Dynamic Virtual Network Reconfiguration Over SDN Orchestrated Multitechnology Optical Transport Domains

Network virtualization is an emerging technique that enables multiple tenants to share an underlying physical infrastructure, isolating the traffic running over different virtual infrastructures/tenants. This technique aims to improve network utilization, while reducing the complexities in terms of network management for operators. Applied to this context, software defined networking (SDN) paradigm can ease network configurations by enabling network programmability and automation, which reduces the amount of operations required from both service and infrastructure providers. SDN techniques are decreasing vendor lock-in issues due to specific configuration methods or protocols. Application-based Network Operations (ABNO) is a toolbox of key network functional components with the goal of offering application-driven network management. Service provisioning using ABNO may involve direct configuration of data plane elements or delegate it to several control plane modules. We validate the applicability of ABNO to multi-tenant virtual networks in multi-technology optical domains based on two scenarios, in which multiple control plane instances are orchestrated by the architecture. Congestion Detection and Failure Recovery, are chosen to demonstrate fast recalculation and reconfiguration, while hiding the configurations in the physical layer from the upper layer.Grant numbers : supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the project FARO (TEC2012-38119)

Evolution of the use of corticosteroids for the treatment of hospitalised COVID-19 patients in Spain between March and November 2020: SEMI-COVID national registry

Objectives: Since the results of the RECOVERY trial, WHO recommendations about the use of corticosteroids (CTs) in COVID-19 have changed. The aim of the study is to analyse the evolutive use of CTs in Spain during the pandemic to assess the potential influence of new recommendations. Material and methods: A retrospective, descriptive, and observational study was conducted on adults hospitalised due to COVID-19 in Spain who were included in the SEMI-COVID- 19 Registry from March to November 2020. Results: CTs were used in 6053 (36.21%) of the included patients. The patients were older (mean (SD)) (69.6 (14.6) vs. 66.0 (16.8) years; p < 0.001), with hypertension (57.0% vs. 47.7%; p < 0.001), obesity (26.4% vs. 19.3%; p < 0.0001), and multimorbidity prevalence (20.6% vs. 16.1%; p < 0.001). These patients had higher values (mean (95% CI)) of C-reactive protein (CRP) (86 (32.7-160) vs. 49.3 (16-109) mg/dL; p < 0.001), ferritin (791 (393-1534) vs. 470 (236- 996) µg/dL; p < 0.001), D dimer (750 (430-1400) vs. 617 (345-1180) µg/dL; p < 0.001), and lower Sp02/Fi02 (266 (91.1) vs. 301 (101); p < 0.001). Since June 2020, there was an increment in the use of CTs (March vs. September; p < 0.001). Overall, 20% did not receive steroids, and 40% received less than 200 mg accumulated prednisone equivalent dose (APED). Severe patients are treated with higher doses. The mortality benefit was observed in patients with oxygen saturation </=90%. Conclusions: Patients with greater comorbidity, severity, and inflammatory markers were those treated with CTs. In severe patients, there is a trend towards the use of higher doses. The mortality benefit was observed in patients with oxygen saturation </=90%

Supplementary Material for: Cost of Hospitalizations due to Exacerbation in Patients with Non-Cystic Fibrosis Bronchiectasis

<b><i>Background:</i></b> Knowing the cost of hospitalizations for exacerbation in bronchiectasis patients is essential to perform cost-effectiveness studies of treatments that aim to reduce exacerbations in these patients. <b><i>Objectives:</i></b> To find out the mean cost of hospitalizations due to exacerbations in bronchiectasis patients, and to identify factors associated with higher costs. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Prospective, observational, multicenter study in adult bronchiectasis patients hospitalized due to exacerbation. All expenses from the patients’ arrival at hospital to their discharge were calculated: diagnostic tests, treatments, transferals, home hospitalization, admission to convalescence centers, and hospitals’ structural costs for each patient (each hospital’s tariff for emergencies and 70% of the price of a bed for each day in a hospital ward). <b><i>Results:</i></b> A total of 222 patients (52.7% men, mean age 71.8 years) admitted to 29 hospitals were included. Adding together all the expenses, the mean cost of the hospitalization was EUR 5,284.7, most of which correspond to the hospital ward (86.9%), and particularly to the hospitals’ structural costs. The adjusted multivariate analysis showed that chronic bronchial infection by <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i>, days spent in the hospital, and completing the treatment with home hospitalization were factors independently associated with a higher overall cost of the hospitalization. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> The mean cost of a hospitalization due to bronchiectasis exacerbation obtained from the individual data of each episode is higher than the cost per process calculated by the health authorities. The most determining factor of a higher cost is chronic bronchial infection due to <i>P. aeruginosa</i>, which leads to a longer hospital stay and the use of home hospitalization

Dietary α-linolenic acid, marine ω-3 fatty acids, and mortality in a population with high fish consumption: Findings from the PREvención con DIeta MEDiterránea (PREDIMED) Study

12 Páginas.-- 6 Tablas.-- 1 FiguraBackground-Epidemiological evidence suggests a cardioprotective role of α-linolenic acid (ALA), a plant-derived ω-3 fatty acid. It is unclear whether ALA is beneficial in a background of high marine ω-3 fatty acids (long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids) intake. In persons at high cardiovascular risk from Spain, a country in which fish consumption is customarily high, we investigated whether meeting the International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids recommendation for dietary ALA (0.7% of total energy) at baseline was related to all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality. We also examined the effect of meeting the society's recommendation for long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (≥500 mg/day). Methods and Results-We longitudinally evaluated 7202 participants in the PREvención con DIeta MEDiterránea (PREDIMED) trial. Multivariable-adjusted Cox regressionmodels were fitted to estimate hazard ratios. ALA intake correlated towalnut consumption (r=0.94). During a 5.9-y follow-up, 431 deaths occurred (104 cardiovascular disease, 55 coronary heart disease, 32 sudden cardiac death, 25 stroke). The hazard ratios formeeting ALArecommendation (n=1615, 22.4%) were 0.72 (95% CI 0.56-0.92) for all-causemortality and 0.95 (95% CI 0.58-1.57) for fatal cardiovascular disease. The hazard ratios formeeting the recommendation for long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n=5452, 75.7%) were 0.84 (95% CI 0.67-1.05) for all-causemortality, 0.61 (95% CI 0.39-0.96) for fatal cardiovascular disease, 0.54 (95% CI 0.29-0.99) for fatal coronary heart disease, and 0.49 (95% CI 0.22-1.01) for sudden cardiac death. The highest reduction in all-cause mortality occurred in participants meeting both recommendations (hazard ratio 0.63 [95% CI 0.45-0.87]). Conclusions-In participants without prior cardiovascular disease and high fish consumption, dietary ALA, supplied mainly by walnuts and olive oil, relates inversely to all-cause mortality, whereas protection from cardiac mortality is limited to fish-derived long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.This study was funded in part by Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) (Spanish Ministry of Economy) through grants RTIC G03/140, RTIC RD 06/0045, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares CNIC 06/2007, ISCIII FIS PS09/01292, the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN) AGL2010‐22319‐C03‐02 and AGL2009‐13906‐C02‐02, and an unrestricted grant from the California Walnut Commission. Sala‐Vila holds a Miguel Servet I fellowship from the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the ISCIII