Energy Efficiency Support through Intra-Layer Cloud Stack Adaptation

Energy consumption is a key concern in cloud computing. The paper reports on a cloud architecture to support energy efficiency at service construction, deployment, and operation. This is achieved through SaaS, PaaS and IaaS intra-layer self-adaptation in isolation. The self-adaptation mechanisms are discussed, as well as their implementation and evaluation. The experimental results show that the overall architecture is capable of adapting to meet the energy goals of applications on a per layer basis

Mechanisms of hamstring strain injury: Interactions between fatigue, muscle activation and function

Isolated injury to the long head of biceps femoris is the most common type of acute hamstring strain injury (HSI). However, the precise hamstring injury mechanism (i.e., sprint-type) is still not well understood, and research is inconclusive as to which phase in the running cycle HSI risk is the greatest. Since detailed information relating to hamstring muscle function during sprint running cannot be obtained in vivo in humans, the findings of studies investigating HSI mechanisms are based on modeling that requires assumptions to be made based on extrapolations from anatomical and biomechanical investigations. As it is extremely difficult to account for all aspects of muscle-tendon tissues that influence function during high-intensity running actions, much of this complexity is not included in these models. Furthermore, the majority of analyses do not consider the influence of prior activity or muscular fatigue on kinematics, kinetics and muscle activation during sprinting. Yet, it has been shown that fatigue can lead to alterations in neuromuscular coordination patterns that could potentially increase injury risk. The present critical review will evaluate the current evidence on hamstring injury mechanism(s) during high-intensity running and discuss the interactions between fatigue and hamstring muscle activation and function

A Risk Assessment Framework for Cloud Computing

Cloud service providers offer access to their resources through formal service level agreements (SLA), and need well-balanced infrastructures so that they can maximise the quality of service (QoS) they offer and minimise the number of SLA violations. This paper focuses on a specific aspect of risk assessment as applied in cloud computing: methods within a framework that can be used by cloud service providers and service consumers to assess risk during service deployment and operation. It describes the various stages in the service lifecycle whereas risk assessment takes place, and the corresponding risk models that have been designed and implemented. The impact of risk on architectural components, with special emphasis on holistic management support at service operation, is also described. The risk assessor is shown to be effective through the experimental evaluation of the implementation, and is already integrated in a cloud computing toolkit

Gut Dysbiosis in Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma Is Characterized by Shifts in Relative Abundances of Specific Bacterial Taxa and Decreased Diversity in More Advanced Disease

Background Cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) patients often suffer from recurrent skin infections and profound immune dysregulation in advanced disease. The gut microbiome has been recognized to influence cancers and cutaneous conditions; however, it has not yet been studied in CTCL.ObjectivesTo investigate the gut microbiome in patients with CTCL and in healthy controls.MethodsA case-control study was conducted between January 2019 and November 2020 at Northwestern’s busy multidisciplinary CTCL clinic (Chicago, Illinois, USA) utilizing 16S ribosomal RNA gene amplicon sequencing and bioinformatics analyses to characterize the microbiota present in fecal samples of CTCL patients (n = 38) and age-matched healthy controls (n = 13) from the same geographical region.ResultsGut microbial α-diversity trended lower in patients with CTCL and was significantly lower in patients with advanced CTCL relative to controls (P = 0.015). No differences in β-diversity were identified. Specific taxa were significantly reduced in patient samples; significance was determined using adjusted P-values (q-values) that accounted for a false discovery rate threshold of 0.05. Significantly reduced taxa in patient samples included the phylum Actinobacteria (q = 0.0002), classes Coriobacteriia (q = 0.002) and Actinobacteria (q = 0.03), order Coriobacteriales (q = 0.003), and genus Anaerotruncus (q = 0.01). The families Eggerthellaceae (q = 0.0007) and Lactobacillaceae (q = 0.02) were significantly reduced in patients with high skin disease burden.ConclusionsGut dysbiosis can be seen in patients with CTCL compared to healthy controls and is pronounced in more advanced CTCL. The taxonomic shifts associated with CTCL are similar to those previously reported in atopic dermatitis and opposite those of psoriasis, suggesting microbial parallels to the immune profile and skin barrier differences between these conditions. These findings may suggest new microbial disease biomarkers and reveal a new angle for intervention

