P-SCOR: Integration of Constraint Programming Orchestration and Programmable Data Plane

In this manuscript we present an original implementation of network management functions in the context of Software Defined Networking. We demonstrate a full integration of an artificial intelligence driven management, an SDN control plane, and a programmable data plane. Constraint Programming is used to implement a management operating system that accepts high level specifications, via a northbound interface, in terms of operational objective and directives. These are translated in technology-specific constraints and directives for the SDN control plane, leveraging the programmable data plane, which is enriched with functionalities suited to feed data that enable the most effective operation of the “intelligent” control plane, by exploiting the language

Decadal attribution of historic temperature and ocean heat content change to anthropogenic emissions

We present an alternative method of calculating the historical effective radiative forcing using the observed temperature record and a kernel based on the CMIP5 temperature response. This estimate is the effective radiative forcing time series that the average climate model would need to simulate the observed global mean surface temperature anomalies. We further infer the anthropogenic aerosols radiative forcing as a residual using the better-known greenhouse gas radiative forcing. This allows an independent estimate of anthropogenic aerosol radiative forcing, which suggests a cooling influence due to aerosols in the early part of the 20th century. The temporal kernels are also used to calculate decadal contributions from the dominant forcing agents to present day temperature, ocean heat content, and thermosteric sea level rise. The current global mean temperature anomaly is dominated by emissions in the past two decades, while current ocean heat content is more strongly affected by earlier decades.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures, in revision in GR

One-dimensional Ising ferromagnet frustrated by long-range interactions at finite temperatures

We consider a one-dimensional lattice of Ising-type variables where the ferromagnetic exchange interaction J between neighboring sites is frustrated by a long-ranged anti-ferromagnetic interaction of strength g between the sites i and j, decaying as |i-j|^-alpha, with alpha>1. For alpha smaller than a certain threshold alpha_0, which is larger than 2 and depends on the ratio J/g, the ground state consists of an ordered sequence of segments with equal length and alternating magnetization. The width of the segments depends on both alpha and the ratio J/g. Our Monte Carlo study shows that the on-site magnetization vanishes at finite temperatures and finds no indication of any phase transition. Yet, the modulation present in the ground state is recovered at finite temperatures in the two-point correlation function, which oscillates in space with a characteristic spatial period: The latter depends on alpha and J/g and decreases smoothly from the ground-state value as the temperature is increased. Such an oscillation of the correlation function is exponentially damped over a characteristic spatial scale, the correlation length, which asymptotically diverges roughly as the inverse of the temperature as T=0 is approached. This suggests that the long-range interaction causes the Ising chain to fall into a universality class consistent with an underlying continuous symmetry. The e^(Delta/T)-temperature dependence of the correlation length and the uniform ferromagnetic ground state, characteristic of the g=0 discrete Ising symmetry, are recovered for alpha > alpha_0.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure

Global forestation and deforestation affect remote climate via adjusted atmosphere and ocean circulation.

Forests can store large amounts of carbon and provide essential ecosystem services. Massive tree planting is thus sometimes portrayed as a panacea to mitigate climate change and related impacts. Recent controversies about the potential benefits and drawbacks of forestation have centered on the carbon storage potential of forests and the local or global thermodynamic impacts. Here we discuss how global-scale forestation and deforestation change the Earth's energy balance, thereby affect the global atmospheric circulation and even have profound effects on the ocean circulation. We perform multicentury coupled climate model simulations in which preindustrial vegetation cover is either completely forested or deforested and carbon dioxide mixing ratio is kept constant. We show that global-scale forestation leads to a weakening and poleward shift of the Northern mid-latitude circulation, slows-down the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, and affects the strength of the Hadley cell, whereas deforestation leads to reversed changes. Consequently, both land surface changes substantially affect regional precipitation, temperature, clouds, and surface wind patterns across the globe. The design process of large-scale forestation projects thus needs to take into account global circulation adjustments and their influence on remote climate

Experimental summary 1987

Barley II. Scald and mildrew : Seed dressings and sprayings(87E26, MT37 and MT38) III. Scald and mildew : Seed dressing and fungicide coated superphosphates. (87E27, MT39, MT40 and WH40) IV. Scald and mildew : Fungicides for longer protection (87ES38 and MT41) V. Mildew : Survey of virulence genes (87ES46, MT56 and PE22) VI. Spot-type net blotch : Potential crop losses (87C49 and C55) VII. Spot-type net blotch : Effect of seed dressings (87C49 and C55) VIII. Spot-type net blotch : Parent-offspring regression (87C51 and C56) IX. Leaf stripe : Effect of seed dressings (87M42, MT33 and NA74) Peas X. Blackspot : Effect of fungicides (87MT42 and WH41) XI. Blackspot : Screening for cultivar resistance (87MD10 and MT43

Mid-gut ACTH-secreting neuroendocrine tumor unmasked with (18)F-dihydroxyphenylalanine-positron emission tomography.

