The Impact of Data Replicatino on Job Scheduling Performance in Hierarchical data Grid

In data-intensive applications data transfer is a primary cause of job execution delay. Data access time depends on bandwidth. The major bottleneck to supporting fast data access in Grids is the high latencies of Wide Area Networks and Internet. Effective scheduling can reduce the amount of data transferred across the internet by dispatching a job to where the needed data are present. Another solution is to use a data replication mechanism. Objective of dynamic replica strategies is reducing file access time which leads to reducing job runtime. In this paper we develop a job scheduling policy and a dynamic data replication strategy, called HRS (Hierarchical Replication Strategy), to improve the data access efficiencies. We study our approach and evaluate it through simulation. The results show that our algorithm has improved 12% over the current strategies.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure

Investigation of new Ti-based metallic glasses with improved mechanical properties and corrosion resistance for implant applications

The glass-forming Ti75Zr10Si15 alloy is regarded as a potential new material for implant applications due to its composition of non-toxic, biocompatible elements and many interesting mechanical properties. The effects of partial substitution of 15 at.-% Ti by Nb on the microstructure and mechanical behavior of the alloy have been investigated. The limited glass-forming ability (GFA) of the Ti75Zr10Si15 alloy results for melt-spun ribbons mainly in nanocomposite structures with β-type nanocrystals being embedded in a glassy matrix. Addition of Nb increases the glass-forming ability. Raising the overheating temperature of the melt prior to melt-spinning from 1923 K to 2053 K yields a higher amorphous phase fraction for both alloys. A decrease of hardness (H), ultimate stress and reduced Young’s modulus (Er) is observed for Ti60Zr10Nb15Si15 rods as compared to Ti75Zr10Si15 ones. This is attributed to an increase of the fraction of the β-type phase. The melt-spun ribbons show an interesting combination of very high hardness values (H) and moderate reduced elastic modulus values (Er). This results in comparatively very high H/Er ratios of >0.075 which suggests these new materials for applications demanding high wear resistance. The corrosion and passivation behavior of these alloys in their homogenized melt-spun states have been investigated in Ringer solution at 37°C in comparison to their cast multiphase crystalline counterparts and to cp-Ti and β-type Ti-40Nb. All tested materials showed very low corrosion rates. Electrochemical and surface analytical studies revealed a high stability of their passive states in a wide potential range. The addition of Nb does not only improve the glass-forming ability and the mechanical properties but also supports a high pitting resistance even at extreme anodic polarization. With regard to the corrosion properties, the Nb-containing nearly single-phase glassy alloy can compete with the β-type Ti-40Nb alloy. In addition, it has been demonstrated that thermal oxidation could be well applied to Ti75Zr10Si15 and Ti60Zr10Nb15Si15 melt-spun ribbons. Thermal oxidation treatment is one of the simple and cost-effective surface modification methods to improve the surface characteristics of these alloys. In the first tests, ribbon samples of the ternary and the quaternary alloy which were oxidized at 550°C in synthetic air showed suitable fundamental properties for implant applications, i.e. high hardness, good wettability and hydroxyapatite-forming ability after 10 days. All these properties recommend the new glass-forming alloys for application as wear- and corrosion-resistant coating materials for implants.Die glasbildende Legierung Ti75Zr10Si15 wird wegen ihrer biokompatiblen Zusammensetzung ohne toxische Elemente und auf Grund interessanter mechanischer Eigenschaften als potentielles neues Implantatmaterial betrachtet. Es wurden 15 at.-% Ti durch Nb partiell substituiert und die Effekte auf die Mikrostruktur und die mechanischen Eigenschaften der Legierung untersucht. Auf Grund der eingeschränkten Glasbildungsfähigkeit von Ti75Zr10Si15 bestehen die schmelzgeschleuderten Bänder dieser Legierung hauptsächlich aus Nanokomposit-Strukturen mit β-phasigen Nanokristallen in einer glasartigen Matrix. Die Zugabe von Nb steigert die Glasbildungsfähigkeit. Das Anheben der Überhitzungstemperatur der Schmelze vor dem Schmelzschleudern von 1923 auf 2053 K führt für beide Legierungen zu einem höheren Anteil amorpher Phase. Es wird bei der Legierung Ti60Zr10Nb15Si15 im Vergleich zur Ti75Zr10Si15-Legierung eine Abnahme der Härte (H), Bruchfestigkeit und ein reduzierter E-Modul (Er) beobachtet. Dies wird mit dem Anstieg des beta-Phasenanteils erklärt. Die schmelzgeschleuderten Bänder zeigen eine interessante Kombination aus sehr hoher Härte und moderaten E-Modul Werten (Er). Dies führt zu vergleichsweise sehr hohen H/Er-Verhältnissen von >0,075, wodurch diese Materialien für Anwendungen mit hohen Verschleißanforderungen geeignet sind. Das Korrosions- und Passivierungsverhalten dieser Legierungen in ihrem homogenisierten schmelzgeschleuderten Zustand wurde in Ringer-Lösung bei 37°C untersucht und mit dem gegossenen vielphasigen kristallinen Zustand dieser Legierungen sowie mit cpTi und beta-Typ Ti-40Nb verglichen. Alle untersuchten Materialien zeigten sehr niedrige Korrosionsraten. Elektrochemische Studien und Oberflächenanalysen belegen eine hohe Stabilität der Passivfilme in einem weiten Potentialbereich. Die Zugabe von Niob verbessert nicht nur die Glasbildungsfähigkeit und die mechanischen Eigenschaften, sondern erhöht weiterhin die Lochfraßbeständigkeit, selbst bei stark anodischer Polarisation. Bezüglich der Korrosionseigenschaften konkurriert die Nb-haltige fast einphasige glasartige Legierung mit β-phasigem Ti-40Nb. Weiterhin wurde gezeigt, dass an schmelzgeschleuderten Bändern der Legierung Ti75Zr10Si15 und Ti60Zr10Nb15Si15 eine thermische Oxidation erfolgreich durchgeführt werden konnte. Die thermische Oxidation ist eine der einfachsten und kosteneffektivsten Möglichkeiten der Oberflächenmodifikation um die Eigenschaften der Oberflächen dieser Legierungen zu verbessern. In den ersten Tests zeigten die Bänder-Proben der ternären und der quaternären Legierung, die bei 550°C in synthetischer Luft oxidiert wurden, entsprechende Eigenschaften für Implantat-Anwendungen, d.h. hohe Härte, gute Benetzbarkeit und die Fähigkeit nach 10 Tagen Hydroxylapatit auf der Oberfläche zu bilden. Alle zuvor genannten Eigenschaften machen diese neuen glasbildenden Legierungen zu geeigneten Materialien für die Anwendung als verschleiß- und korrosionsbeständige Beschichtung für Implantate