Turismo y crisis: el comportamiento del inmobiliario turístico en la montaña española durante la última década. Estudio de casos: la Val d’Aran y Sierra Nevada

En esta comunicación se analiza, como respuesta al enunciado del título, la evolución reciente del parque de viviendas que puede estar vinculado a una función turístico-residencial. Se pretende valorar, a partir de los resultados, el papel que desempeña esta función en el proceso de dinamización local y de renovación de la montaña española como escenario turístico y detectar, asimismo, otros posibles fundamentos de dicha renovación. Se analizan específicamente los datos de los censos de vivienda y las estadísticas de viviendas construidas en destinos significativos previamente seleccionados. El estudio se centra en los últimos quince años, y se realiza a escala municipal. La comarca y el municipio constituyen unidades espaciales operativas idóneas a efectos del tratamiento estadístico de la información obtenida

Variability in Action Selection Relates to Striatal Dopamine 2/3 Receptor Availability in Humans: A PET Neuroimaging Study Using Reinforcement Learning and Active Inference Models

Choosing actions that result in advantageous outcomes is a fundamental function of nervous systems. All computational decision-making models contain a mechanism that controls the variability of (or confidence in) action selection, but its neural implementation is unclear-especially in humans. We investigated this mechanism using two influential decision-making frameworks: active inference (AI) and reinforcement learning (RL). In AI, the precision (inverse variance) of beliefs about policies controls action selection variability-similar to decision 'noise' parameters in RL-and is thought to be encoded by striatal dopamine signaling. We tested this hypothesis by administering a 'go/no-go' task to 75 healthy participants, and measuring striatal dopamine 2/3 receptor (D2/3R) availability in a subset (n = 25) using [11C]-(+)-PHNO positron emission tomography. In behavioral model comparison, RL performed best across the whole group but AI performed best in participants performing above chance levels. Limbic striatal D2/3R availability had linear relationships with AI policy precision (P = 0.029) as well as with RL irreducible decision 'noise' (P = 0.020), and this relationship with D2/3R availability was confirmed with a 'decision stochasticity' factor that aggregated across both models (P = 0.0006). These findings are consistent with occupancy of inhibitory striatal D2/3Rs decreasing the variability of action selection in humans

"I want to be a furious leopard with magical wings and super power": developing an ethico-interpretive framework for detecting Chinese students' funds of identity

The Avatar Project was a two-week English project in which Chinese high school students in an internationalised school in Shanghai China explored the topic of cultural and individual identity. The project synthesised prospective education with the Funds of Identity approach, both of which have particular relevance within an internationalised teaching context. During the project, students created three identity texts: a written reflection, a word cloud and an avatar which were later used as data for this article. This article presents findings from the project and critically evaluates the effectiveness of avatars and word clouds as strategies for detecting students’ funds of identity. A multimodal approach to data collection and analysis was adopted in order to ensure that the interpretation of students’ work remained situated within their lived experience. The project revealed the existence of social, practical, institutional and cultural funds of identity. However, it also detected more problematic forms of funds of identity related to political and philosophical beliefs which I label ideological and existential funds of identity. While avatars and word clouds were effective in drawing out students’ out-of-school identities, the written reflections were ultimately more useful in revealing students’ funds of identity and also ensuring that any interpretations remained within the participants’ horizon of intended meaning. The project also brought about significant transformation in the way I viewed my students

We are more than EFL teachers-we are Educators: Emancipating EFL student-teachers through photovoice

The prevailing pedagogical orientations of English as a foreign language (EFL) education in Spain oppress learners intellectually in ways that are counterproductive to their learning. As a reaction to this, 129 EFL student-teachers (STs) took part during the 2013/14, 2014/15, and 2015/16 academic years in a workshop which drew on the methodology of participatory action research and on photovoice as a data-creating strategy, in order to emancipate these STs intellectually, boost their EFL development, and offer an alternative critical model for their future EFL teaching. The research was assessed collectively through a variety of qualitative strategies. Results showed that the photovoice workshop created a rich and meaningful context for EFL learning, one which enabled the STs to fully actualize their intellectual potential by producing knowledge collectively, thereby setting a memorable educational example for their own future teaching

Erratum: Production and validation of scintillating structural components from low-background Poly(ethylene naphthalate)

[no abstract available