Moderate Growth Time Series for Dynamic Combinatorics Modelisation

Here, we present a family of time series with a simple growth constraint. This family can be the basis of a model to apply to emerging computation in business and micro-economy where global functions can be expressed from local rules. We explicit a double statistics on these series which allows to establish a one-to-one correspondence between three other ballot-like strunctures

Control on System Diffusion Using Genetic Automata

International audienceComplex systems \citep{Moigne1999} are models which describe dynamic organizations or systems where the internal interaction network between their components does not allow the control of individual components with efficience. In a lot of cases, the individual control leads to break the whole structure itself. In other cases, some complex systems exhibit resilience properties which lead them to recover their initial state after small perturbations or individual controls. Controlling complex systems need to not trying to manage the individual controls but to manage the global control, guiding the whole system without directly act on individuals themselves. The study presented in this paper explains how to control a high level system property, the diffusive behavior, by spectral analysis over genetic automata. First experiments are presented using MuPad implementation

Shift operators and complex systems

International audienceIn this paper, we deal with some multiagent systems modelling, based on population of automata.We focus our attention with automatic computation of emerging systems. A multiscale representation is proposed here and consists in representing the internal states of an agent behaviour by a automaton with multiplicities, on the one hand and an adaptive global system behaviour by a genetic algorithm over a population of automata, on the other hand. This genetic process can lead to generate many new automata which behaviour can be eventually similar. The role played by shift operators is to identify these similar behaviours. Two applications are presented. The first one concerns adaptive strategies in game theory. The second one concerns an automatic emerging computation of self-organised multiagent systems based on the efficience of operation expressivity of automata with multiplicities

Jostling for Advantage or Not: Choosing Between Patent Portfolio Races and Ex Ante Licensing

Complex high technology industries are increasingly affected by patent thickets in which firms’ patents mutually block the use of important technologies. Firms facing patent thickets patent intensively to acquire bargaining chips and use licensing to ensure freedom to operate. Such licensing allows rivals to either avoid or resolve hold-up from blocking patents. R&D incentives depend on whether licensing takes place ex ante or ex post. We model the choice between ex ante licensing and entry into patent portfolio races leading to ex post licensing. It is shown that higher degrees of blocking lead firms to license ex post, while stronger product market competition leads firms to license ex ante. Empirical results support these theoretical predictions

Multicast source mobility support for regenerative satellite networks

YesSatellite communications provides an effective solution to the ever increasing demand for mobile and ubiquitous communications especially in areas where terrestrial communication infrastructure is not present. IP multicasting is a bandwidth saving technology which could become an indispensable means of group communication over satellites since it can utilise the scarce and expensive satellite resources in an efficient way. In Source-Specific Multicast (SSM) the data is sent through a multicast tree from the source to all the receivers. However, if a source is a mobile node moving from one network to another, then special mechanisms are required to make sure this multicast tree does not break. Until now, while many research efforts have been made to provide IP multicast for the mobile nodes, they are mainly focused on terrestrial networks. Unfortunately, the terrestrial mobile multicast schemes are not directly applicable in a satellite environment. This paper, proposes a new mechanism to support multicast source mobility in SSM based applications for a mesh multi-beam satellite network with receivers both within the satellite network and in the Internet. In the proposed mechanism, the SSM receivers continue to receive multicast traffic from the mobile source despite the fact that the IP address of the source keeps on changing as it changes its point of attachment from one satellite gateway (GW) to another. The proposed scheme is evaluated and the results compared with the mobile IP home subscription (MIP HS)-based approach. The results show that the proposed scheme outperforms the MIP HS-based approach in terms of signalling cost and packet delivery cost

IP multicast receiver mobility support using PMIPv6 in a global satellite network

YesA new generation of satellite systems that support regenerative on-board processors (OBPs) and multiple spot beam technology have opened new and efficient possibilities of implementing IP multicast communication over satellites. These new features have widened the scope of satellite-based applications and also enable satellite operators to efficiently utilize their allocated bandwidth resources. This makes it possible to provide cost effective satellite network services. IP multicast is a network layer protocol designed for group communication to save bandwidth resources and reduce processing overhead on the source side. The inherent broadcast nature of satellites, their global coverage (air, land, and sea), and direct access to a large number of subscribers imply satellites have unrivalled advantages in supporting IP multicast applications. IP mobility support in general and IP mobile multicast support in particular on mobile satellite terminals like the ones mounted on long haul flights, maritime vessels, continental trains, etc., still remain big challenges that have received very little attention from the research community. This paper proposes how Proxy Mobile IPv6 (PMIPv6)-based IP multicast mobility support defined for terrestrial networks can be adopted and used to support IP mobile multicast in future satellite networks, taking cognizance of the trend in the evolution of satellite communications

