Energy-efficient data routing in cooperative UAV swarms for medical assistance after a disaster.

Medical assistance is crucial to disaster management. In particular, the situation of survivors as well as the environmental information after disasters should be collected and sent back to cloud/data centers immediately for further interpretation and analysis. Recently, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-aided disaster management has been considered a promising approach to enhance the efficiency of searching and rescuing survivors after a disaster, in which a group of UAVs collaborates to accomplish the search and rescue task. However, the battery capacity of UAVs is a critical shortcoming that limits their usage. Worse still, the unstable network connectivity of disaster sites could lead to high latency of data transmission from UAV to remote data centers, which could make significant challenges on real-time data collecting and processing. To solve the above problems, in this paper, we investigate an energy-efficient multihop data routing algorithm with the guarantee of quality-of-service for UAV-aided medical assistance. Specifically, we first study the data routing problem to minimize the energy consumption considering transmission rate, time delay, and life cycle of the UAV swarms. Then, we formulate the issue as a mixed-integer nonlinear programming model. Because of the Non-deterministic Polynomial-hardness of this problem, we propose a polynomial time algorithm based on a genetic algorithm to solve the problem. To achieve high efficiency, we further enhance our algorithm based on DBSCAN and adaptive techniques. Extensive experiments show that our approach can outperform the state-of-the-art methods.

SmartMal: a service-oriented behavioral malware detection framework for mobile devices.

This paper presents SmartMal--a novel service-oriented behavioral malware detection framework for vehicular and mobile devices. The highlight of SmartMal is to introduce service-oriented architecture (SOA) concepts and behavior analysis into the malware detection paradigms. The proposed framework relies on client-server architecture, the client continuously extracts various features and transfers them to the server, and the server's main task is to detect anomalies using state-of-art detection algorithms. Multiple distributed servers simultaneously analyze the feature vector using various detectors and information fusion is used to concatenate the results of detectors. We also propose a cycle-based statistical approach for mobile device anomaly detection. We accomplish this by analyzing the users' regular usage patterns. Empirical results suggest that the proposed framework and novel anomaly detection algorithm are highly effective in detecting malware on Android devices.

The effect of beta-blocker premedication on the surgical field during endoscopic sinus surgery.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: A number of previous studies have tried to assess the effects of hypotension on the surgical field during endoscopic sinus surgery. These studies have been limited by inadequate sample sizes, lack of a control group, and limited data collection. The aim of the present study was to determine whether the routine use of beta-blockers as a pre-medication could improve the operative field in endoscopic sinus surgery. STUDY DESIGN: A prospective, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial. METHODS: Eighty patients undergoing endoscopic sinus surgery who fit the inclusion and exclusion criteria were randomly assigned to receive either a beta-blocker, Metoprolol (group 1), or a placebo tablet (group 2) 30 minutes before surgery. A standard anesthetic protocol was followed. At the commencement of surgery and at regular 15-minute intervals the surgical field, blood loss, heart rate, blood pressure, and isoflurane concentration were assessed. RESULTS: There was a significant difference in overall mean heart rate between the placebo and beta-blocker groups (P <.0001). In the entire group, surgical grade correlated with heart rate (r = 0.36, P <.05) but not with mean arterial blood pressure. Mean surgical grade was similar between the placebo and beta-blocker groups, but early in the study a significantly better surgical field was recorded in the beta-blocker group (P <.001). Surgical grade was significantly better in those with a mean heart rate of less than 60 beats per minute (P <.02). CONCLUSION: Although "optimum" conditions were present in the patients receiving beta-blocker, the authors thought that the grading system was not discriminating enough to demonstrate a significant difference between the groups. The crucial finding in the study was the correlation between heart rate and surgical grade in the entire group. During endoscopic sinus surgery surgery, anesthetic manipulations should be directed at maintaining a low heart rate.

Marginal Zone B-cell Lymphoma (MALT Lymphoma).

