Redundancy Strategies for a High Splitting Optically Amplified Passive Optical Network

Copyright IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or to reuse any copyrighted component of this work in other works must be obtained from the IEEE.High splitting, optically amplified, passive optical networks (SuperPONs) are investigated in terms of redundancy provision and protection mechanisms. Options for redundancy, including the important special case of dual homing, are detailed, and it is determined as to which of these options (duplication of the feeder and first distribution section, and N+1 protection of the optical amplifiers in the amplified splitter) would be required to be provided to all attached users to facilitate appropriate availability of the basic telephony service. The distributed amplified splitter dual homing solution is found to outperform the single amplified splitter solution in terms of its survivability. The protection mechanisms necessary to automatically switch to the redundant provision are discussed and it is seen that with the aid of suitable regular precautionary procedures protection switching can generally be provided rapidly (<50 ms). Finally, an availability, and cost versus availability, study confirms the aforementioned redundancy assessment for fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) implementations, but shows fiber-to-the-curb (FTTC) as needing additional redundancyPeer reviewe

Characterization of the GlnK protein of Escherichia coli

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/75120/1/j.1365-2958.1999.01349.x.pd

The delivery of personalised, precision medicines via synthetic proteins

Introduction: The design of advanced drug delivery systems based on synthetic and su-pramolecular chemistry has been very successful. Liposomal doxorubicin (Caelyx®), and liposomal daunorubicin (DaunoXome®), estradiol topical emulsion (EstrasorbTM) as well as soluble or erodible polymer systems such as pegaspargase (Oncaspar®) or goserelin acetate (Zoladex®) represent considerable achievements. The Problem: As deliverables have evolved from low molecular weight drugs to biologics (currently representing approximately 30% of the market), so too have the demands made of advanced drug delivery technology. In parallel, the field of membrane trafficking (and endocytosis) has also matured. The trafficking of specific receptors i.e. material to be recycled or destroyed, as well as the trafficking of protein toxins has been well characterized. This, in conjunction with an ability to engineer synthetic, recombinant proteins provides several possibilities. The Solution: The first is using recombinant proteins as drugs i.e. denileukin diftitox (Ontak®) or agalsidase beta (Fabrazyme®). The second is the opportunity to use protein toxin architecture to reach targets that are not normally accessible. This may be achieved by grafting regulatory domains from multiple species to form synthetic proteins, engineered to do multiple jobs. Examples include access to the nucleocytosolic compartment. Herein the use of synthetic proteins for drug delivery has been reviewed

The detection of atmospheric waves produced by the total solar eclipse of 11 August 1999

In previous attempts to detect eclipse-induced AGW, it has always been difficult to establish a direct link between individual waves and a specific source. This study reports observations of travelling ionospheric disturbances made in the UK at the time of the total solar eclipse of 11 August 1999. The speed and direction of the waves were estimated by a four-station array using the HF Doppler technique. In addition, the wave observations were supported by two other propagation paths, one in the north of England close to the main array and the other further afield, between the UK and Sweden. The AGW activity following the eclipse totality was different to the background waves detected before this time in amplitude, speed and direction. The velocity vectors are consistent with a generating mechanism for the waves based on the supersonic passage of the cooled region of the atmosphere during the eclipse. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

The detection of atmospheric waves produced by the total solar eclipse of 11 August 1999

In previous attempts to detect eclipse-induced AGW, it has always been difficult to establish a direct link between individual waves and a specific source. This study reports observations of travelling ionospheric disturbances made in the UK at the time of the total solar eclipse of 11 August 1999. The speed and direction of the waves were estimated by a four-station array using the HF Doppler technique. In addition, the wave observations were supported by two other propagation paths, one in the north of England close to the main array and the other further afield, between the UK and Sweden. The AGW activity following the eclipse totality was different to the background waves detected before this time in amplitude, speed and direction. The velocity vectors are consistent with a generating mechanism for the waves based on the supersonic passage of the cooled region of the atmosphere during the eclipse. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Testing the effectiveness of pilocarpine drops for dry mouth in advanced cancer using aggregated n-of-1 trials: a pilot study

Purpose : Dry mouth is a common and troublesome symptom in palliative care. Pilocarpine is a cholinergic agent that promotes salivation. We aimed to test the effectiveness of pilocarpine drops compared to placebo, for participants with advanced cancer, who experienced dry mouth. Method : Aggregated n-of-1 trials for patients of specialist palliative care services with advanced cancer assessed as having a dry mouth. Each participant was offered three cycles of pilocarpine drops 4%, 6 mg tds (3 days) and placebo drops (3 days) in random order. Patients self-completed a diary using validated symptom and quality of life scores. The randomisation order was unmasked at the end of each person’s trial by a clinician independent of the trial to allow a treatment decision for individual patients to be made. Results : Twenty people were recruited to this pilot study, of whom five completed the planned three cycles; 36 cycles of data were completed in total. 438 doses of pilocarpine were administered. Most withdrawals related to deteriorating condition, unacceptable toxicity, non-compliance with study procedures or withdrawal of consent. Overall, no clinical difference in relief of dry mouth was noted on two measures of dry mouth, and an oral health related quality of life scale. Conclusion : The formulation of pilocarpine drops proved unacceptable to most participants. More work is required to determine an appropriate dose and method of delivery, then a retest of pilocarpine drops for this symptom