An Efficient Rerouting Approach in Software Defined Networks

This paper illustrates an efficient traffic rerouting solution in Software-Defined Networks (SDN) by monitoring the network status periodically. The proposed approach provides a rerouting solution by first calculating the link utilization for available paths and then rerouting the flow to the least delay path among the available paths. The traffic rerouting solution is considering the network condition to prevent the switch overutilization and congestion while any new flow arrives. The proposed method is implemented by using ONOS controller and Mininet emulator. The proposed algorithm in the controller predicts the utilization and delay on the link to calculate how much load to be rerouted if the average link utilization exceeds the threshold level. Hence, this method will proactively avoid congestion by adding flows, monitoring the parameters and prevent the unbalanced distribution after rerouting as our experimental results show

A SDN-based On-Demand Path Provisioning Approach across Multi-domain Optical Networks

The interconnection of remote datacentres with optical networks are emerging use cases and such orchestration of multi-domains require the design of new network control, management, and orchestration architectures. Such heterogeneity needs to adopt end-to-end services like on-demand path provisioning. It is acknowledged that such scenarios are more complexed and have fundamental limitations in terms of high performance and delay. To address these issues, and as a means to cope with the complexity growth, research in this area is considering the concept of Software-Defined Network (SDN) orchestration for multi-domain optical networks to coordinated the control of heterogeneous systems. This paper presents a SDN path provisioning approach across Multi-Domain Optical Networks. The aim is to develop an efficient on-demand path provisioning platform in a software defined optical network at the control plane to dynamically manage the network's load, especially in emergency scenarios. The proposed distributed system architecture will help to solve the longstanding problem of inter-domain path provisioning. Our proposed architecture is implemented and validated in a control plane testbed to validate the approach. The paper also evaluated the factors such Quality of Service (QoS) of the network deployment associated with delay or control overhead. Our results show that the method will reduce additional delays in a multi-domain optical network, where high capacity and low latency are requirements for data-intensive applications and cloud services. The proposed method also maintains the total number of flows as low as possible to make the algorithm fast and reduce overheads

Therapeutic efficacy of alpha-1 antitrypsin augmentation therapy on the loss of lung tissue: an integrated analysis of 2 randomised clinical trials using computed tomography densitometry

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Two randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials have investigated the efficacy of IV alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) augmentation therapy on emphysema progression using CT densitometry.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data from these similar trials, a 2-center Danish-Dutch study (n = 54) and the 3-center EXAcerbations and CT scan as Lung Endpoints (EXACTLE) study (n = 65), were pooled to increase the statistical power. The change in 15^thpercentile of lung density (PD15) measured by CT scan was obtained from both trials. All subjects had 1 CT scan at baseline and at least 1 CT scan after treatment. Densitometric data from 119 patients (AAT [Alfalastin^®or Prolastin^®], n = 60; placebo, n = 59) were analysed by a statistical/endpoint analysis method. To adjust for lung volume, volume correction was made by including the change in log-transformed total lung volume as a covariate in the statistical model.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Mean follow-up was approximately 2.5 years. The mean change in lung density from baseline to last CT scan was -4.082 g/L for AAT and -6.379 g/L for placebo with a treatment difference of 2.297 (95% CI, 0.669 to 3.926; p = 0.006). The corresponding annual declines were -1.73 and -2.74 g/L/yr, respectively.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The overall results of the combined analysis of 2 separate trials of comparable design, and the only 2 controlled clinical trials completed to date, has confirmed that IV AAT augmentation therapy significantly reduces the decline in lung density and may therefore reduce the future risk of mortality in patients with AAT deficiency-related emphysema.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>The EXACTLE study was registered in ClinicalTrials.gov as 'Antitrypsin (AAT) to Treat Emphysema in AAT-Deficient Patients'; ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00263887.</p

Seeing two faces together: preference formation in humans and rhesus macaques

Humans, great apes and old world monkeys show selective attention to faces depending on conspecificity, familiarity, and social status supporting the view that primates share similar face processing mechanisms. Although many studies have been done on face scanning strategy in monkeys and humans, the mechanisms influencing viewing preference have received little attention. To determine how face categories influence viewing preference in humans and rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta), we performed two eye-tracking experiments using a visual preference task whereby pairs of faces from different species were presented simultaneously. The results indicated that viewing time was significantly influenced by the pairing of the face categories. Humans showed a strong bias towards an own-race face in an Asian–Caucasian condition. Rhesus macaques directed more attention towards non-human primate faces when they were paired with human faces, regardless of the species. When rhesus faces were paired with faces from Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus) or chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), the novel species’ faces attracted more attention. These results indicate that monkeys’ viewing preferences, as assessed by a visual preference task, are modulated by several factors, species and dominance being the most influential

