A Survey of Network Optimization Techniques for Traffic Engineering

TCP/IP represents the reference standard for the implementation of interoperable communication networks. Nevertheless, the layering principle at the basis of interoperability severely limits the performance of data communication networks, thus requiring proper configuration and management in order to provide effective management of traffic flows. This paper presents a brief survey related to network optimization using Traffic Engineering algorithms, aiming at providing additional insight to the different alternatives available in the scientific literature

Inorganic arrangement crystal beryllium, lithium, selenium and silicon

The use of inorganic crystals technology has been widely date. Since quartz crystals for watches in the nineteenth century, and common way radio in the early twentieth century, to computer chips with new semiconductor materials. Chemical elements such as beryllium, lithium, selenium and silicon, are widely used in technology. The development of new crystals arising from that arrangement can bring technological advances in several areas of knowledge. The likely difficulty of finding such crystals in nature or synthesized, suggest an advanced study of the subject. A study using computer programs with ab initio method was applied. As a result of the likely molecular structure of the arrangement of a crystal was obtained.Comment: 33 pages, 7 figure

Protein structure, distribution of homoplasy and phylogenetic inference

All molecular phylogenetic methods are based on two assumptions: independence of characters and constant selective pressure. It is well known that these assumptions are often violated, but it is assumed that the methods are robust to such violations. However, the increase of unorthodox phylogenies makes us wonder about their reliability. None of the currently used phylogenetic methods and models account for a change of functional/structural constraint at the protein level. In order to understand the consequences on the phylogenetic inference, I studied the distribution of the structural/functional misleading phylogenetic signal in the tree and described the effect of change of constraint at the protein level on the DNA substitution pattern.;While randomly distributed, homoplastic changes cancel each other and can be considered as background noise. However, homoplastic events due to independent change in hydrophobic constraint tend to accumulate in some parts of the tree and can be misleading. A method has been implemented (DISECT) to estimate the distribution of such homoplasies and to improve the tree inference with a partial down-weighting scheme.;Change of constraint at the protein level can influence the DNA substitution pattern. The software program DRUIDS has been designed to detect anomalies in substitution pattern due to a change of constraint. Analysis of four cytochrome b datasets shows that the same regions exhibit a deviation from stationarity in amino acid hydrophobicity and volume and have a high substitution rate. In addition, these regions fail the HKY model of evolution and cluster in areas that interact with neighboring proteins in the bc1 complex. Local constraints change frequently in interacting areas and compensatory substitutions occur to maintain the fitness of the bc1 complex phenotype. Similar study of a protein that interacts with cytochrome b (Subunit 7) confirms these results. A close look at the genetic code structure shows an asymmetry of nucleotide substitutions when there is a change of residue hydrophobicity and volume and current molecular model of evolution do not accommodate such biases.;The results of this dissertation suggest that molecular phylogenetic models and methods should account for more biology to be more reliable

Simulations of Adaptive Optics with a Laser Guide Star for SINFONI

The SINFONI instrument for ESO's VLT combines integral field spectroscopy and adaptive optics (AO). We discuss detailed simulations of the adaptive optics module. These simulations are aimed at assessing the AO module performance, specifically for operations with extended sources and a laser guide star. Simulated point spread function (PSF) images will be used to support scientific preparations and the development of an exposure time calculator, while simulated wavefront sensor measurements will be used to study PSF reconstruction methods. We explain how the adaptive optics simulations work, focusing on the realistic modelling of the laser guide star for a curvature wavefront sensor. The predicted performance of the AO module is discussed, resulting in recommendations for the operation of the SINFONI AO module at the telescope.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, to appear in SPIE conference proceedings vol 5490, "Advancements in Adaptive Optics", eds. D. Bonaccini, B.L. Ellerbroek, R. Ragazonni, Glasgow UK, 21-25 June 200

The Influence of Capitalism in the Labor Force Logic of the Female Prison System and the Effectiveness of Work Programs for Reintegration

