Abstract-We propose a routing and load-balancing approach with the primary goal of being robust to sudden topological changes and significant traffic matrix variations. The proposed method load-balances traffic over several routes in an adaptive way based on its local view of the load in the network. The focus is on robustness and simplicity, rather than optimality, and so it does not rely on a given traffic matrix, nor it is tuned to a specific topology. Instead, we aim to achieve a satisfactory routing under a wide range of traffic and topology scenarios based on each node's independent operation. The scheme avoids the instability risks of previous load-responsive routing schemes, it does not load the control plane with congestion-related signaling, and it can be implemented on top of existing routing protocols. In this paper, we present the proposed scheme, discuss how it aims to meet the objectives of robustness and load-responsiveness, and evaluate its performance under diverse traffic loads and topological changes with flow-level simulations.

Objective To determine the threshold of the inotropic score (IS) and vasoactive–inotropic score (VIS) for predicting mortality in pediatric septic shock. Method This retrospective cohort study included children aged 1 mo to 13 y with septic shock, requiring vasoactive medication. The area under curve receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) was calculated using mean IS and mean VIS to predict PICU mortality, and Youden index cut points were generated. Sensitivity, specificity, and binary regression analysis were performed. Results A total of 176 patients were enrolled (survivor, n = 72, 41% and nonsurvivor, n = 104, 59%). For predicting the PICU mortality, AUROC (95% CI) of IS was 0.80 (0.74–0.86) [sensitivity of 88.5 (80.7–94) and specificity of 58.3 (46.1–69.8)] and AUROC of VIS was 0.88 (0.82–0.92) [sensitivity of 83.7 (75.1–90.2) and specificity of 80.6 (69.5–89)]. The respective cutoff scores of IS and VIS were 28 and 42.5. On regression analysis (adjusted odds ratio, 95% CI), illness severity (PRISM-III) (1.12, 1.05–1.12), worst lactate value (1.31, 1.08–1.58), IS (> 28) (3.98, 1.24–12.80), and VIS (> 42.5) (4.66, 1.57–13.87) independently predicted the PICU mortality ( r 2 = 0.625). Conclusion Threshold of inotropic score (> 28) and vasoactive–inotropic score (> 42.5) were independently associated with PICU mortality. In addition to IS and VIS, severity and worst lactate value independently predicted septic shock mortality in PICU.

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Disseminated cryptococcosis is infrequent in immunocompetent children. Pulmonary and central nervous system are the commonly involved sites of infection in an immunocompromised host. We report a fatal case of disseminated cryptococcosis in an immunocompetent host presenting as fever of unknown origin with miliary shadows on chest radiograph, mimicking tuberculosis. In countries with the heavy burden of tuberculosis, a high index of suspicion is needed for early diagnosis of its close mimics like disseminated cryptococcosis.