5,675 research outputs found
A survey of general-purpose experiment management tools for distributed systems
International audienceIn the field of large-scale distributed systems, experimentation is particularly difficult. The studied systems are complex, often nondeterministic and unreliable, software is plagued with bugs, whereas the experiment workflows are unclear and hard to reproduce. These obstacles led many independent researchers to design tools to control their experiments, boost productivity and improve quality of scientific results. Despite much research in the domain of distributed systems experiment management, the current fragmentation of efforts asks for a general analysis. We therefore propose to build a framework to uncover missing functionality of these tools, enable meaningful comparisons be-tween them and find recommendations for future improvements and research. The contribution in this paper is twofold. First, we provide an extensive list of features offered by general-purpose experiment management tools dedicated to distributed systems research on real platforms. We then use it to assess existing solutions and compare them, outlining possible future paths for improvements
Consensus communication strategies to improve doctor-patient relationship in paediatric severe asthma
Background: Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease that is very common among youth worldwide. The burden of this illness is very high not only considering financial costs but also on emotional and social functioning. Guidelines and many researches recommend to develop a good communication between physicians and children/caregiver and their parents. Nevertheless, a previous Italian project showed some criticalities in paediatric severe asthma management. The consensus gathered together experts in paediatric asthma management, experts in narrative medicine and patient associations with the aim of identify simple recommendation to improve communication strategies. Methods: Participants to the consensus received the results of the project and a selection of narratives two weeks before the meeting. The meeting was structured in plenary session and in three working groups discussing respectively about communication strategies with children, adolescents and parents. The task of each working group was to identify the most effective (DO) and least effective practices (DON' T) for 5 phases of the visit: welcome, comprehension of the context, emotions management, duration and end of the visit and endurance of the relationship. Results: Participants agreed that good relationships translate into positive outcomes and reached consensus on communication strategies to implement in the different phase of relationships. Conclusions: The future challenges identified by the participants are the dissemination of this Consensus document and the implementation of effective communication strategies to improve the management of pediatric asthma
Are we relevant to the digital natives?
Bruce Grant-Braham looks at the latest hospitality information technology application
Seven Steps Toward State Success in Covering Children Continuously
Summarizes recommendations from symposium discussions on state efforts to increase health coverage for children, including simplifying procedures, emphasizing community-based outreach, changing agency culture, and partnering with local organizations
Fostering participation: Including animals in therapy for patients in a minimally conscious state
Minimally conscious states, which occur after severe brain injuries, represent a significant
burden and can lead to long-term disability. Patients in minimally conscious states are a vulnerable
patient group that needs early and effective treatments. Animal-assisted therapy is a possible
treatment for minimally conscious patients and is applied for various reasons. The stimulation provided
by animals is multisensory and emotional. Interactions with animals function nonverbally, and these
situations are easy to understand. First studies have shown that animal-assisted therapy can increase
active movements, awareness, and brain activity. However, the evidence base for animal-assisted
therapy in treatments of minimally conscious states is minimal.
We conducted three studies to better understand the effect of animal interaction on minimally
conscious patients. First, we wanted to investigate how animal-assisted therapy affects behavior,
physiological parameters, and the level of consciousness of minimally conscious patients. For this
purpose, we conducted a randomized two-treatment multiperiod crossover study that measured
patients during eight animal-assisted and eight conventional therapies (study I). Second, we were
interested in the mechanisms involved in the interaction between minimally conscious patients and
animals. For this purpose, we measured brain activity in two experimental studies with healthy adults
and minimally conscious patients (studies II and III). We compared the responses to different forms of
contact with a dog and a plush animal. We also analyzed patientsâ heart rates and heart-rate variability
in study III.
