and spawning periods, spawning frequency, fecundity, egg diameter and larval size of Nemo fish observed between the treatments. However, diets supplemented with vitamin E positively influenced the rate of egg loss, hatching rate of egg and survival rate of the 3 days post hatch. The overall result of this experiment indicated that the optimum vitamin E requirement of clownfish for reproductive performance was 375 mg vitamin E/kg feed.Thí nghiệm được thực hiện nhằm xác định ảnh hưởng của vitamin E (0, 125, 250, 375 và 500 mg/kg thức ăn) được bổ sung trong thức ăn cá bố mẹ đến các chỉ số sinh sản, chất lượng trứng và ấu trùng cá khoang cổ Nemo (Amphiprion ocellaris). Mỗi nghiệm thức được lặp lại 3 lần và thí nghiệm được tiến hành trong 13 tháng. Kết quả đã cho thấy thời gian tái thành thục và sinh sản, tần suất sinh sản, sức sinh sản thực tế, đường kính trứng và kích thước ấu trùng không bị ảnh hưởng bởi chế độ ăn bổ sung vitamin E ở các mức khác nhau. Tuy nhiên, chế độ ăn có bổ sung vitamin E đã ảnh hưởng tích cực đến tỷ lệ hao hụt của trứng, tỷ lệ trứng nở và tỷ lệ sống của ấu trùng 3 ngày tuổi. Kết quả nghiên cứu chỉ ra rằng nhu cầu vitamin E tối ưu của cá khoang cổ Nemo đạt được hiệu quả sinh sản là 375 mg vitamin E/kg thức ăn

Dosimetric and radiobiological comparison between conventional and hypofractionated breast treatment plans using the Halcyon system

PurposeThe objective of this research is to compare the efficacy of conventional and hypofractionated radiotherapy treatment plans for breast cancer patients, with a specific focus on the unique features of the Halcyon system.Methods and materialsThe study collected and analyzed dose volume histogram (DVH) data for two groups of treatment plans implemented using the Halcyon system. The first group consisted of 19 patients who received conventional fractionated (CF) treatment with a total dose of 50 Gy in 25 fractions, while the second group comprised 9 patients who received hypofractionated (HF) treatment with a total dose of 42.56 Gy in 16 fractions. The DVH data was used to calculate various parameters, including tumor control probability (TCP), normal tissue complication probability (NTCP), and equivalent uniform dose (EUD), using radiobiological models.ResultsThe results indicated that the CF plan resulted in higher TCP but lower NTCP for the lungs compared to the HF plan. The EUD for the HF plan was approximately 49 Gy (114% of its total dose) while that for the CF plan was around 53 Gy (107% of its total dose).ConclusionsThe analysis suggests that while the CF plan is better at controlling tumors, it is not as effective as the HF plan in minimizing side effects. Additionally, it is suggested that there may be an optimal configuration for the HF plan that can provide the same or higher EUD than the CF plan

Safety and efficacy of fluoxetine on functional outcome after acute stroke (AFFINITY): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Background Trials of fluoxetine for recovery after stroke report conflicting results. The Assessment oF FluoxetINe In sTroke recoverY (AFFINITY) trial aimed to show if daily oral fluoxetine for 6 months after stroke improves functional outcome in an ethnically diverse population. Methods AFFINITY was a randomised, parallel-group, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial done in 43 hospital stroke units in Australia (n=29), New Zealand (four), and Vietnam (ten). Eligible patients were adults (aged ≥18 years) with a clinical diagnosis of acute stroke in the previous 2–15 days, brain imaging consistent with ischaemic or haemorrhagic stroke, and a persisting neurological deficit that produced a modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of 1 or more. Patients were randomly assigned 1:1 via a web-based system using a minimisation algorithm to once daily, oral fluoxetine 20 mg capsules or matching placebo for 6 months. Patients, carers, investigators, and outcome assessors were masked to the treatment allocation. The primary outcome was functional status, measured by the mRS, at 6 months. The primary analysis was an ordinal logistic regression of the mRS at 6 months, adjusted for minimisation variables. Primary and safety analyses were done according to the patient's treatment allocation. The trial is registered with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, ACTRN12611000774921. Findings Between Jan 11, 2013, and June 30, 2019, 1280 patients were recruited in Australia (n=532), New Zealand (n=42), and Vietnam (n=706), of whom 642 were randomly assigned to fluoxetine and 638 were randomly assigned to placebo. Mean duration of trial treatment was 167 days (SD 48·1). At 6 months, mRS data were available in 624 (97%) patients in the fluoxetine group and 632 (99%) in the placebo group. The distribution of mRS categories was similar in the fluoxetine and placebo groups (adjusted common odds ratio 0·94, 95% CI 0·76–1·15; p=0·53). Compared with patients in the placebo group, patients in the fluoxetine group had more falls (20 [3%] vs seven [1%]; p=0·018), bone fractures (19 [3%] vs six [1%]; p=0·014), and epileptic seizures (ten [2%] vs two [<1%]; p=0·038) at 6 months. Interpretation Oral fluoxetine 20 mg daily for 6 months after acute stroke did not improve functional outcome and increased the risk of falls, bone fractures, and epileptic seizures. These results do not support the use of fluoxetine to improve functional outcome after stroke

