Optimized LTE Data Transmission Procedures for IoT: Device Side Energy Consumption Analysis

The efficient deployment of Internet of Things (IoT) over cellular networks, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) or the next generation 5G, entails several challenges. For massive IoT, reducing the energy consumption on the device side becomes essential. One of the main characteristics of massive IoT is small data transmissions. To improve the support of them, the 3GPP has included two novel optimizations in LTE: one of them based on the Control Plane (CP), and the other on the User Plane (UP). In this paper, we analyze the average energy consumption per data packet using these two optimizations compared to conventional LTE Service Request procedure. We propose an analytical model to calculate the energy consumption for each procedure based on a Markov chain. In the considered scenario, for large and small Inter-Arrival Times (IATs), the results of the three procedures are similar. While for medium IATs CP reduces the energy consumption per packet up to 87% due to its connection release optimization

Geographic distribution of suitable hosts explains the evolution of specialized gentes in the European cuckoo Cuculus canorus

Background Several types of selective forces can act to promote parasite specialization. Parasites might specialize on some suitable hosts at the cost of decreasing effectiveness when exploiting other species of hosts, and specialization can be more easily selected for in hosts that the parasites will easily find. Thus demographic characteristics of suitable hosts such as population density and its spatial consistency could be key factors predicting probability of parasite specialization and speciation. Here, we explore this hypothesis by studying the relationship between occurence of specialized races of the European cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) (i.e. gentes) and mean and coefficient of variation in population density estimated for 12 different European regions. Results The results were in accordance with the hypothesis because specialized cuckoo egg morphs were more common in suitable hosts with high population density and low variation in population density at the level of host species or genera. Conclusion We have presented evidence suggesting that population density and homogeneity of geographic distribution of hosts explain, at least partly, the evolution of specialized egg-morphs of the European cuckoo. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that resource (i.e., host) predictability explains the evolution of host races and species of parasites.The study received financial support from project CGL2007-61251/BOS – FEDER to JJS and APM and Junta de Andalucía grants to research groups RNM 340 (JJS) and RNM 341 (MMV)

Sibling Competition and Conspicuousness of Nestling Gapes in Altricial Birds: A Comparative Study

Background: Nestlings of altricial birds capture parents ’ attention through conspicuous visual displays, including exposure of their gape coloration which informs parents about their level of need, competitive ability or health; information that parents use for deciding food allocation among their offspring. Thus, because nestlings compete with nest mates for parental care, nestling conspicuousness is expected to increase with level of sibling competition along bird phylogeny. Methodology/Principal Findings: We test this prediction by jointly using information of brood reduction, clutch size and duration of nestling period as proxies for intensity of sibling competition, and visual models that assess detectability of nestlings by adult birds. As predicted, we found a positive association between nestling conspicuousness and intensity of brood reduction, while clutch size and duration of nestling period did not enter in the best models. Level of brood reduction was positively related with the achromatic component of nestling conspicuousness and body mass was negatively related with the chromatic component. Conclusions: These associations are in agreement with the hypothesis that sibling competition for parental attention has driven the evolution of visual nestling conspicuousness in a context of parent-offspring communication in altricial birds

De la burla a la doctrina. Francisco de Quevedo como autor de sermones

The literature of Francisco de Quevedo has been traditionally studied from a position of preference towards its playful side. The reason is because readers and editors have left unattended the most theological part of his literature. By fortune, current critics know that this kind of studies are, actually, a serie of topics that has awaken the correct and true comprehension of the whole of Quevedo’s texts. In this sense, we propose an approach to the most ascetic fraction of Quevedo’s literature, closely connected to the sacred baroque oratory, through the analysis of three homiletic writings.La literatura de Francisco de Quevedo ha sido estudiada en siglos anteriores desde una postura de clara preferencia hacia su faceta lúdico-festiva. Esta preferencia ha provocado que la parte más grave y teológica de su obra haya quedado, casi siempre, desatendida por editores y lectores. Afortunadamente, la crítica actual es bien consciente de que estos acercamientos unilaterales a la figura del polígrafo madrileño forman parte de una serie de tópicos pasados que lastran, hoy, la verdadera comprensión de toda su obra. En este sentido, se propone un acercamiento a la parcela más ascética de la literatura quevediana, estrechamente vinculada a la oratoria sagrada barroca, a través del análisis de tres escritos homiléticos

Testing for alpha-1 antitrypsin in COPD in outpatient respiratory clinics in Spain: A multilevel, cross-sectional analysis of the EPOCONSUL study

