Enabling One-Phase Commit (1PC) Protocol for Web Service Atomic Transaction (WS-AT)

Business transactions (a.k.a., business conversations) are series of message exchanges that occur between software applications coordinating to achieve a business objective. Web service has been proven to be a promising technology in supporting business transactions. Business transaction can either be long-running or short-lived. A transaction whether in a database or web service paradigm consists of an “all-or-nothing” property. A transaction could either succeed or fail. Web Service Atomic Transactions (WS-AT) is a specification that currently supports Two-Phase Commit (2PC) protocol in a short-lived transaction. WS-AT is developed by OASIS–a standards development organization. However, not all business process scenarios require a 2PC, in that case, just a One-Phase Commit (1PC) would be sufficient. But unfortunately, WS-AT currently does not support 1PC optimization. The ideal scenario where 1PC can be used instead of 2PC is when there is only a single participant. Short-lived transactions involving only one participant can commit without requiring initial “prepare” phase. Thus, there is no overhead to check whether the participant is prepared to either commit or rollback. This research focuses on designing a mechanism that can add 1PC support in WS-AT. The technical implementation of this mechanism is developed by using JBoss Transaction API. As a part of this thesis, 1PC mechanism for a single participant scenario was implemented. This mechanism optimizes the web service transaction process in terms of overhead and performance in terms of execution time. The technical implementation solution for 1PC mechanism was evaluated using three different business process scenarios in a controlled experiment as a presence or absence test. Evaluation results show that 1PC mechanism has a lower mean for execution time and performed significantly better than 2PC mechanism. Based on the contributions made by this thesis, we recommend OASIS to consider including 1PC mechanism as a part of the WS-AT specification

Acute Myeloid Leukemia Presenting as Granulocytic Sarcoma (Chloroma) of the Tongue: A Case Report

Chloroma or Granulocytic Sarcoma or Myeloid Sarcoma or Myeloblastoma is a tumor composed of immature myeloid precursor cells or blasts. It is an extra medullary manifestation of AML, which is extremely rare but well documented. It can herald, follow or occur with a diagnosis of primary AML. It can also be seen in relapse [1]. The usual sites of involvement are skin, soft tissue and lymph nodes. Intra oral myeloid sarcoma is infrequent and particularly chloroma in the tongue is further uncommon. A thorough review of literature yielded only three reported cases of chloroma of the tongue [2-4]. In this case report, we describe a case of a 36-year-old female who presented with two weeks of dysphagia due to a large tongue lesion accompanied by pancytopenia. The tongue lesion was strongly suspicious of a chloroma. Bone marrow biopsy confirmed a diagnosis of AML and a resolution of the chloroma was observed with induction chemotherapy for AML

