Analysis of QoS Requirements for e-Health Services and Mapping to Evolved Packet System QoS Classes

E-Health services comprise a broad range of healthcare services delivered by using information and communication technology. In order to support existing as well as emerging e-Health services over converged next generation network (NGN) architectures, there is a need for network QoS control mechanisms that meet the often stringent requirements of such services. In this paper, we evaluate the QoS support for e-Health services in the context of the Evolved Packet System (EPS), specified by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) as a multi-access all-IP NGN. We classify heterogeneous e-Health services based on context and network QoS requirements and propose a mapping to existing 3GPP QoS Class Identifiers (QCIs) that serve as a basis for the class-based QoS concept of the EPS. The proposed mapping aims to provide network operators with guidelines for meeting heterogeneous e-Health service requirements. As an example, we present the QoS requirements for a prototype e-Health service supporting tele-consultation between a patient and a doctor and illustrate the use of the proposed mapping to QCIs in standardized QoS control procedures

Early stage of crystallization of (Zr1-xHfx)62Ni38 metallic glasses

This paper reports a directly observable correlation between the chemical short-range order and the electrical resistivity in metallic glasses. The phase transition corresponding to the first exotherm observed in a differential-scanning-calorimetry (DSC) scan on (Zr1-xHfx)62Ni38 is peculiar in a sense that, contrary to usual metallic glasses, this transition is associated with an increase in electrical resistivity, and x-ray diffraction measurements taken just after the DSC peak shows only the broad diffuse band characteristic of the glassy phase. Electrical resistivity, differential scanning calorimetry, low-temperature superconducting measurements, high-angle x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and Mössbauer spectroscopy are used to study this transition in detail

Relative Leaf Expansion Rate as an Indicator of Compensatory Growth of Defoliated Vines (Vitis vinifera L. cv. Prokupac)

Defoliation is a common practice in vineyards, with numerous benefits for vine microclimate conditions, andit can significantly improve the composition of grapes. In addition, early defoliation reduces the active leafarea, which affects the modifications of the source-sink balance and decreases whole-vine photosynthesis.The reaction of grapevines to early defoliation is to mitigate the effects through compensatory growth,resulting in more lateral shoots with a greater number of leaves. In this study, we evaluate the use of nondestructiveand continuous measurements of mean and lateral leaf area on the same shoots for the purposeof monitoring leaf area development and calculating relative leaf expansion rate (RLER) during activegrowth. The results show that the grapevine’s ability to recover its leaf area after defoliation dependsmainly on the time of defoliation. Vines defoliated early had time to compensate for the removed leaves byproducing a greater number of lateral shoots with more leaves, resulting in a larger total leaf area. Witha decrease in shoot growth during vegetation, the recovery ability decreases, and compensatory growthis therefore not enough to restore the reduced leaf area. Based on the value of RLER, it is shown that, ifdefoliation is performed in the period of intensive shoot growth, it retards the emergence of new shootsand leaves over several days, followed by a period of regrowth. Very slow or no growth of shoots and leavesoccurred with defoliation after the véraison stage

3-Methyladenine DNA glycosylase activity in a glial cell line sensitive to the haloethylnitrosoureas in comparison with a resistant cell line

Extracts of a glial cell line (SF-126) which is sensitive to the cytotoxic effect of the haloethylnitrosoureas and of a cell line (SF-188) which is resistant to these agents have been tested for their ability to release methylated bases from a DNA substrate which has been modified with [3H]dimethyl sulfate. In comparison with the sensitive cell line, extracts from the resistant cell line have 2-3-fold higher enzymatic activity. High performance liquid chromatography profiles of the bases which are released by these extracts show that the activity is specific for 3-methyladenine, suggesting that the resistant cells contain elevated levels of 3-methyladenine DNA glycosylase. Previous studies have shown that these cells also contain elevated levels of O6-alkylguanine-DNA alkyl-transferase, suggesting that both enzyme activities may be involved in the resistance of this cell line to the haloethylnitrosoureas

Characteristics and outcomes of patients receiving Hospital at Home Services in the South West of Sydney