Prevalence of Vascular Trauma and Related Factors in Iran: A Systematic Review

Background: Managing patients with Vascular Trauma (VT) is essential. This study aimed todetermine the prevalence of VT and its related factors in Iran.Methods: This systematic review was performed by two skilled researchers. To access all thePersian and English articles on VT and its influencing factors (from 2000 to August 2019),in addition to Google Scholar search engine, other international databases, such as PubMed/Medline, Scopus, Embase, Cochrane Library, Science Direct, Web of Science (ISI), anddomestic databases, such as Magiran, IranDoc, National Library of Iran Organization, SID,and Barakatkns were used. Data analysis was conducted by MA (CMA) software.Results: The incidence of lower Lower Vascular Trauma (LVI) trauma was equal to 58.4(95%CI: 41.1-73.8) (I2= 94.67, Q=112.57, P<0.001); the prevalence of upper LVI trauma wasmeasured to be 31.5 (95%CI: 17.7-49.7) (I2=94.48, Q=108.70, P<0.001); the prevalence ofpenetrating trauma was calculated as 61.3 (95% CI: 49.5-71.9); the prevalence of ulnar nerveinjury equaled 9.8 (95%CI: 2.8-28.6); the prevalence of radial nerve trauma was equal to 7.7(95%CI: 1.2-35.4); the prevalence of death cases was reported as 12.3 (95%CI: 5.1-26.9);the prevalence of amputation rate was observed as 8.8 (95%CI: 5.7-13.4); the prevalenceof fasciotomy rate was equal to 22.2 (95%CI: 13.2-34.5); the prevalence of complete arterycutting equaled 55.7 (95% CI: 35.4-74.3),and the prevalence of incomplete artery cutting wasmeasured as 25.5 (95%CI: 12.1-45.9).Conclusion: According to the study results, VT has led to various complications in patients;thus, it is critical to provide the necessary conditions to preserve the patient’s life and preventlife-threatening complications. Such goals could be achieved by preventing this type of traumaand its related complications

