Internet traffic over wide area network - statistical modeling and analysis

This thesis provides results on trace data collecting and modeling of the Internet traffic over a Wide Area Network. The study is based on extensive data, gathered by tracing the actual packet exchange at the interfaces of devices on the WAN of BCCLS (Bergen County Cooperative Library System). A powerful network monitoring system WhatsUp Gold was employed to monitor the WAN, and logged the byte rates and packet rates sent and received at the interfaces. Different statistical distributions were employed to model the data traces. In comparison with some other statistical models - normal, lognormal, Weibull, and Pareto, which are widely used in network analysis, the one-dimensional hyperbolic distribution can achieve very small Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) distance and large associated probability. The fining results for the data traces indicated that the one-dimensional hyperbolic distribution is an effective statistical model of the large, multiple network traffic activities

Web News in China

In 1995, the first Internet media ‘Shen Zhou Xue Ren’ (神州学人) was established. Since then, web news has developed rapidly in China. Today, there are hundreds and thousands of online news sites all over mainland China. In the era of big data, network news broke through the traditional concept of dissemination of information so that people can get the most information quickly or even in real time. This paper will give an overview of web news in China including an illustration of the developmental history and current state, as well as the advantages and issues. The paper will also discuss the preservation of born-digital news and the administration of Internet news information services

Decomposing firm-product appeal: How important is consumer taste? National Bank of Belgium Working Paper No. 337

We develop and structurally estimate a trade model in order to identify the importance of consumer taste. The model separates taste from quality and productivity (TFPQ) at the firm-product level. Export data by destination countries allow us to identify the level of taste from consumer heterogeneity across destinations. We decompose export revenue into the contribution of taste, quality and costs. We find that taste is very important and explains about 50 % of the variation in export revenue. Productivity (TFPQ) differences between firm-products become more prominent than taste in explaining export success only when the cost elasticity of improving quality is high

A survey of fungi at the University of Wisconsin-Waukesha Field Station

A long-term study of higher fungi and Myxomycetes, primarilyfrom the xeric oak woods, was started in 1978. Collections have been made periodically since then, and recent sampling in conifer plantations indicates that characteristic ectomycorrhizal species of Basidiomycetes are beginning to appear in these communities. To date seven Myxomy-cetes, 22 Ascomycetes, and 107 Basidiomycetes have been identifiedfrom various habitats. These data will be incorporated into a master list of fungi generated from long-term surveys at several additional sites in southeastern Wisconsin

High-Energy String Scattering Amplitudes and Signless Stirling Number Identity

We give a complete proof of a set of identities (7) proposed recently from calculation of high-energy string scattering amplitudes. These identities allow one to extract ratios among high-energy string scattering amplitudes in the fixed angle regime from high-energy amplitudes in the Regge regime. The proof is based on a signless Stirling number identity in combinatorial theory. The results are valid for arbitrary real values $L$ rather than only for $L=0,1$ proved previously. The identities for non-integer real value $L$ were recently shown to be realized in high-energy compactified string scattering amplitudes [He S., Lee J.C., Yang Y., arXiv:1012.3158]. The parameter $L$ is related to the mass level of an excited string state and can take non-integer values for Kaluza-Klein modes

Generation and characterization of transgenic mice expressing mitochondrial targeted red fluorescent protein selectively in neurons: modeling mitochondriopathy in excitotoxicity and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Mitochondria have roles or appear to have roles in the pathogenesis of several chronic age-related and acute neurological disorders, including Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, and cerebral ischemia, and could be critical targets for development of rational mechanism-based, disease-modifying therapeutics for treating these disorders effectively. A deeper understanding of neural tissue mitochondria pathobiologies as definitive mediators of neural injury, disease, and cell death merits further study, and the development of additional tools to study neural mitochondria will help achieve this unmet need.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We created transgenic mice that express the coral (<it>Discosoma sp</it>.) red fluorescent protein DsRed2 specifically in mitochondria of neurons using a construct engineered with a Thy1 promoter, specific for neuron expression, to drive expression of a fusion protein of DsRed2 with a mitochondrial targeting sequence. The biochemical and histological characterization of these mice shows the expression of mitochondrial-targeted DsRed2 to be specific for mitochondria and concentrated in distinct CNS regions, including cerebral cortex, hippocampus, thalamus, brainstem, and spinal cord. Red fluorescent mitochondria were visualized in cerebral cortical and hippocampal pyramidal neurons, ventrobasal thalamic neurons, subthalamic neurons, and spinal motor neurons. For the purpose of proof of principle application, these mice were used in excitotoxicity paradigms and double transgenic mice were generated by crossing Thy1-mitoDsRed2 mice with transgenic mice expressing enhanced-GFP (eGFP) under the control of the <it>Hlxb9 </it>promoter that drives eGFP expression specifically in motor neurons and by crossing Thy1-mitoDsRed2 mice to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) mice expressing human mutant superoxide dismutase-1.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These novel transgenic mice will be a useful tool for better understanding the biology of mitochondria in mouse and cellular models of human neurological disorders as exemplified by the mitochondrial swelling and fission seen in excitotoxicity and mouse ALS.</p

