Priority-Oriented Adaptive Control With QoS Guarantee for Wireless LANs.

In today’s wireless networks there is a great need for QoS, because of the time-bounded voice, audio and video traffic. A new QoS enhanced standard is being standardized by the IEEE 802.11e workgroup. It uses a contention free access mechanism called Hybrid Control Channel Access (HCCA) to guarantee QoS. However, HCCA is not efficient for all types of time-bounded traffic. This work proposes an alternative protocol which could be adapted in HCF (Hybrid Coordination Function). The Priority Oriented Adaptive Control with QoS Guarantee (POAC-QG) is a complete centralized channel access mechanism, it is able to guarantee QoS for all types of multimedia network applications, it enhances the parameterized traffic with priorities, and it supports time division access using slots. Furthermore, it instantly negotiates the quality levels of the traffic streams according to their priorities, supporting multiple streams to the best quality it can achieve. POAC-QG compared to HCCA, provides higher channel utilization, adapts better to the characteristics of the different traffic types, differentiates the traffic streams more efficiently using priorities, and generally exhibits superior performance

Prediction of solar proton event fluence spectra from their peak flux spectra

Solar Proton Events (SPEs) are of great importance and significance for the study of Space Weather and Heliophysics. These populations of protons are accelerated at high energies ranging from a few MeVs to hundreds of MeVs and can pose a significant hazard both to equipment on board spacecrafts as well as astronauts as they are ionizing radiation. The ongoing study of SPEs can help to understand their characteristics, relative underlying physical mechanisms, and help in the design of forecasting and nowcasting systems which provide warnings and predictions. In this work, we present a study on the relationships between the Peak Flux and Fluence spectra of SPEs. This study builds upon existing work and provides further insights into the characteristics and the relationships of SPE Peak flux and Fluence spectra. Moreover it is shown how these relationships can be quantified in a sound manner and exploited in a simple methodology with which the Fluence spectrum of an SPE can be well predicted from its given Peak spectrum across two orders of magnitude of proton energies, from 5 MeV to 200 MeV. Finally it is discussed how the methodology in this work can be easily applied to forecasting and nowcasting systems

Role of Receptor Profiling for Personalized Therapy in a Patient with a Growth Hormone-Secreting Macroadenoma Resistant to First-Generation Somatostatin Analogues

Background: Acromegaly is almost always caused by a pituitary adenoma and is associated with high morbidity and mortality when uncontrolled. Trans-sphenoidal removal of the adenoma is the mainstay of therapy, but fails to control the disease in a significant number of patients who require further treatment. Somatostatin analogues (SSAs) as monotherapy or in combination with growth hormone (GH)-receptor antagonists and/or dopamine agonists are used either alone or in combination following surgical failure to achieve disease control. The use of specific biomarkers may help to individualize the therapeutic plan after surgical failure and direct towards a more personalized approach. Methods: We report a 41-year-old man with acromegaly and residual disease after repeated surgery that was resistant to first-generation SSAs. Results: Biochemical and tumor control were achieved following the administration of a second-generation SSA, pasireotide, combined with pegvisomant, both at maximal doses and along with cabergoline. Histology specimens showed a sparsely-granulated GH-immunostaining pituitary adenoma with intense positivity for somatostatin receptors 2 and 5 and low levels of E-cadherin. Conclusion: Personalized medical therapy guided by currently available biomarkers, such as immunohistochemically-characterized receptor profiling or adhesion molecules, resulted in controlled insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and GH levels and symptom alleviation following the combination of three drug-classes

Four cycles of paclitaxel and carboplatin as adjuvant treatment in early-stage ovarian cancer: a six-year experience of the Hellenic Cooperative Oncology Group

BACKGROUND: Surgery can cure a significant percentage of ovarian carcinoma confined to the pelvis. Nevertheless, there is still a 10–50% recurrence rate. We administered paclitaxel/carboplatin as adjuvant treatment in early-stage ovarian carcinoma. METHODS: Patients with stages Ia or Ib, Grade 2 or 3 and Ic to IIb (any grade) were included. Patients were treated with 4 cycles of Paclitaxel 175 mg/m(2 )and Carboplatin [area under the curve (AUC) 6 (Calvert Formula)] every 3 weeks. RESULTS: Sixty-nine patients with no residual disease following cytoreductive surgery and minimal or modified surgical staging were included in this analysis. Grade 3 or 4 neutropenia occured in 29.9% of patients, while neutropenic fever was reported in 4.5%. Neurotoxicity (all Grade 1 or 2) was reported in 50% of cases. Median follow-up was 62 months. 5-year overall survival (OS) and relapse-free survival (RFS) were: 87% (95% confidence intervals [CI]: 78–96) and 79% (95% CI: 69–89), respectively. Significantly fewer patients with stages Ic-IIb and tumor grade 2 or 3 achieved a 5-year RFS than patients with only one of these two factors (73% vs 92%, p = 0.03). CONCLUSION: Paclitaxel/Carboplatin chemotherapy is a safe and effective adjuvant treatment in early-stage ovarian carcinoma. Patients with stages Ic-IIb and tumor grade 2 or 3 may benefit from more extensive treatment