Background: Hospital at home (HaH) provides acute or subacute care in a patient’s home, that normally would require a hospital stay. HaH has consistently been shown to improve patient outcomes and reduce health care costs. The characteristics and outcomes of patients receiving HaH care across the South Western Sydney Local Health District (SWSLHD) has not been well described. This project aimed to describe the characteristics and outcomes of HaH services across the SWSLHD. Methods: The characteristics of patients referred to HaH between January 2017 and December 2019, the indications for HaH, and representation rates to hospital emergency department (ED) will be presented. Results: Between January 2017 and December 2019 there was 7118 referrals to the local health district’s (LHD) HaH services, among 6083 patients (3094 females, 51%), median age 56 years (Interquartile range (IQR), 40–69). The majority of indications for HaH were for intravenous venous (IV) medications (78%, n = 5552), followed by post-operative drain management (11%, n = 789), rehab in the home (RiTH) (5%, n = 334), bridging anticoagulant therapy (4%, n = 261), and intraperitoneal medications (1%, n = 100). The requirement for presentation to an ED for care, while receiving HaH only occurred on 172 (2%) of occasions. The average length of HaH treatment was 7-days (IQR 4–16). Rates of presentation to ED for HaH patients have decreased since 2017, 3.4% (95% CI 2.7–4.2%), 2018 2.1% (95% CI 1.5–2.8%), and 2019 1.8% (95% CI 1.3–2.4%), p-value for trend < 0.001. Conclusion: Hospital at Home is well established, diverse, and safe clinical service to shorten, or avoid hospitalisation, for many patients. Importantly, avoidance of hospitalisation can avoid many risks that are associated with being cared for in the hospital setting

Ginzburg-Landau theory of superconducting surfaces under electric fields

A boundary condition for the Ginzburg-Landau wave function at surfaces biased by a strong electric field is derived within the de Gennes approach. This condition provides a simple theory of the field effect on the critical temperature of superconducting layers.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur

Conveying and Handling Location Information in the IP Multimedia Subsystem

The IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), specified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), is a key element in the next-generation network (NGN) converged architecture. Extending the IMS towards provisioning support for location based services (LBS) will enable enhanced services and offer new revenues to the operator. Conveying location information in the IMS and connecting the IMS with a positioning system are still open issues. This paper presents the design and implementation of an IMS Location Server (ILS) integrating IMS with a positioning system. From the IMS perspective, the ILS serves as a service enabler for LBS. In order to demonstrate proof-of-concept in enhancing IMS-based services, two prototype service scenarios have been implemented: Location-aware Messaging (LaM), and Location-aware Push-to-Talk over cellular (LaPoC). Some work has been done by the IETF in the area of location information transport based on the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). This paper proposes improvements in this area, primarily related to reducing the necessary amount of signaling with the specification of a new type of location filter. We have conducted measurements in a laboratory environment in order to illustrate our proposed solution and verify the benefits compared to existing solutions in terms of traffic load and session establishment time. Furthermore, we present a case study integrating the ILS with the Ericsson Mobile Positioning System (MPS)

El Círculo Vicioso De Los Efectos Del Cambio Climático En Poblaciones Rurales Migrantes Del Altiplano Boliviano

