Introducing risk management into the grid

Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are explicit statements about all expectations and obligations in the business partnership between customers and providers. They have been introduced in Grid computing to overcome the best effort approach, making the Grid more interesting for commercial applications. However, decisions on negotiation and system management still rely on static approaches, not reflecting the risk linked with decisions. The EC-funded project "AssessGrid" aims at introducing risk assessment and management as a novel decision paradigm into Grid computing. This paper gives a general motivation for risk management and presents the envisaged architecture of a "risk-aware" Grid middleware and Grid fabric, highlighting its functionality by means of three showcase scenarios

Three generations of colored fermions with S3S_3 family symmetry from Cayley-Dickson sedenions

An algebraic representation of three generations of fermions with $SU(3)_C$ color symmetry based on the Cayley-Dickson algebra of sedenions $\mathbb{S}$ is constructed. Recent constructions based on division algebras convincingly describe a single generation of leptons and quarks with Standard Model gauge symmetries. Nonetheless, an algebraic origin for the existence of exactly three generations has proven difficult to substantiate. We motivate $\mathbb{S}$ as a natural algebraic candidate to describe three generations with $SU(3)_C$ gauge symmetry. We initially represent one generation of leptons and quarks in terms of two minimal left ideals of $\mathbb{C}\ell(6)$, generated from a subset of all left actions of the complex sedenions on themselves. Subsequently we employ the finite group $S_3$, which are automorphisms of $\mathbb{S}$ but not of $\mathbb{O}$ to generate two additional generations. Given the relative obscurity of sedenions, efforts have been made to present the material in a self-contained manner.Comment: 18 pages, 1 figur

Structure and Computation in Immunoreagent Design : From Diagnostics to Vaccines

Novel immunological tools for efficient diagnosis and treatment of emerging infections are urgently required. Advances in the diagnostic and vaccine development fields are continuously progressing, with reverse vaccinology and structural vaccinology (SV) methods for antigen identification and structure-based antigen (re)design playing increasingly relevant roles. SV, in particular, is predicted to be the front-runner in the future development of diagnostics and vaccines targeting challenging diseases such as AIDS and cancer. We review state-of-the-art methodologies for structure-based epitope identification and antigen design, with specific applicative examples. We highlight the implications of such methods for the engineering of biomolecules with improved immunological properties, potential diagnostic and/or therapeutic uses, and discuss the perspectives of structure-based rational design for the production of advanced immunoreagents. Immunodiagnostic-based serological tests offer rapid and high-throughput diagnosis of multiple pathogens and can ascertain disease progression.3D structures of protein antigens can be used to predict epitope location using computational biology methods.Computationally designed synthetic epitopes can provide new chemical tools with distinct applications, from diagnosis and patient profiling to therapeutic approaches based on new vaccines.Structure-based antigen design is predicted to deliver future vaccines targeting challenging diseases such as HIV and cancer.As an alternative to nanoparticle epitope presentation systems, structure-based in silico epitope grafting and design methods may be adopted to transplant epitopes onto protein scaffolds to generate antigens that stimulate more potent immune responses

Hope unexpected : an account of the Lebanese Christians' encounter with Syrian refugees

This research explores the place of the Church in Lebanon and its response to the present Syrian refugee crisis. By means of interviews with a small number of Christian leaders in Beirut, this study narrates a current reality from a positive perspective and offers preliminary steps towards articulating a Christian response to the present political turmoil. Although historically and physically divided, the Lebanese churches are united in their readiness to respond with hospitality. In attending to basic human needs, offering water, food and shelter to those who until recently were considered enemies, Lebanese Christians have a powerful message of forgiveness and healing. Prompted by both Arab and Christian traditions, the Lebanese Christians are choosing hospitality and, in doing so, are finding unexpected hope. This study argues that the Lebanese Church as a whole can be seen as a positive contributor to the common good in both Lebanon and the Middle East, and as an example to western churches as they engage with the current migration crisis in Europe

Cooperative development strategy for the Bronx

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2010.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 89-90).Cooperative development efforts over the last 25 years have been largely inspired by, and modeled on, the Mondragon experience in the Basque region of Spain. None of these efforts has achieved nearly the success of Mondragon, which stabilized and dramatically developed a regional economy through the creation and growth of a diverse set of industrial worker and supportive secondary cooperatives. U.S. efforts in cooperative development have typically replicated some aspects of the Mondragon model but ignored others. This thesis argues that successful cooperative development requires a more complete understanding of the critical components of the Mondragon model. Drawing on the Mondragon case and on the emergent model from the Evergreen Initiative in Cleveland, I present a cooperative economic development framework made up of three components: defining a geographic area, developing a cooperative network, and designing policies based on an endogenous, import replacing economic development model. Using this framework, I then offer an initial cooperative economic development strategy for the Bronx targeting recommendations to both governmental and non-governmental organizations.by Nicholas G. Iuviene.M.C.P

Balancing competing policy demands: the case of sustainable public sector food procurement.