An Investigation of Prescription Indicators and Trends Among General Practitioners and Specialists From 2005 to 2015 in Kerman, Iran

Abstract Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) aims to promote strategies that ensure efficacy, safety, suitability, and cost-effectiveness of medicine prescription. Health systems should design effective mechanisms to monitor prescription and rational use of medicines at all healthcare settings. This study aimed to determine and analyze prescription patterns of general practitioners and specialists in Kerman/Iran from 2005 to 2015. Methods: This is an explanatory mixed method study. Data were gathered during two phases. At the first phase, prescriptions issued by physicians during 2005-2015 were reviewed to extract information required to develop eight main prescription indicators. In the second phase, the indicators trends were presented to experts participating in expert panel to have their opinions and analyses on the data obtained in the first phase. Experts were selected based on their experience and expertise in medicine and/or health policy and/or experience in implementation of polices to promote rational use of medicines. Some experts attending the panel were a sample of physicians whose prescriptions were included in the first phase. Results: Findings revealed that two indicators of the average price of prescriptions and the maximum number of medicines in each prescription had an increasing trend over the study period. Reasons including unprecedented devaluation of the Iranian Rial and willingness of young physicians to prescribe more medications were proposed as the primary contributors to the observed increasing trends. However, other indicators including types of prescribed medicines, average number of medicines per prescription, the percentage of prescriptions with more than four medications, a percentage of encounters with a corticosteroid prescribed, a percentage of encounters with an antibiotic prescribed, and a percentage of encounters with an injection prescribed decreased in the study period. Reasons of controlling initiatives adopted by the Ministry of Health, the higher responsibility of physicians, adoption of continued medical education (CME) programs, and improved knowledge of pharmacists, physicians, and patients about irrational use of medicines were proposed by participants as the main reasons for the decreasing trend. Conclusion: Findings indicated that prescription indicators were better in Kerman than those of country average over the study period based on comparing the results of this study and others in Iran. However, they were non-desirable when compared to the international average. The number of factors contributes to the irrational use of medicines, including lack of knowledge among healthcare providers and patients, patients’ misunderstanding about the efficacy of some particular medicines, the high cost of drug development and manufacturing, and unavailability of effective medicines

