The European project trust—reconfigurable terminals and supporting networks

To date, research into reconfigurable mobile communications has predominantly focussed on the software radio concept, and specifically on the hardware technologies required to move physical layer processing into a programmable environment [1, 2, 3]. Although an interesting and necessary challenge, this only represents a fraction of the overall support and technology required to realise the potential of the concept. Other necessary developments include network/terminal cooperation for seamless inter-standard handoff, QoS management for software download and reconfiguration, a secure software download mechanism, terminal software and mobile radio network architecture supporting terminal reconfiguration, management for software downloads, configuration management, capability negotiation, radio resource management and spectrum allocation policies etc… This paper describes results from the EuropeanIst Trust (Transparently Reconfigurable UbiquitouS Terminal) [4] project concerning user and operator requirements, the proposed overall system environment, security issues, concerted radio resource management, and expected time frame for the development of reconfigurable terminals.     

Advanced adaptability and profile management framework for the support of flexible mobile service provision

The long-term vision of beyond 3G wireless communications describes a mobile service provision environment dramatically different from that of today. Users are expected to raise their demands to a significantly higher level, towards the situation-aware provision of ubiquitous personalized multimedia services. From this perspective, the need is emerging to apply, in a systematic way, adaptability and reconfigurability concepts for service delivery in largely diverse contexts. Generic dynamically extensible adaptation mechanisms that can be employed in a wide variety of situations and are independent of the subject and criteria of adaptation is a significant step in this direction. Moreover, effective profile representation and management becomes an increasingly important issue. In the present article we introduce an advanced adaptability and profile management framework aiming to fulfill these requirements. The proposed system has been designed, implemented, and incorporated in a distributed middleware platform for next-generation mobile service provision.     

Investigation of radio resource scheduling in WLANs coupled with 3G cellular network

In this article, based on the overview of network coupling structure between radio access technologies, the concept of joint radio resource management built onto the reference structure is introduced. In order to optimize usage of radio resource and jointly designed from the user perspective, a joint scheduling mechanism allowing traffic to be split over a tightly coupled radio network supported by an adaptive radio multihoming approach is deliberately discussed. With respect to the time-division access scheme in HIPERLAN/2, which is selected as one example of WLAN, algorithms and performance of traffic scheduling in such a radio access technology are given. The required synchronization scheme supporting traffic splitting is also introduced.     

Expression pattern of the winged helix factor XFD-11 during Xenopus embryogenesis

A new high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) assay without any extraction procedure was developed for the quantification of fluindione in plasma using a 100-microl sample volume and coumarin as the internal standard. A deproteinization procedure was coupled with a reversed-phase HPLC separation using a 250x4.6 mm I.D. C18 column and a UV detector set at 280 nm. Peak height ratios were linear over the range 0.05 to 10 microg/ml (correlation coefficient >0.998). The method was found to be highly reproducible, as indicated by the low value obtained for the coefficient of variation: C.V. < or = 6.1% (n = 10). The limit of quantification, estimated under the described conditions at a signal-to-noise ratio of three and with a C.V. lower than 20% for precision and accuracy, was 0.025 microg/ml. The total turnaround time was 25 min. After storage of blood samples at concentrations of 0.1, 0.5 and 2.5 microg/ml at room temperature and exposition to light for 120 h, no degradation of fluindione occurred. This micromethod is simple (no extraction step), fast and currently is being used for drug monitoring.     

Active and passive distraction using a head-mounted display helmet: Effects on cold pressor pain in children.

Objective: The current study tested the effectiveness of interactive versus passive distraction that was delivered via a virtual reality type head-mounted display helmet for children experiencing cold pressor pain. Design: Forty children, aged 5 to 13 years, underwent 1 or 2 baseline cold pressor trials followed by interactive distraction and passive distraction trials in counterbalanced order. Main Outcome Measures: Pain threshold and pain tolerance. Results: Children who experienced either passive or interactive distraction demonstrated significant improvements in both pain tolerance and pain threshold relative to their baseline scores. In contrast, children who underwent a second cold pressor trial without distraction showed no significant improvements in pain tolerance or threshold. Conclusion: Although both distraction conditions were effective, the interactive distraction condition was significantly more effective. Implications for the treatment of children's distress during painful medical procedures are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Decentralized software distribution for SDR terminals

This article describes a novel approach to downloading software in mobile networks. The motivation for a decentralized approach is to cut down the overall download time for all relevant terminals, thereby considering not just over-the-air distribution of software. This work is performed under the European Research project Transparently Reconfigurable Ubiquitous Terminal (IST-TRUST). In particular, we consider terminal-to-terminal upgrades, which must be realized in ad hoc networks or HIPERLAN/2, where a direct mode between terminals can be established. The concept can also be contemplated for base-station-centric networks. For a client-to-client upgrade new security problems are to be resolved, and a suitable security concept is described here. The security concept is independent of the network; that is, even in fixed networks a similar concept can be conceived. Basically, the decentralized concept is not restricted to mobile networks, but the procedures described are mobile-centric.     

Survival of Listeria monocytogenes after cleaning and sanitation of wooden shelves used for cheese ripening

The effect of cleaning and heat disinfection processes of wooden shelves used for cheese ripening on the survival of Listeria monocytogenes was examined. The cut boards were inoculated with a suspension containing 5.5?×?10⁷ colony forming units (CFU)/ml of L.??monocytogenes. Survival of L.??monocytogenes was investigated in the wood shavings. During the 24-hour incubation period in a humidity chamber, Listeria counts increased by 0.8 log units on average (n?=?9), compared to results 1?h after incubation, indicating the absence of antimicrobial properties of the wood in use. Additionally, after incubation for 24?h at room temperature, the boards were cleaned by soaking them for 15?min in a solution of hot alkaline detergent followed by brushing and rinsing with warm water. Some of the cleaned boards were subsequently heat treated at 80°C for 5?min and at 65°C for 15?min, respectively. The cleaning procedure alone was not sufficient to render L.??monocytogenes from the upper 2?mm wood layer inactive. In the case of both temperature-time combinations for heat disinfection, however, L.??monocytogenes was not detectable. The present study shows that the use of wooden shelves does not affect the hygienic safety of cheeses if such shelves are in good repair and are thoroughly cleaned and sanitized by heat treatment. Therefore, there is no reason to replace wood employed in cheese ripening processes with other materials.     

Influence of selected factors on browning of Camembert cheese

Experimental Camembert cheeses were made to investigate the effects on browning of the following factors: inoculation with Yarrowia lipolytica, the use of Penicillium candidum strains with different proteolytic activity, the addition of tyrosine, and the addition of Mn2+ thus leading to 16 different variants of cheese. Two physical colour parameters were used to describe browning, depending on the location in the cheeses: a whiteness index for the outside browning (mould mycelium), and a brownness index for the inside browning (surface of the cheese body). Mn2+ promoted a significant increase of browning at both locations, whereas Yar. lipolytica had the opposite effect. Outside browning was significantly more intense when using the Pen. candidum strain with higher proteolytic activity. A significant interaction was found between Yar. lipolytica and Pen. candidum. The yeast had no effect in combination with a low proteolytic strain of Pen. candidum, but significantly reduced proteolysis and browning in combination with a high proteolytic strain of Pen. candidum. We further confirmed that both strains of Pen. candidum were able to produce brown pigments from tyrosine and thus both are presumably responsible for the browning activity in this type of cheese.     

Decorin—An Antagonist of TGF-β in Astrocytes of the Optic Nerve

During the pathogenesis of glaucoma, optic nerve (ON) axons become continuously damaged at the optic nerve head (ONH). This often is associated with reactive astrocytes and increased transforming growth factor (TGF-β) 2 levels. In this study we tested the hypothesis if the presence or absence of decorin (DCN), a small leucine-rich proteoglycan and a natural inhibitor of several members of the TGF family, would affect the expression of the TGF-βs and connective tissue growth factor (CTGF/CCN2) in human ONH astrocytes and murine ON astrocytes. We found that DCN is present in the mouse ON and is expressed by human ONH and murine ON astrocytes. DCN expression and synthesis was significantly reduced after 24 h treatment with 3 nM CTGF/CCN2, while treatment with 4 pM TGF-β2 only reduced expression of DCN significantly. Conversely, DCN treatment significantly reduced the expression of TGF-β1, TGF-β2 and CTGF/CCN2 vis-a-vis untreated controls. Furthermore, DCN treatment significantly reduced expression of fibronectin (FN) and collagen IV (COL IV). Notably, combined treatment with DCN and triciribine, a small molecule inhibitor of protein kinase B (AKT), attenuated effects of DCN on CTGF/CCN2, TGF-β1, and TGF-β2 mRNA expression. We conclude (1) that DCN is an important regulator of TGF-β and CTGF/CCN2 expression in astrocytes of the ON and ONH, (2) that DCN thereby regulates the expression of extracellular matrix (ECM) components and (3) that DCN executes its negative regulatory effects on TGF-β and CTGF/CCN2 via the pAKT/AKT signaling pathway in ON astrocytes.     

Broadband wireless access and future communication networks

This paper presents a vision for wireless communication systems beyond the third generation, which comprises a combination of several optimized access systems on a common IP-based medium-access and core network platform. These different access systems will interwork via horizontal and vertical handover, service negotiation, and global roaming. The different access systems are allocated to different cell layers in the sense of hierarchical cells with respect to cell size, coverage, and mobility to provide globally optimized seamless services to all users. This vision requires extensive international research and standardization activities to solve many technical challenges. Key issues are the global interworking of different access systems on a common platform, the implementation of multimode and multiband terminals and base stations by software-defined radio concepts as well as advanced antenna concepts