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The main goals of fifth generation (5G) systems are to significantly increase the network capacity and to support new 5G service requirements. Ultra network densification with small cells is among the key pillars for 5G evolution. The inter-small-cell 5G backhaul network involves massive data traffic. Hence, it is important to have a centralized, efficient multi-hop routing protocol for backhaul networks to manage and speed up the routing decisions among small cells, while considering the 5G service requirements. This paper proposes a parallel multi-hop routing protocol to speed up routing decisions in 5G backhaul networks. To this end, we study the efficiency of utilizing the parallel platforms of cloud computing and high-performance computing (HPC) to manage and speed up the parallel routing protocol for different communication network sizes and set recommendations for utilizing cloud resources to adopt the parallel protocol. Our numerical results indicate that the HPC parallel implementation outperforms the cloud computing implementation, in terms of routing decision speed-up and scalability to large network sizes. In particular, for a large network size with 2048 nodes, our HPC implementation achieves a routing speed-up of 37x. However, the best routing speed-up achieved using our cloud computing implementation is 15.5x, and is recorded using one virtual machine (VM) for a network size of 1024 nodes. In summary, there is a trade-off between a better performance for HPC vs. flexible resources of cloud computing. Thus, choosing best fit platform for 5G routing protocols depends on the deployment scenarios at 5G core or edge network.

CBCT (cone beam computed tomography) is an imaging investigation that provides three-dimensional (3D) images of craniofacial structures. The purpose of this study is to determine the mechanical behavior of an orthodontic system where the lingual treatment technique was used in a 25-year-old female patient from whom a set of CBCT scans was used. CBCT images were processed through software programs such as Invesalius, Geomagic, and Solid Works, to create models containing virtual solids. These models were then imported into Ansys Workbench 2019 R3 (a finite element method software program) for successive simulations to generate displacement maps, deformations, stress distributions, and diagrams. We observed that in the lingual technique, the lowest force occurring on the maxillary teeth is at 1.1, while the highest force appears at 2.3. In the mandible, the lowest force occurs at 4.6, and the highest force at 3.1. The values of the forces and the results of the finite element method can represent a basis for the innovation of new orthodontic springs and also of bracket elements. Thus, by using new technologies, orthodontic practice can be significantly improved for the benefit of patients. Other virtual methods and techniques can be used in future studies, including the application of virtual reality for orthodontic diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]