Virtual Network Functions Manager Research Articles

Vulvar necrotizing wounds: Unveiling mortality-associated parameters and assessing the efficacy of VAC therapy

IntroductionVulvar Necrotizing Fasciitis (VNF) is a critical, severe soft tissue infection characterized by aggressive progression and significant morbidity and mortality. Rapid diagnosis and immediate, comprehensive treatment, including antibiotic therapy, meticulous surgical debridement, and multidisciplinary care, are crucial for improving outcomes. This study aimed to investigate mortality-related factors in VNF and evaluate treatment modalities, focusing on Vacuum-Assisted Closure (VAC) therapy versus traditional debridement. MethodsThis retrospective study analyzed data from 22 VNF patients. Criteria included adults diagnosed with vulvar necrotizing infections, excluding those transferred or not completing treatment at the center. The study examined mortality-related factors and the efficacy of VAC therapy compared to debridement, considering treatment costs and outcomes. ResultsAnalysis divided patients into survivors (13) and non-survivors (9). Higher heart rate, elevated WBC and CRP levels, and higher Clavien-Dindo scores were associated with increased mortality. VAC therapy, compared to traditional debridement, resulted in significantly lower CRP levels and reduced treatment costs. However, other parameters such as the length of hospital stay and debridement frequency showed no significant differences. ConclusionThe study highlights that older age, systemic inflammation, and severe postoperative complications are key factors associated with higher mortality in VNF. VAC therapy emerges as a promising modality, effectively reducing systemic inflammation and healthcare costs. Nonetheless, the retrospective nature and the small sample size of the study limit the generalizability of the findings. Future research, particularly larger, multicentric studies, is essential to further explore and validate the effectiveness of VAC therapy in VNF management.

Collaborative and Verifiable VNF Management for Metaverse With Efficient Modular Designs

Collaborative and Verifiable VNF Management for Metaverse With Efficient Modular Designs

Energy-efficient auto-scaling of virtualized network function instances based on resource execution pattern

To scale virtualized network functions (VNF), information about computing resource utilization plays an important role. With the usage of both virtualized and physical resources, introduced new challenges that need to be solved by virtual network functions manager (VNFM), which are responsible for managing the lifecycle of VNFs. These challenges demand an auto-scaling mechanism that relies on proper factors. The proposed system considers the execution time, thresholds of a VNF, and weight factor reflecting virtualization overhead as the practical factors. An auto-scaling application, along with the monitoring application, is developed. These two applications communicate with each other via application programming interfaces (API) to generate the auto-scaling configurations of resources. In the light of mentioned factors, mechanism, and later provided results, the proposed system proves to be useful in solving the challenges related to energy and allocation of resources for both virtual and physical infrastructures.

CDS-MEC: NFV/SDN-based Application Management for MEC in 5G Systems

This paper presents and evaluates the first open-source Network Function Virtualization (NFV)/Software Defined Networking (SDN)-based Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) platform. Our platform solves the Mobile Edge (ME) management issues with respect to Application (App) provisioning and traffic management. First, the ME Apps are managed as Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) on top of the virtual environment through the Juju VNF Manager (VNFM). Second, we develop an SDN controller to manage traffic on the ME System. Third, unlike other relevant architectures of ME systems, we use the control plane (i.e., S1 interface) to derive appropriate states for traffic management. Finally, we evaluate our solution in two use-cases: ME caching and Information Centric (ICN)/Delay Tolerant (DTN) Public Safety communication (PS). The MEC caching framework displays improved user Quality of Experience, e.g., latency, in comparison to direct communication, while the PS solution provides a residual mean of communication for rescue teams, when the network core (EPC) and a Public Data Network (PDN) are unavailable.