The Turbocharged Becker Flap: a Simple Variation that Allows Coverage of Most of the Dorsum of the Hand

Cover of medium and large defects of the dorsum of the hand remains a substantial surgical challenge that often requires free tissue transfer. We report the case of a 28-year-old male who presented with necrosis of most of the dorsum of his dominant hand after an iatrogenic injury. A large Becker flap was raised to cover the entire defect. However, venous insufficiency was noted intraoperatively. The flap was turbocharged by performing a venous anastomosis between the flap and the recipient site, resulting in complete survival of the flap. The authors conclude that the turbocharged Becker flap can be a good alternative for expeditiously covering large defects of the dorsum of the hand without having to resort to free tissue transfer

Wireless network virtualization: Opportunities for spectrum sharing in the 3.5GHz band

In this paper, we evaluate the opportunities that Wireless Network Virtualization (WNV) can bring for spectrum sharing by focusing on the regulatory framework that has been deployed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for the 3.5GHz band. We pair this innovative regulatory approach with another novel arrangement, Wireless Network Virtualization, and thus assess the resulting opportunities from the perspectives of regulation, technology and economics. To this end, we have established a comprehensive foundation for further exploration and development of virtualized networks that would provide significant opportunities for enabling and enhancing current sharing arrangements

Reconstruction of Large Defect of Foot with Extensive Bone Loss Exclusively Using a Latissimus Dorsi Muscle Free Flap: a Potential New Indication for this Flap

In cases of extensive damage to the foot, with significant bone loss, it is generally accepted that reconstruction must include bone flaps or grafts either in the emergency setting or subsequently. In this report, we describe the case of an 18-year-old student with an avulsion injury of the dorsum of his right foot. Consequently, he lost most of the soft tissue over the dorsum of the foot and the cuboid, navicular, and cuneiform bones. A latissimus dorsi free flap was used to reconstruct the defect. A functional pseudoarthrosis developed between the remaining bones of the foot, and the patient experienced satisfactory foot function after rehabilitation. For this reason, no additional reconstructive procedure was undertaken. This case suggests that it might be adequate to use the latissimus dorsi muscle flap more liberally than previously reported in the reconstruction of extensive defects of the dorsum of the foot, including cases with significant bone loss. This option could avoid the morbidity and inconvenience of a second surgery and the need to harvest a bone flap or graft

Wireless Network Virtualization: Opportunities for Spectrum Sharing in the 3.5GHz Band

In this paper, we evaluate the opportunities that Wireless Network Virtualization (WNV) can bring for spectrum sharing by focusing on the regulatory framework that has been deployed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for the 3.5GHz band. Pairing this regulatory approach with WNV permits us to present a sharing proposal where emphasis is made on increasing resource availability and providing flexible methods for negotiating for resource access. We include an economics framework that aims at presenting an additional perspective on the attainable outcomes of our sharing proposal. We find that by pairing regulatory flexibility with an enabling technology, within an appropriate economics context, we can increase resource access opportunities and enhance current sharing arrangements

How can polycentric governance of spectrum work?

Spectrum policy in the US (and throughout most of the world) consists generally of a set of nationally determined policies that apply uniformly to all localities. However, it is also true that there is considerable variation in the features (e.g., traffic demand or population density), requirements and constraints of spectrum use on a local basis. Global spectrum policies designed to resolve a situation in New York City could well be overly restrictive for communities in rural areas (such as central Wyoming). At the same time, it is necessary to ensure that more permissive policies of central Wyoming would not create problems for NYC (by ensuring, for example, that relocated radios adapt to local policies). Notions of polycentric governance that have been articulated by the late E. Ostrom [16] argue that greater good can be achieved by allowing for local autonomy in resource allocation. Shared access to spectrum is generally mediated through one of several technologies. As shown in [21], approaches mediated by geolocation databases are the most cost effective in today's technology. In the database oriented Spectrum Access System, or SAS, proposed by the FCC, users are granted (renewable) usage rights based on their location for a limited period of time. Because this system grants usage rights on a case-by-case basis, it may also allow for greater local autonomy while still maintaining global coordination. For example, it would be technically feasible for the database to include parameters such as transmit power, protocol, and bandwidth. Thus, they may provide the platform by which polycentric governance might come to spectrum management. In this paper, we explore, through some case examples, what polycentric governance of spectrum might look like and how this could be implemented in a database-driven spectrum management system. In many ways this paper is a complement to [20], which evaluted emerging SAS architectures using Ostrom's socioeconomic theory. This paper explores how a SAS-based system could be constructed that is consistent with Ostrom's polycentric governance ideas. Our approach is to address spectrum management as an emergent phenomenon rather than a top down system. This paper will describe the key details of this system and present some initial modeling results in comparison with the traditional global model of spectrum regulation. It will also discuss some of the concerns associated with this approach