The preferred terminology for mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma of the stomach (variously referred to as MALT lymphoma, MALToma, low-grade MALToma, or pseudolymphoma) is marginal zone B-cell lymphoma (MZBL). MZBL, the hallmark of which is the lymphoepithelial lesion, develops as a consequence of Helicobacter pylori infection in susceptible individuals. In general, MZBL is slow growing, can remain localized for years, and has an excellent prognosis. Staging involves endoscopy with biopsy, computed tomography scanning, and endoscopic ultrasound. In patients with limited disease, eradication of H. pylori leads to remission. In patients who fail eradication therapy or have more extensive disease, surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation alone and in various combinations have been used successfully.

Zollinger-Ellison Syndrome.

Zollinger-Ellison syndrome (ZES) is caused by a gastrin-producing tumor called a gastrinoma, which results in gastric acid hypersecretion. Gastrin stimulates the parietal cell to secrete acid directly and indirectly by releasing histamine from enterochromaffin-like (ECL) cells, and induces hyperplasia of parietal and ECL cells. ZES should be suspected in patients with severe erosive or ulcerative esophagitis, multiple peptic ulcers, peptic ulcers in unusual locations, refractory peptic ulcers, complicated peptic ulcers, peptic ulcers associated with diarrhea, and a family history of multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN-1) or any of the endocrinopathies associated with MEN-1. The initial diagnostic test for ZES should be a fasting serum gastrin level when antisecretory medications are discontinued. If the gastrin level is elevated, gastric acidity should be assessed through pH or gastric analysis. It should be noted that hypochlorhydria causes feedback stimulation of antral gastrin secretion. In suspected cases of ZES with mild hypergastrinemia, the secretin stimulation test may be useful. Initial treatment for ZES should be oral high-dose proton pump inhibitors. If parenteral therapy is needed, intermittent bolus injection of pantoprazole is recommended. Total gastrectomy and antisecretory surgery is rarely required. Somatostatin receptor scintigraphy (SRS) is the initial localization study of choice. Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) may have a similar sensitivity for identifying primary tumors. A combination of SRS and EUS detects greater than 90% of gastrinomas. In patients without metastasis and without MEN-1, surgical cure is possible in 30%. It has been suggested that patients with gastrinomas larger than 2.5 cm, irrespective of whether they have MEN-1, should undergo surgical resection in an effort to decrease the risk for metastasis.

The clinical significance of thickened gastric folds found on upper gastrointestinal series.

GOALS: To assess the impact of upper endoscopy and biopsy on the outcome of patients with isolated thickened gastric folds found on barium upper gastrointestinal series (UGIS). STUDY: A total of 8,325 consecutive UGIS reports were reviewed to identify 182 patients who were found to have isolated thickened gastric folds. Patients with other serious radiographic abnormalities were excluded. The 182 patients were studied by a systematic review of the esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) findings, gastric biopsy results, and clinical outcome. RESULTS: The study included 96 men (52.7%) and 86 women (47.3%) who had isolated thickened gastric folds on the UGIS. Seventy-four patients underwent EGD; 108 patients did not. The two groups were similar in demographic and clinical features. The EGD results were normal, 18 (24.3%); thick gastric folds, 12 (16.2%); hiatal hernia, 12 (16.2%); erythema/inflammation, 11 (14.9%); erosions, 8 (10.8%); portal gastropathy, 3 (4.1%); and gastric ulcer, 1 (1.4%). Forty-eight of the 74 EGD patients had a gastric biopsy. The findings were chronic active gastritis, 39 (81.3%); and chronic gastritis, 5 (10.4%). Evidence for H. pylori infection was present in 91.7% of the gastric biopsies. Outcome (mean follow-up, 28.5 months) was assessed in 49 patients in the EGD group and in 55 patients in the non-EGD group. There were no cases of serious or new UGI problems in either group. CONCLUSIONS: Isolated thickened gastric folds found on UGIS are frequently associated with H. pylori infection. Performing endoscopy and biopsy did not appear to alter the outcome in these patients.