Ectopic ACTH Cushing's syndrome (EAS) is often caused by neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) of lungs, pancreas, thymus, and other less frequent locations. Localizing the source of ACTH can be challenging. A 64-year-old man presented with rapidly progressing fatigue, muscular weakness, and dyspnea. He was in poor condition and showed facial redness, proximal amyotrophy, and bruises. Laboratory disclosed hypokalemia, metabolic alkalosis, and markedly elevated ACTH and cortisol levels. Pituitary was normal on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and bilateral inferior petrosal sinus blood sampling with corticotropin-releasing hormone stimulation showed no significant central-to-periphery gradient of ACTH. Head and neck, thoracic and abdominal computerized tomography (CT), MRI, somatostatin receptor scintigraphy (SSRS), and (18)F-deoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) failed to identify the primary tumor. (18)F-dihydroxyphenylalanine (F-DOPA)-PET/CT unveiled a 20-mm nodule in the jejunum and a metastatic lymph node. Segmental jejunum resection showed two adjacent NETs, measuring 2.0 and 0.5 cm with a peritoneal metastasis. The largest tumor expressed ACTH in 30% of cells. Following surgery, after a transient adrenal insufficiency, ACTH and cortisol levels returned to normal values and remain normal over a follow-up of 26 months. Small mid-gut NETs are difficult to localize on CT or MRI, and require metabolic imaging. Owing to low mitotic activity, NETs are generally poor candidates for FDG-PET, whereas SSRS shows poor sensitivity in EAS due to intrinsically low tumor concentration of type-2 somatostatin receptors (SST2) or to receptor down regulation by excess cortisol. However, F-DOPA-PET, which is related to amine precursor uptake by NETs, has been reported to have high positive predictive value for occult EAS despite low sensitivity, and constitutes a useful alternative to more conventional methods of tumor localization. LEARNING POINTS: Uncontrolled high cortisol levels in EAS can be lethal if untreated.Surgical excision is the keystone of NETs treatment, thus tumor localization is crucial.Most cases of EAS are caused by NETs, which are located mainly in the lungs. However, small gut NETs are elusive to conventional imaging and require metabolic imaging for detection.FDG-PET, based on tumor high metabolic rate, may not detect NETs that have low mitotic activity. SSRS may also fail, due to absent or low concentration of SST2, which may be down regulated by excess cortisol.F-DOPA-PET, based on amine-precursor uptake, can be a useful method to localize the occult source of ACTH in EAS when other methods have failed

1981 Plant viruses

1, Clover viruses - 81HA6, 81MA9, 81BR14, 81BY12, 81BH5, 81AL38, 81ES39 OBJECTIVES: To determine the extent of the \u27Dinninup virus\u27 problem (sub. clover mottle). To further assess the incidence of red leaf virus to determine the incidence of bean yellow mosaic virus. To note the incidence of sub. clover stunt virus. A. BYDV: Survey of incidence - 81BU1, 81BU2, 81BR11, 81BR12, 81MA6, 81MA7, 81AL31, 81AL32, 81JE14, 81JE15, 81KA21, 81KA22, 81NA28, 81N031, 81ES38, 81E26. 2. Barley yellow dwarf virus. BYDV: Genotype x insecticide studies - 81MN14, 81MT29, 81E28, 81MN14. BYDV: differences amongst barley genotypes - 81C19, 81WH31, 81BA30. BYDV: Resistance and yield in CV.Shannon and CV. Proctor - 871BR13, 81MA8, 81AL36, 81JE17 Yield per plot and 100 seed weight - Albany 81AL36 Infection of BYDV in cereal genotypes at Manjimup ( 81MN13)

Attacks on quantum key distribution protocols that employ non-ITS authentication

We demonstrate how adversaries with unbounded computing resources can break Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) protocols which employ a particular message authentication code suggested previously. This authentication code, featuring low key consumption, is not Information-Theoretically Secure (ITS) since for each message the eavesdropper has intercepted she is able to send a different message from a set of messages that she can calculate by finding collisions of a cryptographic hash function. However, when this authentication code was introduced it was shown to prevent straightforward Man-In-The-Middle (MITM) attacks against QKD protocols. In this paper, we prove that the set of messages that collide with any given message under this authentication code contains with high probability a message that has small Hamming distance to any other given message. Based on this fact we present extended MITM attacks against different versions of BB84 QKD protocols using the addressed authentication code; for three protocols we describe every single action taken by the adversary. For all protocols the adversary can obtain complete knowledge of the key, and for most protocols her success probability in doing so approaches unity. Since the attacks work against all authentication methods which allow to calculate colliding messages, the underlying building blocks of the presented attacks expose the potential pitfalls arising as a consequence of non-ITS authentication in QKD-postprocessing. We propose countermeasures, increasing the eavesdroppers demand for computational power, and also prove necessary and sufficient conditions for upgrading the discussed authentication code to the ITS level.Comment: 34 page

Unforgeable Quantum Encryption

We study the problem of encrypting and authenticating quantum data in the presence of adversaries making adaptive chosen plaintext and chosen ciphertext queries. Classically, security games use string copying and comparison to detect adversarial cheating in such scenarios. Quantumly, this approach would violate no-cloning. We develop new techniques to overcome this problem: we use entanglement to detect cheating, and rely on recent results for characterizing quantum encryption schemes. We give definitions for (i.) ciphertext unforgeability , (ii.) indistinguishability under adaptive chosen-ciphertext attack, and (iii.) authenticated encryption. The restriction of each definition to the classical setting is at least as strong as the corresponding classical notion: (i) implies INT-CTXT, (ii) implies IND-CCA2, and (iii) implies AE. All of our new notions also imply QIND-CPA privacy. Combining one-time authentication and classical pseudorandomness, we construct schemes for each of these new quantum security notions, and provide several separation examples. Along the way, we also give a new definition of one-time quantum authentication which, unlike all previous approaches, authenticates ciphertexts rather than plaintexts.Comment: 22+2 pages, 1 figure. v3: error in the definition of QIND-CCA2 fixed, some proofs related to QIND-CCA2 clarifie