Antiinflammatory Therapy with Canakinumab for Atherosclerotic Disease

Background: Experimental and clinical data suggest that reducing inflammation without affecting lipid levels may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Yet, the inflammatory hypothesis of atherothrombosis has remained unproved. Methods: We conducted a randomized, double-blind trial of canakinumab, a therapeutic monoclonal antibody targeting interleukin-1β, involving 10,061 patients with previous myocardial infarction and a high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level of 2 mg or more per liter. The trial compared three doses of canakinumab (50 mg, 150 mg, and 300 mg, administered subcutaneously every 3 months) with placebo. The primary efficacy end point was nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or cardiovascular death. RESULTS: At 48 months, the median reduction from baseline in the high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level was 26 percentage points greater in the group that received the 50-mg dose of canakinumab, 37 percentage points greater in the 150-mg group, and 41 percentage points greater in the 300-mg group than in the placebo group. Canakinumab did not reduce lipid levels from baseline. At a median follow-up of 3.7 years, the incidence rate for the primary end point was 4.50 events per 100 person-years in the placebo group, 4.11 events per 100 person-years in the 50-mg group, 3.86 events per 100 person-years in the 150-mg group, and 3.90 events per 100 person-years in the 300-mg group. The hazard ratios as compared with placebo were as follows: in the 50-mg group, 0.93 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.80 to 1.07; P = 0.30); in the 150-mg group, 0.85 (95% CI, 0.74 to 0.98; P = 0.021); and in the 300-mg group, 0.86 (95% CI, 0.75 to 0.99; P = 0.031). The 150-mg dose, but not the other doses, met the prespecified multiplicity-adjusted threshold for statistical significance for the primary end point and the secondary end point that additionally included hospitalization for unstable angina that led to urgent revascularization (hazard ratio vs. placebo, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.73 to 0.95; P = 0.005). Canakinumab was associated with a higher incidence of fatal infection than was placebo. There was no significant difference in all-cause mortality (hazard ratio for all canakinumab doses vs. placebo, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.06; P = 0.31). Conclusions: Antiinflammatory therapy targeting the interleukin-1β innate immunity pathway with canakinumab at a dose of 150 mg every 3 months led to a significantly lower rate of recurrent cardiovascular events than placebo, independent of lipid-level lowering. (Funded by Novartis; CANTOS ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01327846.

Erratum: Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 84 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Interpretation: By quantifying levels and trends in exposures to risk factors and the resulting disease burden, this assessment offers insight into where past policy and programme efforts might have been successful and highlights current priorities for public health action. Decreases in behavioural, environmental, and occupational risks have largely offset the effects of population growth and ageing, in relation to trends in absolute burden. Conversely, the combination of increasing metabolic risks and population ageing will probably continue to drive the increasing trends in non-communicable diseases at the global level, which presents both a public health challenge and opportunity. We see considerable spatiotemporal heterogeneity in levels of risk exposure and risk-attributable burden. Although levels of development underlie some of this heterogeneity, O/E ratios show risks for which countries are overperforming or underperforming relative to their level of development. As such, these ratios provide a benchmarking tool to help to focus local decision making. Our findings reinforce the importance of both risk exposure monitoring and epidemiological research to assess causal connections between risks and health outcomes, and they highlight the usefulness of the GBD study in synthesising data to draw comprehensive and robust conclusions that help to inform good policy and strategic health planning

Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 84 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks for 195 countries and territories, 1990-2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Background The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2017 comparative risk assessment (CRA) is a comprehensive approach to risk factor quantification that offers a useful tool for synthesising evidence on risks and risk–outcome associations. With each annual GBD study, we update the GBD CRA to incorporate improved methods, new risks and risk–outcome pairs, and new data on risk exposure levels and risk–outcome associations. Methods We used the CRA framework developed for previous iterations of GBD to estimate levels and trends in exposure, attributable deaths, and attributable disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), by age group, sex, year, and location for 84 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or groups of risks from 1990 to 2017. This study included 476 risk–outcome pairs that met the GBD study criteria for convincing or probable evidence of causation. We extracted relative risk and exposure estimates from 46 749 randomised controlled trials, cohort studies, household surveys, census data, satellite data, and other sources. We used statistical models to pool data, adjust for bias, and incorporate covariates. Using the counterfactual scenario of theoretical minimum risk exposure level (TMREL), we estimated the portion of deaths and DALYs that could be attributed to a given risk. We explored the relationship between development and risk exposure by modelling the relationship between the Socio-demographic Index (SDI) and risk-weighted exposure prevalence and estimated expected levels of exposure and risk-attributable burden by SDI. Finally, we explored temporal changes in risk-attributable DALYs by decomposing those changes into six main component drivers of change as follows: (1) population growth; (2) changes in population age structures; (3) changes in exposure to environmental and occupational risks; (4) changes in exposure to behavioural risks; (5) changes in exposure to metabolic risks; and (6) changes due to all other factors, approximated as the risk-deleted death and DALY rates, where the risk-deleted rate is the rate that would be observed had we reduced the exposure levels to the TMREL for all risk factors included in GBD 2017. Findings In 2017, 34·1 million (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 33·3–35·0) deaths and 1·21 billion (1·14–1·28) DALYs were attributable to GBD risk factors. Globally, 61·0% (59·6–62·4) of deaths and 48·3% (46·3–50·2) of DALYs were attributed to the GBD 2017 risk factors. When ranked by risk-attributable DALYs, high systolic blood pressure (SBP) was the leading risk factor, accounting for 10·4 million (9·39–11·5) deaths and 218 million (198–237) DALYs, followed by smoking (7·10 million [6·83–7·37] deaths and 182 million [173–193] DALYs), high fasting plasma glucose (6·53 million [5·23–8·23] deaths and 171 million [144–201] DALYs), high body-mass index (BMI; 4·72 million [2·99–6·70] deaths and 148 million [98·6–202] DALYs), and short gestation for birthweight (1·43 million [1·36–1·51] deaths and 139 million [131–147] DALYs). In total, risk-attributable DALYs declined by 4·9% (3·3–6·5) between 2007 and 2017. In the absence of demographic changes (ie, population growth and ageing), changes in risk exposure and risk-deleted DALYs would have led to a 23·5% decline in DALYs during that period. Conversely, in the absence of changes in risk exposure and risk-deleted DALYs, demographic changes would have led to an 18·6% increase in DALYs during that period. The ratios of observed risk exposure levels to exposure levels expected based on SDI (O/E ratios) increased globally for unsafe drinking water and household air pollution between 1990 and 2017. This result suggests that development is occurring more rapidly than are changes in the underlying risk structure in a population. Conversely, nearly universal declines in O/E ratios for smoking and alcohol use indicate that, for a given SDI, exposure to these risks is declining. In 2017, the leading Level 4 risk factor for age-standardised DALY rates was high SBP in four super-regions: central Europe, eastern Europe, and central Asia; north Africa and Middle East; south Asia; and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania. The leading risk factor in the high-income super-region was smoking, in Latin America and Caribbean was high BMI, and in sub-Saharan Africa was unsafe sex. O/E ratios for unsafe sex in sub-Saharan Africa were notably high, and those for alcohol use in north Africa and the Middle East were notably low. Interpretation By quantifying levels and trends in exposures to risk factors and the resulting disease burden, this assessment offers insight into where past policy and programme efforts might have been successful and highlights current priorities for public health action. Decreases in behavioural, environmental, and occupational risks have largely offset the effects of population growth and ageing, in relation to trends in absolute burden. Conversely, the combination of increasing metabolic risks and population ageing will probably continue to drive the increasing trends in non-communicable diseases at the global level, which presents both a public health challenge and opportunity. We see considerable spatiotemporal heterogeneity in levels of risk exposure and risk-attributable burden. Although levels of development underlie some of this heterogeneity, O/E ratios show risks for which countries are overperforming or underperforming relative to their level of development. As such, these ratios provide a benchmarking tool to help to focus local decision making. Our findings reinforce the importance of both risk exposure monitoring and epidemiological research to assess causal connections between risks and health outcomes, and they highlight the usefulness of the GBD study in synthesising data to draw comprehensive and robust conclusions that help to inform good policy and strategic health planning

Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 354 diseases and injuries for 195 countries and territories, 1990-2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017.

The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries and Risk Factors 2017 includes a comprehensive assessment of incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability (YLDs) for 354 causes in 195 countries and territories from 1990 to 2017. Previous GBD studies have shown how the decline of mortality rates from 1990 to 2016 has led to an increase in life expectancy, an ageing global population, and an expansion of the non-fatal burden of disease and injury. These studies have also shown how a substantial portion of the world's population experiences non-fatal health loss with considerable heterogeneity among different causes, locations, ages, and sexes. Ongoing objectives of the GBD study include increasing the level of estimation detail, improving analytical strategies, and increasing the amount of high-quality data. METHODS: We estimated incidence and prevalence for 354 diseases and injuries and 3484 sequelae. We used an updated and extensive body of literature studies, survey data, surveillance data, inpatient admission records, outpatient visit records, and health insurance claims, and additionally used results from cause of death models to inform estimates using a total of 68 781 data sources. Newly available clinical data from India, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Nepal, China, Brazil, Norway, and Italy were incorporated, as well as updated claims data from the USA and new claims data from Taiwan (province of China) and Singapore. We used DisMod-MR 2.1, a Bayesian meta-regression tool, as the main method of estimation, ensuring consistency between rates of incidence, prevalence, remission, and cause of death for each condition. YLDs were estimated as the product of a prevalence estimate and a disability weight for health states of each mutually exclusive sequela, adjusted for comorbidity. We updated the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a summary development indicator of income per capita, years of schooling, and total fertility rate. Additionally, we calculated differences between male and female YLDs to identify divergent trends across sexes. GBD 2017 complies with the Guidelines for Accurate and Transparent Health Estimates Reporting