ControCity: An Autonomous Approach for Controlling Elasticity Using Buffer Management in Cloud Computing Environment

Cloud computing has been one of the most popular distributed computing paradigms. Elasticity is a crucial feature that distinguishes cloud computing from other distributed computing models. It considers the resource provisioning and allocation processes can be implemented automatically and dynamically. Elasticity feature allows cloud platforms to handle different loads efficiently without disrupting the normal behavior of the application. Therefore, providing a resource elasticity analytical model can play a significant role in cloud resource management. This paper presents Controlling Elasticity (ControCity) framework for controlling resources elasticity through using “buffer management” and “elasticity management”. In the proposed framework, there are two essential components called buffer manager and elasticity manager in the application layer and middleware layer, respectively. The buffer management controls the input queue of the user’s request and the elasticity management controls the elasticity of the cloud platform using learning automata technique. In the application layer, applications are received by cloud applications and, then, placed in the control of the buffer. Buffer manager controls the queue of requests, and elasticity manager of the middleware layer using the learning automata provides a solution for controlling the elasticity of the cloud platform. The experimental results indicate that ControCity reduces the response time by up to 3.7%, and increases the resource utilization and elasticity by up to 8.4% and 5.4%, respectively, compared with the other approaches

PriNergy: A Priority-based Energy Efficient Routing Method for IoT Systems

The Internet of Things (IoT) devices gather a plethora of data by sensing and monitoring the surrounding environment. Transmission of collected data from the IoT devices to the cloud through relay nodes is one of the many challenges that arise from IoT systems. Fault tolerance, security, energy consumption and load balancing are all examples of issues revolving around data transmissions. This paper focuses on energy consumption, where a priority-based and energy-efficient routing (PriNergy) method is proposed. The method is based on the routing protocol for low-power and lossy network (RPL) model, which determines routing through contents. Each network slot uses timing patterns when sending data to the destination, while considering network traffic, audio and image data. This technique increases the robustness of the routing protocol and ultimately prevents congestion. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed PriNergy method reduces overhead on the mesh, end-to-end delay and energy consumption. Moreover, it outperforms one of the most successful routing methods in an IoT environment, namely the quality of service RPL (QRPL)

The role of acyl-coenzyme A carboxylase complex in lipstatin biosynthesis of Streptomyces toxytricini

Streptomyces toxytricini produces lipstatin, a specific inhibitor of pancreatic lipase, which is derived from two fatty acid moieties with eight and 14 carbon atoms. The pccB gene locus in 10.6 kb fragment of S. toxytricini chromosomal DNA contains three genes for acyl-coenzyme A carboxylase (ACCase) complex accA3, pccB, and pccE that are presumed to be involved in secondary metabolism. The pccB gene encoding a β subunit of ACCase [carboxyltransferase (CT)] was identified upstream of pccE gene for a small protein of ε subunit. The accA3 encoding the α subunit of ACCase [biotin carboxylase (BC)] was also identified downstream of pccB gene. When the pccB and pccE genes were inactivated by homologous recombination, the lipstatin production was reduced as much as 80%. In contrast, the accumulation of another compound, tetradeca-5.8-dienoic acid (the major lipstatin precursor), was 4.5-fold increased in disruptant compared with wild-type. It implies that PccB of S. toxytricini is involved in the activation of octanoic acid to hexylmalonic acid for lipstatin biosynthesis

Validation of OMPS Suomi NPP and OMPS NOAA‐20 Formaldehyde Total Columns With NDACC FTIR Observations

We validate formaldehyde (HCHO) vertical column densities (VCDs) from Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite Nadir Mapper (OMPS-NM) instruments onboard the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite for 2012–2020 and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-20 (NOAA-20) satellite for 2018–2020, hereafter referred to as OMPS-NPP and OMPS-N20, with ground-based Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR) observations of the Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC). OMPS-NPP/N20 HCHO products reproduce seasonal variability at 24 FTIR sites. Monthly variability of OMPS-NPP/N20 has a very good agreement with FTIR, showing correlation coefficients of 0.83 and 0.88, respectively. OMPS-NPP (N20) biases averaged over all sites are −0.9 (4) ± 3 (6)%. However, at clean sites (with VCDs 4.0 × 10$^{15}$ molecules cm$^{−2}$, negative biases of −15% ± 4% appear for OMPS-NPP, but OMPS-N20 shows smaller bias of 0.5% ± 6% due to its smaller ground pixel footprints. Therefore, smaller satellite footprint sizes are important in distinguishing small-scale plumes. In addition, we discuss a bias correction and provide lower limit for the monthly uncertainty of OMPS-NPP/N20 HCHO products. The total uncertainty for OMPS-NPP (N20) at clean sites is 0.7 (0.8) × 10$^{15}$ molecules cm$^{−2}$, corresponding to a relative uncertainty of 32 (30)%. In the case of HCHO VCDs > 4.0 × 10$^{15}$ molecules cm$^{−2}$, however, the relative uncertainty in HCHO VCDs for OMPS-NPP (N20) decreases to 31 (18)%

