code: def _requires_submission(self):
          
          if self.dbcon_part is None:
              return False
  
          tables = get_table_list(self.dbcon_part)
          nrows = 0
          for table in tables:
              if table == '__submissions__':
                  continue
              nrows += get_number_of_rows(self.dbcon_part, table)
          if nrows:
              logger.debug('%d new statistics were added since the last submission.' % nrows)
          else:
              logger.debug('No new statistics were added since the last submission.')
  
          t0 = datetime.datetime.now()
          s = self['__submissions__']
          last_submission = s.get_last(1)
          if last_submission:
              logger.debug('Last submission was %s' % last_submission[0]['Time'])
              t_ref = datetime.datetime.strptime(last_submission[0]['Time'], Table.time_fmt)
          else:
              t_ref = datetime.datetime.fromtimestamp(os.path.getmtime(self.filepath))
  
          submission_interval_passed = (t0 - t_ref).total_seconds() > self.submit_interval_s
          submission_required = bool(submission_interval_passed and nrows)
          if submission_required:
              logger.debug('A submission is overdue.')
          else:
              logger.debug('No submission required.')
          return submission_required
docs: Returns True if the time since the last submission is greater than the submission interval.
          If no submissions have ever been made, check if the database last modified time is greater than the
          submission interval.