Kyushu-TCP : Improving Fairness of High-Speed Transport Protocols

With the emergence of bandwidth-greedy application services, high-speed transport protocols are expected to effectively and aggressively use large amounts of bandwidth in current broadband and multimedia networks. However, when high-speed transport protocols compete with other standard TCP flows, they can occupy most of the available bandwidth leading to disruption of service. To deploy high-speed transport protocols on the Internet, such unfair situations must be improved. In this paper, therefore, we propose a method to improve fairness, called Kyushu-TCP (KTCP), which introduces a non-aggressive period in the congestion avoidance phase to give other standard TCP flows more chances of increasing their transmission rates. This method improves fairness in terms of the throughput by estimating the stably available bandwidth-delay product and adjusting its transmission rate based on this estimation. We show the effectiveness of the proposed method through simulations

Low-Dose Intravenous Alteplase in Wake-Up Stroke

Background and Purpose—We assessed whether lower-dose alteplase at 0.6 mg/kg is efficacious and safe for acute fluid-attenuated inversion recovery-negative stroke with unknown time of onset. Methods—This was an investigator-initiated, multicenter, randomized, open-label, blinded-end point trial. Patients met the standard indication criteria for intravenous thrombolysis other than a time last-known-well >4.5 hours (eg, wake-up stroke). Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive alteplase at 0.6 mg/kg or standard medical treatment if magnetic resonance imaging showed acute ischemic lesion on diffusion-weighted imaging and no marked corresponding hyperintensity on fluid-attenuated inversion recovery. The primary outcome was a favorable outcome (90-day modified Rankin Scale score of 0–1). Results—Following the early stop and positive results of the WAKE-UP trial (Efficacy and Safety of MRI-Based Thrombolysis in Wake-Up Stroke), this trial was prematurely terminated with 131 of the anticipated 300 patients (55 women; mean age, 74.4±12.2 years). Favorable outcome was comparable between the alteplase group (32/68, 47.1%) and the control group (28/58, 48.3%; relative risk [RR], 0.97 [95% CI, 0.68–1.41]; P=0.892). Symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage within 22 to 36 hours occurred in 1/71 and 0/60 (RR, infinity [95% CI, 0.06 to infinity]; P>0.999), respectively. Death at 90 days occurred in 2/71 and 2/60 (RR, 0.85 [95% CI, 0.06–12.58]; P>0.999), respectively. Conclusions—No difference in favorable outcome was seen between alteplase and control groups among patients with ischemic stroke with unknown time of onset. The safety of alteplase at 0.6 mg/kg was comparable to that of standard treatment. Early study termination precludes any definitive conclusions

Post-intervention Status in Patients With Refractory Myasthenia Gravis Treated With Eculizumab During REGAIN and Its Open-Label Extension

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether eculizumab helps patients with anti-acetylcholine receptor-positive (AChR+) refractory generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) achieve the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America (MGFA) post-intervention status of minimal manifestations (MM), we assessed patients' status throughout REGAIN (Safety and Efficacy of Eculizumab in AChR+ Refractory Generalized Myasthenia Gravis) and its open-label extension. METHODS: Patients who completed the REGAIN randomized controlled trial and continued into the open-label extension were included in this tertiary endpoint analysis. Patients were assessed for the MGFA post-intervention status of improved, unchanged, worse, MM, and pharmacologic remission at defined time points during REGAIN and through week 130 of the open-label study. RESULTS: A total of 117 patients completed REGAIN and continued into the open-label study (eculizumab/eculizumab: 56; placebo/eculizumab: 61). At week 26 of REGAIN, more eculizumab-treated patients than placebo-treated patients achieved a status of improved (60.7% vs 41.7%) or MM (25.0% vs 13.3%; common OR: 2.3; 95% CI: 1.1-4.5). After 130 weeks of eculizumab treatment, 88.0% of patients achieved improved status and 57.3% of patients achieved MM status. The safety profile of eculizumab was consistent with its known profile and no new safety signals were detected. CONCLUSION: Eculizumab led to rapid and sustained achievement of MM in patients with AChR+ refractory gMG. These findings support the use of eculizumab in this previously difficult-to-treat patient population. CLINICALTRIALSGOV IDENTIFIER: REGAIN, NCT01997229; REGAIN open-label extension, NCT02301624. CLASSIFICATION OF EVIDENCE: This study provides Class II evidence that, after 26 weeks of eculizumab treatment, 25.0% of adults with AChR+ refractory gMG achieved MM, compared with 13.3% who received placebo