Global age-sex-specific fertility, mortality, healthy life expectancy (HALE), and population estimates in 204 countries and territories, 1950-2019 : a comprehensive demographic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background: Accurate and up-to-date assessment of demographic metrics is crucial for understanding a wide range of social, economic, and public health issues that affect populations worldwide. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 produced updated and comprehensive demographic assessments of the key indicators of fertility, mortality, migration, and population for 204 countries and territories and selected subnational locations from 1950 to 2019. Methods: 8078 country-years of vital registration and sample registration data, 938 surveys, 349 censuses, and 238 other sources were identified and used to estimate age-specific fertility. Spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression (ST-GPR) was used to generate age-specific fertility rates for 5-year age groups between ages 15 and 49 years. With extensions to age groups 10–14 and 50–54 years, the total fertility rate (TFR) was then aggregated using the estimated age-specific fertility between ages 10 and 54 years. 7417 sources were used for under-5 mortality estimation and 7355 for adult mortality. ST-GPR was used to synthesise data sources after correction for known biases. Adult mortality was measured as the probability of death between ages 15 and 60 years based on vital registration, sample registration, and sibling histories, and was also estimated using ST-GPR. HIV-free life tables were then estimated using estimates of under-5 and adult mortality rates using a relational model life table system created for GBD, which closely tracks observed age-specific mortality rates from complete vital registration when available. Independent estimates of HIV-specific mortality generated by an epidemiological analysis of HIV prevalence surveys and antenatal clinic serosurveillance and other sources were incorporated into the estimates in countries with large epidemics. Annual and single-year age estimates of net migration and population for each country and territory were generated using a Bayesian hierarchical cohort component model that analysed estimated age-specific fertility and mortality rates along with 1250 censuses and 747 population registry years. We classified location-years into seven categories on the basis of the natural rate of increase in population (calculated by subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate) and the net migration rate. We computed healthy life expectancy (HALE) using years lived with disability (YLDs) per capita, life tables, and standard demographic methods. Uncertainty was propagated throughout the demographic estimation process, including fertility, mortality, and population, with 1000 draw-level estimates produced for each metric. Findings: The global TFR decreased from 2·72 (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 2·66–2·79) in 2000 to 2·31 (2·17–2·46) in 2019. Global annual livebirths increased from 134·5 million (131·5–137·8) in 2000 to a peak of 139·6 million (133·0–146·9) in 2016. Global livebirths then declined to 135·3 million (127·2–144·1) in 2019. Of the 204 countries and territories included in this study, in 2019, 102 had a TFR lower than 2·1, which is considered a good approximation of replacement-level fertility. All countries in sub-Saharan Africa had TFRs above replacement level in 2019 and accounted for 27·1% (95% UI 26·4–27·8) of global livebirths. Global life expectancy at birth increased from 67·2 years (95% UI 66·8–67·6) in 2000 to 73·5 years (72·8–74·3) in 2019. The total number of deaths increased from 50·7 million (49·5–51·9) in 2000 to 56·5 million (53·7–59·2) in 2019. Under-5 deaths declined from 9·6 million (9·1–10·3) in 2000 to 5·0 million (4·3–6·0) in 2019. Global population increased by 25·7%, from 6·2 billion (6·0–6·3) in 2000 to 7·7 billion (7·5–8·0) in 2019. In 2019, 34 countries had negative natural rates of increase; in 17 of these, the population declined because immigration was not sufficient to counteract the negative rate of decline. Globally, HALE increased from 58·6 years (56·1–60·8) in 2000 to 63·5 years (60·8–66·1) in 2019. HALE increased in 202 of 204 countries and territories between 2000 and 2019

Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background: In an era of shifting global agendas and expanded emphasis on non-communicable diseases and injuries along with communicable diseases, sound evidence on trends by cause at the national level is essential. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) provides a systematic scientific assessment of published, publicly available, and contributed data on incidence, prevalence, and mortality for a mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive list of diseases and injuries. Methods: GBD estimates incidence, prevalence, mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) due to 369 diseases and injuries, for two sexes, and for 204 countries and territories. Input data were extracted from censuses, household surveys, civil registration and vital statistics, disease registries, health service use, air pollution monitors, satellite imaging, disease notifications, and other sources. Cause-specific death rates and cause fractions were calculated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model and spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression. Cause-specific deaths were adjusted to match the total all-cause deaths calculated as part of the GBD population, fertility, and mortality estimates. Deaths were multiplied by standard life expectancy at each age to calculate YLLs. A Bayesian meta-regression modelling tool, DisMod-MR 2.1, was used to ensure consistency between incidence, prevalence, remission, excess mortality, and cause-specific mortality for most causes. Prevalence estimates were multiplied by disability weights for mutually exclusive sequelae of diseases and injuries to calculate YLDs. We considered results in the context of the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a composite indicator of income per capita, years of schooling, and fertility rate in females younger than 25 years. Uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated for every metric using the 25th and 975th ordered 1000 draw values of the posterior distribution. Findings: Global health has steadily improved over the past 30 years as measured by age-standardised DALY rates. After taking into account population growth and ageing, the absolute number of DALYs has remained stable. Since 2010, the pace of decline in global age-standardised DALY rates has accelerated in age groups younger than 50 years compared with the 1990–2010 time period, with the greatest annualised rate of decline occurring in the 0–9-year age group. Six infectious diseases were among the top ten causes of DALYs in children younger than 10 years in 2019: lower respiratory infections (ranked second), diarrhoeal diseases (third), malaria (fifth), meningitis (sixth), whooping cough (ninth), and sexually transmitted infections (which, in this age group, is fully accounted for by congenital syphilis; ranked tenth). In adolescents aged 10–24 years, three injury causes were among the top causes of DALYs: road injuries (ranked first), self-harm (third), and interpersonal violence (fifth). Five of the causes that were in the top ten for ages 10–24 years were also in the top ten in the 25–49-year age group: road injuries (ranked first), HIV/AIDS (second), low back pain (fourth), headache disorders (fifth), and depressive disorders (sixth). In 2019, ischaemic heart disease and stroke were the top-ranked causes of DALYs in both the 50–74-year and 75-years-and-older age groups. Since 1990, there has been a marked shift towards a greater proportion of burden due to YLDs from non-communicable diseases and injuries. In 2019, there were 11 countries where non-communicable disease and injury YLDs constituted more than half of all disease burden. Decreases in age-standardised DALY rates have accelerated over the past decade in countries at the lower end of the SDI range, while improvements have started to stagnate or even reverse in countries with higher SDI. Interpretation: As disability becomes an increasingly large component of disease burden and a larger component of health expenditure, greater research and developm nt investment is needed to identify new, more effective intervention strategies. With a rapidly ageing global population, the demands on health services to deal with disabling outcomes, which increase with age, will require policy makers to anticipate these changes. The mix of universal and more geographically specific influences on health reinforces the need for regular reporting on population health in detail and by underlying cause to help decision makers to identify success stories of disease control to emulate, as well as opportunities to improve. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 licens