Dimensions of cooperative spectrum sharing: Rights and enforcement

Sharing of radio spectrum requires a careful and nuanced understanding of the rights of incumbents and spectrum entrants. In addition, the dynamics of stakeholders can be understood by examining how various rights are arranged (and rearranged) among them. Importantly, understanding the rights and their distribution is the predicate to developing rational and useful enforcement approaches. In this paper, we show that spectrum sharing involves a rearrangement of the rights associated with radio spectrum among stakeholders. We show how this rearrangement of rights implies the definition of new bundles of rights, appropriate to each particular sharing scenario. We discover these rights - and their (re)arrangement - by examining several cases of spectrum use. We begin with the rights associated with exclusive use and proceed to consider rights arrangement in commons and different spectrum sharing configurations. Further, in the case of commons, we explicitly examine how governance of commons can affect the rights distribution in spectrum. In each case, the bundles of rights associated with each stakeholder changes. New bundles of rights have consequences, not only on the behavior of spectrum users but also on the enforcement process. Our examination of the bundles of rights shows that each rearrangement results in different approaches to enforcement. We demonstrate this by revisiting enforcement in the cases we examine. © 2014 IEEE

Socio-technical considerations for Spectrum Access System (SAS) design

Spectrum Access Systems (SAS) are emerging as a principal mechanism for managing the sharing of radio spectrum. The design of the SAS depends on the specification of spectrum property rights and the governance system by which those rights are enforced. Current perspectives on SAS design have been too limited, focusing narrowly on the technical components without adequate consideration of socio-technical factors that will impact the likely success of any SAS design. In this paper, we apply the social science literature on the management of common pool resources (CPR) to the design challenge for the SAS. Heretofore, too much of the discussion has focused on an overly simplistic characterization of the spectrum rights design space as a dichotomous choice between licensed v. unlicensed, markets v. government, and exclusive v. open. The CPR framework forces consideration of a wider class of design options, positioning the specifications of spectrum property rights more appropriately along a multi-dimensional continuum of rights bundles. The CPR framework highlights the importance of considering formal and informal, multi-layered institutional and market-based interactions among SAS stakeholders when designing a resource management system. We will explain how this leads one to view the SAS as a polycentric governance system (using the terminology in the CPR literature). By examining the economic and social context of spectrum sharing, we assert that these emerging systems must be sufficiently flexible to adapt to various forms of resource governance, which refers to the process by which rights are distributed among stakeholders, how those rights are enforced, and how the resource is managed. We illustrate how the insights from the CPR literature might be implemented in a prototype SAS architecture

Hepatocellular carcinoma: Review of disease and tumor biomarkers.

© The Author(s) 2016.Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common malignancy and now the second commonest global cause of cancer death. HCC tumorigenesis is relatively silent and patients experience late symptomatic presentation. As the option for curative treatments is limited to early stage cancers, diagnosis in non-symptomatic individuals is crucial. International guidelines advise regular surveillance of high-risk populations but the current tools lack sufficient sensitivity for early stage tumors on the background of a cirrhotic nodular liver. A number of novel biomarkers have now been suggested in the literature, which may reinforce the current surveillance methods. In addition, recent metabonomic and proteomic discoveries have established specific metabolite expressions in HCC, according to Warburgs phenomenon of altered energy metabolism. With clinical validation, a simple and non-invasive test from the serum or urine may be performed to diagnose HCC, particularly benefiting low resource regions where the burden of HCC is highest

Essai de conservation de la tomate par la technique de la déshydratation imprégnation par immersion (DII)

La Déshydratation Imprégnation par Immersion (DII) est une technique de conservation à long terme déjà appliquée sur certains fruits comme la mangue, l’ananas, la banane, etc. Le présent travail est une application de la DII à la conservation de la tomate (Lycopercicon esculentum Mill.) variété locale Tounvi largement cultivée au Bénin. Ainsi, dans les conditions expérimentales de production, une augmentation de la teneur en matière sèche soluble de 5% à 80,79% sous l’effet de la chaleur au cours de l’obtention des tomates séchées, s’est traduite par une élévation subséquente de la teneur en cendres qui passe de 0,51% pour le produit frais à 0,75% à la fin de la DII. L’acidité des tomates également varie de 4,5 g/L à 5,72 g/L, ce qui entraîne une légère diminution du pH qui passe de 4,36 à 4,12 à la fin de la DII. Nous notons également une diminution de la teneur en vitamine C qui passe de 335,41 mg/L (produit frais) à 178,25 mg/L (produit séché), soit une réduction de 53,14%. Sur le plan microbiologique, pendant une période de sept (7) semaines, une conformité à la norme AFNOR (NFV-08-402) est notée ; ce qui justifie une bonne stabilité des produits, caractérisée par l’absence des Anaérobies Sulfito-Réducteurs (ASR) et la présence de 35 UFC de germe aérobie mésophile/g et de 20 UFC Levures et Moisissures/g de tomates séchées.Mots clés: Tomate, conservation, qualité, stabilité microbiologiqu

Combinatorial multivalent interactions drive cooperative assembly of the COPII coat

Protein secretion is initiated at the endoplasmic reticulum by the COPII coat, which self-assembles to form vesicles. Here, we examine the mechanisms by which a cargo-bound inner coat layer recruits and is organized by an outer scaffolding layer to drive local assembly of a stable structure rigid enough to enforce membrane curvature. An intrinsically disordered region in the outer coat protein, Sec31, drives binding with an inner coat layer via multiple distinct interfaces, including a newly defined charge-based interaction. These interfaces combinatorially reinforce each other, suggesting coat oligomerization is driven by the cumulative effects of multivalent interactions. The Sec31 disordered region could be replaced by evolutionarily distant sequences, suggesting plasticity in the binding interfaces. Such a multimodal assembly platform provides an explanation for how cells build a powerful yet transient scaffold to direct vesicle traffic