Multi-threaded Simulation of 4G Cellular Systems within the LTE-Sim Framework

Nowadays, an always increasing number of researchers and industries are putting a large effort in the design and the implementation of protocols, algorithms, and network architectures targeted at the the emerging 4G cellular technology. In this context, multi-core/multi-processor simulation tools can accelerate their activities by drastically reducing the time required to simulate complex scenarios. Unfortunately, today's available tools are mostly single-threaded and they cannot exploit the performance gain offered by parallel programming approaches. To bridge this gap, we have significantly upgraded the LTE-Sim framework by implementing a concurrent scheduling algorithm, namely the Multi-Master Scheduler, aimed at efficiently handling events in a parallel manner, while guaranteeing the correct execution of the simulation itself. Experimental results will demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposal and the performance gain that can be achieved with respect to other classical event scheduling algorithms

Design of Coordinated HeNB Deployments

Uncoordinated deployment of HeNBs has been widely considered, in the research community. However, due to economic or physical constraints, a coordinated deployment of HeNBs can also be considered. This work studies a selected examples of HeNB deployment. We consider the deployment of four Enterprise HeNB which serve up to 8 simultaneous users, in a building, with a geometry of 5x5 apartments. From the theoretical study on the average SINR, we have learned that the smaller the apartment areas are the higher the values for the average SINR are. The performance evolution of the system focuses on the values obtained for the average goodput, Packet Loss Ratio (PLR) and delay for the Proportional Fair, Frame Level Scheduler (FLS) and Exponential Rule (EXPRule) schedulers, with users using a video and a best effort flows at the same time. For the video flows the maximum average goodput was obtained with the FLS scheduler, but when the PLR is taken into account the EXPRule present a slight advantage. In the case of the BE flows, the EXPRule present the best performance. But the main lesson learned is that it is possible to operate a coordinated HeNB deployments without setting the transmitter power of the HeNBs to the maximum value, which can be a step to achieve a greener system.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Folk medicine used to heal malaria in Calabria (southern Italy)

In Italy, malaria was an endemic disease that was eradicated by the mid-20th century. This paper evaluates the prophylactic and therapeutic remedies used by folk medicine to cure malaria in Calabria (southern Italy)

Performance Evaluation and Packet Scheduling in HeNB Deployments

The unsupervised and chaotic deployment of Home eNBs (HeNBs) is leading to high levels of interference. To understand the behaviour of the interference of these uncoordinated deployments is vital to reach significant capacity improvement and also to explore opportunities to save energy. This paper considers high and middle interference level scenarios, with a maximum of four users per cell. HeNBs indoor deployed is considered within building. We theoretically analyse the traffic performance of this scenario through the study of the Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise-Ratio (SINR). Through the use of the LTE-Sim simulator one obtains the quality indicators for two flows that are being utilised by the users. Video and best effort are studied, while varying the transmitter power and the areas of the apartments. The achieved SINR is higher (around 10 dBm) when the area of the cells is smaller. The variation of the transmitter power of the HeNBs does not present any significant impact. Noticeable throughout the simulations is observed that is possible to operate the system without setting the transmitter power of HeNBs to the maximum value at both interference levels. Simulation results also show that with the considered flows is possible to serve the maximum number of four users per HeNB with high quality. This statement is confirmed by the maximum achieved Packet Loss Ratio for video with a value of value of 1.6 %, which is lower than the maximum of 2 % indicated by the 3GPP. Taking into account the obtained results it is possible to promote a reduction in energy consumption of the HeNBs without penalizing the service quality.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Molecular dissection of Phaseolus vulgaris polygalacturonase-inhibiting protein 2 reveals the presence of hold/release domains affecting protein trafficking toward the cell wall