A focus on market-based green growth strategies to pursue sustainability goals neglects the pursuit of understanding how human health is interwoven with the health of eco-systems to deliver sustainability goals. The article argues that clarifying the difference between green and sustainable public sector food procurement, with political continuity that supports and enables policymakers and practitioners to take an incremental approach to change, makes an important contribution to delivering more sustainable food systems and better public health nutrition. Five European case studies demonstrate the reality of devising and implementing innovative approaches to sustainable public sector food procurement and the effects of cultural and political framings. How legislation is enacted at the national level and interpreted at the local level is a key driver for sustainable procurement. Transition is dependent on political will and leadership and an infrastructure that can balance the economic, environmental and social drivers to effect change. The development of systems and indicators to measure change, reforms to EU directives on procurement, and the relationship between green growth strategies and sustainable diets are also discussed. The findings show the need to explore how consistent definitions for green public procurement and sustainable public procurement can be refined and standardized in order to support governments at all levels in reviewing and analyzing their current food procurement strategies and practices to improve sustainability

Structural vaccinology for melioidosis vaccine design and immunodiagnostics

Purpose of Review Spurred by the successful application of structural vaccinology to other challenging bacterial and viral pathogens, we review the possibility of exploiting 3D structure computational-based recombinant antigen engineering strategies for the development of a protective melioidosis vaccine. Recent Findings Structure-based epitope design approaches in the melioidosis field are preliminary and applied essentially by one research network. By combining Burkholderia pseudomallei antigen 3D structures and in silico epitope discovery methods, a panel of synthetic epitope peptides were designed and tested for their B and T cell stimulatory activities. Several peptides were found to be serodiagnostic for B. pseudomallei infection and two elicited bactericidal antibodies. Summary A significant amount of B. pseudomallei antigen structures, epitopes, and immunological data is available. Future challenges will be to test all available B. pseudomallei epitopes, focusing on combing multiple B/T cell epitopes onto a single scaffold to generate components, stimulating both arms of the immune system

Mechanical design of a high field common coil magnet

A common coil design for high field 2-in-1 accelerator magnets has been previously presented as a "conductor-friendly" option for high field magnets applicable for a Very Large Hadron Collider. This paper presents the mechanical design for a 14 tesla 2-in-1 dipole based on the common coil design approach. The magnet will use a high current density Nb/sub 3/Sn conductor. The design addresses mechanical issues particular to the common coil geometry: horizontal support against coil edges, vertical preload on coil faces, end loading and support, and coil stresses and strains. The magnet is the second in a series of racetrack coil magnets that will provide experimental verification of the common coil design approach. (9 refs)

Kinase and channel activity of TRPM6 are co-ordinated by a dimerization motif and pocket interaction

Contains fulltext : 138516.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)Mutations in the gene that encodes the atypical channel-kinase TRPM6 (transient receptor potential melastatin 6) cause HSH (hypomagnesaemia with secondary hypocalcaemia), a disorder characterized by defective intestinal Mg2+ transport and impaired renal Mg2+ reabsorption. TRPM6, together with its homologue TRPM7, are unique proteins as they combine an ion channel domain with a C-terminally fused protein kinase domain. How TRPM6 channel and kinase activity are linked is unknown. Previous structural analysis revealed that TRPM7 possesses a non-catalytic dimerization motif preceding the kinase domain. This interacts with a dimerization pocket lying within the kinase domain. In the present study, we provide evidence that the dimerization motif in TRPM6 plays a critical role in regulating kinase activity as well as ion channel activity. We identify mutations within the TRPM6 dimerization motif (Leu1718 and Leu1721) or dimerization pocket (L1743A, Q1832K, A1836N, L1840A and L1919Q) that abolish dimerization and establish that these mutations inhibit protein kinase activity. We also demonstrate that kinase activity of a dimerization motif mutant can be restored by addition of a peptide encompassing the dimerization motif. Moreover, we observe that mutations that disrupt the dimerization motif and dimerization pocket interaction greatly diminish TRPM6 ion channel activity, in a manner that is independent of kinase activity. Finally, we analyse the impact on kinase activity of ten disease-causing missense mutations that lie outwith the protein kinase domain of TRPM6. This revealed that one mutation lying nearby the dimerization motif (S1754N), found previously to inhibit channel activity, abolished kinase activity. These results provide the first evidence that there is structural co-ordination between channel and kinase activity, which is mediated by the dimerization motif and pocket interaction. We discuss that modulation of this interaction could comprise a major regulatory mechanism by which TRPM6 function is controlled