Minimal Symptom Expression' in Patients With Acetylcholine Receptor Antibody-Positive Refractory Generalized Myasthenia Gravis Treated With Eculizumab

The efficacy and tolerability of eculizumab were assessed in REGAIN, a 26-week, phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in anti-acetylcholine receptor antibody-positive (AChR+) refractory generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG), and its open-label extension

Impact of Progression of Parkinson’s Disease on Swallowing Ability and Oral Environment

This study investigated the impact of the severity and treatment of Parkinson’s disease (PD) on the swallowing ability and oral environment of patients. Swallowing dysfunction increases the aspiration risk and may lead to poor oral health among patients with PD. We investigated the influences of PD progression and drug treatment on the swallowing ability and oral environment using simple noninvasive screening measurements. We recruited 87 patients with PD (mean age, 71.9 ± 8.0 years; mean Hoehn and Yahr score, 2.9 ± 0.9). The PD condition was assessed in each patient using the unified Parkinson’s disease rating scale (UPDRS) part III, diet type and oropharyngeal function using the swallowing disturbances questionnaire (SDQ), maximum bite force (MBF), tongue pressure (TP), and oral bacterial count (OBC). Levodopa equivalent daily dose (LEDD) was also calculated for 56 participants. Based on an SDQ score of ≥11, 29.5% of patients were dysphagic, but almost all were still on a regular diet. The SDQ score was positively correlated with disease duration (rho = 0.228, p=0.047) and UPDRS part III score (rho = 0.307, p=0.007) but was negatively correlated with OBC (rho = −0.289, p=0.012). OBC was significantly higher among patients with an SDQ score of <11 (nondysphagic) (p=0.01), and the SDQ score was lower in patients with higher OBC requiring professional oral care (p=0.03). However, OBC was also negatively correlated with LEDD (rho = −0.411, p=0.004). These results indicated low self-awareness of dysphagia among the participants and an association between dysphagia and PD progression. Moreover, the oral environment could have deteriorated with swallowing dysfunction. Patients and clinicians should be aware that higher LEDD can increase xerostomia and associated deficits in oral health

Oxygen uptake kinetics following 20 days of unilateral lower limb suspension

金沢大学人間社会研究域人間科学系The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of unilateral lower limb suspension (ULLS) deconditioning on oxygen uptake kinetics. Eight healthy males underwent ULLS for 20 days and performed a series of 6-min square-wave transitions from rest to 60-W single-leg cycling exercises just before and after ULLS. To characterize the kinetics of the oxygen uptake response, a single exponential model was applied to the data until the end of the fast component omitted the first 15 s of the on-transit using a nonlinear least-squares fitting procedure. The following results were found: (i) the time constant of oxygen uptake was unchanged before and after ULLS; (ii) although there was no significant difference in the baseline and the asymptotic amplitude of the fast component, the asymptote, i.e., the absolute asymptotic amplitude of the fast component (the sum of the baseline and the asymptotic amplitude), and the end exercise oxygen uptake were decreased after ULLS; (iii) the contribution of the slow component to the total response of oxygen uptake was unchanged at pre- and post-ULLS. In conclusion, the asymptote in the fast component and the end exercise oxygen uptake were decreased after 20-d ULLS, though the response speed and the amplitude of the slow component of oxygen uptake were not changed. It is suggested that deconditioning as a result of limb disuse affects oxygen uptake response