Using Aerial and Vehicular NFV Infrastructures to Agilely Create Vertical Services

5G communications have become an enabler for the creation of new and more complex networking scenarios, bringing together different vertical ecosystems. Such behavior has been fostered by the network function virtualization (NFV) concept, where the orchestration and virtualization capabilities allow the possibility of dynamically supplying network resources according to its needs. Nevertheless, the integration and performance of heterogeneous network environments, each one supported by a different provider, and with specific characteristics and requirements, in a single NFV framework is not straightforward. In this work we propose an NFV-based framework capable of supporting the flexible, cost-effective deployment of vertical services, through the integration of two distinguished mobile environments and their networks: small sized unmanned aerial vehicles (SUAVs), supporting a flying ad hoc network (FANET) and vehicles, promoting a vehicular ad hoc network (VANET). In this context, a use case involving the public safety vertical will be used as an illustrative example to showcase the potential of this framework. This work also includes the technical implementation details of the framework proposed, allowing to analyse and discuss the delays on the network services deployment process. The results show that the deployment times can be significantly reduced through a distributed VNF configuration function based on the publish&-subscribe model.This article has been partially supported by the European H2020 5GinFIRE project (grant agreement 732497). The work of the Universidad Carlos III team members was partially supported by the European H2020 LABYRINTH project (grant agreement H2020-MG-2019-TwoStages-861696), and by the TRUE5G project (PID2019-108713RB-C52PID2019-108713RB-C52/AEI/10.13039/501100011033) funded by the Spanish National Research Agency; and the work of the Instituto de Telecomunicações team members, by the Competitiveness and Internationalization Operational Programme (COMPETE 2020) of the Portugal 2020 framework Mobilizer Project 5G with Nr. 024539 (POCI-01-0247-FEDER-024539)

Aterosclerose Carotídea e Hipodensidades da Substância Branca: uma Relação Controversa

Introdução: As hipodensidades da substância branca de provável etiologia vascular, são uma causa importante de morbilidade, condicionando deterioração cognitiva. No entanto, numerosas dúvidas persistem quanto à sua fisiopatologia. O objectivo deste estudo é clarificar o papel da aterosclerose carotídea e outros factores de risco vascular no desenvolvimento das hipodensidades da substância branca de provável etiologia vascular. Material e Métodos: Realizou-se uma avaliação imagiológica, por tomografia computadorizada crânio-encefálica e ecografia carotídea, com menos de um mês de intervalo. Procedeu-se à recolha de informação sobre os factores de risco vascular. Determinámos associações independentes entre hipodensidades da substância branca de provável etiologia vascular, espessura da íntima média carotídea, estenose carotídea ateromatosa e factores de risco vascular. Resultados: Foram incluídos 472 doentes, idade média de 67,32 (DP: 14.75), 274 (58,1%) sexo masculino. Os preditores independentes da hipodensidades da substância branca de provável etiologia vascular foram: idade (OR: 1,067, 95% IC: 1,049 – 1,086, p < 0,001) e a hipertensão (OR: 1,726, 95% IC: 1,097 – 2,715, p = 0,018). Não foi encontrada uma associação entre a espessura da intima média carotídea (OR: 2,613, 95% IC: 0,886 – 7,708, p = 0,082) ou grau de estenose carotídea (OR: 1,021, 95% IC: 0,785 – 1,328, p = 0,877) e hipodensidades da substância branca de provável etiologia vascular. Discussão: Dos diversos factores de risco analisados, apenas a idade e hipertensão se associaram de forma independente às hipodensidades da substância branca de provável etiologia vascular. Não foi encontrada uma relação entre a aterosclerose extracraniana, expressa pela espessura do complexo intima-média ou grau de estenose, com o desenvolvimento de hipodensidades da substância branca de provável etiologia vascular. Sendo a aterosclerose um fenómeno sistémico, estes achados sugerem que as hipodensidades da substância branca de provável etiologia vascular, tenham um mecanismo alternativo ou concorrente à aterosclerose no seu desenvolvimento. Conclusão: Os dados deste estudo, sugerem que a idade e hipertensão sejam os principais factores de risco no desenvolvimento de hipodensidades da substância branca de provável etiologia vascular. Não foi encontrada uma associação independente entre a aterosclerose carotídea e as hipodensidades da substância branca de provável etiologia vascular.Introduction: White matter hypodensities of presumed vascular origin, are recognized as an important cause of morbidity with established clinical and cognitive consequences. Nonetheless, many doubts remain on its physiopathology. Our goal is to clarify the potential role of carotid atherosclerosis and other vascular risk factors in the development of white matter hypodensities of presumed vascular origin. Material and Methods: We included patients that underwent CT brain scan and neurosonologic evaluation within a one-month period. Full assessment of vascular risks factors was performed. We seek to find independent associations between white matter hypodensities of presumed vascular origin, carotid intima-media thickness and vascular risk factors. Results: 472 patients were included, mean age was 67.32 (SD: 14.75), 274 (58.1%) were male. The independent predictors of white matter hypodensities of presumed vascular origin were age (OR: 1.067, 95% IC: 1.049 – 1.086, p < 0.001) and hypertension (OR: 1.726, 95% IC: 1.097 – 2.715, p = 0.018). No association was found between IMT (OR: 2.613, 95% IC: 0.886 – 7.708, p = 0.082) or carotid artery stenosis (OR: 1.021, 95% IC: 0.785 – 1.328, p = 0.877) and white matter hypodensities of presumed vascular origin. Discussion: Only age and hypertension proved to have an independent association with white matter hypodensities of presumed vascular origin. Carotid atherosclerosis, evaluated by IMT and the degree of carotid artery stenosis, showed no association with white matter hypodensities of presumed vascular origin. Since atherosclerosis is a systemic pathology, these results suggest that alternative mechanisms are responsible for the development of white matter hypodensities of presumed vascular origin. Conclusion: Age and hypertension seem to be the main factors in the development of white matter hypodensities of presumed vascular origin. No association was found between carotid atherosclerosis and white matter hypodensities of presumed vascular origin

