Quality of service in distributed multimedia systems

The Unix operating system made a vital contribution to information technology by introducing the notion of composing complicated applications out of simple ones by means of pipes and shell scripts. One day, this will also be possible with multimedia applications. Before this can happen, however, operating systems must support multimedia in as general a way as Unix now supports ordinary applications. Particularly, attention must be paid to allowing the operating-system service to degrade gracefully under heavy loads.\ud This paper presents the Quality-of-Service architecture of the Huygens project. This architecture provides the mechanisms that allow applications to adapt the level of their service to the resources the operating system can make available

PENYALAHGUNAAN ASET NEGARA DALAM BENTUK JARINGAN SATELIT UNTUK KEPENTINGAN KORPORASI DIHUBUNGKAN DENGAN UNDANGUNDANG NOMOR 36 TAHUN 1999 TENTANG TELEKOMUNIKASI JO UNDANGUNDANG NOMOR 20 TAHUN 2001 TENTANG TINDAK PIDANA KORUPSI

telekomunikasi sebagaimana dilakukan oleh IM2. IM2 telah menyalahgunakan pita frekuensi 2.1 Ghz, dan secara melawan hukum beroperasi pada jaringan tersebut sehingga menimbulkan kerugian negara. Berdasarkan hal tersebut maka penulis tertarik meneliti, bagaimana Undang-Undang Telekomunikasi jo Peraturan Menteri Komunikasi dan Informatika dan Undang-Undang Tindak Pidana Korupsi mengatur mekanisme pemanfaatan aset negara berupa jaringan satelit, mengapa aset negara berupa jaringan satelit kerap kali disalahgunakan didalam pemanfaatannya oleh korporasi, serta bagaimana upaya yang dapat dilakukan untuk melindungi aset negara dalam bentuk jaringan satelit terhadap penyalahgunaan yang dilakukan oleh korporasi. Penelitian ini menggunakan spesifikasi penelitian yang bersifat deskriftif analitis dengan pendekatan yuridis normatif dibantu yuridis empiris, data yang diperlukan dalam penelitian ini dikumpulkan melalui studi kepustakaan dan studi lapangan, kemudian dianalisis menggunakan teknik analisis data berupa yuridis kualitatif. Pemanfaatan aset negara berupa jaringan satelit melalui pita frekuensi merupakan salah satu hak yang dalam pemanfaatannya diatur oleh peraturan perundang-undangan agar tercipta keadilan, kepastian dan ketertiban, keamanan, keseimbangan, perlindungan dan pemeliharaan dalam pemanfataannya. Jaringan satelit yang merupakan jaringan satelit aset negara pemanfaatannya mensyaratkan izin dan pembayaran tarif tertentu, sehingga konsekuensinya ketika terjadi penyalahgunaan pemanfaatan jaringan satelit, negara akan mengalami kerugian. Aset negara berupa jaringan satelit kerap kali disalahgunakan didalam pemanfaatannya oleh korporasi disebabkan beberapa faktor diantaranya faktor hukum itu sendiri dalam hal ini peraturan perundang-undangannya, faktor penegak hukum, faktor sarana atau fasilitas yang mendukung pengawasan dan penegakan hukum itu sendiri, faktor masyarakat, yakni lingkungan dimana hukum tersebut berlaku atau diterapkan, dalam hal ini yaitu lingkungan korporasi, faktor kebudayaan yakni kurangnya kesadaran hukum korporasi dalam upaya pemanfaatan aset negara secara berkeadilan dan tertib sesuai peraturan perundang-undangan yang berlaku, dimana pemanfaatan yang tidak secara berkeadilan akan membawa negara menuju kepada kehancuran. Upaya yang dapat dilakukan untuk melindungi aset negara dalam bentuk jaringan satelit terhadap penyalahgunaan yang dilakukan oleh korporasi harus berangkat dari beberapa faktor yang menjadi penyebab penyalahgunaan pemanfaatan jaringan satelit diantaranya yaitu melalui upaya preventif berupa revisi perunang-undangan, pengawasan, sosialisasi sert upaya represif berupa penegakan hukum. Penegakan hukum harus dilaksanakan tanpa pandang bulu, sebagai bentuk keyakinan atas doktrin hukum, bahwa setiap orang mempunyai kedudukan yang sama di depan hukum. Kata Kunci: Penyalahgunaan Aset Negara, Jaringan Sateli

Molecular insights into disease-associated glutamate transporter (EAAT1 / SLC1A3) variants using in silico and in vitro approaches

Glutamate is an essential excitatory neurotransmitter and an intermediate for energy metabolism. Depending on the tumor site, cancer cells have increased or decreased expression of excitatory amino acid transporter 1 or 2 (EAAT1/2, SLC1A3/2) to regulate glutamate uptake for the benefit of tumor growth. Thus, EAAT1/2 may be an attractive target for therapeutic intervention in oncology. Genetic variation of EAAT1 has been associated with rare cases of episodic ataxia, but the occurrence and functional contribution of EAAT1 mutants in other diseases, such as cancer, is poorly understood. Here, 105 unique somatic EAAT1 mutations were identified in cancer patients from the Genomic Data Commons dataset. Using EAAT1 crystal structures and in silico studies, eight mutations were selected based on their close proximity to the orthosteric or allosteric ligand binding sites and the predicted change in ligand binding affinity. In vitro functional assessment in a live-cell, impedance-based phenotypic assay demonstrated that these mutants differentially affect L-glutamate and L-aspartate transport, as well as the inhibitory potency of an orthosteric (TFB-TBOA) and allosteric (UCPH-101) inhibitor. Moreover, two episodic ataxia-related mutants displayed functional responses that were in line with literature, which confirmed the validity of our assay. Of note, ataxia-related mutant M128R displayed inhibitor-induced functional responses never described before. Finally, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed to gain mechanistic insights into the observed functional effects. Taken together, the results in this work demonstrate 1) the suitability of the label-free phenotypic method to assess functional variation of EAAT1 mutants and 2) the opportunity and challenges of using in silico techniques to rationalize the in vitro phenotype of disease-relevant mutants

