5,994 research outputs found
Acitation analysis of the SIGCSE 2007 proceedings
This paper identifies the most commonly cited conferences, journals and books among the 1398 citations made in the 122 publications of the SIGCSE 2007 proceedings. The SIGCSE 2007 authors cited a very large array of conferences, journals and books, but the majority are only cited within a single paper. There are only a very small set of journals and conferences cited frequently. Most books cited are concerned with technical information or are textbooks. Only 2% of books are concerned with computer science education and 23% with education in general. The picture that emerges from this citation analysis is that the SIGCSE community does not have a substantial core set of educational literature. Also, the epistemology of the SIGCSE community is primarily objectivist, with a focus on content, rather than a constructivist, student-centered focus on learning
Kepler-539: a young extrasolar system with two giant planets on wide orbits and in gravitational interaction
We confirm the planetary nature of Kepler-539b (aka Kepler object of interest
K00372.01), a giant transiting exoplanet orbiting a solar-analogue G2 V star.
The mass of Kepler-539b was accurately derived thanks to a series of precise
radial velocity measurements obtained with the CAFE spectrograph mounted on the
CAHA 2.2m telescope. A simultaneous fit of the radial-velocity data and Kepler
photometry revealed that Kepler-539b is a dense Jupiter-like planet with a mass
of Mp = 0.97 Mjup and a radius of Rp = 0.747 Rjup, making a complete circular
revolution around its parent star in 125.6 days. The semi-major axis of the
orbit is roughly 0.5 au, implying that the planet is at roughly 0.45 au from
the habitable zone. By analysing the mid-transit times of the 12 transit events
of Kepler-539b recorded by the Kepler spacecraft, we found a clear modulated
transit time variation (TTV), which is attributable to the presence of a planet
c in a wider orbit. The few timings available do not allow us to precisely
estimate the properties of Kepler-539c and our analysis suggests that it has a
mass between 1.2 and 3.6 Mjup, revolving on a very eccentric orbit (0.4<e<0.6)
with a period larger than 1000 days. The high eccentricity of planet c is the
probable cause of the TTV modulation of planet b. The analysis of the CAFE
spectra revealed a relatively high photospheric lithium content, A(Li)=2.48
dex, which, together with both a gyrochronological and isochronal analysis,
suggests that the parent star is relatively young.Comment: 11 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysic
Eclipsing binaries and fast rotators in the Kepler sample. Characterization via radial velocity analysis from Calar Alto
The Kepler mission has provided high-accurate photometric data in a long time
span for more than two hundred thousands stars, looking for planetary transits.
Among the detected candidates, the planetary nature of around 15% has been
established or validated by different techniques. But additional data is needed
to characterize the rest of the candidates and reject other possible
configurations. We started a follow-up program to validate, confirm, and
characterize some of the planet candidates. In this paper we present the radial
velocity analysis (RV) of those presenting large variations, compatible with
being eclipsing binaries. We also study those showing large rotational
velocities, which prevents us from obtaining the necessary precision to detect
planetary-like objects. We present new RV results for 13 Kepler objects of
interest (KOIs) obtained with the CAFE spectrograph at the Calar Alto
Observatory, and analyze their high-spatial resolution images and the Kepler
light curves of some interesting cases. We have found five spectroscopic and
eclipsing binaries. Among them, the case of KOI-3853 is of particular interest.
This system is a new example of the so-called heartbeat stars, showing dynamic
tidal distortions in the Kepler light curve. We have also detected duration and
depth variations of the eclipse. We suggest possible scenarios to explain such
effect, including the presence of a third substellar body possibly detected in
our RV analysis. We also provide upper mass limits to the transiting companions
of other six KOIs with large rotational velocities. This property prevents the
RV method to obtain the necessary precision to detect planetary-like masses.
Finally, we analyze the large RV variations of other two KOIs, incompatible
with the presence of planetary-mass objects. These objects are likely to be
stellar binaries but a longer timespan is still needed.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 18 pages, 9 figures, 17 tables. This
version fixes an error affecting the values of tables A.1-A.13. The text
remains unaltere
Cooperation for knowledge demands know-how for cooperation
Valedictory Address by
Louk de la Rive Box,
Professor of international cooperation and
Rector of the
International Institute of Social Studies
(22 April 2010).
