Linking session based services with transport plane resources in IP multimedia subsystems.

The massive success and proliferation of Internet technologies has forced network operators to recognise the benefits of an IP-based communications framework. The IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) has been proposed as a candidate technology to provide a non-disruptive strategy in the move to all-IP and to facilitate the true convergence of data and real-time multimedia services. Despite the obvious advantages of creating a controlled environment for deploying IP services, and hence increasing the value of the telco bundle, there are several challenges that face IMS deployment. The most critical is that posed by the widespread proliferation ofWeb 2.0 services. This environment is not seen as robust enough to be used by network operators for revenue generating services. However IMS operators will need to justify charging for services that are typically available free of charge in the Internet space. Reliability and guaranteed transport of multimedia services by the efficient management of resources will be critical to differentiate IMS services. This thesis investigates resource management within the IMS framework. The standardisation of NGN/IMS resource management frameworks has been fragmented, resulting in weak functional and interface specifications. To facilitate more coherent, focused research and address interoperability concerns that could hamper deployment, a Common Policy and Charging Control (PCC) architecture is presented that defines a set of generic terms and functional elements. A review of related literature and standardisation reveals severe shortcomings regarding vertical and horizontal coordination of resources in the IMS framework. The deployment of new services should not require QoS standardisation or network upgrade, though in the current architecture advanced multimedia services are not catered for. It has been found that end-to-end QoS mechanisms in the Common PCC framework are elementary. To address these challenges and assist network operators when formulating their iii NGN strategies, this thesis proposes an application driven policy control architecture that incorporates end-user and service requirements into the QoS negotiation procedure. This architecture facilitates full interaction between service control and resource control planes, and between application developers and the policies that govern resource control. Furthermore, a novel, session based end-to-end policy control architecture is proposed to support inter-domain coordination across IMS domains. This architecture uses SIP inherent routing information to discover the routes traversed by the signalling and the associated routes traversed by the media. This mechanism effectively allows applications to issue resource requests from their home domain and enable end-to-end QoS connectivity across all traversed transport segments. Standard interfaces are used and transport plane overhaul is not necessary for this functionality. The Common PCC, application driven and session based end-to-end architectures are implemented in a standards compliant and entirely open source practical testbed. This demonstrates proof of concept and provides a platform for performance evaluations. It has been found that while there is a cost in delay and traffic overhead when implementing the complete architecture, this cost falls within established criteria and will have an acceptable effect on end-user experience. The open nature of the practical testbed ensures that all evaluations are fully reproducible and provides a convenient point of departure for future work. While it is important to leave room for flexibility and vendor innovation, it is critical that the harmonisation of NGN/IMS resource management frameworks takes place and that the architectures proposed in this thesis be further developed and integrated into the single set of specifications. The alternative is general interoperability issues that could render end-to-end QoS provisioning for advanced multimedia services almost impossible

CAN REGIONALISM PROVIDE STABILIZATION TO CENTRAL ASIA AND THUS AFGHANISTAN?

This research was undertaken as there is a gap in the current academic realm, in which Central Asia and Afghanistan were heavily referenced, but none which went a step further and critically analyzed a new regionalism which would tie Afghanistan and Central Asia together bilaterally and multilaterally, whilst also deciphering through analysis, theory, and practice, the most suitable type of regionalism to be employed to achieve stability in Central Asia and thus Afghanistan. There is much discussion on regionalism as a standalone product and theory, and little on the formulation of a new regional body, one which can provide the framework for a unique type of forum which is necessary for Central Asia. Inclusiveness, openness, non-judgmentalism, and building links through trade, security, and development across the board where the main issues to be researched in order to find a more perfect union for the region, one which could offer hope, change, and a radical departure from the failed techniques of the status quo, following the ASEAN method. The methodology employed in the research included the case study method and historical analysis. These forms of research in themselves provide a solid foundation to answer the research questions in order to formulate the most likely form of regionalism needed to be employed to accomplish stability in Central Asia, including proposing the radical notion of strong man politics or illiberal regionalism. The results were that cooperation on many levels from the grassroots up to the highest echelons of government were necessary for cooperation between Central Asian states. Key areas of common concern were identified, and cooperation based upon these has the probability to spur further cooperation and integration needed to work towards a regionalist model with the goal of stabilizing and growing prosperity and development in Central Asia and Afghanistan, the implications of which are self-evident and self-proving

New Evidence for Early Silk in the Indus Civilization

Silk is an important economic fiber, and is generally considered to have been the exclusive cultural heritage of China. Silk weaving is evident from the Shang period, though the earliest evidence for silk textiles in ancient China dates to more than a millennium earlier. New study of fibers from Harappan bronze artifacts reveals surprising early evidence for knowledge of silkworking in South Asia, the earliest evidence in the world for any silk outside China, and roughly contemporaneous with the earliest Chinese evidence for silk. This important new finding brings into question the traditional historical notion of sericulture as being an exclusively Chinese invention

Optimizing health literacy: improving health and reducing health inequities: a selection of information sheets from the health literacy toolkit for low- and middle-income countries

This series of information sheets introduces health literacy, its relevance to public policy, and the ways it can be used to inform the promotion of good health, the prevention and management of communicable and noncommunicable diseases, and the reduction of health inequities. It provides information and links to further resources to assist organizations and governments to incorporate health literaacy responses into practice, service delivery systems, and policy

Antiplatelet response to aspirin and clopidogrel in patients with coronary artery disease undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention

Aspirin and clopidogrel are cornerstone therapies in cardiovascular disease. In particular, they are almost universally prescribed in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Evidence has emerged of a variation in the antiplatelet effects of aspirin and clopidogrel between individual patients with a suggestion of an increased risk of adverse cardiovascular events. However, the optimal method of measuring response to aspirin and clopidogrel remains uncertain. In light of this, the antiplatelet effects of both aspirin and clopidogrel were studied in patients with coronary artery disease, concentrating on patients undergoing PCI. Initially, a pilot study of 40 patients investigated the use of thromboxane B2 (TxB2), VerifyNow Aspirin, VerifyNow P2Y12, platelet fibrinogen binding and intra-platelet vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein levels (VASP-PRI) to measure response to aspirin and clopidogrel. This was followed by a larger study assessing aspirin and clopidogrel response in 323 patients attending for coronary angiography with a view to PCI. These patients were tested by measuring TxB2, VerifyNow P2Y12, VASP and whole blood impedance platelet aggregation (WBPA). The primary objective was to investigate whether measures of aspirin or clopidogrel efficacy predicted peri-procedural myocardial necrosis following PCI. In addition, a small series of 10 patients had aspirin and clopidogrel response measured following stent thrombosis. A wide variation in the antiplatelet effects of both aspirin and clopidogrel was found by all measures. Correlation between assays ranged from moderate to poor. Of particular interest, it was found that measurement of [TxB2] may facilitate the assessment of aspirin response in patients already taking clopidogrel. There was a high incidence of myocardial necrosis following coronary intervention assessed by elevation of troponin I. Only VerifyNow P2Y12 and VASP-PRI were associated with a significantly increased frequency of myocardial necrosis following PCI. The data of this thesis confirm a wide variation in response to aspirin and clopidogrel. Good response to clopidogrel was associated with reduced myocardial necrosis during PCI. TxB2 may be the best measure of aspirin response for patients taking both therapies. How these measures may be incorporated into clinical practice remains uncertain