Incremental High Throughput Network Traffic Classifier

Today’s network traffic are dynamic and fast. Con-ventional network traffic classification based on flow feature and data mining are not able to process traffic efficiently. Hardware based network traffic classifier is needed to be adaptable to dynamic network state and to provide accurate and updated classification at high speed. In this paper, a hardware architecture of online incremental semi-supervised algorithm is proposed. The hardware architecture is designed such that it is suitable to be incorporated in NetFPGA reference switch design. The experimental results on real datasets show that with only 10% of labeled data, the proposed architecture can perform online classification of network traffic at 1Gbps bitrate with 91% average accuracy without loosing any flows

High-Power and Safe RF Wireless Charging: Cautious Deployment and Operation

The wired charging and the need for battery replacements are critical barriers to unlimited, scalable, and sustainable mobile connectivity, motivating the interest in radio frequency (RF) wireless power transfer (WPT) technology. However, the inherently low end-to-end power transfer efficiency (PTE) and health/safety-related apprehensions about the technology are critical obstacles. Indeed, RF-WPT implementation and operation require efficient and cautious strategies and protocols, especially when targeting high-power charging, which constitutes the scope of this work. Herein, we overview the main factors affecting the end-to-end PTE of RF-WPT systems and their multiplicative effect and interdependencies. Moreover, we discuss key electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure metrics, safety limits, and approaches for efficient and EMF-aware deployment and operation. Quantitatively, we show that near-field RF charging may significantly reduce EMF exposure, and thus must be promoted. We also present our vision of a cyber-physical system for efficient and safe wireless charging, specify key components and their interrelation, and illustrate numerically the PTE attained by two modern low-power multi-antenna architectures in a simple setup. Throughout the paper, we highlight the need for high end-to-end PTE architectures and charging protocols transparently complying with EMF exposure regulations and outline relevant challenges and research directions. This work expands the vision and understanding of modern RF-WPT technology and constitutes a step towards making the technology attractive for worldwide commercial exploitation.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl

Pharmacokinetic and exploratory exposure-response analysis of pertuzumab in patients with operable HER2-positive early breast cancer in the APHINITY study

Purpose: To characterize the pharmacokinetics (PK) of, and perform an exploratory exposure–response (E–R) analysis for, pertuzumab in patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer (EBC) within the APHINITY study (NCT01358877, BIG 4–11/BO25126/TOC4939G). Methods: A previously developed pertuzumab two-compartment linear population pharmacokinetic (popPK) model was subjected to external validation to examine appropriateness for describing pertuzumab concentrations from the APHINITY study. Pharmacokinetic drug–drug interactions (DDIs) between pertuzumab, trastuzumab, and chemotherapy were assessed by comparing observed serum or plasma Cmax, Cmin, and AUClast geometric mean ratios with 90% CIs. Predictions of pertuzumab Cmax,ss, Cmin,ss, and AUCss were derived from individual parameter estimates and used in an exploratory E–R analysis. Results: Using data from 72 patients, based on goodness-of-fit, the popPK model was deemed appropriate for predictions of individual exposures for subsequent comparisons to historical data, assessment of DDIs, and E–R analyses. No evidence of DDIs for pertuzumab on trastuzumab, trastuzumab on pertuzumab, or pertuzumab on chemotherapy PK was observed. Analyses of differences in exposure between patients with and without invasive disease-free survival events did not indicate improved efficacy with increased exposure. Overall Grade ≥ 3 diarrhea prevalence was higher with pertuzumab versus placebo, but was not greater with increasing pertuzumab exposure. No apparent E–R relationship was suggested with respect to other grade ≥ 3 AEs. Conclusion: Overall, the limited available data from this exploratory study suggest that no dose adjustments are needed for pertuzumab when administered in combination with trastuzumab and an EBC chemotherapy regimen

Effects of prenatal food and micronutrient supplementation on child growth from birth to 54 months of age: a randomized trial in Bangladesh

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There is a lack of information on the optimal timing of food supplementation to malnourished pregnant women and possible combined effects of food and multiple micronutrient supplementations (MMS) on their offspring's growth. We evaluated the effects of prenatal food and micronutrient interventions on postnatal child growth. The hypothesis was that prenatal MMS and early invitation to food supplementation would increase physical growth in the offspring during 0-54 months and a combination of these interventions would further improve these outcomes.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In the large, randomized MINIMat trial (Maternal and Infant Nutrition Interventions in Matlab), Bangladesh, 4436 pregnant women were enrolled between November 2001 and October 2003 and their children were followed until March 2009. Participants were randomized into six groups comprising 30 mg Fe and 400 μg folic acid (Fe30F), 60 mg Fe and 400 μg folic acid (Fe60F) or MMS combined with either an early (immediately after identification of pregnancy) or a later usual (at the time of their choosing, i.e., usual care in this community) program invitation to food supplementation. The anthropometry of 3267 children was followed from birth to 54 months, and 2735 children were available for analysis at 54 months.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There were no differences in characteristics of mothers and households among the different intervention groups. The average birth weight was 2694 g and birth length was 47.7 cm, with no difference among intervention groups. Early invitation to food supplementation (in comparison with usual invitation) reduced the proportion of stunting from early infancy up to 54 months for boys (p = 0.01), but not for girls (p = 0.31). MMS resulted in more stunting than standard Fe60F (p = 0.02). There was no interaction between the food and micronutrient supplementation on the growth outcome.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Early food supplementation in pregnancy reduced the occurrence of stunting during 0-54 months in boys, but not in girls, and prenatal MMS increased the proportion of stunting in boys. These effects on postnatal growth suggest programming effects in early fetal life.</p> <p>Trial registration number</p> <p>ISRCTN: <a href="http://www.controlled-trials.com/ISRCTN16581394">ISRCTN16581394</a></p

