Mobile edge computing (MEC) can provision augmented computational capacity in proximity so as to better support Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). Tasks from the IIoT devices can be outsourced and ...executed at the accessible computational access point (CAP). This computing paradigm enables the computing resources much closer to the IIoT devices, and thus satisfy the stringent latency requirement of the IIoT tasks. However, existing works in MEC that focus on task offloading and resource allocation seldom consider the load balancing issue. Therefore, load balance aware task offloading strategies for IIoT devices in MEC are urgently needed. In this article, software-defined network (SDN) technology is adopted to address this issue, since the rule-based forwarding policy in SDN can help determine the most suitable offloading path and CAP for undertaking the computation. To this end, we formulate an optimization problem to minimize the response latency in the proposed SDN-assisted MEC architecture. A greedy algorithm is put forward to obtain the approximate optimal solution in polynomial time. Simulation has been carried out to evaluate the performance of the proposed approach. The simulation results reveal that our approach outstands other approaches in terms of the response latency.
British Columbia (BC) has a low incidence of tuberculosis (TB), with the burden of endogenously acquired disease concentrated among vulnerable populations, including the homeless. In May 2008, a TB ...outbreak began in a BC homeless shelter, with a single index case seeding multiple secondary cases within the shelter.
To use nightly shelter records to quantify the risk of latent tuberculous infection (LTBI) among shelter clients as a function of their sleeping distance from and duration of exposure to the index case.
Distance and duration of exposure were visualised and assessed using logistic regression with LTBI status as outcome. We used a novel machine learning approach to establish exposure thresholds that optimally separated infected and non-infected individuals.
Of 161 exposed shelter clients, 58 had a recorded outcome of infected (n = 39) or non-infected (n = 19). Only duration of exposure to the index was associated with increased odds of infection (OR 1.26); stays of ⩾ 5 nights put shelter clients at higher odds of infection (OR 4.97).
The unique data set and analytical approach suggested that, in a shelter environment, long-term clients are at highest risk of LTBI and should be prioritised for screening during an outbreak investigation.
In an effort to find an orally bioavailable antiviral for the treatment of rhino/enteroviral infections, a series of vinylacetylene benzimidazoles (11a−o, 12, and 18a) was made. Initial studies of ...this class of antivirals showed that fluorine substitution on the left-hand phenyl ring in combination with the vinylacetylene moiety gave the requisite mix of physical properties to achieve good in vitro antiviral activity as well as respectable oral bioavailability in rhesus monkeys. To ascertain the generality of this finding and to broaden the scope of the structure−activity relationship (SAR), the present study concentrated on fluoro substitution of this class of molecules. The initial antiviral activity for each analogue was measured using human rhinovirus 14 (HRV-14). This served as an indicator of general antiviral activity for SAR purposes. Subsequently, the spectrum of antirhino/enteroviral activity of the more interesting analogues was evaluated through testing against a panel of seven additional rhino/enteroviruses. Broad-spectrum activity was present and consistent for all analogues tested, and it tracked closely with the antiviral activity observed against HRV-14. A simple screening protocol for oral bioavailability was established whereby compounds were administered orally to mice and plasma levels were measured. This procedure facilitated the evaluation of numerous analogues in a rapid manner. The C max was used as a measure of oral bioavailability to allow relative ranking of compounds. In general, fluorine substitution directly on the left-hand aromatic ring does give good oral blood levels. However, fluorine incorporation at other positions in the molecule was not as effective at maintaining either the activity or the oral plasma levels. The constructive combination of activity and oral plasma levels was maximized in three derivatives: 11a,e,g.
Aim Digital rectal examination (DRE) is an essential skill which all newly qualified doctors should have. There is evidence in the literature that junior doctors lack this important examination ...technique. The aim of our study was to determine, with the help of a questionnaire, the abilities of foundation year 1 (FY1) doctors to perform DRE.
Method A questionnaire was developed and sent to newly qualified FY1 doctors qualified in two universities (Nottingham and Sheffield) within the first 4 weeks of starting as a FY1 doctor.
Results Ninety (75%) out of 120 questionnaires were completed. Most FY1 doctors had very little experience in performing DRE on a patient, and 68 (76%) had performed less than 10 procedures prior to qualification. Very few of these doctors had their clinical findings on DRE checked by a senior doctor (n = 7, 8%). Comparing DRE with other forms of examination, newly qualified doctors were most confident at groin hernia examination followed by testicular examination. They were least confident with vaginal examination and DRE (ANOVA P = 0.0082).
Conclusion Digital rectal examination is frequently performed by the most inexperienced doctor and may not be verified by a more senior colleague. More training and supervision of junior doctors are required both prior to qualification and during the early stages of their medical career.
Aims
Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) reduces morbidity and mortality in patients with symptomatic heart failure and QRS prolongation but there is uncertainty about which patient ...characteristics predict short‐term clinical response.
