263 research outputs found
Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Vehicular Networks: Taming the Age of Information Tail
While the notion of age of information (AoI) has recently emerged as an
important concept for analyzing ultra-reliable low-latency communications
(URLLC), the majority of the existing works have focused on the average AoI
measure. However, an average AoI based design falls short in properly
characterizing the performance of URLLC systems as it cannot account for
extreme events that occur with very low probabilities. In contrast, in this
paper, the main objective is to go beyond the traditional notion of average AoI
by characterizing and optimizing a URLLC system while capturing the AoI tail
distribution. In particular, the problem of vehicles' power minimization while
ensuring stringent latency and reliability constraints in terms of
probabilistic AoI is studied. To this end, a novel and efficient mapping
between both AoI and queue length distributions is proposed. Subsequently,
extreme value theory (EVT) and Lyapunov optimization techniques are adopted to
formulate and solve the problem. Simulation results shows a nearly two-fold
improvement in terms of shortening the tail of the AoI distribution compared to
a baseline whose design is based on the maximum queue length among vehicles,
when the number of vehicular user equipment (VUE) pairs is 80. The results also
show that this performance gain increases significantly as the number of VUE
pairs increases.Comment: Accepted in IEEE GLOBECOM 2018 with 7 pages, 6 figure
Synthesis and Biological activity of 1,3-Thiazolylidenehydrazinylidene ethylpyridiniumbromide monohydrate, 1,3-Thiazolylidenehydraziniumbromide and 1,3-Thiazolylidenehydrazine derivatives
1,3-Thiazolylidenehydrazinylidene ethylpyridinium bromide monohydrate, 1,3-thiazolylidenehydrazinium bromide and 1,3-thiazolylidenehydrazine derivatives were synthesized by heterocyclization of 2-(1-substituted ethylidene) hydrazinecarbothioamides, characterized and screened for their anti-bacterial activities. The structures of synthesized compounds were established by spectroscopic (IR, 1H, 13C-NMR, Mass) and X-ray analyses
Efficacy of Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Suppression of Hepatocarcinorigenesis in Rats: Possible Role of Wnt Signaling
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The present study was conducted to evaluate the tumor suppressive effects of bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in an experimental hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) model in rats and to investigate the possible role of Wnt signaling in hepato-carcinogenesis.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Ninety rats were included in the study and were divided equally into: Control group, rats which received MSCs only, rats which received MSCs vehicle only, HCC group induced by diethylnitroseamine (DENA) and CCl<sub><b>4</b></sub>, rats which received MSCs after HCC induction, rats which received MSCs before HCC induction. Histopathological examination and gene expression of Wnt signaling target genes by real time, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in rat liver tissue, in addition to serum levels of ALT, AST and alpha fetoprotein were performed in all groups.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Histopathological examination of liver tissue from animals which received DENA-CCl<sub>4 </sub>only, revealed the presence of anaplastic carcinoma cells and macro-regenerative nodules type II with foci of large and small cell dysplasia. Administration of MSCs into rats after induction of experimental HCC improved the histopathological picture which showed minimal liver cell damage, reversible changes, areas of cell drop out filled with stem cells. Gene expression in rat liver tissue demonstrated that MSCs downregulated <it>β-catenin</it>, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (<it>PCNA</it>), <it>cyclin D </it>and <it>survivin </it>genes expression in liver tissues after HCC induction. Amelioration of the liver status after administration of MSCs has been inferred by the significant decrease of ALT, AST and Alpha fetoprotein serum levels. Administration of MSCs before HCC induction did not show any tumor suppressive or protective effect.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Administration of MSCs in chemically induced HCC has tumor suppressive effects as evidenced by down regulation of Wnt signaling target genes concerned with antiapoptosis, mitogenesis, cell proliferation and cell cycle regulation, with subsequent amelioration of liver histopathological picture and liver function.</p
Human microbiome and its association with health and diseases
Human microbiota are distinct communities of microorganisms that resides at different body
niches. Exploration of the human microbiome has become a reality due to the availability of
powerful metagenomics and metatranscriptomic analysis technologies. Recent advances in
sequencing and bioinformatics over the past decade help provide a deep insight into the nature of
the host-microbial interactions and identification of potential deriver genes and pathways
associated with human health, well-being, and predisposition to different diseases.
In the present review, we outline recent studies devoted to elucidate the possible link between the
microbiota and various type of diseases. The present review also highlights the potential
utilization of microbiota as a potential therapeutic option to treat a wide array of human diseases
Injection Drug Use Is a Risk Factor for HCV Infection in Urban Egypt
OBJECTIVE: To identify current risk factors for hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmission in Greater Cairo. DESIGN AND SETTING: A 1:1 matched case-control study was conducted comparing incident acute symptomatic hepatitis C patients in two "fever" hospitals of Greater Cairo with two control groups: household members of the cases and acute hepatitis A patients diagnosed at the same hospitals. Controls were matched on the same age and sex to cases and were all anti-HCV antibody negative. Iatrogenic, community and household exposures to HCV in the one to six months before symptoms onset for cases, and date of interview for controls, were exhaustively assessed. RESULTS: From 2002 to 2007, 94 definite acute symptomatic HCV cases and 188 controls were enrolled in the study. In multivariate analysis, intravenous injections (OR = 5.0; 95% CI = 1.2-20.2), medical stitches (OR = 4.2; 95% CI = 1.6-11.3), injection drug use (IDU) (OR = 7.9; 95% CI = 1.4-43.5), recent marriage (OR = 3.3; 95% CI = 1.1-9.9) and illiteracy (OR = 3.9; 95% CI = 1.8-8.5) were independently associated with an increased HCV risk. CONCLUSION: In urban Cairo, invasive health care procedures remain a source of HCV transmission and IDU is an emerging risk factor. Strict application of standard precautions during health care is a priority. Implementation of comprehensive infection prevention programs for IDU should be considered
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