Integrated Support for Handoff Management and Context-Awareness in Heterogeneous Wireless Networks

The overwhelming success of mobile devices and wireless communications is stressing the need for the development of mobility-aware services. Device mobility requires services adapting their behavior to sudden context changes and being aware of handoffs, which introduce unpredictable delays and intermittent discontinuities. Heterogeneity of wireless technologies (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G) complicates the situation, since a different treatment of context-awareness and handoffs is required for each solution. This paper presents a middleware architecture designed to ease mobility-aware service development. The architecture hides technology-specific mechanisms and offers a set of facilities for context awareness and handoff management. The architecture prototype works with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, which today represent two of the most widespread wireless technologies. In addition, the paper discusses motivations and design details in the challenging context of mobile multimedia streaming applications

Quantum non-local theory of topological Fermi arc plasmons in Weyl semimetals

The surface of a Weyl semimetal (WSM) displays Fermi arcs, i.e. disjoint segments of a two-dimensional Fermi contour. We present a quantum-mechanical non-local theory of chiral Fermi arc plasmons in WSMs with broken time-reversal symmetry. These are collective excitations constructed from topological Fermi arc and bulk electron states and arising from electron-electron interactions, which are treated in the realm of the random phase approximation. Our theory includes quantum effects associated with the penetration of the Fermi arc surface states into the bulk and dissipation, which is intrinsically non-local in nature and arises from decay processes mainly involving bulk electron-hole pair excitations.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure

Doppler imaging of AR Lacertae at three epochs

Observations from IUE were used to study the structure of the lower chromosphere of AR Lacertae in the light of Mg II k. Sequences of LWR/P-HI images distributed around the binary period at three epochs were obtained. Discrete plage-like regions of enhanced Mg II surface flux in this system are identified. There are temporal variations in the Mg II flux on timescales of hours as well as substantial changes in chromospheric morphology on timescales of years. Even with the limited S/N attainable with the IUE, one can map the gross structures of active stellar atmospheres. With such information, one can begin to study the true 3-D structure of the atmospheres of late-type stars

Identification of ORC1/CDC6-interacting factors in trypanosoma brucei reveals critical features of origin recognition complex architecture

DNA Replication initiates by formation of a pre-replication complex on sequences termed origins. In eukaryotes, the pre-replication complex is composed of the Origin Recognition Complex (ORC), Cdc6 and the MCM replicative helicase in conjunction with Cdt1. Eukaryotic ORC is considered to be composed of six subunits, named Orc1–6, and monomeric Cdc6 is closely related in sequence to Orc1. However, ORC has been little explored in protists, and only a single ORC protein, related to both Orc1 and Cdc6, has been shown to act in DNA replication in Trypanosoma brucei. Here we identify three highly diverged putative T. brucei ORC components that interact with ORC1/CDC6 and contribute to cell division. Two of these factors are so diverged that we cannot determine if they are eukaryotic ORC subunit orthologues, or are parasite-specific replication factors. The other we show to be a highly diverged Orc4 orthologue, demonstrating that this is one of the most widely conserved ORC subunits in protists and revealing it to be a key element of eukaryotic ORC architecture. Additionally, we have examined interactions amongst the T. brucei MCM subunits and show that this has the conventional eukaryotic heterohexameric structure, suggesting that divergence in the T. brucei replication machinery is limited to the earliest steps in origin licensing

Thermal boundary resistance at Si/Ge interfaces determined by approach-to-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations

The thermal boundary resistance of Si/Ge interfaces as been determined using approach-to-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations. Assuming a reciprocal linear dependence of the thermal boundary resistance, a length-independent bulk thermal boundary resistance could be extracted from the calculation resulting in a value of 3.76x10$^{-9}$ m$^2$ K/W for a sharp Si/Ge interface and thermal transport from Si to Ge. Introducing an interface with finite thickness of 0.5 nm consisting of a SiGe alloy, the bulk thermal resistance slightly decreases compared to the sharp Si/Ge interface. Further growth of the boundary leads to an increase in the bulk thermal boundary resistance. When the heat flow is inverted (Ge to Si), the thermal boundary resistance is found to be higher. From the differences in the thermal boundary resistance for different heat flow direction, the rectification factor of the Si/Ge has been determined and is found to significantly decrease when the sharp interface is moderated by introduction of a SiGe alloy in the boundary layer.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure

A sensitive study of the peculiar jet structure HST-1 in M87

To obtain a better understanding of the location and mechanisms for the production of the gamma-ray emission in jets of AGN we present a detailed study of the HST-1 structure, 0.8 arcsec downstream the jet of M87, previously identified as a possible candidate for TeV emission. HST-1 shows a very peculiar structure with superluminal as well as possible stationary sub-components, and appears to be located in the transition from a parabolic to a conical jet shape, presumably leading to the formation of a recollimation shock. This scenario is supported by our new RHD simulations in which the interaction of a moving component with a recollimation shock leads to the appearance of a new superluminal component. To discern whether HST-1 is produced by a recollimation shock or some other MHD instability, we present new polarimetric 2.2 and 5 GHz VLBA, as well as 15, 22 and 43 GHz JVLA observations obtained between November 2012 and March 2013.Comment: 6 page

The role of dredge-up in double white dwarf mergers

We present the results of an investigation of the dredge-up and mixing during the merger of two white dwarfs with different chemical compositions by conducting hydrodynamic simulations of binary mergers for three representative mass ratios. In all the simulations, the total mass of the two white dwarfs is $\lesssim1.0~{\rm M_\odot}$. Mergers involving a CO and a He white dwarf have been suggested as a possible formation channel for R Coronae Borealis type stars, and we are interested in testing if such mergers lead to conditions and outcomes in agreement with observations. Even if the conditions during the merger and subsequent nucleosynthesis favor the production of $^{18}{\mathrm O}$, the merger must avoid dredging up large amounts of $^{16}{\mathrm O}$, or else it will be difficult to produce sufficient $^{18}{\mathrm O}$ to explain the oxygen ratio observed to be of order unity. We performed a total of 9 simulations using two different grid-based hydrodynamics codes using fixed and adaptive meshes, and one smooth particle hydrodynamics (SPH) code. We find that in most of the simulations, $>10^{-2}~{\rm M_\odot}$ of $^{16}{\mathrm O}$ is indeed dredged up during the merger. However, in SPH simulations where the accretor is a hybrid He/CO white dwarf with a $\sim 0.1~{\rm M_\odot}$ layer of helium on top, we find that no $^{16}{\mathrm O}$ is being dredged up, while in the $q=0.8$ simulation $<10^{-4}~{\rm M_\odot}$ of $^{16}{\mathrm O}$ has been brought up, making a WD binary consisting of a hybrid CO/He WD and a companion He WD an excellent candidate for the progenitor of RCB stars.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap