A quantitative comparison of load balancing approaches in distributed object computing systems

Several load balancing schemes are recently proposed for distributed object computing systems, which are widely envisioned to be the desired distributed software development paradigm due to the higher modularity and the capability of handling machine and operating system heterogeneity. However, while the rationales and mechanisms employed are dramatically different, the relative strengths and weaknesses of these approaches are unknown, making it difficult for a practitioner to choose an appropriate approach for the problem at hand. In this paper, we describe in detail three representative approaches, which are all practicable, and present a quantitative comparison using our experimental distributed object computing platform. Among these three approaches, namely, JavaSpaces based, request redirection based, and fuzzy decision based, we find that the fuzzy decision based algorithm outperforms the other two considerably.published_or_final_versio

Anthropometric Measurement of Patients Admitted to an Intensive Care Unit

Background Visual estimation is the usual method that many healthcare professional use to estimate the body weight of patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), but this method has been shown to be significantly inaccurate. This study aimed to explores the feasibility of using fibula length to estimate the acute body weight of patients admitted to an ICU. Methods The study collected all ICU records in which patient’s body weight was estimated by the equation: Males: 153.1 – (0.26 x age) – 11 + (1.05 x fibular length) Females: 153.1 – (0.26 x age) – 22 + (1.05 x fibular length). The body weight(BW) then estimated by: BW= 20 x [estimated body height (in metres)]2. The degree of agreement between the estimated body weight by anthropometric measurement methods and the actual recorded body weight in the patient’s medical record within the four weeks immediately before ICU admission were assessed by the Bland-Altman plot. Results Paired sample t-tests showed there were statistically significant differences between the patient’s estimated and actual height and weight (p-value = 0.0001 for both). Conclusions The study found the use of fibula length alone had a similar percentage of bias when compared with visual estimation by healthcare professionals to estimate the actual body weight of the patients admitted to ICU.published_or_final_versio

Prevalence of alarms in intensive care units, and its relationship with nursing staff levels

Background The average number of alarms per patient on each day in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) was very high with poor specificity, high sensitivity and high false positive rate. The large number of false alarms has caused healthcare professionals to turn down the volume of audible signals, adjust the alarm setting beyond limits that are safe and appropriate for the patient, and ignore or even deactivate alarms, resulting in sentinel events and patient deaths. The objectives of the present study were to examine the prevalence of ICU cardiac and technical alarms and the relationship between that prevalence and available nursing staff levels. Methods The study collected all cardiac and technical alarm data from the bedside physiological monitor through the central monitoring system at the nurses' station, over a five-week period. The prevalence of these alarms and the correlation with different shifts of duty was analysed. The relationship between nursing staff levels and the number of these alarms was also analysed. Results There was a positive correlation between the number of cardiac and technical alarms per bed per hour in three different shifts (Night and Morning, Morning and Afternoon, and, Afternoon and Night: All p-value < 0.001). The effect of these alarms on the present shift will affect the number of alarms in the subsequent three shifts. Besides, the number of cardiac and technical alarms is not related to the nursing staff levels. Conclusions This study describes the prevalence of cardiac and technical alarms from a different perspective, by examining the prevalence of physiological monitor cardiac and technical alarms in ICUs (but not their sound amplitude) and its relationship with nursing staff levels, the finding against many people thinking that the cardiac and technical alarms should be fewer when the nursing staffing level is high in the unit.published_or_final_versio

Detection of body temperature with infrared thermography: accuracy in detection of fever

Key Messages 1. Infrared thermography (IRT) for detecting body temperature is less accurate in women, elderly people, and those with fever. 2. The core temperature significantly but weakly correlates to the IRT temperatures obtained from frontal and lateral of the face, and the forehead. 3. Among the three areas, the forehead IRT temperature showed the largest discrepancy and poorest correlation with the core temperature. 4. If IRT is used, the lateral maximum temperature of the face should be used. A cut-off temperature of 36ºC gives 77% sensitivity and 74% specificity. 5. Owing to its weak correlation with the core temperature, IRT should not replace direct body temperature measurement in clinical situations.published_or_final_versio

Utility of infrared thermography for screening febrile subjects

published_or_final_versio

Differential patterns of PMN-elastase and type III procollagen peptide in knee joint effusions due to acute and chronic sports injuries

