Lattice Coding for the Two-way Two-relay Channel

Lattice coding techniques may be used to derive achievable rate regions which outperform known independent, identically distributed (i.i.d.) random codes in multi-source relay networks and in particular the two-way relay channel. Gains stem from the ability to decode the sum of codewords (or messages) using lattice codes at higher rates than possible with i.i.d. random codes. Here we develop a novel lattice coding scheme for the Two-way Two-relay Channel: 1 2 3 4, where Node 1 and 4 simultaneously communicate with each other through two relay nodes 2 and 3. Each node only communicates with its neighboring nodes. The key technical contribution is the lattice-based achievability strategy, where each relay is able to remove the noise while decoding the sum of several signals in a Block Markov strategy and then re-encode the signal into another lattice codeword using the so-called "Re-distribution Transform". This allows nodes further down the line to again decode sums of lattice codewords. This transform is central to improving the achievable rates, and ensures that the messages traveling in each of the two directions fully utilize the relay's power, even under asymmetric channel conditions. All decoders are lattice decoders and only a single nested lattice codebook pair is needed. The symmetric rate achieved by the proposed lattice coding scheme is within 0.5 log 3 bit/Hz/s of the symmetric rate capacity.Comment: submitted to IEEE Transactions on Information Theory on December 3, 201

A 60 GHz Wireless Network for Enabling Uncompressed Video Communication

Uncompressed high-definition video streaming over wireless personal area networks is a challenging problem because of the high data rate requirement and channel variations. With the advances in RF technology and the huge bandwidth available worldwide in the 57–66 GHz millimeter-wave unlicensed spectrum, mmWave WPANs that can support multigigabit transmission are being developed. However, compared to low-frequency signals (2.4 or 5 GHz), mmWave signals are more fragile; indeed, the propagation losses are significantly higher. In this article we present an mmWave system for supporting uncompressed HD video up to 3 Gb/s. The system includes various efficient error protection and concealment schemes that exploit unequal error resilience properties of uncompressed video. Some of them have been adopted in the emerging 60 GHz WPAN standards such as WirelessHD, ECMA TC48, and IEEE 802.15.3c. Simulations using real uncompressed HD images indicate that the proposed mmWave system can maintain, under poor channel conditions, good average peak-signal-to-noise-ratio and low video quality metric scores

Support of Uncompressed Video Streaming Over 60GHz Wireless Networks

Uncompressed HD (high-definition) video delivery over wireless personal area networks (WPANs) is a challenging problem because of the limited bandwidth and variations in channel. The 60GHz millimeter-wave (mmWave) band has recently drawn much interest because of the huge bandwidth that it can provide from 57-66 GHz unlicensed spectrum available worldwide. However, to date a system design supporting uncompressed HD video over WPAN is still lacking. In this paper, we develop, simulate, and evaluate an mmWave system for supporting Uncompressed Video streaming over Wireless (UVoW). New features of the UVoW system incorporates: (i) UEP (unequal error protection) where different video bits (MSBs and LSBs) are protected differently, (ii) a multi-CRC to determine whether MSB or/and LSB portions are in error, (iii) UV-ARQ, uncompressed video retransmission protocol which allows the receiver to request only those portions of a video packet which have high importance. Simulations indicate that the UVoW system achieves significantly higher video quality than normal systems under various wireless channel conditions. This shows that UVoW is a promising wireless system supporting uncompressed HD video

Supporting Uncompressed HD Video Streaming without Retransmissions over 60GHz Wireless Networks

Uncompressed HD (high-definition) video delivery over wireless personal area networks (WPANs) is a challenging problem because of the limited bandwidth and variations in channel. The most straight forward technique to recover from channel errors is to retransmit corrupted packets. However, retransmissions introduce significant delay/jitter and require additional bandwidth. Therefore, retransmissions may be unsuitable for uncompressed video streaming. In this paper, we develop, simulate, and evaluate an millimeter- wave (mmWave) system for supporting uncompressed video streams up to 3-Gbps without any retransmissions. New features of the mmWave system incorporates: (i) UEP (unequal error protection) where different video bits (MSBs and LSBs) are protected differently, (ii) a multiple-CRC to determine whether MSB or/and LSB portions are in error, (iii) RS code swapping (RSS), an error concealment scheme which can conceal some errors in video pixels. Simulations using real uncompressed HD images indicate that the proposed mmWave system can maintain good average PSNR (peak-signal-to-noise-ratio) under poor channel conditions, achieving what is generally accepted as a good picture quality with PSNR values greater than 40 dB. Moreover, the proposed system results in less fluctuating PSNR values

Autonomous Coordinator Selection in Beamformed 60GHz Wireless Networks

In 60 GHz wireless networks, autonomous coordinator selection is required to find a device to coordinate the transmissions among devices. In order to minimize the power consumption for the coordinator, we utilize the direction information extracted from beamformed transmissions in finding the coordinator automatically. The problem is formulated as a K-center problem, which is a NP-hard problem in general. Analysis is carried out to find optimal solutions in certain tractable topologies. Numerical algorithms and simulation results are further presented for random two dimensional topologies

Molecular mechanisms of cell death: recommendations of the Nomenclature Committee on Cell Death 2018.

Over the past decade, the Nomenclature Committee on Cell Death (NCCD) has formulated guidelines for the definition and interpretation of cell death from morphological, biochemical, and functional perspectives. Since the field continues to expand and novel mechanisms that orchestrate multiple cell death pathways are unveiled, we propose an updated classification of cell death subroutines focusing on mechanistic and essential (as opposed to correlative and dispensable) aspects of the process. As we provide molecularly oriented definitions of terms including intrinsic apoptosis, extrinsic apoptosis, mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT)-driven necrosis, necroptosis, ferroptosis, pyroptosis, parthanatos, entotic cell death, NETotic cell death, lysosome-dependent cell death, autophagy-dependent cell death, immunogenic cell death, cellular senescence, and mitotic catastrophe, we discuss the utility of neologisms that refer to highly specialized instances of these processes. The mission of the NCCD is to provide a widely accepted nomenclature on cell death in support of the continued development of the field

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Correction to: Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Adaptive Pre-Stored Video Streaming With End System Multicast

End system multicast is regarded as a promising architecture for multimedia group communications over the Internet. In this paper we discuss how to integrate adaptation capability from the application and flexible multicast functionality from End system multicast for prestored video streaming applications. First we propose a generalized intelligent packetization approach to differentiate information with different priorities within or between bitstreams. Then we describe the enhanced End system multicast scheme to support adaptive applications. We als o present a fast and simple packet-level rate adaptation mechanism with simple logical and arithmetic operators for the proposed End system multicast