The Making of Cloud Applications An Empirical Study on Software Development for the Cloud

Cloud computing is gaining more and more traction as a deployment and provisioning model for software. While a large body of research already covers how to optimally operate a cloud system, we still lack insights into how professional software engineers actually use clouds, and how the cloud impacts development practices. This paper reports on the first systematic study on how software developers build applications in the cloud. We conducted a mixed-method study, consisting of qualitative interviews of 25 professional developers and a quantitative survey with 294 responses. Our results show that adopting the cloud has a profound impact throughout the software development process, as well as on how developers utilize tools and data in their daily work. Among other things, we found that (1) developers need better means to anticipate runtime problems and rigorously define metrics for improved fault localization and (2) the cloud offers an abundance of operational data, however, developers still often rely on their experience and intuition rather than utilizing metrics. From our findings, we extracted a set of guidelines for cloud development and identified challenges for researchers and tool vendors

Investigation of prediction methods for the loads and stresses of Apollo type spacecraft parachutes. Volume 1: Loads

An analysis was conducted with the objective of upgrading and improving the loads, stress, and performance prediction methods for Apollo spacecraft parachutes. The subjects considered were: (1) methods for a new theoretical approach to the parachute opening process, (2) new experimental-analytical techniques to improve the measurement of pressures, stresses, and strains in inflight parachutes, and (3) a numerical method for analyzing the dynamical behavior of rapidly loaded pilot chute risers

BKT-like transition in the Potts model on an inhomogeneous annealed network

We solve the ferromagnetic q-state Potts model on an inhomogeneous annealed network which mimics a random recursive graph. We find that this system has the inverted Berezinskii--Kosterlitz--Thouless (BKT) phase transition for any $q \geq 1$, including the values $q \geq 3$, where the Potts model normally shows a first order phase transition. We obtain the temperature dependences of the order parameter, specific heat, and susceptibility demonstrating features typical for the BKT transition. We show that in the entire normal phase, both the distribution of a linear response to an applied local field and the distribution of spin-spin correlations have a critical, i.e. power-law, form.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure

In Vitro Cellular Uptake Studies of Self-Assembled Fluorinated Nanoparticles Labelled with Antibodies

Nanoparticles (NPs) functionalized with antibodies (Abs) on their surface are used in a wide range of bioapplications. Whereas the attachment of antibodies to single NPs to trigger the internalization in cells via receptor-mediated endocytosis has been widely studied, the conjugation of antibodies to larger NP assemblies has been much less explored. Taking into account that NP assemblies may be advantageous for some specific applications, the possibility of incorporating targeting ligands is quite important. Herein, we performed the effective conjugation of antibodies onto a fluorescent NP assembly, which consisted of fluorinated Quantum Dots (QD) self-assembled through fluorine–fluorine hydrophobic interactions. Cellular uptake studies by confocal microscopy and flow cytometry revealed that the NP assembly underwent the same uptake procedure as individual NPs; that is, the antibodies retained their targeting ability once attached to the nanoassembly, and the NP assembly preserved its intrinsic properties (i.e., fluorescence in the case of QD nanoassembly).This research was financially supported by the research core of TMU (Grant No: IG-39707) and the Biotechnology Development Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Grant No: 950709). Part of this work was funded by the Cluster of Excellence ‘Advanced Imaging of Matter’ of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)-EXC 2056-project ID 390715994

Equi-Noise: A Statistical Model That Combines Embedded Memory Failures and Channel Noise

This paper exploits the predominance of embedded memories in current and emerging wireless transceivers as a means to save power via channel state aware voltage scaling. The paper presents a statistical model that captures errors in embedded memories due to voltage over-scaling and maps the errors to a Gaussian distribution that represents a combination of communication channel noise and hardware noise. Designers can use the proposed model to investigate different power management policies, that capture the performance of the system as a function of both channel and hardware dynamics, thus creating a much richer design space of power, performance and reliability. A case study of a DVB receiver is presented and the validity of the proposed model is confirmed by simulations. © 2013 IEEE

Proton-deuteron radiative capture cross sections at intermediate energies

Differential cross sections of the reaction $p(d,^3{\rm He})\gamma$ have been measured at deuteron laboratory energies of 110, 133 and 180 MeV. The data were obtained with a coincidence setup measuring both the outgoing $^3$He and the photon. The data are compared with modern calculations including all possible meson-exchange currents and two- and three- nucleon forces in the potential. The data clearly show a preference for one of the models, although the shape of the angular distribution cannot be reproduced by any of the presented models.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in EPJ

Removal and Dispersal of Biofluid Films by Powered Medical Devices: Modelling Infectious Agent Spreading in Dentistry

Summary Medical procedures can disperse infectious agents and spread disease. Particularly, dental procedures may pose a high risk of disease transmission as they use high-powered instruments operating within the oral cavity that may contain infectious microbiota or viruses. Here we assess the ability of powered dental devices in removing the biofluid films and identified mechanical, hydrodynamic, and aerodynamic forces as the main underlying mechanisms of removal and dispersal processes. Our results indicate that potentially infectious agents can be removed and dispersed immediately after dental instrument engagement with the adherent biofluid film while the degree of their dispersal is rapidly depleted due to removal of the source and dilution by the coolant water. We found that droplets, created by high-speed drill interactions typically travel ballistically while aerosol-laden air tends to flow as a current over surfaces. Our mechanistic investigation offers plausible routes for reducing the spread of infection during invasive medical procedures

Evaluation of Agricultural Characteristics and Yield of Different Populations of Dragon's Head (Lallemantia iberica Fisch. et Mey) Collected from Different Regions of Iran

Introduction The great importance of identifying, studying, evaluating, and protecting native ecotypes of medicinal plants as human heritage, collecting agricultural medicinal plants and ecological evaluation of their native ecotypes, and introducing their compatible ecotypes is a necessity for farmers. Considering the few studies in the field of the agricultural role of non-native plants such as Dragon's head in Iran to meet the country's nutritional needs, the present research aims to study and evaluate the performance of local medicinal and multi-purpose plant stands of urban sycamore and also to obtain new scientific materials in the case of these local masses has been done in the research farm of University of Tabriz Faculty of Agriculture. It is necessary to explain that in recent years, due to the crisis of water shortage and drought, this plant is in line with changing the cultivation pattern of the region from plants with high water requirement to plants with low water requirement or dry land has been added to the official cultivation pattern of East Azerbaijan province and is being promoted among the farmers of the region.Materials and Methods To evaluate and investigate the agronomic characteristics and performance of 49 selected Dragon’s head stands from different regions of the country, an experiment was carried out in the form of a simple 7*7 square lattice design with three replications. A field experiment was carried out at the research station of the Faculty of Agriculture of University of Tabriz, located in building number 2 of the Faculty of Agriculture in Basmanj. According to meteorological maps, the climate of this region is among the steppe and semi-arid climates of the world. In this area, although rain sometimes occurs in the summer season, it generally has a dry season in the summer. The area is located at an altitude of 1360 meters above sea level, with a latitude of 38 degrees and five minutes north and a longitude of 46 degrees and 17 minutes east, and its annual rainfall is 285 millimeters. The average annual temperature is 10 degrees Celsius, the average annual maximum temperature is 16.6 degrees Celsius, and the average annual minimum temperature is 4.2 degrees Celsius.Results and DiscussionIn the comparison of the average traits, the best ecotypes in terms of yield were the ecotypes of Kolvang local population 10 and 15, Tabriz local population 3 and 4 and Ahar local population 1 respectively, simple correlation analysis, stepwise regression, and causality showed that biomass traits, number of seeds per plant, number of seeds in capsule and weight of 1000 seeds are the most important factors affecting the increase of seed yield. By analyzing it into components, the first four components explained 80.44% of the changes related to primary traits. Ecotypes Kolvang 10, Tabriz 3, and number Tabriz 4 yield 1661, 1464, and 1404 kg ha-1 respectively, and 3848, 4119, and 3848 kg ha-1 respectively. They produced 4581 kg ha-1 of biomass and were superior in most traits related to economic performance.ConclusionTaking into account the crisis of Lake Urmia and the lack of water in most regions, especially the Azerbaijan region, the medicinal plant Dragon’s head is one of the few plants that can be placed in the spring cycle in most areas of rainfed and irrigated cultivation and in improving the water balance. Lake Urmia and agriculture in the region can play a positive role. Therefore, the ecotypes of Tabriz native population 3, Kolvanagh native population 10, and Tabriz native population 4, which had more grain yield and were superior in most of the traits related to yield, can be considered the most suitable ecotypes of Dragon’s head for use in water conditions and the air of the region advised the farmers for the next crops.AcknowledgementsWe are grateful to all the colleagues located in the Agricultural Research Station of the Faculty of Agriculture

Particle Creation from Vacuum by Lorentz Violation

It is shown that the vacuum state in presence of Lorentz violation can be followed by a particle-full universe that represents the current status of the universe. In this model the modification in dispersion relation (Lorentz violation) is picked up representing the regime of quantum gravity. The result can be interpreted such that the existence of the particles is an evidence for quantum effects of gravity in the past. It is concluded that only the vacuum state is sufficient to appear the matter fields spontaneously after the process of semi-classical analysis.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figure