Improving Performance of QUIC in WiFi

QUIC is a new transport protocol under standardization since 2016. Initially developed by Google as an experiment, the protocol is already deployed in large-scale, thanks to its support in Chromium and Google's servers. In this paper we experimentally analyze the performance of QUIC in WiFi networks. We perform experiments using both a controlled WiFi testbed and a production WiFi mesh network. In particular, we study how QUIC interplays with MAC layer features such as IEEE 802.11 frame aggregation. We show that the current implementation of QUIC in Chromium achieves sub-optimal throughput in wireless networks. Indeed, burstiness in modern WiFi standards may improve network performance, and we show that a Bursty QUIC (BQUIC), i.e., a customized version of QUIC that is targeted to increase its burstiness, can achieve better performance in WiFi. BQUIC outperforms the current version of QUIC in WiFi, with throughput gains ranging between 20% to 30%

Double-Spin Transverse Asymmetries in Drell-Yan Processes

We calculate the double-spin transverse asymmetries for the Drell-Yan lepton pair production in p-p and p-anti p collisions. We assume the transverse and the longitudinal polarization densities to be equal at a very small scale, as it is suggested by confinement model results. Using a global fit for the longitudinal distributions, we find transverse asymmetries of order of 10^-2 at most, in the accessible kinematic regions.Comment: 8 pages, REVTeX, 6 figures included as file figures.tar.g

Magnetic field generated by r-modes in accreting quark stars

We show that the r-mode instability can generate strong toroidal fields in the core of accreting millisecond quark stars by inducing differential rotation. We follow the spin frequency evolution on a long time scale taking into account the magnetic damping rate in the evolution equations of r-modes. The maximum spin frequency of the star is only marginally smaller than in the absence of the magnetic field. The late-time evolution of the stars which enter the r-mode instability region is instead rather different if the generated magnetic fields are taken into account: they leave the millisecond pulsar region and they become radio pulsars.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure

Antibacterial Bioactive Glass, S53P4, for Chronic Bone Infections - A Multinational Study

Correction: Volume: 971 Pages: 115-116 DOI: 10.1007/5584_2017_13 Published: 2017 WOS:000446017300010Osteomyelitis is an infectious process in bone that occasionally leads to bone destruction. Traditionally, the surgical treatment procedure is performed in combination with systemic and local antibiotics as a two-stage procedure that uses autograft or allograft bone for filling of the cavitary defect. Bioactive glass (BAG-S53P4) is a bone substitute with proven antibacterial and bone bonding properties. One hundred and sixteen patients who had verified chronic osteomyelitis was treated using BAG-S53P4 as part of the treatment. Most of the patients had previously undergone numerous procedures, sometimes for decades. A register of patient data obtained from 11 centers from Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Azerbaijan and Poland was set-up and continuously maintained at Helsinki University Central Hospital. The location of the osteomyelitis was mainly in the tibia followed by the femur and then the calcaneus. The median age of the patients was 48 years (15-87). The patients were either treated according to a one-stage procedure without local antibiotics (85 %) or by a two-stage procedure using antibiotic beads in the first procedure (15 %). The minimum follow-up was 1 year (12-95 months, median 31). The cure rate was 104/116, the total success rate 90 % and most of the patients showed a rapid recovery. The study shows that (BAG-S53P4) can be used in a one-stage procedure in treatment of osteomyelitis with excellent results.Peer reviewe

Nonextensive statistical effects in protoneutron stars

We investigate the bulk properties of protoneutron stars in the framework of a relativistic mean field theory based on nonextensive statistical mechanics, characterized by power-law quantum distributions. We study the relevance of nonextensive statistical effects on the beta-stable equation of state at fixed entropy per baryon, in presence and in absence of trapped neutrinos, for nucleonic and hyperonic matter. We show that nonextensive statistical effects could play a crucial role in the structure and in the evolution of the protoneutron stars also for small deviations from the standard Boltzmann-Gibbs statistics.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure

Case Report: Rare Convexity Meningeal Chondroma Mimicking a Meningioma

Background: Intracranial chondromas account for 0.2-0.3% of all intracranial neoplastic lesions and less than a quarter arise in the convexity or falx. Despite its benign nature, exceedingly rare malignant transformations exist. The misdiagnosis with meningiomas is frequent and may be related with chondromas' similar insidious clinical presentation and imaging features. Standalone surgery is advised and complete resection provides the definitive treatment. Case description: A 44-year-old female presents with insidious headache, visual disturbances, and papilledema. The imaging studies were compatible with frontal parasagittal meningioma. Surgery revealed a meningeal based mass, mostly avascular and with a well-demarked surgical plane from the brain parenchyma. Complete resection with meningeal margins was achieved and the histopathologic examination revealed a chondroma. The patient symptoms subsided and no surgical complications existed. Conclusion: Intracranial convexity chondromas constitute a rare differential diagnosis for meningiomas. The present case reinforces the current scarce data and serves as reminder for clinicians diagnosing and treating intracranial tumors.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Design for success: Identifying a process for transitioning to an intensive online course delivery model in health professions education.

Intensive courses (ICs), or accelerated courses, are gaining popularity in medical and health professions education, particularly as programs adopt e-learning models to negotiate challenges of flexibility, space, cost, and time. In 2014, the Department of Clinical Research and Leadership (CRL) at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences began the process of transitioning two online 15-week graduate programs to an IC model. Within a year, a third program also transitioned to this model. A literature review yielded little guidance on the process of transitioning from 15-week, traditional models of delivery to IC models, particularly in online learning environments. Correspondingly, this paper describes the process by which CRL transitioned three online graduate programs to an IC model and details best practices for course design and facilitation resulting from our iterative redesign process. Finally, we present lessons-learned for the benefit of other medical and health professions\u27 programs contemplating similar transitions. ABBREVIATIONS: CRL: Department of Clinical Research and Leadership; HSCI: Health Sciences; IC: Intensive course; PD: Program director; QM: Quality Matters

Effects of color superconductivity on the structure and formation of compact stars

We show that if color superconducting quark matter forms in hybrid or quark stars it is possible to satisfy most of recent observational boundaries on masses and radii of compact stellar objects. An energy of the order of $10^{53}$ erg is released in the conversion from a (metastable) hadronic star into a (stable) hybrid or quark star in presence of a color superconducting phase. If the conversion occurs immediately after the deleptonization of the proto-neutron star, the released energy can help Supernovae to explode. If the conversion is delayed the energy released can power a Gamma Ray Burst. A delay between the Supernova and the subsequent Gamma Ray Burst is possible, in agreement with the delay proposed in recent analysis of astrophysical data.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. To be published in Phys.Rev.