Public mobile wideband networks interference impact assessment on railways GSM-R network

This paper presents a field study relating to the impact that public operator cellular networks such as UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System), LTE (Long-Term Evolution), and 5G-NR (5G - New Radio) have on railway GSM-R (Global System for Mobile Communications – Railway) networks. The validation of the interference calculation relied on actual network measurements taken along railway lines using a dedicated probe. Emissions from public networks, in some scenarios, have been shown to affect GSM-R networks to a large extent. The developed algorithm is currently being used in real GSM-R network planning to mitigate this negative effect on base station coverage and service performance.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Treatment with tocilizumab or corticosteroids for COVID-19 patients with hyperinflammatory state: a multicentre cohort study (SAM-COVID-19)

Objectives: The objective of this study was to estimate the association between tocilizumab or corticosteroids and the risk of intubation or death in patients with coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) with a hyperinflammatory state according to clinical and laboratory parameters. Methods: A cohort study was performed in 60 Spanish hospitals including 778 patients with COVID-19 and clinical and laboratory data indicative of a hyperinflammatory state. Treatment was mainly with tocilizumab, an intermediate-high dose of corticosteroids (IHDC), a pulse dose of corticosteroids (PDC), combination therapy, or no treatment. Primary outcome was intubation or death; follow-up was 21 days. Propensity score-adjusted estimations using Cox regression (logistic regression if needed) were calculated. Propensity scores were used as confounders, matching variables and for the inverse probability of treatment weights (IPTWs). Results: In all, 88, 117, 78 and 151 patients treated with tocilizumab, IHDC, PDC, and combination therapy, respectively, were compared with 344 untreated patients. The primary endpoint occurred in 10 (11.4%), 27 (23.1%), 12 (15.4%), 40 (25.6%) and 69 (21.1%), respectively. The IPTW-based hazard ratios (odds ratio for combination therapy) for the primary endpoint were 0.32 (95%CI 0.22-0.47; p < 0.001) for tocilizumab, 0.82 (0.71-1.30; p 0.82) for IHDC, 0.61 (0.43-0.86; p 0.006) for PDC, and 1.17 (0.86-1.58; p 0.30) for combination therapy. Other applications of the propensity score provided similar results, but were not significant for PDC. Tocilizumab was also associated with lower hazard of death alone in IPTW analysis (0.07; 0.02-0.17; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Tocilizumab might be useful in COVID-19 patients with a hyperinflammatory state and should be prioritized for randomized trials in this situatio

QoS em comunicações ferroviárias: impacto da interferência de redes públicas

Dissertação para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia de Eletrónica e TelecomunicaçõesNos dias de hoje e no futuro, vai ser cada vez mais importante a necessidade de existir uma coexistência entre diferentes redes móveis a operarem nas mesmas bandas, face a reutilização do espetro. Posto isto, algumas operadoras Global System for Mobile Communications-Railways (GSM-R) notaram limitações operacionais causadas por interferências provenientes de outras redes móveis o que tende a aumentar cada vez mais, devido ao crescimento esperado das redes GSM-R e ao potencial crescimento de redes móveis públicas. Assim sendo, um dos passos fundamentais no planeamento de uma rede rádio de comunicações móveis é a escolha das frequências utilizadas dada a necessidade de coexistência, não só com outros operadores mas com a própria rede. Em comunicações móveis ferroviárias esta escolha requer uma maior exatidão do que nas redes públicas, tendo em conta os requisitos de segurança que as abrangem. Assim, é necessário utilizar algoritmos que estimem a interferência proveniente, não só das redes ferroviárias, mas também dos operadores públicos, de modo a obter um melhor planeamento/otimização das redes GSM-R. Posto isto, o objetivo deste trabalho consiste em demonstrar o impacto que as redes implementadas pelos operadores públicos têm face às redes dos operadores ferroviários. Deste modo, foram realizados algoritmos/software, de modo a testar redes reais, para comprovar este impacto. Estes algoritmos foram desenvolvidos de modo a ser integrado com uma ferramenta já existente para o planeamento rádio em ferrovia denominada por SIGRail. O algoritmo foi validado com a comparação com medidas reais recolhidas no cenário de estudo. Os resultados permitiram concluir que, para o cenário em estudo, o impacto que as redes dos operadores públicos têm face ao GSM-R é bastante acentuado, podendo mesmo, em certas zonas, tornar impraticável o estabelecimento de comunicações entre terminais móveis GSM-R.Today and in the future, the need for different mobile networks operating in the same bands to coexist in the face of spectrum reuse will become increasingly important. That said, some GSM-R operators have noticed operational limitations caused by interference from other mobile networks, which is tending to increase more and more due to the expected growth of GSM-R networks and the potential expansion of public mobile networks. Therefore, one of the key steps in planning a mobile radio network is the choice of frequencies used given the need for coexistence not only with other operators but with the network itself. In mobile railway communications this choice requires greater accuracy than in public networks, taking into account the safety requirements covering them. It is therefore necessary to use algorithms that estimate interference not only from railway networks but also from public operators in order to achieve better planning/optimisation of gsmr networks. That said, the objective of this work is to demonstrate the impact that the networks implemented by public operators have on the networks of railway operators. Subsequently, algorithms/software were performed in order to test real networks to prove this impact. These algorithms were developed to be integrated with an existing tool for railway radio planning called SIGRail. The algorithm was validated by comparison with real measurements collected in the study scenario. The results show that, for the scenario under study, the impact of the public operators networks on GSM-R is quite strong and may even, in certain areas, make it impractical to establish communications between gsmr mobile terminals.N/