Methods and results
In an individual patient meta‐analysis of three double‐blind, randomized trials, clinical composite score (CCS) at 6 months was compared in patients assigned to CRT programmed on or off. Treatment–covariate interactions were assessed to measure likelihood of improved CCS at 6 months. MIRACLE, MIRACLE ICD, and REVERSE trials contributed data for this analysis (n = 1591). Multivariable modelling identified QRS duration and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) as predictors of CRT clinical response (P < 0.05). The odds ratio for a better CCS at 6 months increased by 3.7% for every 1% decrease in LVEF for patients assigned to CRT‐on compared to CRT‐off, and was greatest when QRS duration was between 160 and 180 ms.
Conclusions
In symptomatic chronic heart failure patients (NYHA class II–IV), longer QRS duration and lower LVEF independently predict early clinical response to CRT.
In this work, we perform a comparison study of hydrogen incorporation among nano-, micro-, and polycrystalline diamond films grown by microwave plasma assisted chemical vapor deposition (CVD). ...Hydrogen incorporation was assessed by means of Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Scanning electron micrographs show that from polycrystalline through microcrystalline to nanocrystalline diamond film, not only the grain sizes decrease but also the crystalline quality decreases in terms of secondary nucleation or structural defects. Raman spectra confirms this observation by showing the broadening of the diamond Raman peak around 1332 cm
−
1
and the increasing in intensity of sp
2 bonded carbon band around 1500 cm
−
1
. Accompanying with the change in morphology and quality, the corresponding CH stretching bands in their FTIR spectra rise rapidly in intensity with shape change as well, indicating from polycrystalline to nanocrystalline diamond film, hydrogen impurity content increases drastically with decrease of grain size. The results are discussed and compared to those in the literature. The huge increase of hydrogen content in nanocrystalline diamond film suggests that hydrogen incorporated not only into grain boundaries but also into other structural defects of CVD diamond.
The Dark matter Experiment using Argon Pulse-shape discrimination (DEAP) has been designed for a direct detection search for particle dark matter using a single-phase liquid argon target. The ...projected cross section sensitivity for DEAP-3600 to the spin-independent scattering of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) on nucleons is 10−46cm2 for a 100 GeV/c2 WIMP mass with a fiducial exposure of 3 tonne-years. This paper describes the physical properties and construction of the DEAP-3600 detector.
Environmental and economic concerns are driving the demand for electric vehicles. However, their development for mass transportation hinges largely on improvements in the separators in lithium-ion ...batteries (LIBs), the preferred energy source. In this study, innovative separators for LIBs were fabricated by near-field electrospinning (NFES) and the sol-gel method. Using NFES, poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) fibers were fabricated. Then, PVDF membranes with pores of 220 nm and 450 nm were sandwiched between a monolayer and bilayer of the electrospun fibers. Nanoceramic material with organic resin, formed by the sol-gel method, was coated onto A4 paper, rice paper, nonwoven fabric, and carbon synthetic fabric. Properties of these separators were compared with those of a commercial polypropylene (PP) separator using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), microtensile testing, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), ion-conductivity measurement, cyclic voltammetry (CV), and charge-discharge cycling. The results indicate that the 220 nm PVDF membrane sandwiched between a bilayer of electrospun fibers had excellent ionic conductivity (~0.57 mS/cm), a porosity of ~70%, an endothermic peak of ~175 °C, better specific capacitance (~356 mAh/g), a higher melting temperature (~160 °C), and a stable cycle performance. The sol-gel coated nonwoven fabric had ionic conductivity, porosity, and specific capacitance of ~0.96 mS/cm., ~64%, and ~220 mAh/g, respectively, and excellent thermal stability despite having a lower specific capacitance (65% of PP separator) and no peak below 270 °C. The present study provides a significant step toward the innovation of materials and processes for fabricating LIB separators.
Abstract
The effects of resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) fields on peeling–ballooning (P–B) modes are studied with the experimental equilibria of EAST based on the four-field model in BOUT++ ...code. As the two basic types of plasma responses, the magnetic and the transport response to RMP are considered in our simulation to reveal the roles of the plasma response during edge localized mode mitigation. On the one hand, the results show that RMP can reduce the linear growth rates of the P–B modes and the pedestal energy loss in the nonlinear process by directly coupling with the P–B modes. The magnetic response can weaken the impacts of RMPs on the P–B modes by partially screening the applied RMP fields more precisely the resonant components. On the other hand, RMP can further reduce the linear growth rates of the P–B modes and the pedestal energy loss by changing the equilibrium pressure profiles through the transport response. More detailed analysis suggests that, compared with other resonant components of RMPs, the components whose corresponding rational surfaces are located at the top of the pedestal can lead to stronger reductions in the linear growth rates of the P–B modes, and can reduce pedestal energy loss more significantly by enhancing multi-mode coupling in the nonlinear process. Finally, the multi-mode coupling increases with the strength of the resonant components, so one can change the RMP poloidal spectrum by adjusting the phase difference
Δ
ϕ
between the upper and low RMP coils from
0
to
360
∘
, and hence obtain the optimal coil phase difference that leads to the strongest reductions in the linear growth rates of the P–B modes and the pedestal energy loss through maximizing the strength of resonant components, especially the resonant components whose corresponding rational surfaces are located at the top of the pedestal.
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