Energy Profiling of ISP Points of Presence

Points of Presence (PoP), large aggregation nodes of a telecommunication network in which users lines are inter- connected to the ISP backbone network, are relevant elements of the ISP network infrastructure. Motivated by the today interest of both ISPs and researchers to more energy efficient Internet, we investigate the power consumption of PoPs of FASTWEB, a national-wide ISP in Italy. Energy profiling spans a period of one year, and includes both ADSL and FTTH access technologies. This extensive and unique dataset allows us to shed light on energy consumption of ISP networks, which we profile against other measurements, such as external temperature and PoP handled traffic. Results show that energy consumption is independent on the traffic, while it is strongly correlated with both daily and annual variability of temperature, due to air conditioning energy cost. Starting from these results, we investigate some possible strategies to reduce ISP electricity bill. We consider the adoption of energy proportional architectures which are currently being investigated by both manufacturers and researchers. Moreover, we evaluate the possible energy savings using real traffic data and we obtain that simple PoPs energy saving models based on two-three energy operating configuration can achieve results comparable to fully energy proportional mode

Energy-Efficient Design of Wavelength-Routing Networks

We discuss the power-aware Logical Topology Design problem in wavelength routing net- works, and analyze the economical impacts of power-efficiency. Results show that energy-optimized logical topologies can bring significant economical saving

Analiticity of the Lyapunov exponent of perturbed toral automorphisms

We consider a dynamical system generated by a perturbation $A_\varepsilon$ of an analytic Anosov diffeomorphism $A_0$ of $\mathbb{T}^d$. We show that, if $A_0$ admit a decomposition of $\mathrm T\mathbb T^d$ in $k$ invariant subspaces, such a decomposition can be extended in an analytic way to $A_\varepsilon$. This implies that the Lyapunov exponents, if non degenerate, are analytic functions of the perturbation

Energy efficiency in access and aggregation networks: From current traffic to potential savings

Access and aggregation networks account nowadays for a large share of the consumed energy in communication networks, and actions to ameliorate their energy cost are under investigation by the research community. In this work, we present a study of the possible savings that could be achieved if such technologies were in place. We take advantage of large datasets of measurements collected from the network of FASTWEB, a national-wide Internet Service Provider in Italy. We first perform a detailed characterization of the energy consumption of Points of Presence (PoPs) investigating on how factors such as external temperature, cooling technology and traffic load influence the consumed energy. Our mea- surements precisely quantify how the power consumption in today networks is practically independent from the traffic volume, while it is correlated only with the external temper- ature. We then narrow down our analysis to consider the traffic generated by each house- hold. More specifically, by observing about 10,000 ADSL customers, we characterize the typical traffic patterns generated by users who access the Internet. Using the available real data, we thus investigate if the energy consumption can be sig- nificantly reduced by applying simple energy-efficient policies that are currently under studies. We investigate energy-to-traffic proportional and resource consolidation technol- ogies for the PoP, while sleep modes policies are considered at the ADSL lines. All these energy-efficient policies, even if they are not yet available, are currently being widely investigated by both manufacturers and researchers. At the PoP level, our dataset shows that it would be possible to save up to 50% of energy, and that even simple mechanisms would easily allow to save 30% of energy. Considering the ADSL lines, it results that sleep mode policies can be effectively implemented, reducing the energy consumption of ADSL modems with little or marginal impact on the Quality of Service offered to users. We make available all datasets used in this paper to allow other researchers to benchmark their pro- posals considering actual traffic traces

Prevalence of and short-term changes in conjunctival manifestations among patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection

[no abstract available

Smart technologies for effective reconfiguration: the FASTER approach

Current and future computing systems increasingly require that their functionality stays flexible after the system is operational, in order to cope with changing user requirements and improvements in system features, i.e. changing protocols and data-coding standards, evolving demands for support of different user applications, and newly emerging applications in communication, computing and consumer electronics. Therefore, extending the functionality and the lifetime of products requires the addition of new functionality to track and satisfy the customers needs and market and technology trends. Many contemporary products along with the software part incorporate hardware accelerators for reasons of performance and power efficiency. While adaptivity of software is straightforward, adaptation of the hardware to changing requirements constitutes a challenging problem requiring delicate solutions. The FASTER (Facilitating Analysis and Synthesis Technologies for Effective Reconfiguration) project aims at introducing a complete methodology to allow designers to easily implement a system specification on a platform which includes a general purpose processor combined with multiple accelerators running on an FPGA, taking as input a high-level description and fully exploiting, both at design time and at run time, the capabilities of partial dynamic reconfiguration. The goal is that for selected application domains, the FASTER toolchain will be able to reduce the design and verification time of complex reconfigurable systems providing additional novel verification features that are not available in existing tool flows

Effect of a Klamath algae product ("AFA-B12") on blood levels of vitamin B12 and homocysteine in vegan subjects: a pilot study

none8Vitamin B12 is a critical nutrient that is often inadequate in a plant-based (vegan) diet, thus the inclusion of a reliable vitamin B12 source in a vegan diet is recommended as essential. Unfortunately, many natural sources of vitamin B12 have been proven to contain biologically inactive vitamin B12 analogues, inadequate for human supplementation. The aim of this non-randomized open trial was to determine whether supplementation with a natural Klamath algae-based product ("AFA-B12", Aphanizomenon flos-aquae algae plus a proprietary mix of enzymes) could favorably affect the vitamin B12 status of a group of 15 vegan subjects. By assessing blood concentration of vitamin B12, folate, and more importantly homocysteine (Hcy, a reliable marker in vegans of their B12 absorption), the vitamin B12 status of the participants at the end of the 3-month intervention period, while receiving the Klamath-algae supplement (T2), was compared with their vitamin B12 status at the end of the 3-month control period (T1), when they were not receiving any supplement, having stopped taking their usual vitamin B12 supplement at the beginning of the study (T0). Compared to the control period, in the intervention period participants improved their vitamin B12 status, significantly reducing Hcy blood concentration (p=0.003). In conclusion, the Klamath algae product AFA-B12 appears to be, in a preliminary study, an adequate and reliable source of vitamin B12 in humans.openL.Baroni; S.Scoglio; S.Benedetti; C.Bonetto; S.Pagliarani; Y.Benedetti; M.Rocchi; F.CanestrariL., Baroni; S., Scoglio; Benedetti, Serena; C., Bonetto; S., Pagliarani; Y., Benedetti; Rocchi, MARCO BRUNO LUIGI; Canestrari, Franc

In vivo confocal microscopy study of corneal nerve alterations in children and youths with Type 1 Diabetes

Objective: To determine whether children and youths with type 1 diabetes (T1D) have early alterations of the corneal subbasal nerve plexus detectable with In vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM) and to investigate the role of longitudinally measured major risk factors for diabetes complications associated with these alterations. Methods: One hundred and fifty children and youths with T1D and 51 age-matched controls were enrolled and underwent IVCM. Corneal nerve fiber length (CNFL), corneal nerve fiber density (CNFD), corneal nerve branch density (CNBD), corneal fiber total branch density (CTBD), and corneal fiber fractal dimension (CNFrD) were measured. Risk factors for diabetes complications (blood pressure, BMI, HbA1c, lipoproteins, urinary albumin-creatinine ratio) were recorded at IVCM and longitudinally since T1D onset. Unpaired t-test was used to compare variables between the groups. Multiple regression models were calculated using IVCM parameters as dependent variables and risk factors as independent variables. Results: All IVCM parameters, except CTBD, were significantly lower in the T1D patients. Glycometabolic control (HbA1c, visit-to-visit HbA1c variability, and mean HbA1c), and blood pressure were inversely correlated with IVCM parameters. Multiple regression showed that part of the variability in CNFL, CNFD, CTBD, and CNFraD was explained by HbA1c, blood pressure percentiles, and age at IVCM examination, independent of diabetes duration, BMI percentile, and LDL cholesterol. Comparable results were obtained using the mean value of risk factors measured longitudinally since T1D onset. Conclusions: Early signs of corneal nerve degeneration were found in children and youths with T1D. Glycometabolic control and blood pressure were the major risk factors for these alterations. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved