Practical high-throughput content-based routing using unicast state and probabilistic encodings

We address the problem that existing publish/subscribe messaging systems, including such commonly used ones as Apache’s ActiveMQ and IBM’s WebSphere MQ, exhibit degraded end-to-end throughput performance in a wide-area network setting. We contend that the cause of this problem is the lack of an appropriate routing protocol. Building on the idea of a content-based network, we introduce a protocol called B-DRP that can demonstrably improve the situation. A content-based network is a content-based publish/subscribe system architected as a datagram network: a message is forwarded hop-by-hop and delivered to any and all hosts that have expressed interest in the message content. This fits well with the character of a wide-area messaging system. B-DRP is based on two main techniques: a message delivery mechanism that utilizes and exploits unicast forwarding state, which can be easily maintained using standard protocols, and a probabilistic data structure to effciently represent and evaluate receiver interests. We present the design of B-DRP and the results of an experimental evaluation that demonstrates its support for improved throughput in a wide-area setting

Experimental animal models of myocardinal damage in regenerative medicine studies involving adult bone marrow derived stem cells: ethical and methodological implication

Cardiac performance after myocardial infarction is compromised by ventricular remodeling, which represents a major cause of late infarct-related chronic heart failure and death. In recent years, the scientists' interest has focused on the hypothesis that the administration of bone marrow progenitors, following myocardial infarction, could ameliorate left ventricular remodeling by continuing to differentiate along the haematopoietic lineage. This approach has been developed minding to the consolidated use of transfusions to restore lost or depleted blood components and, therefore, as an enriched dose of various progenitors, generally autologous, injected peripherally or directly in the infarcted area. Since the safety of this therapy was not yet established, for ethical reasons pioneering researchers involved in these studies used animal models as surrogate of the human biologic system. Herein this hypothesis of therapy resulted in an increased use of living animals and in the reappraisal of models of myocardial damage with limited discussion on the theoretical basis of animal models applied to cell-based therapies. Recently, the European Union and its commission for surveillance of laboratory animals advanced a new proposal to restrict the use of living animals. This review will focus on the history of models utilization in biomedicine, with particular attention to animal models, and delineate an operative comparison between the two best known models of myocardial injury, namely coronary ligation and cryodamage, in the perspective of adult stem cell research applied to cardiovascular regenerative medicine

A shot through the heart

The case presented describes a very rare cause of 'needle-like' chest pain in a 52-year-old Egyptian man. A sharp 38-mm long needle was detected in the lateral wall of the right ventricle by means of cardiac computed tomography scan. After heart team discussion, the patient underwent minimally invasive cardiac surgery intervention. The needle was successfully removed though left minithoracotomy, and the patient was discharged home on the 5th day. The diagnosis of intracardiac foreign bodies may be challenging. The optimal treatment is still debated. Surgical or endovascular removal of penetrating cardiac foreign bodies should be carefully considered because of risk of potentially life-treating complications. The multidisciplinary team working should be encouraged to assess the balance of the risk/benefit ratio