Exploiting the retinal vascular geometry in identifying the progression to diabetic retinopathy using penalized logistic regression and random forests

Many studies have been conducted, investigating the effects that diabetes has to the retinal vasculature. Identifying and quantifying the retinal vascular changes remains a very challenging task, due to the heterogeneity of the retina. Monitoring the progression requires follow-up studies of progressed patients, since human retina naturally adapts to many different stimuli, making it hard to associate any changes with a disease. In this novel study, data from twenty five diabetic patients, who progressed to diabetic retinopathy, were used. The progression was evaluated using multiple geometric features, like vessels widths and angles, tortuosity, central retinal artery and vein equivalent, fractal dimension, lacunarity, in addition to the corresponding descriptive statistics of them. A statistical mixed model design was used to evaluate the significance of the changes between two periods: 3 years before the onset of diabetic retinopathy and the first year of diabetic retinopathy. Moreover, the discriminative power of these features was evaluated using a random forests classifier and also a penalized logistic regression. The area under the ROC curve after running a ten-fold cross validation was 0.7925 and 0.785 respectively

MTSS1 and SCAMP1 cooperate to prevent invasion in breast cancer

Cell–cell adhesions constitute the structural “glue” that retains cells together and contributes to tissue organisation and physiological function. The integrity of these structures is regulated by extracellular and intracellular signals and pathways that act on the functional units of cell adhesion such as the cell adhesion molecules/adhesion receptors, the extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins and the cytoplasmic plaque/peripheral membrane proteins. In advanced cancer, these regulatory pathways are dysregulated and lead to cell–cell adhesion disassembly, increased invasion and metastasis. The Metastasis suppressor protein 1 (MTSS1) plays a key role in the maintenance of cell–cell adhesions and its loss correlates with tumour progression in a variety of cancers. However, the mechanisms that regulate its function are not well-known. Using a system biology approach, we unravelled potential interacting partners of MTSS1. We found that the secretory carrier-associated membrane protein 1 (SCAMP1), a molecule involved in post-Golgi recycling pathways and in endosome cell membrane recycling, enhances Mtss1 anti-invasive function in HER2+/ER−/PR− breast cancer, by promoting its protein trafficking leading to elevated levels of RAC1-GTP and increased cell–cell adhesions. This was clinically tested in HER2 breast cancer tissue and shown that loss of MTSS1 and SCAMP1 correlates with reduced disease-specific survival. In summary, we provide evidence of the cooperative roles of MTSS1 and SCAMP1 in preventing HER2+/ER−/PR− breast cancer invasion and we show that the loss of Mtss1 and Scamp1 results in a more aggressive cancer cell phenotype

Left gaze bias in humans, rhesus monkeys and domestic dogs

While viewing faces, human adults often demonstrate a natural gaze bias towards the left visual field, that is, the right side of the viewee’s face is often inspected first and for longer periods. Using a preferential looking paradigm, we demonstrate that this bias is neither uniquely human nor limited to primates, and provide evidence to help elucidate its biological function within a broader social cognitive framework. We observed that 6-month-old infants showed a wider tendency for left gaze preference towards objects and faces of different species and orientation, while in adults the bias appears only towards upright human faces. Rhesus monkeys showed a left gaze bias towards upright human and monkey faces, but not towards inverted faces. Domestic dogs, however, only demonstrated a left gaze bias towards human faces, but not towards monkey or dog faces, nor to inanimate object images. Our findings suggest that face- and species-sensitive gaze asymmetry is more widespread in the animal kingdom than previously recognised, is not constrained by attentional or scanning bias, and could be shaped by experience to develop adaptive behavioural significance

Uniform electron gases

We show that the traditional concept of the uniform electron gas (UEG) --- a homogeneous system of finite density, consisting of an infinite number of electrons in an infinite volume --- is inadequate to model the UEGs that arise in finite systems. We argue that, in general, a UEG is characterized by at least two parameters, \textit{viz.} the usual one-electron density parameter $\rho$ and a new two-electron parameter $\eta$. We outline a systematic strategy to determine a new density functional $E(\rho,\eta)$ across the spectrum of possible $\rho$ and $\eta$ values.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, 5 table