Modeling and Analysis of Content Caching in Wireless Small Cell Networks

Network densification with small cell base stations is a promising solution to satisfy future data traffic demands. However, increasing small cell base station density alone does not ensure better users quality-of-experience and incurs high operational expenditures. Therefore, content caching on different network elements has been proposed as a mean of offloading he backhaul by caching strategic contents at the network edge, thereby reducing latency. In this paper, we investigate cache-enabled small cells in which we model and characterize the outage probability, defined as the probability of not satisfying users requests over a given coverage area. We analytically derive a closed form expression of the outage probability as a function of signal-to-interference ratio, cache size, small cell base station density and threshold distance. By assuming the distribution of base stations as a Poisson point process, we derive the probability of finding a specific content within a threshold distance and the optimal small cell base station density that achieves a given target cache hit probability. Furthermore, simulation results are performed to validate the analytical model.Comment: accepted for publication, IEEE ISWCS 201

An Improved Animal Model of Multiple Myeloma Bone Disease

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a plasma cell malignancy that causes an accumulation of terminally differentiated monoclonal plasma cells in the bone marrow, accompanied by multiple myeloma bone disease (MMBD). MM animal models have been developed and enable to interrogate the mechanism of MM tumorigenesis. However, these models demonstrate little or no evidence of MMBD. We try to establish the MMBD model with severe bone lesions and easily accessible MM progression. 1 x 10(6) luciferase-expressing 5TGM1 cells were injected into 8-12 week-old NOD SCID gamma mouse (NSG) and C57BL/KaLwRij mouse via the tail vein. Myeloma progression was assessed weekly via in vivo bioluminescence (BL) imaging using IVIS-200. The spine and femur/tibia were extracted and scanned by the micro-computer tomography for bone histo-morphometric analyses at the postmortem. The median survivals were 56 days in NSG while 44.5 days in C57BL/KaLwRij agreed with the BL imaging results. Histomorphic and DEXA analyses demonstrated that NSG mice have severe bone resorption that occurred at the lumbar spine but no significance at the femur compared to C57BL/KaLwRij mice. Based on these, we conclude that the systemic 5TGM1 injected NSG mouse slowly progresses myeloma and develops more severe MMBD than the C57BL/KaLwRij model

Diagnostic Accuracy of Tympanometry for Diagnosis of Fluid the Middle Ears of Children with Otitis Media with Effusion staking Myringotomy as Gold Standard

Objective: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of tympanometry for diagnosing fluid in the middle ears of children with Otitis Media with Effusion taking myringotomy as a gold standard. Study Design: Cross-sectional study Place and Duration of Study: Department of ENT & Head and Neck Surgery, Combined Military Hospital, Peshawar Pakistan, from Oct 2018 to Sep 2020. Methodology: A total of 201 patients who underwent tympanometry followed by myringotomy of aged between 3 to 12 years of either gender were included. All patients underwent tympanometry. After that, myringotomy was carried out through a radial incision in the anteroinferior quadrant using a general inhalational anaesthetic agent. The operative findings at myringotomy were recorded. The presence of fluid on intraoperative findings using myringotomy was considered positive for the presence of fluid in the middle ears of children. Results: The age range of the patients was from 3-12 years, with a mean age of 7.35±2.41 years. Of these 207 patients,133(64.18%) were males, and 74(35.82%) were females. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and diagnostic accuracy of tympanometry for diagnosis of fluid in the middle ears of children with Otitis Media with Effusion taking myringotomy as the gold standard was 85.7%, 86.3%, 89.4%, 81.7% and 85.9% respectively. Conclusion: This study concluded that the diagnostic accuracy of tympanometry for the diagnosis of fluid in the middle ears of children with Otitis Media with Effusion is quite high

Antimicrobial resistance among migrants in Europe: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are rising globally and there is concern that increased migration is contributing to the burden of antibiotic resistance in Europe. However, the effect of migration on the burden of AMR in Europe has not yet been comprehensively examined. Therefore, we did a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify and synthesise data for AMR carriage or infection in migrants to Europe to examine differences in patterns of AMR across migrant groups and in different settings. METHODS: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus with no language restrictions from Jan 1, 2000, to Jan 18, 2017, for primary data from observational studies reporting antibacterial resistance in common bacterial pathogens among migrants to 21 European Union-15 and European Economic Area countries. To be eligible for inclusion, studies had to report data on carriage or infection with laboratory-confirmed antibiotic-resistant organisms in migrant populations. We extracted data from eligible studies and assessed quality using piloted, standardised forms. We did not examine drug resistance in tuberculosis and excluded articles solely reporting on this parameter. We also excluded articles in which migrant status was determined by ethnicity, country of birth of participants' parents, or was not defined, and articles in which data were not disaggregated by migrant status. Outcomes were carriage of or infection with antibiotic-resistant organisms. We used random-effects models to calculate the pooled prevalence of each outcome. The study protocol is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42016043681. FINDINGS: We identified 2274 articles, of which 23 observational studies reporting on antibiotic resistance in 2319 migrants were included. The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or AMR infection in migrants was 25·4% (95% CI 19·1-31·8; I2 =98%), including meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (7·8%, 4·8-10·7; I2 =92%) and antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (27·2%, 17·6-36·8; I2 =94%). The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or infection was higher in refugees and asylum seekers (33·0%, 18·3-47·6; I2 =98%) than in other migrant groups (6·6%, 1·8-11·3; I2 =92%). The pooled prevalence of antibiotic-resistant organisms was slightly higher in high-migrant community settings (33·1%, 11·1-55·1; I2 =96%) than in migrants in hospitals (24·3%, 16·1-32·6; I2 =98%). We did not find evidence of high rates of transmission of AMR from migrant to host populations. INTERPRETATION: Migrants are exposed to conditions favouring the emergence of drug resistance during transit and in host countries in Europe. Increased antibiotic resistance among refugees and asylum seekers and in high-migrant community settings (such as refugee camps and detention facilities) highlights the need for improved living conditions, access to health care, and initiatives to facilitate detection of and appropriate high-quality treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections during transit and in host countries. Protocols for the prevention and control of infection and for antibiotic surveillance need to be integrated in all aspects of health care, which should be accessible for all migrant groups, and should target determinants of AMR before, during, and after migration. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Imperial College Healthcare Charity, the Wellcome Trust, and UK National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimictobial Resistance at Imperial College London