Background Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) is the most common hereditary disorder in adults, but is under-recognized. In Spain, the number of patients diagnosed with AATD is much lower than expected according to epidemiologic studies. The objectives of this study were to assess the frequency and determinants of testing serum α1-antitrypsin (AAT) levels in COPD patients, and to describe factors associated with testing. Methods EPOCONSUL is a cross-sectional clinical audit, recruiting consecutive COPD cases over one year. The study evaluated serum AAT level determination in COPD patients and associations between individual, disease-related, and hospital characteristics. Results A total of 4,405 clinical records for COPD patients from 57 Spanish hospitals were evaluated. Only 995 (22.5%) patients had serum AAT tested on some occasion. A number of patient characteristics (being male [OR 0.5, p < 0.001], ≤55 years old [OR 2.38, p<0.001], BMI≤21 kg/m2 [OR 1.71, p<0.001], FEV1(%)<50% [OR 1.35, p<0.001], chronic bronchitis [OR 0.79, p < 0.001], Charlson index ≥ 3 [OR 0.66, p < 0.001], or history or symptoms of asthma [OR 1.32, p<0.001]), and management at a specialized COPD outpatient clinic [OR 2.73,p<0.001] were identified as factors independently associated with ever testing COPD patients for AATD. Overall, 114 COPD patients (11.5% of those tested) had AATD. Of them, 26 (22.8%) patients had severe deficiency. Patients with AATD were younger, with a low pack-year index, and were more likely to have emphysema (p<0.05). Conclusion Testing of AAT blood levels in COPD patients treated at outpatient respiratory clinics in Spain is infrequent. However, when tested, AATD (based on the serum AAT levels ≤100 mg/dL) is detected in one in five COPD patients. Efforts to optimize AATD case detection in COPD are needed.SEPA

NAPA: An algorithm to auto-tune unicast reliable communications over DDS

This paper proposes NAPA (Non-supervised Adaptative Publication Algorithm) a framework for a uto-tuning unicast reliable communications over DDS. We provide the NAPA design rationale, and some implementation details. After the experimental conducted evaluation, we demonstrate how using the subscriber's feedback, as NAPA does, the publisher can vary its sending rate in order to improve the overall performance in terms of end-to-end latency and throughput in DDS applications.Universidad de Granada. Departamento de Teoría de la Señal, Telemática y ComunicacionesThis research was partially founded by Spanish Ministry of Education (collaboration grant 2012-2013)

Design and implementation of an ultrasonic sensor for rapid monitoring of industrial malolactic fermentation of wines

Ultrasound is an emerging technology that can be applied to monitor food processes. However, ultrasonic techniques are usually limited to research activities within a laboratory environment and they are not extensively used in industrial processes. The aim of this paper is to describe a novel ultrasonic sensor designed to monitor physical–chemical changes that occur in wines stored in industrial tanks. Essentially, the sensor consists of an ultrasonic transducer in contact with a buffer rod, mounted inside a stainless steel tube section. This structure allows the ultrasonic sensor to be directly installed in stainless steel tanks of an industrial plant. The operating principle of this design is based on the measurement of ultrasonic velocity of propagation. To test its proper operation, the sensor has been used to measure changes of concentration in aqueous samples and to monitor the progress of a malolactic fermentation of red wines in various commercial wineries. Results show the feasibility of using this sensor for monitoring malolactic fermentations in red wines placed in industrial tanks.Postprint (author's final draft

A Comparative Study of PMETAC-Modified Mesoporous Silica and Titania Thin Films for Molecular Transport Manipulation

The manipulation and understanding of molecular transport across functionalized nanopores will take us closer to mimicking biological membranes and thus to design high-performance permselective separation systems. In this work, Surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP) of (2-methacryloyloxy)-ethyltrimethylammonium chloride (METAC) was performed on both mesoporous silica and mesoporous titania thin films. Pores were proven to be filled using ellipsometry and diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS). Furthermore, the employed method leads to a polymer overlayer, whose thickness could be discriminated using a double-layer ellipsometry model. Cyclic voltammetry experiments reveal that the transport of electrochemically active probes is affected by the PMETAC presence, both due to the polymer overlayer and the confined charge of the pore-tethered PMETAC. A more detailed study demonstrates that ion permeability depends on the combined role of the inorganic scaffolds’ (titania and silica) surface chemistry and the steric and charge exclusion properties of the polyelectrolyte. Interestingly, highly charged negative walls with positively charged polymers may resemble zwitterionic polymer behavior in confined environments

A LoRaWAN testbed design for supporting critical situations: prototype and evaluation

The Internet of Things is one of the hottest topics in communications today, with current revenues of $151B, around 7 billion connected devices, and an unprecedented growth expected for next years. A massive number of sensors and actuators are expected to emerge, requiring new wireless technologies that can extend their battery life and can cover large areas. LoRaWAN is one of the most outstanding technologies which fulfill these demands, attracting the attention of both academia and industry. In this paper, the design of a LoRaWAN testbed to support critical situations, such as emergency scenarios or natural disasters, is proposed. This self-healing LoRaWAN network architecture will provide resilience when part of the equipment in the core network may become faulty. This resilience is achieved by virtualizing and properly orchestrating the different network entities. Different options have been designed and implemented as real prototypes. Based on our performance evaluation, we claim that the usage of microservice orchestration with several replicas of the LoRaWAN network entities and a load balancer produces an almost seamless recovery which makes it a proper solution to recover after a system crash caused by any catastrophic event.Postprint (published version