DNA sequence variants in the LOXL1 gene are associated with pseudoexfoliation glaucoma in a U.S. clinic-based population with broad ethnic diversity

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Pseudoexfoliation syndrome is a major risk factor for glaucoma in many populations throughout the world. Using a U.S. clinic-based case control sample with broad ethnic diversity, we show that three common SNPs in LOXL1 previously associated with pseudoexfoliation in Nordic populations are significantly associated with pseudoexfoliation syndrome and pseudoexfoliation glaucoma.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Three LOXL1 SNPs were genotyped in a patient sample (206 pseudoexfoliation, 331 primary open angle glaucoma, and 88 controls) from the Glaucoma Consultation Service at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. The SNPs were evaluation for association with pseudeoexfoliation syndrome, pseudoexfoliation glaucoma, and primary open angle glaucoma.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The strongest association was found for the G allele of marker rs3825942 (G153D) with a frequency of 99% in pseudoexfoliation patients (with and without glaucoma) compared with 79% in controls (p = 1.6 × 10^-15; OR = 20.93, 95%CI: 8.06, 54.39). The homozygous GG genotype is also associated with pseudoexfoliation when compared to controls (p = 1.2 × 10^-12; OR = 23.57, 95%CI: 7.95, 69.85). None of the SNPs were significantly associated with primary open angle glaucoma.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The pseudoexfoliation syndrome is a common cause of glaucoma. These results indicate that the G153D LOXL1 variant is significantly associated with an increased risk of pseudoexfoliation and pseudoexfoliation glaucoma in an ethnically diverse patient population from the Northeastern United States. Given the high prevalence of pseudooexfoliation in this geographic region, these results also indicate that the G153D LOXL1 variant is a significant risk factor for adult-onset glaucoma in this clinic based population.</p

Are we ready for genetic testing for primary open-angle glaucoma?

Following a dramatic reduction in the cost of genotyping technology in recent years, there have been significant advances in the understanding of the genetic basis of glaucoma. Glaucoma patients represent around a quarter of all outpatient activity in the UK hospital eye service and are a huge burden for the National Health Service. A potential benefit of genetic testing is personalised glaucoma management, allowing direction of our limited healthcare resources to the glaucoma patients who most need it. Our review aims to summarise recent discoveries in the field of glaucoma genetics and to discuss their potential clinical utility. While genome-wide association studies have now identified over ten genes associated with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), individually, variants in these genes are not predictive of POAG in populations. There are data suggesting some of these POAG variants are associated with conversion from ocular hypertension to POAG and visual field progression among POAG patients. However, these studies have not been replicated yet and such genetic testing is not currently justified in clinical care. In contrast, genetic testing for inherited early-onset disease in relatives of POAG patients with a known genetic mutation is of clear benefit; this can support either regular review to commence early treatment when the disease develops, or discharge from ophthalmology services of relatives who do not carry the mutation. Genetic testing for POAG at a population level is not currently justified

An FPGA hardware architecture of Nilsimsa fingerprinting algorithm

Nilsimsa algorithm is a very effective spam fingerprinting technique. This spam fingerprinting algorithm is formulated for software implementation. In this paper, we present an FPGA hardware architecture of the modified form of Nilsimsa algorithm which has similar accurate with the original software-targeted algorithm. The modification results in hardware resources reduction and execution time speed up. The implemented algorithm works at 123 MHz frequency and has a throughput of 1 byte per 2 clock cycles (494 Megabits per second). Our system also needs an extra 512 clock cycles after receiving the entire of the message to compute the Nilsimsa fingerprint. This means the minimum time for computing the fingerprint of a message with the size of 10 Kbytes is 167 µ s, which is equal to 5988 emails per second. For 100 MHz clock, our proposed architecture is 1400 times faster compared to implementation on 32-bit general-purpose embedded processor, and 24 times faster than the implementation on a modern CPU running on 2.64 GHz clock

Retraining mechanism for on-line peer-to-peer traffic classification

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) detection using machine learning (ML) classification is affected by its training quality and recency. In this paper, a practical retraining mechanism is proposed to retrain an on-line P2P ML classifier with the changes in network traffic behavior. This mechanism evaluates the accuracy of the on-line P2P ML classifier based on the training datasets containing flows labeled by a heuristic based training dataset generator. The on-line P2P ML classifier is retrained if its accuracy falls below a predefined threshold. The proposed system has been evaluated on traces captured from the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) campus network between October and November 2011. The overall results shows that the training dataset generation can generate accurate training dataset by classifying P2P flows with high accuracy (98.47%) and low false positive (1.37%). The on-line P2P ML classifier which is built based on J48 algorithm which has been demonstrated to be capable of self-retraining over time