Drug-coated balloons to improve femoropopliteal artery patency: rationale and design of the LEVANT 2 trial

Background Atherosclerotic peripheral artery disease (PAD) is common and results in limitations in quality of life and potential progression to limb loss. Options for therapy include medical therapy, supervised exercise, surgical revascularization, and, more recently, endovascular therapies to restore arterial perfusion to the limb. Endovascular revascularization has evolved over the past 2 decades, from percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) to self-expanding stents, atherectomy, laser angioplasty, and drug-eluting stents. Despite impressive technologic advances, PTA remains the standard of care at many institutions and is the recommended primary treatment modality for femoral-popliteal PAD according to current American College of Cardiology Foundation/American Heart Association guidelines. However, restenosis after PTA is common. Therefore, a significant clinical need remains for a device that is able to achieve more durable patency than PTA but does not require a permanent implant. Drug-coated balloons (DCBs) have the potential to address this need. Several randomized controlled clinical trials of PTA balloons coated with different formulations of paclitaxel have been conducted in Europe (N Engl J Med 2008;358:689-699) (Circulation 2008;118:1358-1365) (Circ Cardiovasc Interv 2012;5:831-840) (JACC Cardiovas Interv 2014;7:10-19) and demonstrated more durable efficacy than PTA with comparable safety. These studies were limited by small sample sizes and powered solely for an angiographic primary end point. The pivotal LEVANT 2 trial was designed in collaboration with the US Food and Drug Administration to demonstrate safety and efficacy in a large population and to obtain US Food and Drug Administration approval. Methods A prospective, multicenter, single-blind trial comparing the Lutonix DCB (Bard Lutonix; New Hope, MN) versus PTA for treatment of femoropopliteal PAD (LEVANT 2) is the first US-based 2:1 randomized controlled trial of 476 patients with femoral-popliteal PAD designed to demonstrate superior efficacy and noninferior safety of a novel paclitaxel DCB compared with PTA. The primary efficacy end point is primary patency at 12 months. The primary safety end point is composite freedom at 12 months from perioperative death, index limb amputation, reintervention, and limb-related mortality. A series of important secondary end points include physical functioning, quality of life, revascularizations, and alternative measures of patency. To minimize bias potential for confounding variables, LEVANT 2 (1) excluded patients stented after predilation before randomization, (2) incorporated very stringent criteria for bailout stenting, (3) did not count bailout stenting as a target lesion revascularization or failure of any end point, (4) required a blinded clinician to perform clinical evaluations at follow-up, and (5) required clinical assessment before review of duplex ultrasound results. Conclusions LEVANT 2 represents the first US-inclusive multicenter, randomized controlled trial to assess the safety and efficacy of a novel DCB compared with PTA as primary therapy for symptomatic PAD on the background of standard medical therapy

Persistent Organic Pollutant in the Venetian coastal environment

The Venetian coastal area is characterized by a strong anthropogenic impact and its quality is very important because of local economical activities, such as tourism or fishing. In the context of the Water Framework Directive (WFD, 2000/60/EC), the aim of the project Q-ALiVe (Qualità dell’Ambiente Litoraneo Veneto) is to check the environmental quality of the Venetian coastal area and whether rivers contamination could influence it. We studied an area going from the mouth of the Adige river to the Malamocco inlet of the Venice lagoon (including the mouth of the Brenta river and the Chioggia lagoon inlet), to distance from the coast of up to about a kilometer. In this work we presented the data relative to Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) as PCBs, PBDEs and PAHs, in samples of seawater. Samples were collected during four different sampling campaigns, in different seasons (June 2011, August 2011, September 2011, November 2011); in each sampling campaign we collected 10 samples of surface water. Analytical samples procedures for POPs include liquid-liquid continuous extraction, followed by an automated purification step, with neutral silica columns. Analysis were made by HRGC-HRMS (PCBs) or HRGC-LRMS (PAHs and PBDEs). Quantification was made by isotope dilution. Results suggest a negligible influence of rivers contamination to the quality of the sea facing the city of Chioggia and the Venice lagoon. Funds for this work were provided, in the framework of Q-ALiVe Project, by the Regione del Veneto - L.R. 15/07