MIGRATE: mobile device virtualisation through state transfer

Delegation of processing tasks to the network has moved from cloud-based schemes to edge computing solutions where nearby servers process requests in a timely manner. Virtualisation technologies have recently given data cloud and network providers the required flexibility to offer such on-demand resources. However, the maintenance of close computing resources presents a challenge when the served devices are on the move. In this case, if processing continuity is desired, a transference of processing resources and task state should be committed to maintain the service to end devices. The solution here presented, MIGRATE, proposes the concept of virtual mobile devices (vMDs) implemented as Virtual Functions (VxF) and acting as virtual representatives of physical processing devices. vMDs are instantiated at the edge of the access network, following a Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) approach, and move across different virtualisation domains. MIGRATE provides seamless and efficient transference of these software entities to follow the real location of mobile devices and continue supporting their physical counterparts. Software Defined Networks and Management and Operation functions are exploited to “migrate” vMDs to new virtualisation domains by forwarding data flows to the former domain until the new one is prepared, while a distributed data base avoids the transference of data. The solution has been deployed in a reference vehicular scenario at the Institute of Telecommunications Aveiro premises within the 5GINFIRE European project. In particular, the system has been evaluated under different virtualisation domains to study the operation of the migration approach in a vehicular monitoring scenario. The results validate the system from the application viewpoint with a Web monitoring tool, and the migration of the digital twin provided as VxF is analysed attending to the modification of data flows, indicating a seamless transition between virtualisation domains in a timely manner.publishe

Isolated ventricular noncompaction: a case report

Isolated ventricular noncompaction is an extremely rare cardiomyopathy, not fully clarified

Acesso a Tratamento Endovascular para Acidente Vascular Cerebral Isquémico em Portugal