Which Knowledge and for Which Development? Old Timers and New Players
More than a decade ago the cyber-revolution gave rise to optimism that ICT would facilitate access to knowledge and promote âdevelopmentâ. The World Development Report 1998-99 promised âKnowledge for Developmentâ, while the World Bank proclaimed itself the âKnowledge Bankâ. There had been many âoldâ players in the knowledge field, including public research organizations for different sectors. During the 1980s and 1990s, however, private players had come to dominate the âknowledge marketâ, as dwindling public finances and government subsidies undermined public research and development, and related public goods such as education.
While many of these ânewâ players effectively privatized knowledge, some contributed to knowledge becoming more widely available, in forms such as open-access journals and e-books, in a process referred to as âdemocratizing knowledgeâ. The question is whether this really translated into wider access to knowledge. In particular, did knowledge became accessible for the less privileged in the world, those seeking âdevelopmentâ, or has knowledge become a private good, with segmented access to information, for a particular form of (elite-driven) development? How can we explain, for instance, the lack of knowledge development for peasant agriculture, and the overall focus on development of technology for (and by) agri-business, with highly protected forms of access?
Although civil society is contesting this way of restricting knowledge, it is not clear whether and how the current trend towards concentration in the âpower of knowledgeâ can be reversed in the interest of broad-based access.
Let the debate continue
Kepler-447b: a hot-Jupiter with an extremely grazing transit
We present the radial velocity confirmation of the extrasolar planet
Kepler-447b, initially detected as a candidate by the Kepler mission. In this
work, we analyze its transit signal and the radial velocity data obtained with
the Calar Alto Fiber-fed Echelle spectrograph (CAFE). By simultaneously
modeling both datasets, we obtain the orbital and physical properties of the
system. According to our results, Kepler-447b is a Jupiter-mass planet
(), with an estimated radius of
(uncertainties provided in this work are
unless specified). This translates into a sub-Jupiter density. The
planet revolves every days in a slightly eccentric orbit
() around a G8V star with detected activity in the
Kepler light curve. Kepler-447b transits its host with a large impact parameter
(), being one of the few planetary grazing transits
confirmed so far and the first in the Kepler large crop of exoplanets. We
estimate that only around 20% of the projected planet disk occults the stellar
disk. The relatively large uncertainties in the planet radius are due to the
large impact parameter and short duration of the transit. Planets with such an
extremely large impact parameter can be used to detect and analyze interesting
configurations such as additional perturbing bodies, stellar pulsations,
rotation of a non-spherical planet, or polar spot-crossing events. All these
scenarios would periodically modify the transit properties (depth, duration,
and time of mid-transit), what could be detectable with sufficient accurate
photometry. Short-cadence photometric data (at the 1 minute level) would help
in the search for these exotic configurations in grazing planetary transits
like that of Kepler-447b.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 13 pages, 8 figures, 4 tables. This
version replaces an earlier version of the pape
DC-Prophet: Predicting Catastrophic Machine Failures in DataCenters
When will a server fail catastrophically in an industrial datacenter? Is it
possible to forecast these failures so preventive actions can be taken to
increase the reliability of a datacenter? To answer these questions, we have
studied what are probably the largest, publicly available datacenter traces,
containing more than 104 million events from 12,500 machines. Among these
samples, we observe and categorize three types of machine failures, all of
which are catastrophic and may lead to information loss, or even worse,
reliability degradation of a datacenter. We further propose a two-stage
framework-DC-Prophet-based on One-Class Support Vector Machine and Random
Forest. DC-Prophet extracts surprising patterns and accurately predicts the
next failure of a machine. Experimental results show that DC-Prophet achieves
an AUC of 0.93 in predicting the next machine failure, and a F3-score of 0.88
(out of 1). On average, DC-Prophet outperforms other classical machine learning
methods by 39.45% in F3-score.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, accepted by 2017 ECML PKD
Recommended from our members
A management architecture for active networks
In this paper we present an architecture for network and applications management, which is based on the Active Networks paradigm and shows the advantages of network programmability. The stimulus to develop this architecture arises from an actual need to manage a cluster of active nodes, where it is often required to redeploy network assets and modify nodes connectivity. In our architecture, a remote front-end of the managing entity allows the operator to design new network topologies, to check the status of the nodes and to configure them. Moreover, the proposed framework allows to explore an active network, to monitor the active applications, to query each node and to install programmable traps. In order to take advantage of the Active Networks technology, we introduce active SNMP-like MIBs and agents, which are dynamic and programmable. The programmable management agents make tracing distributed applications a feasible task. We propose a general framework that can inter-operate with any active execution environment. In this framework, both the manager and the monitor front-ends communicate with an active node (the Active Network Access Point) through the XML language. A gateway service performs the translation of the queries from XML to an active packet language and injects the code in the network. We demonstrate the implementation of an active network gateway for PLAN (Packet Language for Active Networks) in a forty active nodes testbed. Finally, we discuss an application of the active management architecture to detect the causes of network failures by tracing network events in time
A new look inside Planetary Nebula LoTr 5: A long-period binary with hints of a possible third component
LoTr 5 is a planetary nebula with an unusual long-period binary central star.