Measuring universal health coverage based on an index of effective coverage of health services in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019 : A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background Achieving universal health coverage (UHC) involves all people receiving the health services they need, of high quality, without experiencing financial hardship. Making progress towards UHC is a policy priority for both countries and global institutions, as highlighted by the agenda of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and WHO's Thirteenth General Programme of Work (GPW13). Measuring effective coverage at the health-system level is important for understanding whether health services are aligned with countries' health profiles and are of sufficient quality to produce health gains for populations of all ages. Methods Based on the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019, we assessed UHC effective coverage for 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2019. Drawing from a measurement framework developed through WHO's GPW13 consultation, we mapped 23 effective coverage indicators to a matrix representing health service types (eg, promotion, prevention, and treatment) and five population-age groups spanning from reproductive and newborn to older adults (≥65 years). Effective coverage indicators were based on intervention coverage or outcome-based measures such as mortality-to-incidence ratios to approximate access to quality care; outcome-based measures were transformed to values on a scale of 0–100 based on the 2·5th and 97·5th percentile of location-year values. We constructed the UHC effective coverage index by weighting each effective coverage indicator relative to its associated potential health gains, as measured by disability-adjusted life-years for each location-year and population-age group. For three tests of validity (content, known-groups, and convergent), UHC effective coverage index performance was generally better than that of other UHC service coverage indices from WHO (ie, the current metric for SDG indicator 3.8.1 on UHC service coverage), the World Bank, and GBD 2017. We quantified frontiers of UHC effective coverage performance on the basis of pooled health spending per capita, representing UHC effective coverage index levels achieved in 2019 relative to country-level government health spending, prepaid private expenditures, and development assistance for health. To assess current trajectories towards the GPW13 UHC billion target—1 billion more people benefiting from UHC by 2023—we estimated additional population equivalents with UHC effective coverage from 2018 to 2023. Findings Globally, performance on the UHC effective coverage index improved from 45·8 (95% uncertainty interval 44·2–47·5) in 1990 to 60·3 (58·7–61·9) in 2019, yet country-level UHC effective coverage in 2019 still spanned from 95 or higher in Japan and Iceland to lower than 25 in Somalia and the Central African Republic. Since 2010, sub-Saharan Africa showed accelerated gains on the UHC effective coverage index (at an average increase of 2·6% [1·9–3·3] per year up to 2019); by contrast, most other GBD super-regions had slowed rates of progress in 2010–2019 relative to 1990–2010. Many countries showed lagging performance on effective coverage indicators for non-communicable diseases relative to those for communicable diseases and maternal and child health, despite non-communicable diseases accounting for a greater proportion of potential health gains in 2019, suggesting that many health systems are not keeping pace with the rising non-communicable disease burden and associated population health needs. In 2019, the UHC effective coverage index was associated with pooled health spending per capita (r=0·79), although countries across the development spectrum had much lower UHC effective coverage than is potentially achievable relative to their health spending. Under maximum efficiency of translating health spending into UHC effective coverage performance, countries would need to reach $1398 pooled health spending per capita (US$ adjusted for purchasing power parity) in order to achieve 80 on the UHC effective coverage index. From 2018 to 2023, an estimated 388·9 million (358·6–421·3) more population equivalents would have UHC effective coverage, falling well short of the GPW13 target of 1 billion more people benefiting from UHC during this time. Current projections point to an estimated 3·1 billion (3·0–3·2) population equivalents still lacking UHC effective coverage in 2023, with nearly a third (968·1 million [903·5–1040·3]) residing in south Asia. Interpretation The present study demonstrates the utility of measuring effective coverage and its role in supporting improved health outcomes for all people—the ultimate goal of UHC and its achievement. Global ambitions to accelerate progress on UHC service coverage are increasingly unlikely unless concerted action on non-communicable diseases occurs and countries can better translate health spending into improved performance. Focusing on effective coverage and accounting for the world's evolving health needs lays the groundwork for better understanding how close—or how far—all populations are in benefiting from UHC

Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background: In an era of shifting global agendas and expanded emphasis on non-communicable diseases and injuries along with communicable diseases, sound evidence on trends by cause at the national level is essential. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) provides a systematic scientific assessment of published, publicly available, and contributed data on incidence, prevalence, and mortality for a mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive list of diseases and injuries. Methods: GBD estimates incidence, prevalence, mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) due to 369 diseases and injuries, for two sexes, and for 204 countries and territories. Input data were extracted from censuses, household surveys, civil registration and vital statistics, disease registries, health service use, air pollution monitors, satellite imaging, disease notifications, and other sources. Cause-specific death rates and cause fractions were calculated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model and spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression. Cause-specific deaths were adjusted to match the total all-cause deaths calculated as part of the GBD population, fertility, and mortality estimates. Deaths were multiplied by standard life expectancy at each age to calculate YLLs. A Bayesian meta-regression modelling tool, DisMod-MR 2.1, was used to ensure consistency between incidence, prevalence, remission, excess mortality, and cause-specific mortality for most causes. Prevalence estimates were multiplied by disability weights for mutually exclusive sequelae of diseases and injuries to calculate YLDs. We considered results in the context of the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a composite indicator of income per capita, years of schooling, and fertility rate in females younger than 25 years. Uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated for every metric using the 25th and 975th ordered 1000 draw values of the posterior distribution. Findings: Global health has steadily improved over the past 30 years as measured by age-standardised DALY rates. After taking into account population growth and ageing, the absolute number of DALYs has remained stable. Since 2010, the pace of decline in global age-standardised DALY rates has accelerated in age groups younger than 50 years compared with the 1990–2010 time period, with the greatest annualised rate of decline occurring in the 0–9-year age group. Six infectious diseases were among the top ten causes of DALYs in children younger than 10 years in 2019: lower respiratory infections (ranked second), diarrhoeal diseases (third), malaria (fifth), meningitis (sixth), whooping cough (ninth), and sexually transmitted infections (which, in this age group, is fully accounted for by congenital syphilis; ranked tenth). In adolescents aged 10–24 years, three injury causes were among the top causes of DALYs: road injuries (ranked first), self-harm (third), and interpersonal violence (fifth). Five of the causes that were in the top ten for ages 10–24 years were also in the top ten in the 25–49-year age group: road injuries (ranked first), HIV/AIDS (second), low back pain (fourth), headache disorders (fifth), and depressive disorders (sixth). In 2019, ischaemic heart disease and stroke were the top-ranked causes of DALYs in both the 50–74-year and 75-years-and-older age groups. Since 1990, there has been a marked shift towards a greater proportion of burden due to YLDs from non-communicable diseases and injuries. In 2019, there were 11 countries where non-communicable disease and injury YLDs constituted more than half of all disease burden. Decreases in age-standardised DALY rates have accelerated over the past decade in countries at the lower end of the SDI range, while improvements have started to stagnate or even reverse in countries with higher SDI. Interpretation: As disability becomes an increasingly large component of disease burden and a larger component of health expenditure, greater research and developm nt investment is needed to identify new, more effective intervention strategies. With a rapidly ageing global population, the demands on health services to deal with disabling outcomes, which increase with age, will require policy makers to anticipate these changes. The mix of universal and more geographically specific influences on health reinforces the need for regular reporting on population health in detail and by underlying cause to help decision makers to identify success stories of disease control to emulate, as well as opportunities to improve. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 licens

