870 research outputs found
Modeling and Evaluation of Multisource Streaming Strategies in P2P VoD Systems
In recent years, multimedia content distribution has largely been moved to the Internet, inducing broadcasters, operators and service providers to upgrade with large expenses their infrastructures. In this context, streaming solutions that rely on user devices such as set-top boxes (STBs) to offload dedicated streaming servers are particularly appropriate. In these systems, contents are usually replicated and scattered over the network established by STBs placed at users' home, and the video-on-demand (VoD) service is provisioned through streaming sessions established among neighboring STBs following a Peer-to-Peer fashion. Up to now the majority of research works have focused on the design and optimization of content replicas mechanisms to minimize server costs. The optimization of replicas mechanisms has been typically performed either considering very crude system performance indicators or analyzing asymptotic behavior. In this work, instead, we propose an analytical model that complements previous works providing fairly accurate predictions of system performance (i.e., blocking probability). Our model turns out to be a highly scalable, flexible, and extensible tool that may be helpful both for designers and developers to efficiently predict the effect of system design choices in large scale STB-VoD system
Rotator cuff isokinetic strength of young group aged swimmers in a competitive training program
Introduction: In any given sports activity, muscular or movement instability is
pointed out as having a high influence for the maintenance of correct joint
functionality. In swimming, due to the repetitive use of shoulder muscles, there is a
higher tendency to promote injuries at the shoulder joint, especially when instability
between the internal (IR) and external (ER) shoulder rotators is present. The aims of
this study were to evaluate the rotator cuff isokinetic strength in order to determine
any possible muscular over compensation or imbalance, and to assess differences
between the dominant and non-dominant side, of young group aged swimmers.
Methods: Forty young aged swimmers in a competitive training program were
evaluated, and divided in two groups. Only subjects without any previous history of
strength training were included. Group 1 (n=19), age 15 to 16 (years); height [mean
(SD)] 168.6 (6.5) (centimeters); weight 59.6 (6.0) (kilograms), training/week 113.7
(12.6) (minutes); experience 5.3 (1.6) (years) and Group 2 (n=21); age 13 to 14;
height 160.5 (12.2); weight 50.4 (10.8); training/week 88.6 (17.7); experience 4.1
(2.2) (years). The maximal unilateral isokinetic strength was measured (Biodex
System 3) on the shoulder IR and ER during concentric action at 60°/second,
bilaterally. Data was examined by the application of appropriate statistical tests for
the analysis of variance.
Results: Statistical differences were found on peak torque (Nm) at the
agonist/antagonist ratio measured unilaterally [Group 1: right shoulder 35.8 (7.9) (IR)
and 25.8 (4.7) (ER) (p=0.001) and left shoulder 32.7 (6.7) (IR) and 23.9 (5.1) (ER)
(p=0.001) / Group 2: right shoulder 23.4 (6.5) (IR) and 19.0 (5.4) (ER) (p=0.048) and
left shoulder 22.4 (5.4) (IR) and 16.8 (6.1) (ER) (p=0.027)]. However, no statistical
differences were found between the maximal rotation strength measured bilaterally
[Group 1: ER (p=0.280) and IR (p=0.246) / Group 2: ER (p=0.186) and IR
(p=0.522)].
Conclusion: Young swimmers involved in a competitive training program can suffer
from unilateral over compensation at shoulder IR or ER. This compensation seems to
increase with the number of training years. To enable a higher stability between the
internal and external shoulder rotators it is recommended that shoulder muscle
strengthening should be considered in young aged swimmers training programs
The Jlab Upgrade - Studies of the Nucleon with CLAS12
An overview is presented on the program to study the nucleon structure at the
12 GeV JLab upgrade using the CLAS12 detector. The focus is on deeply virtual
exclusive processes to access the generalized parton distributions,
semni-inclusive processes to study transverse momentum dependent distribution
functions, and inclusive spin structure functions and resonance transition form
factors at high Q^2 and with high precision.Comment: 7 pages, 12 figures, NSTAR 2007 conference, Bonn, September 5-8, 200
Splenectomy and/or cyclophosphamide as salvage therapies in thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura: the French TMA Reference Center experience: SALVAGE THERAPIES IN SEVERE TTP
BACKGROUND: The objective was to assess the efficacy and safety of splenectomy and cyclophosphamide as salvage therapies in severe thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP).STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: During a 10-year period, patients who did not improve with plasma exchanges, steroids, vincristine, and/or rituximab were considered for splenectomy or cyclophosphamide. Patients with a documented severe (<10% of normal value) acquired ADAMTS13 deficiency are reported here. RESULTS: Eighteen patients with a severe acquired ADAMTS13 deficiency required a salvage therapy. Thirteen patients had a splenectomy 19 (interquartile range [IQR], 10-51) days after TTP diagnosis. One patient died the day after splenectomy. The remaining patients improved platelets (PLTs) until Day 6, along with a rapid and major lactate dehydrogenase improvement. Six patients, however, subsequently experienced a transient worsening. Durable PLT count recovery in survivors was observed within 13 (IQR, 11.5-25.5) days. Postoperative complications included thromboembolic events (two cases) and infections (five cases). Five patients received pulses of cyclophosphamide 12 (IQR, 12-15) days after TTP diagnosis. All patients recovered PLTs 10 (IQR, 9-24) days after the first pulse and two experienced a transient worsening. Three patients experienced infections. Three relapses occurred 5 months, 2.5 years, and 4.5 years after splenectomy and one relapse occurred 3.5 years after cyclophosphamide. After a 2.5 (IQR, 0.75-6.2)-year follow-up, the overall survival was 94%. CONCLUSION: Cyclophosphamide and splenectomy provide comparable high remission rates in severe TTP with acceptable side effects and should be considered in the more severe patients who do not improve with other therapies
Constraints on the Nucleon Strange Form Factors at Q^2 ~ 0.1 GeV^2
We report the most precise measurement to date of a parity-violating
asymmetry in elastic electron-proton scattering. The measurement was carried
out with a beam energy of 3.03 GeV and a scattering angle =6
degrees, with the result A_PV = -1.14 +/- 0.24 (stat) +/- 0.06 (syst) parts per
million. From this we extract, at Q^2 = 0.099 GeV^2, the strange form factor
combination G_E^s + 0.080 G_M^s = 0.030 +/- 0.025 (stat) +/- 0.006 (syst) +/-
0.012 (FF) where the first two errors are experimental and the last error is
due to the uncertainty in the neutron electromagnetic form factor. This result
significantly improves current knowledge of G_E^s and G_M^s at Q^2 ~0.1 GeV^2.
A consistent picture emerges when several measurements at about the same Q^2
value are combined: G_E^s is consistent with zero while G_M^s prefers positive
values though G_E^s=G_M^s=0 is compatible with the data at 95% C.L.Comment: minor wording changes for clarity, updated references, dropped one
figure to improve focu
Constrained Supersymmetric Flipped SU(5) GUT Phenomenology
We explore the phenomenology of the minimal supersymmetric flipped SU(5) GUT
model (CFSU(5)), whose soft supersymmetry-breaking (SSB) mass parameters are
constrained to be universal at some input scale, , above the GUT scale,
. We analyze the parameter space of CFSU(5) assuming that the lightest
supersymmetric particle (LSP) provides the cosmological cold dark matter,
paying careful attention to the matching of parameters at the GUT scale. We
first display some specific examples of the evolutions of the SSB parameters
that exhibit some generic features. Specifically, we note that the relationship
between the masses of the lightest neutralino and the lighter stau is sensitive
to , as is the relationship between the neutralino mass and the masses