Phase Transition and Optical Properties of VO2 and Al: ZnO/VO2 Thin Films

Thermochromic Vanadium dioxide (VO2) has strong potential for smart window applications but its commercial scale usage is limited due to low visible light transmission. To address this issue, aluminum doped zinc oxide (AZO) anti-reflecting layer is integrated with VO2 layer in the present work. VO2 single layer and AZO/VO2 bilayer thin film samples were deposited by sputtering technique on quartz substrate. The single-phase growth of VO2 and AZO in single layer and bilayer thin film samples is confirmed by X-ray diffraction measurements. Monoclinic M1 phase of VO2 is detected in VO2 and AZO/VO2 thin film samples at room temperature. Monoclinic to rutile structural phase transition (SPT) in these samples is studied by performing temperature-dependent X-ray diffraction measurements. SPT in VO2 thin film samples is close to 68 °C and SPT temperature appears slightly lower in AZO/VO2 sample as compared to VO2 sample. Spectral transmittance measurement at room temperature showed significant improvement in the visible transmittance of AZO bilayer film than that of single layer VO2 thin film. These results demonstrate the possibility of integration of anti-reflecting layers such as AZO with VO2 layer for better visible transmittances suitable for large-scale smart window applications

Socio-Demographic and Anthropometric Profile of Diabetic Patients Attending Diabetes Clinic in Tertiary Care Hospital of Central Gujarat

Background: With a rise in non communicable diseases in India, di- abetes has been a modern epidemic showing a rising trend in Gujarat also. A large number of diabetes patients come to the diabetes clinic of our tertiary care hospital in Central Gujarat. The large proportion of patients presenting with this condition prompted us to look at the profile of such patients. Methods: This was a descriptive hospital-record based cross sectional study involving a total of 167 diabetic patients enrolled in the di- abetes clinic from November 2014 to December 2014. The data was entered and then analyzed in Microsoft excel sheet. Results: Among the 167 study participants, we found that 85 were males and 82 were females. It was more common among those above age of 60 years followed by 51-60 years. Almost 60% had uncon- trolled diabetes. Nearly 60% of the diabetic patients were hyperten- sive. Almost 3/4th of the patients had high waist hip ratio and 21% patients were obese. Conclusion: The diabetic patients presenting to this tertiary care hospital belong to both genders and are from lower socioeconomic strata and having limited education in their geriatric age group. There is high proportion of obesity and hypertension among them