As far as we know, the pair consists of a rapidly rotating G-type star and a
hot star, which is responsible for the ionization of the nebula. The rotation
period of the G-type star is 5.95 days and the orbital period of the binary is
now known to be 2700 days, one of the longest in central star of
planetary nebulae. The spectrum of the G central star shows a complex H
double-peaked profile which varies with very short time scales, also reported
in other central stars of planetary nebulae and whose origin is still unknown.
We present new radial velocity observations of the central star which allow us
to confirm the orbital period for the long-period binary and discuss the
possibility of a third component in the system at 129 days to the G star.
This is complemented with the analysis of archival light curves from SuperWASP,
ASAS and OMC. From the spectral fitting of the G-type star, we obtain a
effective temperature of = 5410250 K and surface gravity of
= 2.70.5, consistent with both giant and subgiant stars. We also
present a detailed analysis of the H double-peaked profile and conclude
that it does not present correlation with the rotation period and that the
presence of an accretion disk via Roche lobe overflow is unlikely.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Political opportunism and countercyclical fiscal policy in election-year recessions
Political budget cycles (PBCs) have been well documented in the literature, albeit not for all circumstances. Similarly, there is clear evidence on the positive effect of economic growth on electoral success. However, no work has been done on the impact of economic growth on the magnitude of PBCs. The theoretical model argues that a government has an incentive to increase fiscal manipulations when a recession is expected to hit and curtail reelection chances; this amounts to countercyclical policy for opportunistic rather than Keynesian motives. Very robust evidence for this behavior is found in Portuguese municipalities; in election years, budget deficits go up even more and significantly so, when a recession is expected.Fundação para a CiĂȘncia e Tecnologia (FCT
Kepler-91b: a planet at the end of its life. Planet and giant host star properties via light-curve variations
The evolution of planetary systems is intimately linked to the evolution of
their host star. Our understanding of the whole planetary evolution process is
based on the large planet diversity observed so far. To date, only few tens of
planets have been discovered orbiting stars ascending the Red Giant Branch.
Although several theories have been proposed, the question of how planets die
remains open due to the small number statistics. In this work we study the
giant star Kepler-91 (KOI-2133) in order to determine the nature of a
transiting companion. This system was detected by the Kepler Space Telescope.
However, its planetary confirmation is needed. We confirm the planetary nature
of the object transiting the star Kepler-91 by deriving a mass of and a planetary radius of
. Asteroseismic analysis produces a
stellar radius of and a mass of
. We find that its eccentric orbit
() is just away
from the stellar atmosphere at the pericenter. Kepler-91b could be the previous
stage of the planet engulfment, recently detected for BD+48 740. Our
estimations show that Kepler-91b will be swallowed by its host star in less
than 55 Myr. Among the confirmed planets around giant stars, this is the
planetary-mass body closest to its host star. At pericenter passage, the star
subtends an angle of , covering around 10% of the sky as seen from
the planet. The planetary atmosphere seems to be inflated probably due to the
high stellar irradiation.Comment: 21 pages, 8 tables and 11 figure
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