Efficient scheduling algorithms for quality-of-service guarantees in the Internet

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2000.Includes bibliographical references (p. 167-172).The unifying theme of this thesis is the design of packet schedulers to provide quality-of- service (QoS) guarantees for various networking problem settings. There is a dual emphasis on both theoretical justification and simulation evaluation. We have worked on several widely different problem settings - optical networks, input-queued crossbar switches, and CDMA wireless networks - and we found that the same set of scheduling techniques can be applied successfully in all these cases to provide per-flow bandwidth, delay and max-min fairness guarantees. We formulated the abstract scheduling problems as a sum of two aspects. First, the particular problem setting imposes constraints which dictate what kinds of transmission patterns are allowed by the physical hardware resources, i.e., what are the feasible solutions. Second, the users require some form of QoS guarantees, which translate into optimality criteria judging the feasible solutions. The abstract problem is how to design an algorithm that finds an optimal (or near-optimal) solution among the feasible ones. Our schedulers are based on a credit scheme. Specifically, flows receive credits at their guaranteed rate, and the arrival stream is compared to the credit stream acting as a reference. From this comparison, we derive various parameters such as the amount of unspent credits of a flow and the waiting time of a packet since its corresponding credit arrived. We then design algorithms which prioritize flows based on these parameters. We demonstrate, both by rigorous theoretical proofs and by simulations, that these parameters can be bounded. By bounding these parameters, our schedulers provide various per-flow QoS guarantees on average rate, packet delay, queue length and fairness.by Anthony Chi-Kong Kam.Ph.D

Outlier-Robust Gromov-Wasserstein for Graph Data

Gromov-Wasserstein (GW) distance is a powerful tool for comparing and aligning probability distributions supported on different metric spaces. Recently, GW has become the main modeling technique for aligning heterogeneous data for a wide range of graph learning tasks. However, the GW distance is known to be highly sensitive to outliers, which can result in large inaccuracies if the outliers are given the same weight as other samples in the objective function. To mitigate this issue, we introduce a new and robust version of the GW distance called RGW. RGW features optimistically perturbed marginal constraints within a Kullback-Leibler divergence-based ambiguity set. To make the benefits of RGW more accessible in practice, we develop a computationally efficient and theoretically provable procedure using Bregman proximal alternating linearized minimization algorithm. Through extensive experimentation, we validate our theoretical results and demonstrate the effectiveness of RGW on real-world graph learning tasks, such as subgraph matching and partial shape correspondence

Profile of neratinib and its potential in the treatment of breast cancer

The HER (ErbB) receptor tyrosine kinase receptors are implicated in many cancers and several anti-HER treatments are now approved. In recent years, a new group of compounds that bind irreversibly to the adenosine triphosphate binding pocket of HER receptors have been developed. One of these compounds, neratinib, has passed preclinical phases and is currently undergoing various clinical trials. This manuscript reviews the preclinical as well as clinical data on neratinib. As a pan-HER inhibitor, this irreversible tyrosine kinase inhibitor binds and inhibits the tyrosine kinase activity of epidermal growth factor receptors, EGFR (or HER1), HER2 and HER4, which leads to reduced phosphorylation and activation of downstream signaling pathways. Neratinib has been shown to be effective against HER2-overexpressing or mutant tumors in vitro and in vivo. Neratinib is currently being investigated in various clinical trials in breast cancers and other solid tumors, including those with HER2 mutation. Earlier studies have already shown promising clinical activity for neratinib. However, more translational research is required to investigate biomarkers that could help to predict response and resistance for selection of appropriate patients for treatment with neratinib, either as monotherapy or in combination with other drug(s)

Normas dialectales de la versión española del Análisis de Conceptos Principales para cuantificar el discurso hablado de personas con alteración neurológica

Aphasia is an acquired language impairment caused by damage in the regions of the brain that support language. The Main Concept Analysis (MCA; Kong, 2016b) is a published formal assessment battery that allows the quantification of the presence, accuracy, completeness, and efficiency of content in spoken discourse produced by persons with aphasia (PWA). It utilizes a sequential picture description task (with four sets of pictures) for language sample elicitation. The MCA results can also be used clinically for targeting appropriate interventions of aphasic output. The purpose of this research is to develop a Spanish adaptation of the MCA (i.e., Span-MCA) by establishing normative data based on native unimpaired speakers of Spanish from four different dialect origins (Central American Caribbean, Andean-Pacific, Mexican, and Central-Southern Peninsular regions). A total of 91 unimpaired participants that consisted of different age groups, education levels, and dialect origins were recruited to establish four sets of dialect-specific norms and scoring criteria of Span-MCA, including target main concepts and corresponding lexical items related to the picture sets. The Span-MCA was also applied to one pilot native Spanish PWA. The normative data suggested that speakers who were younger or with a higher level of education produced significantly more accurate and complete main concepts in their spoken discourse. The application of Span-MCA to the pilot native Spanish PWA successfully identified impaired performance, as compared to the dialectally-sensitive norms established in this study. This study highlighted the clinical value of Span-MCA as a supplement to evaluate spoken discourse and target intervention by speech-language pathologists and related healthcare practitionersLa afasia es una alteración adquirida del lenguaje causada por un daño en las regiones del cerebro que se encargan del procesamiento del lenguaje. El Main Concept Analysis (MCA; Kong, 2016b) es una evaluación formal publicada que permite la cuantificación de la presencia, la precisión, la integridad y la eficiencia del contenido en el discurso hablado producido por las personas con afasia. Esta prueba utiliza una tarea de imagenes secuencial (utilizando 4 conjuntos de imágenes) para provocar una muestras de lenguaje. Los resultados del MCA se pueden utilizar clínicamente para orientar las intervenciones adecuadas de la producción afásica. El propósito de esta investigación es desarrollar una adaptación al español del MCA estableciendo datos normativos basados en hablantes nativos de español sin discapacidades de cuatro orígenes dialectales diferentes (regiones del Caribe centroamericano, andino-pacífico, mexicano y centro-sur peninsular). Se reclutaron un total de 91 participantes de diferentes grupos de edad, niveles de formación y orígenes dialectales para establecer cuatro conjuntos de normas específicas para cada dialecto y criterios de puntuación, incluyendo los conceptos principales objetivo y los elementos léxicos correspondientes relacionados con los conjuntos de imágenes. También se aplicó el Span-MCA a una persona con afasia en un estudio piloto. Los datos normativos sugirieron que los hablantes más jóvenes o con un mayor nivel educativo producían conceptos principales significativamente más precisos y completos en su discurso hablado. La aplicación del Span-MCA a la persona con afasia identificó con éxito un rendimiento deteriorado, en comparación con las normas dialectalmente sensibles establecidas en este estudio. Este estudio pone de manifiesto el valor clínico del Span-MCA como complemento para evaluar el discurso hablado y orientar la intervención de los logopeda

Executive and Language Control in the Multilingual Brain

Neuroimaging studies suggest that the neural network involved in language control may not be specific to bi-/multilingualism but is part of a domain-general executive control system. We report a trilingual case of a Cantonese (L1), English (L2), and Mandarin (L3) speaker, Dr. T, who sustained a brain injury at the age of 77 causing lesions in the left frontal lobe and in the left temporo-parietal areas resulting in fluent aphasia. Dr. T\u27s executive functions were impaired according to a modified version of the Stroop color-word test and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test performance was characterized by frequent perseveration errors. Dr. T demonstrated pathological language switching and mixing across her three languages. Code switching in Cantonese was more prominent in discourse production than confrontation naming. Our case suggests that voluntary control of spoken word production in trilingual speakers shares neural substrata in the frontobasal ganglia system with domain-general executive control mechanisms. One prediction is that lesions to such a system would give rise to both pathological switching and impairments of executive functions in trilingual speakers

Associations of pubertal stage and body mass index with cardiometabolic risk in Hong Kong Chinese children: A cross-sectional study

Background: Puberty is associated with a clustering of cardiometabolic risk factors (CMRFs) during adolescence that are manifested in later life. Although anthropometric variables such as body mass index (BMI) can predict cardiometabolic risk in children and adolescents, it is not clear whether there is an interaction between pubertal stage and BMI associated with cardiometabolic risk in this age group. This paper examines the association of pubertal stage and BMI with CMRFs in Hong Kong Chinese children. Methods: A cross-sectional school-based study was conducted among 1985 (95.1%) students aged 6 to 18 years. Fasting lipid profile and plasma glucose, blood pressure, body weight, body height and waist circumference were measured. A self-reported pubertal stage questionnaire was used to assess pubertal stage of participants. Two cardiometabolic risk scores, alpha and beta, were constructed to quantify cardiometabolic risk. Cardiometabolic risk score alpha refers to the sum of z-scores of sex-specific, age-adjusted waist circumference, height-adjusted systolic and diastolic blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose, triglyceride and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and minus z-score of sex-specific age-adjusted high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Cardiometabolic risk score beta includes all components of risk score alpha except waist circumference. Results: The interaction of BMI z-score (ZBMI) and pubertal stage demonstrated a significant increase in variance explained in cardiometabolic risk score alpha in boys (0.5%, p = 0.024) and girls (0.7%, p = 0.006) and in cardiometabolic risk score beta in boys (0.8%, p = 0.030) but not in girls (0.5%, p = 0.051). Conclusions: Pubertal stage has an interaction effect on the association of cardiometabolic risk by BMI in boys and may have a similar but lesser effect in girls.published_or_final_versio

High oxidation state bromocarbyne complexes

Bromination of the carbyne complexes [W(RCR)Br(CO)2(dcpe)] (R = Ph, SiPh3; dcpe = 1,2-bis(dicyclohexylphosphino)ethane) provides high oxidation state derivatives [W(RCPh)Br3(dcpe)] and [W(RCBr)Br3(dcpe)], the latter via an unprecedented bromodesilylation process.DP17010269