Electrocardiographic And Echocardiographic Profile of Dilated Cardiomyopathy Patients Attending Tertiary Care Hospital in Vadodara

Background: Dilated cardiomyopathy is one of the important causes of congestive heart failure and attributes to 25% of all cases of CHF. Moreover, in majority of cases with DCM, no specific etiology is known. The increasing incidence of DCM is also associated with sig- nificant morbidity and mortality. So, the current study aimed at un- derstanding the electrocardiographic and   echocardiographic profile of DCM patients coming to tertiary care hospital in Vadodara. Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted among 180 patients with dilated cardiomyopathy from the year 2011 to 2014. ECG and 2D Echocardiography was done among all these patients using standard techniques. The data entry and analysis was done in Microsoft excel sheet. Results: Among the 180 study participants having DCM, almost all patients showed changes in ECG and 2D Echocardiography.  The most common ECG changes observed were ST-T changes (93.8%) followed by sinus tachycardia (63.3%). The most common 2D Echo findings observed were left ventricular diastolic dimension > 5.2cm (93%) followed by left ventricular systolic dimension >3.9cm (91%) and reduced left ventricular contractility (85%). Conclusion: Regular echochardiographic and electrocardiographic screening of patients with dilated cardiomyopathy is very important to identify and prevent complications among them

Conquering the Pneumococcal Nemesis with Oral Antibiotics

Introduction: Streptococcus pneumoniae endocarditis (SPE) occurs in Case: A 58-year-old African American male who used alcohol and intravenous (IV) drugs presented with confusion, fever, and hemoptysis. He had coarse rhonchi with a grade 2/5 holosystolic apical murmur. CT chest showed diffuse bilateral infiltrates. Blood cultures were positive for pansensitive Streptococcus pneumoniae. Echocardiogram demonstrated large vegetations on the anterior and posterior leaflets of the mitral valve with flail leaflet and severe eccentric mitral regurgitation. Patient was started on IV ceftriaxone, but after 3 weeks of therapy, he wished to leave against medical advice. He was discharged on combination oral therapy with successful resolution of SPE on follow-up. Discussion: Invasive pneumococcus is highly virulent causing irreversible valvular destruction or death. IV beta-lactams are first-line treatment, but there are currently no guideline-recommended alternatives for oral therapy. Recent data suggest partial oral therapy may be noninferior to IV only therapy. Conclusion: Switching to oral combination antibiotics after at least 2 weeks of IV therapy is an acceptable alternative to treat SPE

Design and Performance Evaluation of Thermal Barrier Coated Engine Valve Using Finite Element Analysis

ABSTRACT: Engine valve are vital components of the engine for controlling the inlet and outlet flow of gases in engine cylinder subjected to both thermal and mechanical loads. The performance and reliability of an engine rely a lot on engine valve. Surface coating technology is reported as effective way of increasing component life with increasing overall reliability of the machine. In current work the engine valve dimensions are calculated using engine specification and solid model is created using ANSYS design modler. MgZrO 3 as thermal barrier coating and NiCrAL as bond coat are selected on special high strength steel 11. The performance of surface coating on engine valve is evaluated using finite element analysis in ANSYS for uncoated and coated engine valve with and without application of bond coat. The analysis results indicate lower thermal and mechanical loads on coated engine valve with bond coat gives the scope for more reliability. KEYWORDS: Finite element analysis, Surface Coating, Engine valve I. INTRODUCTION Reliability has become important factor for the manufacturing companies these days with the budding competition the companies have to make cheaper and unfailing machines. On the same context automobile companies have to take care of individual components to make them reliable in minimum cost. One of the technologies which can provide solution to the requirement is surface coating. Surface coating is a covering that is applied to the surface of an object, usually referred to as the substrate and provide a way of extending the limits of use of materials at the upper end of their performance capabilities, by allowing the mechanical properties of the substrate materials to be maintained while protecting them against wear or corrosion at high temperatures [2] Diverse surface coating techniques are available in market out of which thermal spray technique is reported as superior and mostly used technolog