Design, Implementation, and Performance of Checkpointing in NetSolve

While a variety of checkpointing techniques and systems have been documented for long-running programs, they are typically not available for programmers that are non systems experts. This paper details a project that integrates three technologies, NetSolve, Starfish, and IBP, for the seamless integration of fault-tolerance into long-running applications. We discuss the design and implementation of this project, and present performance results executing on both local and wide-area networks. 1 Introduction Checkpointing and rollback recovery is a well-studied research area for enabling long-running applications to be fault-tolerant. Many basic checkpointing algorithms [6, 11] and optimization techniques [12] have been developed for uniprocessor and parallel computing systems, and several checkpointing libraries and systems have been implemented [1, 5, 8, 10, 14, 17, 18, 20, 22]. However, for the typical scientific user, actually using a checkpointing system is a difficult task. All sys..

Anticancer activity of Nigella sativa (black seed) and its relationship with the thermal processing and quinone composition of the seed

Riad Agbaria, Adi Gabarin, Arik Dahan, Shimon Ben-Shabat Department of Clinical Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel Abstract: The traditional preparation process of Nigella sativa (NS) oil starts with roasting of the seeds, an allegedly unnecessary step that was never skipped. The aims of this study were to investigate the role and boundaries of thermal processing of NS seeds in the preparation of therapeutic extracts and to elucidate the underlying mechanism. NS extracts obtained by various seed thermal processing methods were investigated in vitro for their antiproliferative activity in mouse colon carcinoma (MC38) cells and for their thymoquinone content. The effect of the different methods of thermal processing on the ability of the obtained NS oil to inhibit the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) pathway was then investigated in Hodgkin’s lymphoma (L428) cells. The different thermal processing protocols yielded three distinct patterns: heating the NS seeds to 50°C, 100°C, or 150°C produced oil with a strong ability to inhibit tumor cell growth; no heating or heating to 25°C had a mild antiproliferative effect; and heating to 200°C or 250°C had no effect. Similar patterns were obtained for the thymoquinone content of the corresponding oils, which showed an excellent correlation with the antiproliferative data. It is proposed that there is an oxidative transition mechanism between quinones after controlled thermal processing of the seeds. While NS oil from heated seeds delayed the expression of NF-κB transcription, non-heated seeds resulted in only 50% inhibition. The data indicate that controlled thermal processing of NS seeds (at 50°C–150°C) produces significantly higher anticancer activity associated with a higher thymoquinone oil content, and inhibits the NF-κB signaling pathway. Keywords: Nigella sativa, thermal processing, antiproliferative effect, thymoquinone, NF-κ

Fluorescence of zirconium-naphthalene complexes: Effect of ortho-naphthalene substitution

The effect of the position of substituents on the formation of metal-naphthalene complexes has been investigated. Two positional isomers, 1-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid (1H2NA) and 3-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid (3H2NA), have been chosen. A comparative study of the luminescence behaviour of the two isomers in the presence of Zr(IV) has been performed. Interesting results were obtained. While 1-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid is quenched in the presence of Zr(IV), 3-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid produced high-fluorescence enhancement. Several pH studies were performed between pH 2.5 and 5.0 and the stoichiometries of the complexes were also established at the different pH values tested, by use of the Benesi-Hildebrand method. In addition, the formation constants have been calculated. Finally, quenching and lifetime studies were performed in an attempt to establish the type of quenching (static or dynamic) that is produced when a complex is formed between 1-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid and zirconium metal ion. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Validation of a survivable publishsubscribe system,” Int. Sci

Abstract: We describe, with respect to high-level survivability requirements, the validation of a survivable publish-subscribe system that is under development. We use a top-down approach that methodically breaks the task of validation into manageable tasks, and for each task, applies techniques best suited to its accomplishment. These efforts can be largely independent and use a variety of validation techniques, and the results, which complement and supplement each other, are seamlessly integrated to provide a convincing assurance argument. We also demonstrate the use of model-based validation techniques, as a part of the overall validation procedure, to guide the system’s design by exploring different configurations and evaluating trade-offs

The Impact of School-Based Nutrition Interventions on Parents and Other Family Members: A Systematic Literature Review

Little is known about the impact of school-based nutrition interventions on parents and other family members. This systematic review aims to explore the impact of school-based nutrition interventions on different parental/family outcomes, mainly dietary intake, nutrition knowledge, and health outcomes. PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, EconLit, Cochrane Reviews, and Google Scholar were systematically searched for controlled trials or natural experiments measuring the impact of school-based nutrition interventions, with or without parental involvement, on parents/families of school children. Twenty-two studies met the inclusion criteria. Of which, 15 studies assessed the impact of school-based nutrition interventions on parental/family dietary intake, 10 on parental/family nutrition knowledge, and 2 on parental/family health outcomes. Inconsistent results were found for parental dietary intake with six studies reporting favorable effects. Most studies found improved parental nutrition knowledge. Positive impacts were seen by both studies that assessed the impact on a parental health outcome. Overall, we found that there is potential for school-based nutrition interventions to result in positive effects for parents, in particular for nutrition knowledge. More research is needed to assess the impacts of school-based nutrition interventions on parents and other family members and to assess important intervention characteristics in creating a positive impact