Relaxing Routing Table to Alleviate Dynamism in P2P Systems

In dynamic P2P networks, nodes join and depart from the system frequently, which partially damages the predefined P2P structure, and impairs the system performance such as basic lookup functionality. Therefore stabilization process has to be done to restore the logical topology. This paper presents an approach to relax the requirement on routing tables to provide provably better stability than fixed structured P2P systems. We propose a relaxed Chord that keeps the O(logN) number of hops for greedy lookup, but it requires less stabilization overhead. It allows a tradeoff between lookup efficiency and structure flexibility without adding any overhead to the system. In the relaxed routing structure, each routing entry ("finger") of the node is allowed to vary within a set of values. Each node only needs to keep a certain number of fingers that point to nodes in its anchor set. This relaxation reduces the burden of state management of the node. The relaxed routing scheme provides an alternative structure other than randomized P2P and deterministic P2P, by relaxing on finger selection. It provides good flexibility and therefore extends the system functioning time.Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA

Plasma levels in sepsis patients of annexin A1, lipoxin A4, macrophage inflammatory protein-3a, and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin

AbstractBackgroundThe relationship between the various cytokine responses that occur during sepsis remains controversial. Emerging evidence indicates that the proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory responses are regulated simultaneously from the beginning of sepsis. However, the roles of the novel anti-inflammatory mediators annexin (Anx)A1 and lipoxin (LX)A4 and the proinflammatory cytokines neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) and macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-3a have been studied.MethodsIn this study, the plasma levels of AnxA1, LXA4, NGAL, MIP-3a, interleukin (IL)-8 and IL-6 in patients with sepsis were determined on admission to the intensive care unit. The patients were classified into survivors and non-survivors based on their outcome on day 28.ResultsAnxA1 and LXA4 levels were decreased in sepsis patients compared with control patients, whereas the levels of the proinflammatory cytokines MIP-3a, NGAL, IL-8, and IL-6 were elevated. Furthermore, a significantly higher level of MIP-3a was detected in nonsurviving patients compared with surviving patients (p < 0.05), whereas there were no significant differences between these two groups for the levels of the other mediators. Correlation analysis demonstrated that only NGAL level was closely correlated with the level of IL-6. Univariate analysis indicated that the levels of MIP-3a and IL-8 were independent factors associated with patient survival, but this was not confirmed by the multivariate analysis.ConclusionAnxA1 and LXA4 plasma levels were found to be decreased in sepsis patients, whereas the levels of MIP-3a and NGAL were found to be elevated. This warrants further study in order to determine the clinical implications of these changes

Complete Polarization Control in Multimode Fibers with Polarization and Mode Coupling

Multimode optical fibers have seen increasing applications in communication, imaging, high-power lasers and amplifiers. However, inherent imperfections and environmental perturbations cause random polarization and mode mixing, making the output polarization states very different from the input one. This poses a serious issue for employing polarization sensitive techniques to control light-matter interactions or nonlinear optical processes at the distal end of a fiber probe. Here we demonstrate a complete control of polarization states for all output channels by only manipulating the spatial wavefront of a laser beam into the fiber. Arbitrary polarization states for individual output channels are generated by wavefront shaping without constraint on input polarizations. The strong coupling between spatial and polarization degrees of freedom in a multimode fiber enables full polarization control with spatial degrees of freedom alone, transforming a multimode fiber to a highly-efficient reconfigurable matrix of waveplates

An Evaluation Model for Foreign Direct Investment Performance of Free Trade Port Zones

With the tendency of internationalisation and globalisation, signing regional economic agreements among multiple countries has become a trend. Under such an integration environment, some free economic zones with port transportation functions have become crucial for FDI (foreign direct investment) investors in selecting investment locations. The free trade port zone (FTPZ) is argued to be one of the most well-known. This paper aims to assess the FDI performance of FTPZs. On the basis of the FTPZ\u27s features and relevant literature, assessment criteria (ACs) are initially identified. An evaluation model based on the fuzzy AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) approach is then introduced to evaluate the FTPZs\u27 FDI performance from foreign investors\u27 viewpoints. Finally, the FTPZ of the Kaohsiung port in Taiwan was empirically investigated to verify the assessment model. Results point out that for the FTPZ of Kaohsiung port, ACs with higher priorities needing improvement are raw material acquired, local government efficiency, and political stability and social security. Theoretical and practical recommendations for the FTPZ managers are discussed based on the results

The Evaluation And Using Intention For Digital Teaching Materials Of Penghu Basalt

The Bureau of Culture of Penghu County produced the Penghu Basalt Digital Teaching Materials, which are supplementary teaching materials for local curriculums in elementary and middle schools in Penghu County. But just what are the teachers&rsquo; and students&rsquo; opinions of the said teaching materials? Are they willing to use them? Are they suitable? These questions are, indeed, worth further research. The questionnaire survey was conducted to gather the opinions of 142 teachers and 151 students of elementary and middle schools in Penghu County. In addition, using the quasi-experimental and experimental teaching methods, after comparing the pre-test and post-test results to the control group, the learning effectiveness was determined. The results indicate that teachers and students have the highest evaluation for the interface design aspect of this teaching material. The teachers&rsquo; evaluation for the teaching materials is significantly higher than the students&rsquo;. Furthermore, the teaching materials are evaluated highly in terms of attracting attention, generating interest and willingness to use, indicating that the digital teaching materials have potential for promotion in Penghu. After the experimental teaching, only the vocational high school students&rsquo; scores before and after the experiment showed significantly improvement, while the scores of the students in the other levels of schools did not. &nbsp

Protein-ligand binding region prediction (PLB-SAVE) based on geometric features and CUDA acceleration

[[abstract]]Background Protein-ligand interactions are key processes in triggering and controlling biological functions within cells. Prediction of protein binding regions on the protein surface assists in understanding the mechanisms and principles of molecular recognition. In silico geometrical shape analysis plays a primary step in analyzing the spatial characteristics of protein binding regions and facilitates applications of bioinformatics in drug discovery and design. Here, we describe the novel software, PLB-SAVE, which uses parallel processing technology and is ideally suited to extract the geometrical construct of solid angles from surface atoms. Representative clusters and corresponding anchors were identified from all surface elements and were assigned according to the ranking of their solid angles. In addition, cavity depth indicators were obtained by proportional transformation of solid angles and cavity volumes were calculated by scanning multiple directional vectors within each selected cavity. Both depth and volume characteristics were combined with various weighting coefficients to rank predicted potential binding regions. Results Two test datasets from LigASite, each containing 388 bound and unbound structures, were used to predict binding regions using PLB-SAVE and two well-known prediction systems, SiteHound and MetaPocket2.0 (MPK2). PLB-SAVE outperformed the other programs with accuracy rates of 94.3% for unbound proteins and 95.5% for bound proteins via a tenfold cross-validation process. Additionally, because the parallel processing architecture was designed to enhance the computational efficiency, we obtained an average of 160-fold increase in computational time. Conclusions In silico binding region prediction is considered the initial stage in structure-based drug design. To improve the efficacy of biological experiments for drug development, we developed PLB-SAVE, which uses only geometrical features of proteins and achieves a good overall performance for protein-ligand binding region prediction. Based on the same approach and rationale, this method can also be applied to predict carbohydrate-antibody interactions for further design and development of carbohydrate-based vaccines. PLB-SAVE is available at http://save.cs.ntou.edu.tw.[[booktype]]電子

The relationship between compensation committee quality and the voluntary adoption of clawback provisions

This paper examines how compensation committee quality is related to the voluntary adoption of clawback provisions. Because fair value information has some reliability issues, this paper further examines whether the amount of Level 3 fair values affect the relationship between compensation committee quality and the voluntary adoption of clawback provisions. Using a sample drawn from the U.S. firms from 2008 to 2015, the results show that the compensation committee quality is positively related to the voluntary adoption of clawback provisions. Additionally, the positive relationship between compensation committee quality and the voluntary adoption of clawback provisions is more pronounced for firms with higher Level 3 fair values

Candida lipolytica candidemia as a rare infectious complication of acute pancreatitis: A case report and literature review

Candida lipolytica candidemia is a rare but an emerging pathogenic yeast infection in humans. It can gain access to the bloodstream through intravascular catheterization, especially through central venous catheters in immunocompromised or critically ill patients during hospitalization. In this report, we present a noncatheter-related C. lipolytica candidemia infection in an 84-year-old man who was admitted due to acute pancreatitis. The possible pathogenesis and management of C. lipolytica candidemia are highlighted. It was an unusual infectious complication of acute pancreatitis. Clinicians should be aware that such an opportunistic pathogen can lead to invasive candidemia infection. In clinical practice, systemic antifungal therapy and the removal of the potentially infected central venous catheter might be recommended for the treatment of C. lipolytica candidemia

Implementation of a Mobile Device Controlled Multi-behavior Interactive Mobile Robot Over MR Technology

This paper presents a mobile-device controlled multi-behavior interactive mobile robot. The proposed mobile robot is implemented under the technique of mixed reality. The proposed mobile robot has three basic locomotion behaviors that enable the mobile robot moving in a complex environment. The three basic interactive behaviors are: target navigation behavior, face tracking behavior, and obstacles avoidance behavior. The three behaviors are designed by the fuzzy controller, respectively. For people convenience, a hand held mobile device is introduced as a user interface to interactive with the mobile robot. Experiments show that the proposed behaviors are well designed. The proposed robot system and control rules are been conducted in good performance and good reliabilities