The Design of a Network-On-Chip Architecture Based On An Avionic Protocol

When the Network-On-Chip (NoC) paradigm was introduced, many researchers have proposed many novelistic NoC architectures, tools and design strategies. In this paper we introduce a new approach in the field of designing Network-On-Chip (NoC). Our inspiration came from an avionic protocol which is the AFDX protocol. The proposed NoC architecture is a switch centric architecture, with exclusive shortcuts between hosts and utilizes the flexibility, the reliability and the performances offered by AFDX.Comment: 5 pages World Symposium on Computer Applications & Research WSCAR' 2014, 18-20 January, Sousse, Tunisi

Purification and structure elucidation of three naturally bioactive molecules from the new terrestrial Streptomyces sp. TN17 strain

Thirty litres of fermentation broth was extracted from the newly isolated Streptomyces sp. strain TN17 and various separation and purification steps led to the isolation of three pure bioactive compounds (1–3). Compound 1: cyclo (L-Leu-L-Arg), a diketopiperazine ‘DKP’ derivative; 2: di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, a phthalate derivative; and 3: cyclo 1-[2-(cyclopentanecarbonyl-3-phenyl-propionyl]-pyrrolidine-2-carboxylic acid (1-carbamoyl-propyl)-amide, a cyclic tetrapeptide derivative. The chemical structure of these three active compounds was established on the basis of spectroscopic studies (MS and NMR) and by comparison with data from the literature. According to our biological studies, the pure compounds (1–3) possess antibacterial and antifungal activities

Restriction-based fragmentation of business processes over the cloud

© 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Despite the elasticity and pay-per-use benefits of cloud computing (aka fifth utility computing), organizations adopting clouds could be locked into single cloud providers, which is not always a “pleasant” experience when these providers stop operations. This is a serious concern for those organizations that who would like to deploy (core) business processes on the cloud along with tapping into these two benefits. To address the lock-into concern, this paper proposes an approach for decomposing business processes into fragments that would run over multiple clouds and hence multiple providers. To develop fragments, the approach considers both restrictions over owners of business processes and potential competition among cloud providers. On the one hand, restrictions apply to each task in a business process and are specialized into budget to allocate, deadline to meet, and exclusivity to request. On the other hand, competition leads cloud providers to offer flexible pricing policies that would cater to the needs and requirements of each process owner. A policy handles certain clouds\u27 properties referred to as limitedness, non-renewability, and non-shareability that impact the availability of cloud resources and hence the whole fragmentation. For instance, a non-shareable resource could delay other processes should the current process do not release this resource on time. During fragmentation, interactions between owners of processes and providers of clouds happen according to two strategies referred to as global and partial. The former collects offers about cloud resources from all providers, while the latter collects such details from particular providers. To evaluate these strategies\u27 pros and cons, a system implementing them, as well as demonstrating the technical feasibility of the fragmentation approach using credit-application case study, is also presented in the paper. The system extends BPMN2-modeler Eclipse plugin and supports interactions of processes\u27 owners with clouds\u27 providers that result to identifying the necessary fragments with focus on cost optimization

161: Factors predicting mitral restenosis after successful percutaneous mitral commissurotomy

IntroductionPercutaneous mitral commissurotomy (PMC) is the alternative treatment of choice for mitral stenosis (MS). Its immediate and medium term results are comparable to those of surgical commissurotomy, however in the long term there is a risk of restenosis. The purpose of this study is to determine the factors predicting restenosis after PMC.Methods322 patients (66% women), average age: 35 ±13 years (9-75 years) having a tight MS and treated by PMC with Inoué balloon. The anatomic aspect of the mitral apparatus before PMC has been studied according to the criteria of the Wilkins score with a concomitant study of the state of mitral commissures. The primary success of PMC is defined as follows: mitral area (MA) post-PMC >1,5cm2 and gain in MA >25% and mitral regurgitation (MR) ≤ grade 2. Mitral restenosis is defined as a MA <1,5cm2 and/or loss >50% of initial gain in MA.ResultsThe rate of primary success of PMC was 86% and mean MA post PMC was 1,82±0,33cm2 compared to MA pre-PMC of 1±0,18cm2 (p <0.0001). Opening of two commissures has been observed in 74% of patients. After an average period of 62±32 months, only 12% of patients had a dyspnea stage IIIIV of NYHA, MA was 1,64±0.3cm2 (p<0.001) and mitral restenosis happened in 47 patients (20%) after a period of 60,48±27 months (22–124 months). The independent predictors of mitral restenosis after a successful PMC were: previous surgical commisurotomy, Wilkins score >8, MA after PMC <1,8cm2 and absence of bicommissural opening post PMC.ConclusionA favorable anatomy of mitral apparatus and the optimisation of immediate result of PMC are the guaranty for the maintain of good result in the long term

