The Quest for Bandwidth Estimation Techniques for large-scale Distributed Systems

In recent years the research community has developed many techniques to estimate the end-to-end available bandwidth of an Internet path. This important metric has been proposed for use in several distributed systems and, more recently, has even been considered to improve the congestion control mechanism of TCP. Thus, it has been suggested that some existing estimation techniques could be used for this purpose. However, existing tools were not designed for large-scale deployments and were mostly validated in controlled settings, considering only one measurement running at a time. In this paper, we argue that current tools, while offering good estimates when used alone, might not work in large-scale systems where several estimations severely interfere with each other. We analyze the properties of the measurement paradigms employed today and discuss their functioning, study their overhead and analyze their interference. Our testbed results show that current techniques are insufficient as they are. Finally, we will discuss and propose some principles that should be taken into account for including available bandwidth measurements in large-scale distributed systems. 1

Assédio Moral e Sexual no Trabalho: Ethos, Controlo e Sofrimento num Fenómeno Silencioso & Letal

Harassment at work has been the subject of immense research in recent years, not only because it is a topic of relevant importance in the life of a worker, but also because of its great impact on the personal, professional and social life of the Human Person. Harassment in the work context is a form of violence perpetrated using repeated and prolonged conduct and persecutions, through which the aggressor tries to inferiors and belittle the person of the victim. The issue of harassment at work is closely related to mobbing and sexual harassment, but also gender discrimination - namely based on gender asymmetries.O assédio no trabalho tem sido alvo de imensas pesquisas nos últimos anos, não só por ser um tema de relevante importância na vida de um/a trabalhador/a, mas também pelo grande impacto na vida pessoal, profissional e social da Pessoa Humana. O assédio em contexto de trabalho é uma forma de violência perpetrada por meio de condutas e perseguições repetidas e prolongadas, através das quais o/a agressor/a tenta inferiorizar e menosprezar a pessoa da vítima, não só ocorre por superiores hierárquicos contra quem lhes é subordinado como também entre colegas de trabalho. A questão do assédio laboral está intimamente relacionada com o assédio moral (mobbing) e sexual, mas também com a discriminação de género - nomeadamente assente em assimetrias de género

The Double Effect Doctrine in Thomas Aquinas' Just War

The use of war to expand the limits of Christianity or the limits of the power of the Christian Church was, from an early age, regular. This theme, which over the centuries has been the subject of intense debates among intellectuals who tried to justify the morality of this war or, by contrast, served to develop various attacks on the Church, is the focus of the present work. In this way, we seek to understand here the development of the concept of just war in St. Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologiae, it's way of justifying the use of war, the moments when its use is legitimate, the applicability of the Double Effect Doctrine in this concept and also the influence that his thought exercised on chronologically closer thinkers, but also contemporary philosophy, using to this purpose, the work of Elizabeth Anscombe, a striking figure in twentieth-century philosophy, to understand the pertinence of the medieval theologian thought in this matter.El uso de la guerra para expandir los límites del cristianismo o los límites del poder de la Iglesia cristiana fue, desde temprana edad, regular. Este tema, que a lo largo de los siglos ha sido objeto de intensos debates entre intelectuales que intentaron justificar la moralidad de esta guerra o, por el contrario, sirvió para desarrollar varios ataques contra la Iglesia, es el foco del presente trabajo. De esta manera, buscamos comprender aquí el desarrollo del concepto de guerra justa en la Summa Theologiae de Santo Tomás de Aquino, su forma de justificar el uso de la guerra, los momentos en que su uso es legítimo, la aplicabilidad de la Doctrina del Doble Efecto en este concepto y también la influencia que ejerció su pensamiento en los pensadores cronológicamente más cercanos, pero también en la filosofía contemporánea, utilizando para este propósito, el trabajo de Elizabeth Anscombe, una figura sorprendente en la filosofía del siglo XX, para comprender la pertinencia de lo pensamiento del teólogo medieval en este asunto

An Examination of the Higher Education Satisfaction Index As A Measure of Student Satisfaction

Purpose of the Study. The primary aim of this research was to introduce and validate the Higher Education Satisfaction Index, a comprehensive instrument designed to assess student satisfaction in academic institutions. Method, Design, and Sample. A total of 2687 higher education students in Portugal participated in the study. They were surveyed using the Higher Education Satisfaction Index. Two independent samples were created, and a confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to test the model, which was composed of four correlated factors: Institutional Integration; Socio-Relational Satisfaction Satisfaction; Expectations of Professional Integration; and Student Personal Resources. Results. The findings indicated strong validity and robustness of the index in gauging student satisfaction across the participating institutions. Value to Marketing Educators. The Higher Education Satisfaction Index stands out as a potent tool for both institutions and researchers. It provides an efficient method to measure student satisfaction, thus aiding academic institutions in improving educational experiences and, subsequently, their overall value proposition to students.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Postural patterns in the first year of life: contributions of maternal physical activity in the pregnancy period