Alcohol use and abuse in training conscripts of the Hellenic navy

OBJECTIVES: Alcohol abuse and addiction are big current problems of the developed world having multivariate causality and multiple effects. Alcohol abuse in young people is a matter of central importance due to its wide range long lasting effects, especially so in Greece where the problem has only recently started growing. The Hellenic Navy is interested in the complications of alcohol abuse in training conscripts. Because young conscripts will be placed in demanding positions, but also because in Greece the military service is obligatory and represents an important period for the socialization of young men. METHODS: In the present study, levels of alcohol use and abuse were measured in a sample of 650 male training conscripts of the Hellenic Navy. The tools used are: (a) two questionnaires measuring frequency and quantity of alcohol consumption and psychosocial variables, (b) the CAGE test, which is a questionnaire measuring hidden alcoholism. RESULTS: 38,1% conscripts were characterized problematic drinkers according the adolescents criteria. Additional psychological complications were related to alcohol use. Using the stricter criterion for adults (plus psychological complications) 8.9% were found to be problematic drinkers. The use of CAGE questionnaire which is measuring hidden alcoholism, identified 16% of the total sample as hidden alcoholics. DISCUSSION: The findings regarding unregular levels of alcohol use and abuse are presented as well as their relation to psychosocial complications and to demographic characteristics. The results are discussed in the light of Creek and international bibliography

Mapping genomic loci implicates genes and synaptic biology in schizophrenia

Schizophrenia has a heritability of 60-80%1, much of which is attributable to common risk alleles. Here, in a two-stage genome-wide association study of up to 76,755 individuals with schizophrenia and 243,649 control individuals, we report common variant associations at 287 distinct genomic loci. Associations were concentrated in genes that are expressed in excitatory and inhibitory neurons of the central nervous system, but not in other tissues or cell types. Using fine-mapping and functional genomic data, we identify 120 genes (106 protein-coding) that are likely to underpin associations at some of these loci, including 16 genes with credible causal non-synonymous or untranslated region variation. We also implicate fundamental processes related to neuronal function, including synaptic organization, differentiation and transmission. Fine-mapped candidates were enriched for genes associated with rare disruptive coding variants in people with schizophrenia, including the glutamate receptor subunit GRIN2A and transcription factor SP4, and were also enriched for genes implicated by such variants in neurodevelopmental disorders. We identify biological processes relevant to schizophrenia pathophysiology; show convergence of common and rare variant associations in schizophrenia and neurodevelopmental disorders; and provide a resource of prioritized genes and variants to advance mechanistic studies

MUSiC : a model-unspecific search for new physics in proton-proton collisions at root s=13TeV

Results of the Model Unspecific Search in CMS (MUSiC), using proton-proton collision data recorded at the LHC at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb(-1), are presented. The MUSiC analysis searches for anomalies that could be signatures of physics beyond the standard model. The analysis is based on the comparison of observed data with the standard model prediction, as determined from simulation, in several hundred final states and multiple kinematic distributions. Events containing at least one electron or muon are classified based on their final state topology, and an automated search algorithm surveys the observed data for deviations from the prediction. The sensitivity of the search is validated using multiple methods. No significant deviations from the predictions have been observed. For a wide range of final state topologies, agreement is found between the data and the standard model simulation. This analysis complements dedicated search analyses by significantly expanding the range of final states covered using a model independent approach with the largest data set to date to probe phase space regions beyond the reach of previous general searches.Peer reviewe

Measurement of prompt open-charm production cross sections in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

The production cross sections for prompt open-charm mesons in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13TeV are reported. The measurement is performed using a data sample collected by the CMS experiment corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 29 nb(-1). The differential production cross sections of the D*(+/-), D-+/-, and D-0 ((D) over bar (0)) mesons are presented in ranges of transverse momentum and pseudorapidity 4 < p(T) < 100 GeV and vertical bar eta vertical bar < 2.1, respectively. The results are compared to several theoretical calculations and to previous measurements.Peer reviewe

Development and validation of HERWIG 7 tunes from CMS underlying-event measurements

This paper presents new sets of parameters (“tunes”) for the underlying-event model of the HERWIG7 event generator. These parameters control the description of multiple-parton interactions (MPI) and colour reconnection in HERWIG7, and are obtained from a fit to minimum-bias data collected by the CMS experiment at s=0.9, 7, and 13Te. The tunes are based on the NNPDF 3.1 next-to-next-to-leading-order parton distribution function (PDF) set for the parton shower, and either a leading-order or next-to-next-to-leading-order PDF set for the simulation of MPI and the beam remnants. Predictions utilizing the tunes are produced for event shape observables in electron-positron collisions, and for minimum-bias, inclusive jet, top quark pair, and Z and W boson events in proton-proton collisions, and are compared with data. Each of the new tunes describes the data at a reasonable level, and the tunes using a leading-order PDF for the simulation of MPI provide the best description of the dat