Measuring universal health coverage based on an index of effective coverage of health services in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background Achieving universal health coverage (UHC) involves all people receiving the health services they need, of high quality, without experiencing financial hardship. Making progress towards UHC is a policy priority for both countries and global institutions, as highlighted by the agenda of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and WHO's Thirteenth General Programme of Work (GPW13). Measuring effective coverage at the health-system level is important for understanding whether health services are aligned with countries' health profiles and are of sufficient quality to produce health gains for populations of all ages. Methods Based on the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019, we assessed UHC effective coverage for 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2019. Drawing from a measurement framework developed through WHO's GPW13 consultation, we mapped 23 effective coverage indicators to a matrix representing health service types (eg, promotion, prevention, and treatment) and five population-age groups spanning from reproductive and newborn to older adults (≥65 years). Effective coverage indicators were based on intervention coverage or outcome-based measures such as mortality-to-incidence ratios to approximate access to quality care; outcome-based measures were transformed to values on a scale of 0–100 based on the 2·5th and 97·5th percentile of location-year values. We constructed the UHC effective coverage index by weighting each effective coverage indicator relative to its associated potential health gains, as measured by disability-adjusted life-years for each location-year and population-age group. For three tests of validity (content, known-groups, and convergent), UHC effective coverage index performance was generally better than that of other UHC service coverage indices from WHO (ie, the current metric for SDG indicator 3.8.1 on UHC service coverage), the World Bank, and GBD 2017. We quantified frontiers of UHC effective coverage performance on the basis of pooled health spending per capita, representing UHC effective coverage index levels achieved in 2019 relative to country-level government health spending, prepaid private expenditures, and development assistance for health. To assess current trajectories towards the GPW13 UHC billion target—1 billion more people benefiting from UHC by 2023—we estimated additional population equivalents with UHC effective coverage from 2018 to 2023. Findings Globally, performance on the UHC effective coverage index improved from 45·8 (95% uncertainty interval 44·2–47·5) in 1990 to 60·3 (58·7–61·9) in 2019, yet country-level UHC effective coverage in 2019 still spanned from 95 or higher in Japan and Iceland to lower than 25 in Somalia and the Central African Republic. Since 2010, sub-Saharan Africa showed accelerated gains on the UHC effective coverage index (at an average increase of 2·6% [1·9–3·3] per year up to 2019); by contrast, most other GBD super-regions had slowed rates of progress in 2010–2019 relative to 1990–2010. Many countries showed lagging performance on effective coverage indicators for non-communicable diseases relative to those for communicable diseases and maternal and child health, despite non-communicable diseases accounting for a greater proportion of potential health gains in 2019, suggesting that many health systems are not keeping pace with the rising non-communicable disease burden and associated population health needs. In 2019, the UHC effective coverage index was associated with pooled health spending per capita (r=0·79), although countries across the development spectrum had much lower UHC effective coverage than is potentially achievable relative to their health spending. Under maximum efficiency of translating health spending into UHC effective coverage performance, countries would need to reach $1398 pooled health spending per capita (US$ adjusted for purchasing power parity) in order to achieve 80 on the UHC effective coverage index. From 2018 to 2023, an estimated 388·9 million (358·6–421·3) more population equivalents would have UHC effective coverage, falling well short of the GPW13 target of 1 billion more people benefiting from UHC during this time. Current projections point to an estimated 3·1 billion (3·0–3·2) population equivalents still lacking UHC effective coverage in 2023, with nearly a third (968·1 million [903·5–1040·3]) residing in south Asia. Interpretation The present study demonstrates the utility of measuring effective coverage and its role in supporting improved health outcomes for all people—the ultimate goal of UHC and its achievement. Global ambitions to accelerate progress on UHC service coverage are increasingly unlikely unless concerted action on non-communicable diseases occurs and countries can better translate health spending into improved performance. Focusing on effective coverage and accounting for the world's evolving health needs lays the groundwork for better understanding how close—or how far—all populations are in benefiting from UHC

Mapping local patterns of childhood overweight and wasting in low- and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2017

A double burden of malnutrition occurs when individuals, household members or communities experience both undernutrition and overweight. Here, we show geospatial estimates of overweight and wasting prevalence among children under 5 years of age in 105 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) from 2000 to 2017 and aggregate these to policy-relevant administrative units. Wasting decreased overall across LMICs between 2000 and 2017, from 8.4% (62.3 (55.1–70.8) million) to 6.4% (58.3 (47.6–70.7) million), but is predicted to remain above the World Health Organization’s Global Nutrition Target of <5% in over half of LMICs by 2025. Prevalence of overweight increased from 5.2% (30 (22.8–38.5) million) in 2000 to 6.0% (55.5 (44.8–67.9) million) children aged under 5 years in 2017. Areas most affected by double burden of malnutrition were located in Indonesia, Thailand, southeastern China, Botswana, Cameroon and central Nigeria. Our estimates provide a new perspective to researchers, policy makers and public health agencies in their efforts to address this global childhood syndemic

Mapping inequalities in exclusive breastfeeding in low- and middle-income countries, 2000–2018

Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF)—giving infants only breast-milk for the first 6 months of life—is a component of optimal breastfeeding practices effective in preventing child morbidity and mortality. EBF practices are known to vary by population and comparable subnational estimates of prevalence and progress across low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are required for planning policy and interventions. Here we present a geospatial analysis of EBF prevalence estimates from 2000 to 2018 across 94 LMICs mapped to policy-relevant administrative units (for example, districts), quantify subnational inequalities and their changes over time, and estimate probabilities of meeting the World Health Organization’s Global Nutrition Target (WHO GNT) of ≥70% EBF prevalence by 2030. While six LMICs are projected to meet the WHO GNT of ≥70% EBF prevalence at a national scale, only three are predicted to meet the target in all their district-level units by 2030