Efficacy and safety of percutaneous mitral balloon valvotomy in patients with mitral stenosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Aims: Percutaneous mitral balloon valvotomy PMBV is an acceptable alternative to Mitral valve surgery for patients with mitral stenosis. The purpose of this study was to explore the immediate results of PMBV with respect to echocardiographic changes, outcomes, and complications, using a meta-analysis approach. Methods: MEDLINE, and EMBASE databases were searched (01/2012 to 10/2018) for original research articles regarding the efficacy and safety of PMBV. Two reviewers independently screened references for inclusion and abstracted data including article details and echocardiographic parameters before and 24–72 h after PMBV, follow-up duration, and acute complications. Disagreements were resolved by third adjudicator. Quality of all included studies was evaluated using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale NOS. Results: 44/990 references met the inclusion criteria representing 6537 patients. Our findings suggest that PMBV leads to a significant increase in MVA (MD = 0.81 cm2; 0.76–0.87, p < 0.00001), LVEDP (MD = 1.89 mmHg; 0.52–3.26, p = 0.007), LVEDV EDV (MD = 5.81 ml; 2.65–8.97, p = 0.0003) and decrease in MPG (MD = 7.96 mmHg; 8.73 to 7.20, p < 0.00001), LAP (MD = 10.09 mmHg; 11.06 to 9.12, p < 0.00001), and SPAP (MD = 15.55 mmHg; 17.92 to 13.18, p < 0.00001). On short term basis, the pooled overall incidence estimates of repeat PMBV, mitral valve surgery, post-PMBV severe MR, and post- PMBV stroke, and systemic thromboembolism were 0.5%, 2%, 1.4%, 0.4%, and 0.7% respectively. On long term basis, the pooled overall incidence estimates of repeat PMBV, mitral valve surgery, post-PMBV severe MR, and post-PMBV stroke, systemic thromboembolism were 5%, 11.5%, 5.5%, 2.7%, and 1.7% respectively Conclusion: PMBV represents a successful approach for patients with mitral stenosis as evidenced by improvement in echocardiographic parameters and low rate of complications.The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship and publication of this article

Association of waterpipe smoking and road traffic crashes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The purpose of this research was to examine whether waterpipe smokers experience increased risk of motor vehicle crashes.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In a telephone survey, a random sample of Iranian drivers were asked to report their age, gender, vehicle age, whether their vehicles were equipped with anti-lock braking system (ABS), average daily drive time (DDT), whether they smoked cigarette or waterpipe, whether they had diabetes mellitus (DM), number of traffic crashes during the last calendar year and whether the crash involved a pedestrian or another vehicle.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 2070 motor vehicle owners with the mean age of 41.6 ± 11.45 were interviewed. The annual incidence of Road Traffic Crashes (RTC) was 14.9%; 14.0% involved a collision/s with other vehicles and 0.9% with pedestrians. There was an association between the RTC and male gender, DDT, being a cigarette smoker, being a waterpipe smoker and DM in univariable analysis. The association between RTC and being a waterpipe smoker and also cigarette smoker was significant in multivariable analysis after adjustment for DDT.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Being waterpipe and/or cigarette smoker and DDT were the independent predictors of the number of traffic crashes in Poisson regression model. If the increased risk of RTC among waterpipe or cigarette smokers is seen in other studies, it would be beneficial to promote tobacco cessation and control strategies through injury prevention initiatives.</p

Global patient outcomes after elective surgery: prospective cohort study in 27 low-, middle- and high-income countries.

BACKGROUND: As global initiatives increase patient access to surgical treatments, there remains a need to understand the adverse effects of surgery and define appropriate levels of perioperative care. METHODS: We designed a prospective international 7-day cohort study of outcomes following elective adult inpatient surgery in 27 countries. The primary outcome was in-hospital complications. Secondary outcomes were death following a complication (failure to rescue) and death in hospital. Process measures were admission to critical care immediately after surgery or to treat a complication and duration of hospital stay. A single definition of critical care was used for all countries. RESULTS: A total of 474 hospitals in 19 high-, 7 middle- and 1 low-income country were included in the primary analysis. Data included 44 814 patients with a median hospital stay of 4 (range 2-7) days. A total of 7508 patients (16.8%) developed one or more postoperative complication and 207 died (0.5%). The overall mortality among patients who developed complications was 2.8%. Mortality following complications ranged from 2.4% for pulmonary embolism to 43.9% for cardiac arrest. A total of 4360 (9.7%) patients were admitted to a critical care unit as routine immediately after surgery, of whom 2198 (50.4%) developed a complication, with 105 (2.4%) deaths. A total of 1233 patients (16.4%) were admitted to a critical care unit to treat complications, with 119 (9.7%) deaths. Despite lower baseline risk, outcomes were similar in low- and middle-income compared with high-income countries. CONCLUSIONS: Poor patient outcomes are common after inpatient surgery. Global initiatives to increase access to surgical treatments should also address the need for safe perioperative care. STUDY REGISTRATION: ISRCTN5181700

Study on crystallization phenomenon and thermal stability of binary Ni–Nb amorphous alloy

In this paper, a ribbon of binary Ni–Nb amorphous alloy was prepared by the melt spinning technique. Glass transition and crystallization phenomenon of the alloy were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry. Thermal properties of the ribbon of binary Ni–Nb upon heating and cooling were analysed by DTA at a heating/ cooling rate of 0.5 K s-1 under the purified argon atmosphere. The thermal stability of Ni–Nb amorphous alloy was studied by using an X-ray diffractometer equipped with an in situ heating system. The structure and fracture morphology of the ribbons were examined by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy methods