Combinatorial Treatment of Tinzaparin and Chemotherapy Can Induce a Significant Antitumor Effect in Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic Cancer (PC) is recognized as a highly thrombogenic tumor; thus, low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) such as tinzaparin is routinely used for PC patients. On the basis of combinatorial therapy approaches to treat highly malignant and refractory cancers such as PC, we hypothesized that tinzaparin can augment the effectiveness of traditional chemotherapeutic drugs and induce efficient antitumor activity. PANC-1 and MIAPaCa-2 were incubated alone or in combination with tinzaparin, nab-paclitaxel and gemcitabine. In vivo evaluation of these compounds was performed in a NOD/SCID mouse using a model injected with PANC-1. Tinzaparin enhances the anti-tumor effects of nab-paclitaxel and gemcitabine in mtKRAS PC cell lines via apoptosis in in vitro experiments. The triple combination power acts through the induction of apoptosis, reduction of the proliferative potential and angiogenesis; hence, contributing to a decrease in tumor volume observed in vivo. The triple regimen provided an extra 24.3% tumor reduction compared to the double combination (gemcitabine plus nab-paclitaxel). Combinatorial strategies can create novel therapeutic approaches for the treatment of patients with PC, achieving a better clinical outcome and prolonged survival. Further prospective randomized research is needed and the investigation of various concentrations of tinzaparin above 150 UI/Kg, would potentially provide a valuable synergistic effect to the conventional therapeutic compounds.     

Transmission loss allocation through zonal aggregation

This paper presents a methodology for the aggregation of nodal generation loss factors into zonal loss factors, taking into account the geographic as well as the “electrical” proximity of the nodes to the zone centers. The annual net economic consequence (gain or loss) of each generator from the aggregation is estimated and used as an index for the evaluation of the methodology. Additionally, an algorithm for the automated zonal configuration with pre-defined economic consequences is presented. Starting from one zone comprising the whole power system, the algorithm finds the number of zones that keep the economic consequences of zonalization below a pre-defined threshold, and the resulting zonal configuration. By performing an exhaustive search using this algorithm for the “best” initial root node, an optimal zonal configuration can be identified that achieves the pre-defined level of economic consequences with the minimum number of zones. Numerical results from a real power system, the Greek power system, are presented and discussed.     

Directional routing and scheduling for green vehicular delay tolerant networks

The vehicle delay tolerant networks (DTNs) make opportunistic communications by utilizing the mobility of vehicles, where the node makes delay-tolerant based “carry and forward” mechanism to deliver the packets. The routing schemes for vehicle networks are challenging for varied network environment. Most of the existing DTN routing including routing for vehicular DTNs mainly focus on metrics such as delay, hop count and bandwidth, etc. A new focus in green communications is with the goal of saving energy by optimizing network performance and ultimately protecting the natural climate. The energy–efficient communication schemes designed for vehicular networks are imminent because of the pollution, energy consumption and heat dissipation. In this paper, we present a directional routing and scheduling scheme (DRSS) for green vehicle DTNs by using Nash Q-learning approach that can optimize the energy efficiency with the considerations of congestion, buffer and delay. Our scheme solves the routing and scheduling problem as a learning process by geographic routing and flow control toward the optimal direction. To speed up the learning process, our scheme uses a hybrid method with forwarding and replication according to traffic pattern. The DRSS algorithm explores the possible strategies, and then exploits the knowledge obtained to adapt its strategy and achieve the desired overall objective when considering the stochastic non-cooperative game in on-line multi-commodity routing situations. The simulation results of a vehicular DTN with predetermined mobility model show DRSS achieves good energy efficiency with learning ability, which can guarantee the delivery ratio within the delay bound.     

End-to-End Performance Analysis of Millimeter Wave Triple-Hop Backhaul Transmission Systems

Frequencies above 10 GHz nowadays may be employed either for backhaul networks of mobile communication access networks or for broadband fixed wireless access networks. Millimeter wave networks can afford large bandwidth by carrying the aggregate traffic through different network nodes. Consequently, many line-of-sight multi-hop transmissions may occur. At these frequency bands, rain attenuation is the dominant fading mechanism that aggravates the outage performance of these networks. The objective of this paper is the presentation of analytical models for the calculation of the end-to-end performance analysis of a triple-hop system with non-regenerative and regenerative relays using the trivariate lognormal distribution along with a physical model for the calculation of the correlation coefficients among the rain fading channels. Moreover, an accurate rain attenuation time series synthesizer based on multi-dimensional first order Stochastic Differential eqnarrays is employed in order to validate the analytical results. Finally, extended numerical results investigate the impact of various operational and geographical parameters, as well as the influence of the arbitrary position of the relays on the outage system performance.     

Speech and Video Telephony Quality Characterization and Prediction of Live Contemporary Mobile Communication Networks

Quality of Service (QoS) characterization and prediction is of utmost importance in contemporary operating cellular communications networks. Measurements data of speech and video telephony have been collected using modern experimental equipment. More specifically, key performance indicators of radio, speech and video quality are evoked. The objective of our study is to critically investigate the performance of speech and video telephony at live cellular networks correlating significant QoS parameters from radio and the service side. Simple non-linear regression models are also proposed for speech and video quality prediction. Finally, the paper represents the splendid positive influences of the continuous performance evaluation for the optimization of the mobile networks. There are also briefly given guidelines for mobile networks benchmarking.     

Assessment of energy dissipation mechanisms for AT-cut QCM sensors with high frequency impedance analysis and optimization heuristics

In the present contribution, five unloaded AT-cut quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensors with nominal resonant frequencies equal to 5, 5.2 and 10 MHz, bearing silver (5.2 MHz) and gold electrodes (5 and 10 MHz) on their main surfaces, were bonded on a high pressure cell and studied with respect to their electrical and frequency response in the temperature range from 20 °C to 150 °C at a nitrogen atmosphere (P?=?1 atm). The goal was the qualitative and the quantitative identification of energy dissipation mechanisms of quartz resonators, based on their electrical response and effective properties (quartz viscosity and oscillation area). Electrical response measurements took place with high frequency impedance analysis (HF-IA), while admittance data were processed with the use of equivalent circuit theory and the Differential Evolution heuristic for nonlinear optimization, equipped with an error analysis module. Apart from the inherent energy dissipation due to sensor mounting and electrode related mass and stress effect, dissipation was also induced due to the manifestation of thermally active point defects at temperatures between 65 °C and 145 °C. These point defects are attributed to the movement of interstitial sodium ions within the crystal lattice. Energy dissipation was also observed due to temperature dependent (70–90 °C) creep deformation of the 60Sn-40Pb solder joints which bonded the mounted sensors to the experimental setup. A critical discussion on the magnitude of all observed dissipation mechanisms is presented.     

A Massively Parallel Time-Dependent Least-Time-Path Algorithm for Intelligent Transportation Systems Applications

This article is concerned with the problem of computing in parallel time-dependent least-time paths that can be used in real-time intelligent transportation systems applications. A message-passing scheme is presented, and its correctness is proved. The algorithm's computational complexity is shown to be O (| T |²| V |²), an improvement by | V | over the best-known sequential algorithm. The algorithm is implemented, coded, and computationally tested on actual and random networks with promising results. The algorithm is implemented on a CRAY-T3D supercomputer using a Parallel Virtual Machine environment that allows portability to lower-end multiprocessor machines.     

Influence of ozone on traffic-related particulate matter on the generation of hydroxyl radicals through a heterogeneous synergistic effect

Epidemiologic studies suggest that ozone (O(3)) and airborne particulate matter (PM) can interact causing acute respiratory inflammation and other respiratory diseases. Recent studies investigated the hypothesis that the effects of air pollution caused by O(3) and PM are larger than the effect of these two pollutants individually. We investigated the hypothesis that ozone and traffic-related PM (PM(10) and PM(2.5), diesel and gasoline exhaust particles) interact synergistically to produce increasing amounts of highly reactive hydroxyl radicals (HO) in a heterogeneous aqueous mixture at physiological pH. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and spin trapping were used for the measurements. Results showed that HO radicals are generated by the catalytic action of PM surface area with ozone and that EPR peak intensities are two to three times higher compared to PM samples without ozone. Incubation of the nucleoside 2'-deoxyguanosine (dG) in aqueous mixtures of ozone and PM at pH 7.4 resulted in the hydroxylation at C(8) position of dG. The formation of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) showed a 2-2.5-fold increase over control (PM without O(3)). These results suggest that PM and O(3) act synergistically generating a sustained production of reactive HO radicals. Partitioning of O(3) into the particle phase depends on the concentration, hygroscopicity and particle size.     

Consumers' beliefs, attitudes and intentions towards genetically modified foods, based on the 'perceived safety vs. benefits' perspective

It has been repeatedly claimed that the application of genetic engineering in the field of agricultural and food production is both beneficial and advantageous. However, biotechnology is developing in an environment where public concerns about food safety and environmental protection are steadily increasing. The present study aims at gaining an insight into Greek consumers’ beliefs, attitudes and intentions towards genetically modified (GM) food products. The objectives of this study are summarized as follows (i) to provide evidence that consumer beliefs are built around the ‘safety‐benefits’ axis, and (ii) to segment the Greek market in terms of consumer beliefs about GM food products and identify a number of clusters with clear‐cut behavioural profiles. Although the overall attitude of Greek consumers towards GM food is negative, the research very interestingly concludes that there exists a market segment of substantial size, whose beliefs about GM food appears to be positive. This finding suggests that there is not a ‘consensus’ regarding the rejection of GM foods in the Greek market as one might have expected thus ‘encouraging’ the implementation of adequate marketing strategies to target this segment of ‘early adopters’ in the first place.