Introduction: Since the publication of endovascular treatment trials and European Stroke Guidelines, Portugal has re-organized stroke healthcare. The nine centers performing endovascular treatment are not equally distributed within the country, which may lead to differential access to endovascular treatment. Our main aim was to perform a descriptive analysis of the main treatment metrics regarding endovascular treatment in mainland Portugal and its administrative districts. Material and Methods: A retrospective national multicentric cohort study was conducted, including all ischemic stroke patients treated with endovascular treatment in mainland Portugal over two years (July 2015 to June 2017). All endovascular treatment centers contributed to an anonymized database. Demographic, stroke-related and procedure-related variables were collected. Crude endovascular treatment rates were calculated per 100 000 inhabitants for mainland Portugal, and each district and endovascular treatment standardized ratios (indirect age-sex standardization) were also calculated. Patient time metrics were computed as the median time between stroke onset, first-door, and puncture. Results: A total of 1625 endovascular treatment procedures were registered. The endovascular treatment rate was 8.27/100 000 inhabitants/year. We found regional heterogeneity in endovascular treatment rates (1.58 to 16.53/100 000/year), with higher rates in districts closer to endovascular treatment centers. When analyzed by district, the median time from stroke onset to puncture ranged from 212 to 432 minutes, reflecting regional heterogeneity. Conclusion: The overall national rate of EVT in the first two years after the organization of EVT-capable centers is one of the highest among European countries, however, significant regional disparities were documented. Moreover, stroke-onset-to-first-door times and in-hospital procedural times in the EVT centers were comparable to those reported in the randomized controlled trials performed in high-volume tertiary hospitals.Introdução: A aprovação do tratamento endovascular para o acidente vascular cerebral isquémico obrigou à reorganização dos cuidados de saúde em Portugal. Os nove centros que realizam tratamento endovascular não estão distribuídos equitativamente pelo território, o que poderá causar acesso diferencial a tratamento. O principal objetivo deste estudo é realizar uma análise descritiva da frequência e métricas temporais do tratamento endovascular em Portugal continental e seus distritos. Material e Métodos: Estudo de coorte nacional multicêntrico, incluindo todos os doentes com acidente vascular cerebral isquémico submetidos a tratamento endovascular em Portugal continental durante um período de dois anos (julho 2015 a junho 2017). Foram colhidos dados demográficos, relacionados com o acidente vascular cerebral e variáveis do procedimento. Taxas de tratamento endovascular brutas e ajustadas (ajuste indireto a idade e sexo) foram calculadas por 100 000 habitantes/ano para Portugal continental e cada distrito. Métricas de procedimento como tempo entre instalação, primeira porta e punção foram também analisadas. Resultados: Foram registados 1625 tratamentos endovasculares, indicando uma taxa bruta nacional de tratamento endovascular de 8,27/100 000 habitantes/ano. As taxas de tratamento endovascular entre distritos variaram entre 1,58 e 16,53/100 000/ano, com taxas mais elevadas nos distritos próximos a hospitais com tratamento endovascular. O tempo entre sintomas e punção femural entre distritos variou entre 212 e 432 minutos. Conclusão: Portugal continental apresenta uma taxa nacional de tratamento endovascular elevada, apresentando, contudo, assimetrias regionais no acesso. As métricas temporais foram comparáveis com as observadas nos ensaios clínicos piloto

Long-term prognostic value of protein C activity, erythrocyte aggregation and membrane fluidity in transmural myocardial infarction

© 2005 Schattauer GmbH, StuttgartThe objective of this study was to evaluate the long-term predictive value of the haemostatic, inflammatory and haemorheologic disturbances in transmural myocardial infarction (MI). Sixty-four (59 male) consecutive survivors of a MI, with a mean age of 58.3 +/- 12.0 years, were followed over a period of 36 months. Eighteen patients had a cardiovascular event defined as the composite of death, non-fatal MI, unstable angina and stroke. The haemostatic (protein C activity-PtC, antithrombin III, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1), haemorheologic (blood fluidity and components, erythrocyte membrane fluidity) and inflammatory (polymorphonuclear elastase, leukocyte count) profiles were determined at hospital discharge, using standard methodology. Our results can be summarized as follow: (i) at hospital discharge, the subgroup of patients with events had higher leukoactivity, leukocyte count, membrane fluidity, prognosis cyte count (7833.0 +/- 1696.0 vs. 10294.0 +/- 3129.0; p = 0.011), lower PtC (100.65 +/- 19.08 vs.81.25 +/- 19.95; p = 0.002), and lower erythrocyte aggregation (14.26 +/- 5.94 vs. 11.47 +/- 3.45; p = 0.031) in relation to the ones without events; (ii) By Cox regression the protein C activity lower tertile (OR 0.169; 0.045-0.628; p = 0.008); erythrocyte membrane outer layer fluidity upper tertile (OR 0.067; 95% CI 0.011 - 0.393; p = 0.003); and erythrocyte aggregation lower tertile (OR 0.182; 0.038 - 0.876; p = 0.034) were independent predictors of the composite endpoint. We can conclude that some haemostatic, haemorheologic and inflammatory disturbances, at hospital discharge, are long-term independent predictors of recurrent cardiovascular events in transmural myocardial infarction survivors.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Multicast/broadcast network convergence in next generation mobile networks

The 3GPP Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) aims to introduce group communications into the 3G networks. One of the current key challenges is how to evolve these incipient features towards the "beyond 3G vision" of a converged global network where multimedia content can be delivered over one or more selected broadcast transport bearers. This paper presents potential multicast/broadcast technologies convergence and discusses the issues and challenges in moving towards this next generation network vision from the viewpoint of evolving MBMS. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Hierarchical neighbor discovery scheme for handover optimization

In the future mobile Internet, one of the most challenging aspects is to discover the available neighbor access networks and it's characteristics as the user moves. Using the IEEE 802.21 Media Independent Handover (MIH) standard, this letter proposes a new neighbor network discovery mechanism, considering a hierarchical view of the network information. Through a NS-2 based simulation, it is shown that the proposed model can significantly improve the mobility user experience

Aterosclerose Carotídea e Hipodensidades da Substância Branca: uma Relação Controversa

Introdução: As hipodensidades da substância branca de provável etiologia vascular, são uma causa importante de morbilidade, condicionando deterioração cognitiva. No entanto, numerosas dúvidas persistem quanto à sua fisiopatologia. O objectivo deste estudo é clarificar o papel da aterosclerose carotídea e outros factores de risco vascular no desenvolvimento das hipodensidades da substância branca de provável etiologia vascular. Material e Métodos: Realizou-se uma avaliação imagiológica, por tomografia computadorizada crânio-encefálica e ecografia carotídea, com menos de um mês de intervalo. Procedeu-se à recolha de informação sobre os factores de risco vascular. Determinámos associações independentes entre hipodensidades da substância branca de provável etiologia vascular, espessura da íntima média carotídea, estenose carotídea ateromatosa e factores de risco vascular. Resultados: Foram incluídos 472 doentes, idade média de 67,32 (DP: 14.75), 274 (58,1%) sexo masculino. Os preditores independentes da hipodensidades da substância branca de provável etiologia vascular foram: idade (OR: 1,067, 95% IC: 1,049 – 1,086, p < 0,001) e a hipertensão (OR: 1,726, 95% IC: 1,097 – 2,715, p = 0,018). Não foi encontrada uma associação entre a espessura da intima média carotídea (OR: 2,613, 95% IC: 0,886 – 7,708, p = 0,082) ou grau de estenose carotídea (OR: 1,021, 95% IC: 0,785 – 1,328, p = 0,877) e hipodensidades da substância branca de provável etiologia vascular. Discussão: Dos diversos factores de risco analisados, apenas a idade e hipertensão se associaram de forma independente às hipodensidades da substância branca de provável etiologia vascular. Não foi encontrada uma relação entre a aterosclerose extracraniana, expressa pela espessura do complexo intima-média ou grau de estenose, com o desenvolvimento de hipodensidades da substância branca de provável etiologia vascular. Sendo a aterosclerose um fenómeno sistémico, estes achados sugerem que as hipodensidades da substância branca de provável etiologia vascular, tenham um mecanismo alternativo ou concorrente à aterosclerose no seu desenvolvimento. Conclusão: Os dados deste estudo, sugerem que a idade e hipertensão sejam os principais factores de risco no desenvolvimento de hipodensidades da substância branca de provável etiologia vascular. Não foi encontrada uma associação independente entre a aterosclerose carotídea e as hipodensidades da substância branca de provável etiologia vascular.Introduction: White matter hypodensities of presumed vascular origin, are recognized as an important cause of morbidity with established clinical and cognitive consequences. Nonetheless, many doubts remain on its physiopathology. Our goal is to clarify the potential role of carotid atherosclerosis and other vascular risk factors in the development of white matter hypodensities of presumed vascular origin. Material and Methods: We included patients that underwent CT brain scan and neurosonologic evaluation within a one-month period. Full assessment of vascular risks factors was performed. We seek to find independent associations between white matter hypodensities of presumed vascular origin, carotid intima-media thickness and vascular risk factors. Results: 472 patients were included, mean age was 67.32 (SD: 14.75), 274 (58.1%) were male. The independent predictors of white matter hypodensities of presumed vascular origin were age (OR: 1.067, 95% IC: 1.049 – 1.086, p < 0.001) and hypertension (OR: 1.726, 95% IC: 1.097 – 2.715, p = 0.018). No association was found between IMT (OR: 2.613, 95% IC: 0.886 – 7.708, p = 0.082) or carotid artery stenosis (OR: 1.021, 95% IC: 0.785 – 1.328, p = 0.877) and white matter hypodensities of presumed vascular origin. Discussion: Only age and hypertension proved to have an independent association with white matter hypodensities of presumed vascular origin. Carotid atherosclerosis, evaluated by IMT and the degree of carotid artery stenosis, showed no association with white matter hypodensities of presumed vascular origin. Since atherosclerosis is a systemic pathology, these results suggest that alternative mechanisms are responsible for the development of white matter hypodensities of presumed vascular origin. Conclusion: Age and hypertension seem to be the main factors in the development of white matter hypodensities of presumed vascular origin. No association was found between carotid atherosclerosis and white matter hypodensities of presumed vascular origin