The plant endomembrane system is massively involved in the synthesis, transport and secretion of cell wall polysaccharides and proteins; however, the molecular mechanisms underlying trafficking toward the apoplast are largely unknown. Besides constitutive, the existence of a regulated secretory pathway has been proposed. A polygalacturonase inhibitor protein (PGIP2), known to move as soluble cargo and reach the cell wall through a mechanism distinguishable from default, was dissected in its main functional domains (A, B, C, D), and C sub-fragments (C1–10), to identify signals essential for its regulated targeting. The secretion patterns of the fluorescent chimeras obtained by fusing different PGIP2 domains to the green fluorescent protein (GFP) were analyzed. PGIP2 N-terminal and leucine-rich repeat domains (B and C, respectively) seem to operate as holding/releasing signals, respectively, during PGIP2 transit through the Golgi. The B domain slows down PGIP2 secretion by transiently interacting with Golgi membranes. Its depletion leads, in fact, to the secretion via default (Sp2-susceptible) of the ACD-GFP chimera faster than PGIP2. Depending on its length (at least the first 5 leucine-rich repeats are required), the C domain modulates B interaction with Golgi membranes allowing the release of chimeras and their extracellular secretion through a Sp2 independent pathway. The addition of the vacuolar sorting determinant Chi to PGIP2 diverts the path of the protein from cell wall to vacuole, suggesting that C domain is a releasing rather than a cell wall sorting signal

Cascaded WLAN-FWA Networking and Computing Architecture for Pervasive In-Home Healthcare

Pervasive healthcare is a promising assisted-living solution for chronic patients. However, current cutting-edge communication technologies are not able to strictly meet the requirements of these applications, especially in the case of life-threatening events. To bridge this gap, this paper proposes a new architecture to support indoor healthcare monitoring, with a focus on epileptic patients. Several novel elements are introduced. The first element is the cascading of a WLAN and a cellular network, where IEEE 802.11ax is used for the wireless local area network to collect physiological and environmental data in-home and 5G-enabled Fixed Wireless Access links transfer them to a remote hospital. The second element is the extension of the network slicing concept to the WLAN, and the introduction of two new slice types to support both regular monitoring and emergency handling. Moreover, the inclusion of local computing capabilities at the WLAN router, together with a mobile edge computing resource, represents a further architectural enhancement. Local computation is required to trigger not only health-related alarms, but also the network slicing change in case of emergency: in fact, proper radio resource scheduling is necessary for the cascaded networks to handle healthcare traffic together with other promiscuous everyday communication services. Numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach while highlighting the performance gain achieved with respect to baseline solutions

Growth patterns and associated risk factors of congenital malformations in twins

The rate of twinning continues to increase due to the combined effect of a rise in parental age and increased use of assisted reproductive technology. The risk of congenital anomalies in twins is higher than in singletons, but it is less well reported in relation to growth patterns. We focused to the auxological outcome of twin pregnancies when one or both of twins are affected by one or more malformations

Smoking, DNA Adducts and Number of Risk DNA Repair Alleles in Lung Cancer Cases, in Subjects with Benign Lung Diseases and in Controls

Smoke constituents can induce DNA adducts that cause mutations and lead to lung cancer. We have analyzed DNA adducts and polymorphisms in two DNA repair genes, for example, XRCC1 Arg194Trp and Arg399Gln genes and XRCC3 Thr241Met gene, in 34 lung cancer cases in respect to 30 subjects with benign lung cancer disease and 40 healthy controls. When the study population was categorized in base to the number of risk alleles, adducts were significantly increased in individuals bearing 3-4 risk alleles (OR = 4.1 95% C.I. 1.28–13.09, P = .009). A significant association with smoking was noticed in smokers for more than 40 years carrying 3-4 risk alleles (OR = 36.38, 95% C.I. 1.17–1132.84, P = .040). A not statistically significant increment of lung cancer risk was observed in the same group (OR = 4.54, 95% C.I. 0.33–62.93, P = .259). Our results suggest that the analysis of the number of risk alleles predicts the interindividual variation in DNA adducts of smokers and lung cancer cases