Mapping 123 million neonatal, infant and child deaths between 2000 and 2017

Since 2000, many countries have achieved considerable success in improving child survival, but localized progress remains unclear. To inform efforts towards United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3.2—to end preventable child deaths by 2030—we need consistently estimated data at the subnational level regarding child mortality rates and trends. Here we quantified, for the period 2000–2017, the subnational variation in mortality rates and number of deaths of neonates, infants and children under 5 years of age within 99 low- and middle-income countries using a geostatistical survival model. We estimated that 32% of children under 5 in these countries lived in districts that had attained rates of 25 or fewer child deaths per 1,000 live births by 2017, and that 58% of child deaths between 2000 and 2017 in these countries could have been averted in the absence of geographical inequality. This study enables the identification of high-mortality clusters, patterns of progress and geographical inequalities to inform appropriate investments and implementations that will help to improve the health of all populations

Estimating global injuries morbidity and mortality : methods and data used in the Global Burden of Disease 2017 study

Background: While there is a long history of measuring death and disability from injuries, modern research methods must account for the wide spectrum of disability that can occur in an injury, and must provide estimates with sufficient demographic, geographical and temporal detail to be useful for policy makers. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2017 study used methods to provide highly detailed estimates of global injury burden that meet these criteria. Methods: In this study, we report and discuss the methods used in GBD 2017 for injury morbidity and mortality burden estimation. In summary, these methods included estimating cause-specific mortality for every cause of injury, and then estimating incidence for every cause of injury. Non-fatal disability for each cause is then calculated based on the probabilities of suffering from different types of bodily injury experienced. Results: GBD 2017 produced morbidity and mortality estimates for 38 causes of injury. Estimates were produced in terms of incidence, prevalence, years lived with disability, cause-specific mortality, years of life lost and disability-adjusted life-years for a 28-year period for 22 age groups, 195 countries and both sexes. Conclusions: GBD 2017 demonstrated a complex and sophisticated series of analytical steps using the largest known database of morbidity and mortality data on injuries. GBD 2017 results should be used to help inform injury prevention policy making and resource allocation. We also identify important avenues for improving injury burden estimation in the future

Global estimates on the number of people blind or visually impaired by cataract: a meta-analysis from 2000 to 2020

Background: To estimate global and regional trends from 2000 to 2020 of the number of persons visually impaired by cataract and their proportion of the total number of vision-impaired individuals. Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis of published population studies and gray literature from 2000 to 2020 was carried out to estimate global and regional trends. We developed prevalence estimates based on modeled distance visual impairment and blindness due to cataract, producing location-, year-, age-, and sex-specific estimates of moderate to severe vision impairment (MSVI presenting visual acuity &lt;6/18, ≥3/60) and blindness (presenting visual acuity &lt;3/60). Estimates are age-standardized using the GBD standard population. Results: In 2020, among overall (all ages) 43.3 million blind and 295 million with MSVI, 17.0 million (39.6%) people were blind and 83.5 million (28.3%) had MSVI due to cataract blind 60% female, MSVI 59% female. From 1990 to 2020, the count of persons blind (MSVI) due to cataract increased by 29.7%(93.1%) whereas the age-standardized global prevalence of cataract-related blindness improved by −27.5% and MSVI increased by 7.2%. The contribution of cataract to the age-standardized prevalence of blindness exceeded the global figure only in South Asia (62.9%) and Southeast Asia and Oceania (47.9%). Conclusions: The number of people blind and with MSVI due to cataract has risen over the past 30 years, despite a decrease in the age-standardized prevalence of cataract. This indicates that cataract treatment programs have been beneficial, but population growth and aging have outpaced their impact. Growing numbers of cataract blind indicate that more, better-directed, resources are needed to increase global capacity for cataract surgery.</p