In 38 traumatic knee joint effusions the proteolytic enzyme PMN-elastase (PMN-E) and the repair marker procollagen III aminoterminal peptide (PIIINP) were determined. According to the period between trauma and first aspiration of the effusion, the patients were divided into 3 groups. Group I (17 patients; period between trauma and first aspiration not longer than 72 hours) showed high concentrations of PMN-E (up to 5400 ng/ml) and low concentrations of PIIINP (<13 U/ml). Group II (11 patients; aspiration within 4 to 14 days) had mean PMN-E and PIIINP concentrations of 125.6 ng/ml and 52.1 U/ ml, respectively. In group III (10 patients, aspiration after 14 days) mean PMN-E concentration was 123.8 ng/ml and mean PIIINP concentration was 63.4 U/ml. Graphic depiction of PMN-E and PIIINP levels in each individual sample as a function of time between trauma and fluid collection revealed highly increasing PMN-E levels during the first 24 posttraumatic hours, followed by rapidly decreasing levels within 72 hours post trauma, and no change after the 4th posttraumatic day. In contrast, PIIINP increased continuously up to the first posttraumatic week and stayed at high levels up to 90 days (end of the observation period). The differential patterns of PMN-E and PIIINP concentration in knee joint effusions may be useful in estimating the period between trauma and first treatment (aspiration of effusion) and should, therefore, be helpful in detecting degenerative lesions, which seem to be characterized by low PMN-E concomitantly with high PIIINP levels

Benefits and risks of the hormetic effects of dietary isothiocyanates on cancer prevention

The isothiocyanate (ITC) sulforaphane (SFN) was shown at low levels (1-5 µM) to promote cell proliferation to 120-143% of the controls in a number of human cell lines, whilst at high levels (10-40 µM) it inhibited such cell proliferation. Similar dose responses were observed for cell migration, i.e. SFN at 2.5 µM increased cell migration in bladder cancer T24 cells to 128% whilst high levels inhibited cell migration. This hormetic action was also found in an angiogenesis assay where SFN at 2.5 µM promoted endothelial tube formation (118% of the control), whereas at 10-20 µM it caused significant inhibition. The precise mechanism by which SFN influences promotion of cell growth and migration is not known, but probably involves activation of autophagy since an autophagy inhibitor, 3-methyladenine, abolished the effect of SFN on cell migration. Moreover, low doses of SFN offered a protective effect against free-radical mediated cell death, an effect that was enhanced by co-treatment with selenium. These results suggest that SFN may either prevent or promote tumour cell growth depending on the dose and the nature of the target cells. In normal cells, the promotion of cell growth may be of benefit, but in transformed or cancer cells it may be an undesirable risk factor. In summary, ITCs have a biphasic effect on cell growth and migration. The benefits and risks of ITCs are not only determined by the doses, but are affected by interactions with Se and the measured endpoint

Roy-Steiner equations for pion-nucleon scattering

Starting from hyperbolic dispersion relations, we derive a closed system of Roy-Steiner equations for pion-nucleon scattering that respects analyticity, unitarity, and crossing symmetry. We work out analytically all kernel functions and unitarity relations required for the lowest partial waves. In order to suppress the dependence on the high-energy regime we also consider once- and twice-subtracted versions of the equations, where we identify the subtraction constants with subthreshold parameters. Assuming Mandelstam analyticity we determine the maximal range of validity of these equations. As a first step towards the solution of the full system we cast the equations for the $\pi\pi\to\bar NN$ partial waves into the form of a Muskhelishvili-Omn\`es problem with finite matching point, which we solve numerically in the single-channel approximation. We investigate in detail the role of individual contributions to our solutions and discuss some consequences for the spectral functions of the nucleon electromagnetic form factors.Comment: 106 pages, 18 figures; version published in JHE

Towards Standardization of Retinal Vascular Measurements:On the Effect of Image Centering

Within the general framework of consistent and reproducible morphometric measurements of the retinal vasculature in fundus images, we present a quantitative pilot study of the changes in measurements commonly used in retinal biomarker studies (e.g. caliber-related, tortuosity and fractal dimension of the vascular network) induced by centering fundus image acquisition on either the optic disc or on the macula. To our best knowledge, no such study has been reported so far. Analyzing 149 parameters computed from 80 retinal images (20 subjects, right and left eye, optic-disc and macula centered), we find strong variations and limited concordance in images of the two types. Although analysis of larger cohorts is obviously necessary, our results strengthen the need for a structured investigation into the uncertainty of retinal vasculature measurements, ideally in the framework of an international debate on standardization.</p

Defining the expression hierarchy of latent T-cell epitopes in Epstein-Barr virus infection with TCR-like antibodies

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a gamma herpesvirus that causes a life-long latent infection in human hosts. The latent gene products LMP1, LMP2A and EBNA1 are expressed by EBV-associated tumors and peptide epitopes derived from these can be targeted by CD8 Cytotoxic T-Lymphocyte (CTL) lines. Whilst CTL-based methodologies can be utilized to infer the presence of specific latent epitopes, they do not allow a direct visualization or quantitation of these epitopes. Here, we describe the characterization of three TCR-like monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) targeting the latent epitopes LMP1[subscript 125–133], LMP2A[subscript 426–434] or EBNA1[subscript 562–570] in association with HLA-A0201. These are employed to map the expression hierarchy of endogenously generated EBV epitopes. The dominance of EBNA1[subscript 562–570] in association with HLA-A0201 was consistently observed in cell lines and EBV-associated tumor biopsies. These data highlight the discordance between MHC-epitope density and frequencies of associated CTL with implications for cell-based immunotherapies and/or vaccines for EBV-associated disease