Postirradiation Osteosarcoma of the Maxilla: A Case Report and Current Review of Literature

Background. Radiation-induced sarcomas are well-known potential late sequelae of radiation therapy. They are of rare occurrence in jaw bones and are even rarer in the maxilla. Case report. We report a case of radiation-induced osteosarcoma involving the maxilla in a patient treated with radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma 14 years ago. Despite neoadjuvant chemotherapy, surgical treatment could not be performed, and the patient received palliative chemotherapy. Conclusions. Radiation-induced osteosarcomas are aggressive and often elude early detection and timely intervention, rapidly leading to early demise of afflicted patients. Long-term patient follow-up and a high index of suspicion are crucial for timely intervention

Hereditary breast cancer in Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) populations: identification of novel, recurrent and founder BRCA1 mutations in the Tunisian population

Germ-line mutations in BRCA1 breast cancer susceptibility gene account for a large proportion of hereditary breast cancer families and show considerable ethnic and geographical variations. The contribution of BRCA1 mutations to hereditary breast cancer has not yet been thoroughly investigated in Middle Eastern and North African populations. In this study, 16 Tunisian high-risk breast cancer families were screened for germline mutations in the entire BRCA1 coding region and exon–intron boundaries using direct sequencing. Six families were found to carry BRCA1 mutations with a prevalence of 37.5%. Four different deleterious mutations were detected. Three truncating mutations were previously described: c.798_799delTT (916 delTT), c.3331_3334delCAAG (3450 delCAAG), c.5266dupC (5382 insC) and one splice site mutation which seems to be specific to the Tunisian population: c.212 + 2insG (IVS5 + 2insG). We also identified 15 variants of unknown clinical significance. The c.798_799delTT mutation occurred at an 18% frequency and was shared by three apparently unrelated families. Analyzing five microsatellite markers in and flanking the BRCA1 locus showed a common haplotype associated with this mutation. This suggests that the c.798_799delTT mutation is a Tunisian founder mutation. Our findings indicate that the Tunisian population has a spectrum of prevalent BRCA1 mutations, some of which appear as recurrent and founding mutations

Leptin and leptin receptor polymorphisms are associated with increased risk and poor prognosis of breast carcinoma

BACKGROUND: Leptin (LEP) has been consistently associated with angiogenesis and tumor growth. Leptin exerts its physiological action through its specific receptor (LEPR). We have investigated whether genetic variations in LEP and LEPR have implications for susceptibility to and prognosis in breast carcinoma. METHODS: We used the polymerase chain reaction and restriction enzyme digestion to characterize the variation of the LEP and LEPR genes in 308 unrelated Tunisian patients with breast carcinoma and 222 healthy control subjects. Associations of the clinicopathologic parameters and these genetic markers with the rates of the breast carcinoma-specific overall survival (OVS) and the disease free survival (DFS) were assessed using univariate and multivariate analyses. RESULTS: A significantly increased risk of breast carcinoma was associated with heterozygous LEP (-2548) GA (OR = 1.45; P = 0.04) and homozygous LEP (-2548) AA (OR = 3.17; P = 0.001) variants. A highly significant association was found between the heterozygous LEPR 223QR genotype (OR = 1.68; P = 0.007) or homozygous LEPR 223RR genotype (OR = 2.26; P = 0.001) and breast carcinoma. Moreover, the presence of the LEP (-2548) A allele showed a significant association with decreased disease-free survival in breast carcinoma patients, and the presence of the LEPR 223R allele showed a significant association with decreased overall survival. CONCLUSION: Our results indicated that the polymorphisms in LEP and LEPR genes are associated with increased breast cancer risk as well as disease progress, supporting our hypothesis for leptin involvement in cancer pathogenesis