The crossover study revealed that the minimally conscious patients showed more behavioral
responses, more awareness, and higher physiological arousal in the animal-assisted therapy sessions
compared to conventional sessions (study I). Healthy participants in the experimental study showed
higher brain activity when interacting with a dog than with a plush animal. The closer the interaction
with the dog or plush animal was, the higher the brain activity became. Minimally conscious patients
also had increased brain activity with increased proximity to a dog or a plush animal. But the patients
reacted equally strongly to the dog and the plush animal. However, the patientsâ heart rates were
higher during interaction with the dog than with the plush animal.
The three studies indicate that interactions with animals have the potential to arouse minimally
conscious patients physiologically and emotionally. This arousal allows these patients to participate
more fully in therapy through a higher level of consciousness. The three studies make an important
contribution to better understanding the influence of animals on minimally conscious patients.
However, one of many new questions is how animal-assisted therapy should be delivered and which
patients can benefit most from this therapy approach. More studies will be needed to enable a safe,
evidence-based application of animal-assisted therapy in minimally conscious patients
Integrated scientific workflow management for the Emulab network testbed
Journal ArticleThe main forces that shaped current network testbeds were the needs for realism and scale. Now that several testbeds support large and complex experiments, management of experimentation processes and results has become more difficult and a barrier to high-quality systems research. The popularity of network testbeds means that new tools for managing experiment workflows, addressing the ready-made base of testbed users, can have important and significant impacts. We are now evolving Emulab, our large and popular network testbed, to support experiments that are organized around scientific workflows. This paper summarizes the opportunities in this area, the new approaches we are taking, our implementation in progress, and the challenges in adapting scientific workflow concepts for testbed-based research. With our system, we expect to demonstrate that a network testbed with integrated scientific workflow management can be an important tool to aid research in networking and distributed systems
Data locality in Hadoop
Current market tendencies show the need of storing and processing rapidly
growing amounts of data. Therefore, it implies the demand for distributed
storage and data processing systems. The Apache Hadoop is an open-source
framework for managing such computing clusters in an effective, fault-tolerant
way.
Dealing with large volumes of data, Hadoop, and its storage system HDFS
(Hadoop Distributed File System), face challenges to keep the high efficiency
with computing in a reasonable time. The typical Hadoop implementation
transfers computation to the data, rather than shipping data across the cluster.
Otherwise, moving the big quantities of data through the network could significantly
delay data processing tasks. However, while a task is already running,
Hadoop favours local data access and chooses blocks from the nearest nodes.
Next, the necessary blocks are moved just when they are needed in the given
ask.
For supporting the Hadoopâs data locality preferences, in this thesis, we propose
adding an innovative functionality to its distributed file system (HDFS), that
enables moving data blocks on request. In-advance shipping of data makes it
possible to forcedly redistribute data between nodes in order to easily adapt it to
the given processing tasks. New functionality enables the instructed movement
of data blocks within the cluster. Data can be shifted either by user running
the proper HDFS shell command or programmatically by other module like an
appropriate scheduler.
In order to develop such functionality, the detailed analysis of Apache Hadoop
source code and its components (specifically HDFS) was conducted. Research
resulted in a deep understanding of internal architecture, what made it possible
to compare the possible approaches to achieve the desired solution, and develop
the chosen one
IoT4Fun Rapid Prototyping Toolkit for Smart Toys
Rapid prototyping tools turn the design of smart toys faster and easier for creative teams. Appropriate tools for smart toys should meet a list of requirements, which include distributed data collection and adaptability for assorted toy shapes and size. The IoT4Fun toolkit innovates by mixing the embedded, modular, and plug-and-play approaches. It supports motion tracking data, wireless communication, and contactless identification. IoT4Fun demonstrates its effectiveness to design a variety of smart toy solutions by fitting into a hula-hoop toy until spherical, cubic, and wearable shapes. Solutions connect with either mobile applications or other toys and play rules range from open-ended to closed behaviors. End-users exhaustively tested developed solutions, and technical assessment evaluates their integrity after playtesting sessions. Results show comparative data on battery consumption and vulnerabilities threats for data security and privacy of each design. Future versions of IoT4Fun can benefit from miniaturization, robustness, and reliability improvements
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