BACKGROUND: The study objective was intended to verify whether the practice of maternal physical activity during the pregnancy period could be assumed as a contribution to the acquisition of postural patterns in the child during its first year of life. METHODS: A transversal and descriptive study was carried where we recorded the developments observed in a sample of 80 Portuguese children, according to the habits and type of physical activity of the mothers. Statistical descriptive and inferential test were performed. RESULTS: The results were clearly positive in terms of temporal gains of neck tonic control, and also in the acquisition of an erect position. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the average values are not statistical significant we have observed indicators that the maternal physical activity during pregnancy apparently is a factor that can favor the child’s motor development during their first year of life, particularly in the acquisition of postural patterns.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A utilização de sistemas groupware/workflow para suportar o desenvolvimento de software em equipa

Dissertação de Mestrado em Sistemas de InformaçãoA indústria de desenvolvimento de software é uma força económica importante, na sociedade moderna. O software encontra-se presente em inúmeros sistemas e produtos com quem interagimos diariamente. A pressão da procura de software incentivou a investigação de novos métodos e técnicas que permitissem melhorar a qualidade do software desenvolvido, nasceu assim a disciplina da Engenharia de Software. Os projectos de software modernos, devido à sua complexidade e dimensão, são desenvolvidos por equipas de profissionais. As equipas são a organização humana que permite a execução de projectos que seriam inviáveis através do esforço individual. No entanto, o trabalho em equipa é mais complexo de coordenar do que o trabalho individual. A eficácia de uma equipa é determinada pela facilidade com que os seus membros comunicam, colaboram e coordenam o seu trabalho. O ambiente de suporte ao desenvolvimento de software definido neste trabalho é composto por duas tecnologias (workflow e groupware). A tecnologia de workflow será responsável pela coordenação do trabalho suportando a definição e execução de processos. A tecnologia de groupware fornecerá à equipa de projecto as funcionalidades de comunicação e colaboração necessárias para a execução do trabalho. Não existe um modelo único ideal de organização de uma equipa e do seu esforço, desta forma o ambiente de suporte definido será capaz de suportar as diferentes configurações de equipas e de processo.The software development industry is an important economic driver. Software is a part of many systems and products, which we use and interact with daily. The growing global demand for software pushed the development of new methods and practices allowing the improvement of the developed software quality. These methods and practices became know as Software Engineering. Modern software projects, due to their complexity and size, are developed by teams of software engineers. Teams are the human work organization that makes feasible efforts far beyond the capacity of one person. However, teamwork coordination is far more difficult than a single person effort. The team’s effectiveness is determined by how easy the members communicate, collaborate and coordinate their work. The software development environment specified in this work é made of two different technologies (workflow and groupware). Workflow technology is used to support work coordination and process definition and execution. Groupware technology allows the team members to communicate easily and efficiently. There are several possible ways of organizing a software team and its work, this demands that the software development environment has to be able to support effectively all the possible team configurations and processes

A inclusão indesejada: as empresas brasileiras face à lei de cotas para pessoas com deficiência no mercado de trabalho

O artigo discute a lei de cotas empregatícias para portadores de deficiência no mercado de trabalho brasileiro, enfatizando, na abordagem, sua baixa receptividade ou adesão junto às empresas implicadas no processo, o que se evidencia, em particular, no âmbito da ação fiscalizatória do poder público, a cargo do Ministério Público do Trabalho (MPT). Tendo em vista esse propósito, foi realizada pesquisa junto a uma das Procuradorias Regionais do Trabalho do MPT, mais especificamente, a PRT da 3ª Região de Belo Horizonte. Tal pesquisa envolveu todos os processos de autuação por não cumprimento da norma legal, conduzidos pela referida PRT ao longo do período 2000-2007. As informações disponibilizadas pela pesquisa permitiram elucidar as principais estratégias defensivas adotadas pelas empresas com vistas a contornar, protelar ou minimizar a contratação compulsória de pessoas com deficiência. Mostraram também a seletividade incrustada nas contratações que as empresas são constrangidas a fazer, nas quais há uma clara priorização do deficiente físico não cadeirante, em detrimento dos demais tipos de deficiência