Loop Formulas for Description Logic Programs

Description Logic Programs (dl-programs) proposed by Eiter et al. constitute an elegant yet powerful formalism for the integration of answer set programming with description logics, for the Semantic Web. In this paper, we generalize the notions of completion and loop formulas of logic programs to description logic programs and show that the answer sets of a dl-program can be precisely captured by the models of its completion and loop formulas. Furthermore, we propose a new, alternative semantics for dl-programs, called the {\em canonical answer set semantics}, which is defined by the models of completion that satisfy what are called canonical loop formulas. A desirable property of canonical answer sets is that they are free of circular justifications. Some properties of canonical answer sets are also explored.Comment: 29 pages, 1 figures (in pdf), a short version appeared in ICLP'1

Ginseng essence, a medicinal and edible herbal formulation, ameliorates carbon tetrachloride-induced oxidative stress and liver injury in rats

AbstractBackgroundGinseng essence (GE) is a formulation comprising four medicinal and edible herbs including ginseng (Panax ginseng), American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius), lotus seed (Nelumbo nucifera), and lily bulb (Lilium longiflorum). This study was aimed at investigating the hepatoprotective effect of GE against carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced liver injury in rats.MethodsWe treated Wistar rats daily with low, medium, and high [0.625 g/kg body weight (bw), 1.25 g/kg bw, and 3.125 g/kg bw, respectively] doses of GE for 9 wk. After the 1st wk of treatment, rats were administered 20% CCl4 (1.5 mL/kg bw) two times a week to induce liver damage until the treatment ended.ResultsSerum biochemical analysis indicated that GE ameliorated the elevation of aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase and albumin decline in CCl4-treated rats. Moreover, CCl4-induced accumulation of hepatic total cholesterol and triglyceride was inhibited. The hepatoprotective effects of GE involved enhancing the hepatic antioxidant defense system including glutathione, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, glutathione S-transferase, superoxide dismutase, and catalase. In addition, histological analysis using hematoxylin and eosin and Masson's trichrome staining showed that GE inhibited CCl4-induced hepatic inflammation and fibrosis. Furthermore, immunohistochemical staining of alpha-smooth muscle actin indicated that CCl4-triggered activation of hepatic stellate cells was reduced.ConclusionThese findings demonstrate that GE improves CCl4-induced liver inflammation and fibrosis by attenuating oxidative stress. Therefore, GE could be a promising hepatoprotective herbal formulation for future development of phytotherapy

Overexpression of Heat Shock Cognate Protein 71 kDa and Pyruvate Dehydrogenase in the Brain Tissue at the Early Stage of High Fat Diet Consumption

High-fat diet (HFD) increases the risk of obese, while obesity increases the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and non-communicable diseases. Therefore, it will be interesting to evaluate the changes in metabolic parameters and brain profile upon the early consumption of HFD. In this study, a total of 12 Sprague-Dawley male rats were divided into two groups (n = 6), each group was fed with normal diet and HFD (39% of total calories from fats), respectively, for 6 weeks consecutively. The body weight, blood glucose, cholesterol and triglyceride values were measured.&nbsp; Furthermore, the brain and visceral adipose tissues were harvested at the end of the experiment. Protein was extracted from the brain tissue, and the protein extracts were separated by using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and analyzed by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometric analysis (LC/MS/MS). In terms of food calorie, the rats fed with HFD consumed more energy than the rats fed with normal diet. Nevertheless, the blood triglyceride and cholesterol, and the visceral adipose tissue of both the HFD and normal diet fed rats were indifferent. At the molecular level, overexpression of stress proteins, namely heat shock cognate protein 71 kDa (Hsc70)&nbsp; and pyruvate dehydrogenase were detected in brain tissue of HFD group. These results suggest that HFD intake causing significant change in brain proteins profile at the early phase of its consumption when no clear metabolic changes were observed. This showed that the brain was affected by HFD