Effect of n-3 fatty acids on immune function in broiler chickens

There is interest in the enrichment of poultry meat with long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in order to increase the consumption of these fatty acids by humans. However, there is concern that high levels of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids may have detrimental effects on immune function in chickens. The effect of feeding increasing levels of fish oil (FO) on immune function was investigated in broiler chickens. Three-week-old broilers were fed 1 of 4 wheat-soybean basal diets that contained 0, 30, 50, or 60 g/kg of FO until slaughter. At slaughter, samples of blood, bursa of Fabricius, spleen, and thymus were collected from each bird. A range of immune parameters, including immune tissue weight, immuno-phenotyping, phagocytosis, and cell proliferation, were assessed. The pattern of fatty acid incorporation reflected the fatty acid composition of the diet. The FO did not affect the weight of the spleen, but it did increase thymus weight when fed at 50 g/kg (P < 0.001). Fish oil also lowered bursal weights when fed at 50 or 60 g/kg (P < 0.001). There was no significant effect of FO on immune cell phenotypes in the spleen, thymus, bursa, or blood. Feeding 60 g/kg of FO significantly decreased the percentage of monocytes engaged in phagocytosis, but it increased their mean fluorescence intensity relative to that of broilers fed 50 g/kg of FO. Lymphocyte proliferation was significantly decreased after feeding broiler chickens diets rich in FO when expressed as division index or proliferation index, although there was no significant effect of FO on the percentage of divided cells. In conclusion, dietary n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids decrease phagocytosis and lymphocyte proliferation in broiler chickens, highlighting the need for the poultry industry to consider the health status of poultry when poultry meat is being enriched with FO

09 FERRY_04 LORD_c

Abstract: Interventions are crucial as they offer simple and inexpensive public health solutions that will be useful over the long term use. A Task Force on designing trials of nutritional interventions to slow cognitive decline in older adults was held in Toulouse in September 2012. The aim of the Task Force was to bring together leading experts from academia, the food industry and regulatory agencies to determine the best trial designs that would enable us to reach our goal of maintaining or improving cognitive function in apparently healthy aging people. An associated challenge for this Task Force was to determine the type of trials required by the Public Food Agencies for assessing the impact of nutritional compounds in comparison to well established requirements for drug trials. Although the required quality of the study design, rationale and statistical analysis remains the same, the studies designed to show reduction of cognitive decline require a long duration and the objectives of this task force was to determine best design for these trials. Two specific needs were identified to support trials of nutritional interventions: 1-Risk-reduction strategies are needed to tackle the growing burden of cognitive decline that may lead to dementia, 2-Innovative study designs are needed to improve the quality of these studies

Beneficial immune modulatory effects of a specific nutritional combination in a murine model for cancer cachexia

The majority of patients with advanced cancer are recognised by impaired immune competence influenced by several factors, including the type and stage of the tumour and the presence of cachexia. Recently, a specific nutritional combination containing fish oil, specific oligosaccharide mixture, high protein content and leucine has been developed aimed to support the immune system of cancer patients in order to reduce the frequency and severity of (infectious) complications. In a recently modified animal model cachexia is induced by inoculation of C26 tumour cells in mice. In a pre-cachectic state, no effect was observed on contact hypersensitivity, a validated in vivo method to measure Th1-mediated immune function, after adding the individual nutritional ingredients to the diet of tumour-bearing mice. However, the complete mixture resulted in significantly improved Th1 immunity. Moreover, in a cachectic state, the complete mixture reduced plasma levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and beneficially affected ex vivo immune function. Accordingly, the combination of the nutritional ingredients is required to obtain a synergistic effect, leading to a reduced inflammatory state and improved immune competence. From this, it can be concluded that the specific nutritional combination has potential as immune-supporting nutritional intervention to reduce the risk of (infectious) complications in cancer patients

The impact of chemotherapy on cognitive outcomes in adults with primary brain tumors

There is growing recognition that chemotherapy may have short and long term impact on cognitive function of cancer patients. However, the impact of chemotherapy on the cognition of adult patients with primary brain tumor has not been extensively studied. This article will review the evidence for both positive and negative impact of chemotherapy on cognitive function of adult brain tumor patients as well as potential confounding factors

The chicken IL-1 family: evolution in the context of the studied vertebrate lineage

The interleukin-1 gene family encodes a group of related proteins that exhibit a remarkable pleiotropy in the context of health and disease. The set of indispensable functions they control suggests that these genes should be found in all eukaryotic species. The ligands and receptors of this family have been primarily characterised in man and mouse. The genomes of most non-mammalian animal species sequenced so far possess all of the IL-1 receptor genes found in mammals. Yet, strikingly, very few of the ligands are identifiable in non-mammalian genomes. Our recent identification of two further IL-1 ligands in the chicken warranted a critical reappraisal of the evolution of this vitally important cytokine family. This review presents substantial data gathered across multiple, divergent metazoan genomes to unambiguously trace the origin of these genes. With the hypothesis that all of these genes, both ligands and receptors, were formed in a single ancient ancestor, extensive database mining revealed sufficient evidence to confirm this. It therefore suggests that the emergence of mammals is unrelated to the expansion of the IL-1 family. A thorough review of this cytokine family in the chicken, the most extensively studied amongst non-mammalian species, is also presented. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00251-014-0780-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users