Work programs in the female prisons of Brazil are far from promoting participants’ dignity, their learning new marketable skills, or even providing a potential source of remuneration.  The real effect of prison work programs is inflicting a painful conscience and imposing atonement.  Critical criminology presents the actual ineffectiveness of prisons and demystifies how capitalism influences thinking about work in European, North American, and Brazilian jails.  Concerning female prisons, critical criminology also reflects the androgynous character of laws, the inadequate architecture in prisons, and the improper work settings for women.  Factual reality reveals programs offering unattractive work, focused on domestic chores, with low pay and no vocational focus, and that are subject to discontinuity due to policy changes in Brazilian prison administrations. Through bibliographic research with a descriptive inductive method, the first stage of this analysis seeks to carry out a theoretical approach to applying critical criminology on the influence of European and North American capitalism and subsequently the differential of Brazilian capitalism in the development of work programs in the prisons of these countries.  Systematizing feminist criminology and its approach to prison issues in Brazil is the aim of the second stage of this analysis.  In the third stage, through the description of empirical works carried out in some Brazilian states, the reality of women inmates inside the walls is presented. The resulting conclusions are that the moral nature of work, as conceived by European liberalism, does not fit into the Brazilian reality that retains traces of slavery and colonialism simultaneously with liberal capitalism.  These characteristics are reflected in prisons, as they hold the lower-class population in inferior jobs and gives the inmates a poor-quality education.  As a result, the work carried out in these programs is not intended to generate adequate compensation, much less emancipate participants, but rather neutralizes, stigmatizes, and exterminates them, as they perish in the worst possible living conditions in prison.Critical feminist criminology denounces the prison system in its architecture and its rules that do not aim at gender differentiation.  Patriarchal policymakers and administrators have created this result with antiquated and conventional perspectives that have not considered gender differences and have failed to visualize female needs inside prisons.  In practice, the work carried out by female inmates does not compensate them at levels comparable to the general labor market.  Their remuneration is inadequate, and the work is unattractive.  There is a discontinuity within the work programs because those who plan and implement them are political appointees, subject to turnover.The conclusion is that, in Brazilian women’s prisons, there are few policies for the implementation of work with an emancipatory capacity such as vocational training that can be absorbed by the labor market outside of prison.  Most of the skills obtained involve manual work and are focused on residential care.  Other factors that block the goal of emancipation include a punitive attitude among policymakers that the State should not reward prisoners by providing training with the same compensation potential as free citizens.  It also includes the lack of continuity of effective training and work policies due to the constant turnover of penitentiary managers by the prison system.  Keywords: Brazilian prison; critical criminology; female prison work DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/11-11-01 Publication date:June 30th 202

Investigating refugees' negotiation of professional possible selves

Many barriers threaten refugees' professional and social integration in their resettlement countries. Through semi-structured interviews and based on the concept of possible selves, we aimed to understand how 22 refugees aged from 18 to 35 and coming from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran, Somalia, Syria, Turkey, Ukraine, and Yemen constructed and negotiated their career plans considering contextual factors. Results show that forced migration impacted the participants in three different ways: some were still striving for the ideal, pursuing their ideal career plans, while others were revising them either by revisiting the ideal or letting go of the ideal. They used different strategies of reducing expectations, exploring new possibilities, delaying, or abandoning their ideal plans for more probable ones, considering their current situation and barriers (i.e., lack of language proficiency, refugee permits, recognized diplomas, or childcare solutions). We discuss concrete implications for practice and provide future research insights

Gazing left, gazing right: exploring a spatial bias in social attention

Faces oriented rightwards are sometimes perceived as more dominant than faces oriented leftwards. In this study, we explored whether faces oriented rightwards can also elicit increased attentional orienting. Participants completed a discrimination task in which they were asked to discriminate, by means of a keypress, a peripheral target. At the same time, a task-irrelevant face oriented leftwards or rightwards appeared at the centre of the screen. The results showed that, while for faces oriented rightwards targets appearing on the right were responded to faster as compared to targets appearing on the left, for faces oriented leftwards no differences emerged between left and right targets. Furthermore, we also found a negative correlation between the magnitude of the orienting response elicited by the faces oriented leftwards and the level of conservatism of the participants. Overall, these findings provide evidence for the existence of a spatial bias reflected in social orienting