El objetivo del presente artículo de reflexión es ver cómo el impacto del cambio climático ha influenciado en una masiva migración campo-ciudad y de cómo esta migración a su vez, influye en el cambio climático. Metodológicamente se ha trabajado revisando las conclusiones realizadas en estudios sobre el impacto del cambio climático en la agricultura, contrastado con la sistematización de experiencias del Desarrollo Comunitario en proyectos de agua y saneamiento en áreas periurbanas. Como resultado de esto se ha encontrado que las migraciones antes temporales, se están convirtiendo en definitivas, alentadas por mejoras económicas, pero que a su vez estos asentamientos periurbanos desordenados y sin planificación son fuentes emisoras de CO2 que contribuyen al calentamiento global y en consecuencia al cambio climático. Se concluye que los efectos del cambio climático alientan cada vez más a migraciones definitivas campo-ciudad y que este efecto se traduce en un círculo vicioso: migración producto de los cambios climáticos, urbanización desordenada que contribuye al cambio climático que a su vez es causa de la migración. Para evitar este fenómeno se recomienda aplicar estrategias de adaptación al cambio climático como la gestión integral del recurso hídrico, el manejo integral de cuencas y un mayor estudio de adaptación de los cultivos a las variabilidades climáticas. AbstractThe objective of the present article in reflection is seeing the impact of climate change has influenced in a massive migration field-city and how this migration at the same time, influencing climate change. Methodologically he worked reviewing the conclusions carried out studies on the impact of climate change on Agriculture contrasted with the systematization of experiences of community development projects in water and sanitation in peri-urban areas. As result of this has been found that migration before storms, are becoming definitive, encouraged by economic improvements, but at the same time these peri-urban settlements disordered and unplanned are sources of CO2 that contribute to global warming and thus to climate change. It is concluded that the effects of climate change will encourage increasingly definitive migration field-city and this effect translates in a vicious cycle: migration product of climatic changes, disorderly urbanization contributing to climate change which, in turn, is cause of migration. To avoid this phenomenon, it is recommended to apply strategies of adaptation to climate change as the integral management of water resources, integrated watershed management and further study of adaptation of crops to climate variability. El objetivo del presente artículo de reflexión es ver cómo el impacto del cambio climático ha influenciado en una masiva migración campo-ciudad y de cómo esta migración a su vez, influye en el cambio climático. Metodológicamente se ha trabajado revisando las conclusiones realizadas en estudios sobre el impacto del cambio climático en la agricultura, contrastado con la sistematización de experiencias del Desarrollo Comunitario en proyectos de agua y saneamiento en áreas periurbanas. Como resultado de esto se ha encontrado que las migraciones antes temporales, se están convirtiendo en definitivas, alentadas por mejoras económicas, pero que a su vez estos asentamientos periurbanos desordenados y sin planificación son fuentes emisoras de CO2 que contribuyen al calentamiento global y en consecuencia al cambio climático. Se concluye que los efectos del cambio climático alientan cada vez más a migraciones definitivas campo-ciudad y que este efecto se traduce en un círculo vicioso: migración producto de los cambios climáticos, urbanización desordenada que contribuye al cambio climático que a su vez es causa de la migración. Para evitar este fenómeno se recomienda aplicar estrategias de adaptación al cambio climático como la gestión integral del recurso hídrico, el manejo integral de cuencas y un mayor estudio de adaptación de los cultivos a las variabilidades climáticas. AbstractThe objective of the present article in reflection is seeing the impact of climate change has influenced in a massive migration field-city and how this migration at the same time, influencing climate change. Methodologically he worked reviewing the conclusions carried out studies on the impact of climate change on Agriculture contrasted with the systematization of experiences of community development projects in water and sanitation in peri-urban areas. As result of this has been found that migration before storms, are becoming definitive, encouraged by economic improvements, but at the same time these peri-urban settlements disordered and unplanned are sources of CO2 that contribute to global warming and thus to climate change. It is concluded that the effects of climate change will encourage increasingly definitive migration field-city and this effect translates in a vicious cycle: migration product of climatic changes, disorderly urbanization contributing to climate change which, in turn, is cause of migration. To avoid this phenomenon, it is recommended to apply strategies of adaptation to climate change as the integral management of water resources, integrated watershed management and further study of adaptation of crops to climate variability.

Food additives in chemistry lessons

Els additius alimentaris són components comuns en els aliments i un bon context d'estudi per a les classes de química. En aquest treball, es descriu una sessió de laboratori per a estudiants de secundària (17-18 anys). Els alumnes van determinar algunes propietats físiques i químiques de quatre additius «desconeguts». Utilitzant els resultats de les proves, els estudiants havien d'esbrinar, entre els deu possibles additius d'una determinada llista, quins eren els quatre additius analitzats. Els estudiants van treballar en petits grups. Un 26 % dels estudiants (grups) va identificar correctament els quatre additius, un 29 % en va identificar tres i el 45 % en va identificar dos.Food additives are common food components and they should be studied in chemistry classes. This paper describes a lab lesson for high school seniors (17-18 years old). They tested some physical and chemical properties of four unknown additives. Using the test results the students had to figure out which four of the ten additives from a list given had been tested. The students worked in small groups. All four correct additives were chosen by 26 % of students (groups), three correct additives by 29 % and two correct additives by 45 % of students