of the heavier Higgs bosons. For these reasons, prominent features in generic
planes such as coannihilation strips and rapid-annihilation
funnels are also sensitive to , as we illustrate for several cases with
tan(beta)=10 and 55. However, these features do not necessarily disappear at
large , unlike the case in the minimal conventional SU(5) GUT. Our
results are relatively insensitive to neutrino masses.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figures; (v2) added explanations and corrected typos,
version to appear in EPJ
Likelihood Functions for Supersymmetric Observables in Frequentist Analyses of the CMSSM and NUHM1
On the basis of frequentist analyses of experimental constraints from
electroweak precision data, g-2, B physics and cosmological data, we
investigate the parameters of the constrained MSSM (CMSSM) with universal soft
supersymmetry-breaking mass parameters, and a model with common non-universal
Higgs masses (NUHM1). We present chi^2 likelihood functions for the masses of
supersymmetric particles and Higgs bosons, as well as b to s gamma, b to mu mu
and the spin-independent dark matter scattering cross section. In the CMSSM we
find preferences for sparticle masses that are relatively light. In the NUHM1
the best-fit values for many sparticle masses are even slightly smaller, but
with greater uncertainties. The likelihood functions for most sparticle masses
are cut off sharply at small masses, in particular by the LEP Higgs mass
constraint. Both in the CMSSM and the NUHM1, the coannihilation region is
favoured over the focus-point region at about the 3-sigma level, largely but
not exclusively because of g-2. Many sparticle masses are highly correlated in
both the CMSSM and NUHM1, and most of the regions preferred at the 95% C.L. are
accessible to early LHC running. Some slepton and chargino/neutralino masses
should be in reach at the ILC. The masses of the heavier Higgs bosons should be
accessible at the LHC and the ILC in portions of the preferred regions in the
(M_A, tan beta) plane. In the CMSSM, the likelihood function for b to mu mu is
peaked close to the Standard Model value, but much larger values are possible
in the NUHM1. We find that values of the DM cross section > 10^{-10} pb are
preferred in both the CMSSM and the NUHM1. We study the effects of dropping the
g-2, b to s gamma, relic density and M_h constraints.Comment: 34 pages, 24 figure
Advances in ab-initio theory of Multiferroics. Materials and mechanisms: modelling and understanding
Within the broad class of multiferroics (compounds showing a coexistence of
magnetism and ferroelectricity), we focus on the subclass of "improper
electronic ferroelectrics", i.e. correlated materials where electronic degrees
of freedom (such as spin, charge or orbital) drive ferroelectricity. In
particular, in spin-induced ferroelectrics, there is not only a {\em
coexistence} of the two intriguing magnetic and dipolar orders; rather, there
is such an intimate link that one drives the other, suggesting a giant
magnetoelectric coupling. Via first-principles approaches based on density
functional theory, we review the microscopic mechanisms at the basis of
multiferroicity in several compounds, ranging from transition metal oxides to
organic multiferroics (MFs) to organic-inorganic hybrids (i.e. metal-organic
frameworks, MOFs)Comment: 22 pages, 9 figure
On timelike Compton scattering at medium and high energies
We emphasize the complementarity of timelike and spacelike studies of deep
exclusive processes, taking as an example the case of timelike Compton
Scattering (TCS) i.e. the exclusive photoproduction of a lepton pair with large
invariant mass, vs deeply virtual Compton scattering (DVCS) i.e. the exclusive
leptoproduction of a real photon. Both amplitudes factorize with the same
generalized parton distributions (GPDs) as their soft parts and coefficient
functions which differ significantly at next to leading order in alpha_s. We
also stress that data on TCS at very high energy should be available soon
thanks to the study of ultraperipheral collisions at the LHC, opening a window
on quark and gluon GPDs at very small skewness.Comment: 8 pages, Presented at the workshop "30 years of strong interactions",
Spa, Belgium, 6-8 April 201
Infrastructure for Detector Research and Development towards the International Linear Collider
The EUDET-project was launched to create an infrastructure for developing and
testing new and advanced detector technologies to be used at a future linear
collider. The aim was to make possible experimentation and analysis of data for
institutes, which otherwise could not be realized due to lack of resources. The
infrastructure comprised an analysis and software network, and instrumentation
infrastructures for tracking detectors as well as for calorimetry.Comment: 54 pages, 48 picture
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