Scalable Global Grid catalogue for LHC Run3 and beyond

The AliEn (ALICE Environment) file catalogue is a global unique namespace providing mapping between a UNIX-like logical name structure and the corresponding physical files distributed over 80 storage elements worldwide. Powerful search tools and hierarchical metadata information are integral parts of the system and are used by the Grid jobs as well as local users to store and access all files on the Grid storage elements. The catalogue has been in production since 2005 and over the past 11 years has grown to more than 2 billion logical file names. The backend is a set of distributed relational databases, ensuring smooth growth and fast access. Due to the anticipated fast future growth, we are looking for ways to enhance the performance and scalability by simplifying the catalogue schema while keeping the functionality intact. We investigated different backend solutions, such as distributed key value stores, as replacement for the relational database. This contribution covers the architectural changes in the system, together with the technology evaluation, benchmark results and conclusions.Comment: Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Computing in High Energy and Nuclear Physics, CHEP 2016, 10-14 October 2016, San Francisco. Submitted to Journal of Physics: Conference Series (JPCS

A Security Monitoring Framework For Virtualization Based HEP Infrastructures

High Energy Physics (HEP) distributed computing infrastructures require automatic tools to monitor, analyze and react to potential security incidents. These tools should collect and inspect data such as resource consumption, logs and sequence of system calls for detecting anomalies that indicate the presence of a malicious agent. They should also be able to perform automated reactions to attacks without administrator intervention. We describe a novel framework that accomplishes these requirements, with a proof of concept implementation for the ALICE experiment at CERN. We show how we achieve a fully virtualized environment that improves the security by isolating services and Jobs without a significant performance impact. We also describe a collected dataset for Machine Learning based Intrusion Prevention and Detection Systems on Grid computing. This dataset is composed of resource consumption measurements (such as CPU, RAM and network traffic), logfiles from operating system services, and system call data collected from production Jobs running in an ALICE Grid test site and a big set of malware. This malware was collected from security research sites. Based on this dataset, we will proceed to develop Machine Learning algorithms able to detect malicious Jobs.Comment: Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Computing in High Energy and Nuclear Physics, CHEP 2016, 10-14 October 2016, San Francisco. Submitted to Journal of Physics: Conference Series (JPCS

European Economies in the First Epoch of Imperialism and Mercantilism. 1415-1846.

The costs and benefits of European Imperialism from the conquest of Ceuta, 1415, to the Treaty of Lusaka, 1974.Twelfth International Economic History Congress. Madrid, 1998.Patrick K. O'Brien and Leandro Prados de la Escosura (eds.)Editada en la Fundación Empresa PúblicaJorge M. Pedreira. «To Have and To Have not». The Economic Consequences of Empire: Portugal (1415-1822).-- Bartolomé Yun-Casalilla. The American Empire and the Spanish Economy: An Institutional and Regional Perspective.-- Pieter C. Emmer. The Economic Impact of the Dutch Expansion Overseas, 1570-1870.-- Paul Butel and François Crouzet. Empire and Economic Growth: the Case of 18th Century France.-- Stanley L. Engerman. British Imperialism in a Mercantilist Age, 1492-1849: Conceptual Issues and Empirical Problems.Publicad

Dry Matter Yield, \u3ci\u3ein Vitro\u3c/i\u3e Digestibility, Protein and Fiber Composition of \u27Tifton 9\u27 Bahiagrass (\u3ci\u3ePaspalum notatum\u3c/i\u3e) at Six Maturities

The objective of this research was to evaluate dry matter yield, in vitro digestibility, and the concentrations of protein and cell wall components in \u27Tifton 9’clipped at six maturities. Herbage was cut at the age of 20, 27, 34, 41, 48 and 55 days. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with six trataments (ages) and four replications. Dry matter yield and acid detergent fiber ranged from 188 g m-2, to 593 g m-2 and 386.9 g kg-1 to 375.1 g kg-1 respectively, with the cubic regression model having the best fit (P\u3c 0.05). Concentrations of crude protein decreased linearly (P\u3c 0.05) from 121 to 69 g kg-1. Neutral detergent fiber concentration and “in vitro” digestibility, were not affected (P\u3e 0.05) by maturity, in the range studied. Dry matter yield, digestibility and concentration of fiber components presented values similar to other tropical forages, whereas the crude protein remained above 100.5 g kg-1, only until the 27th day, according to the regression model

Sward Structural Characteristics of Perennial Peanut Genotypes as Affected by Harvest Frequency

Despite the high potential of tropical forage species, herbage production, nutritive value and animal productivity in Brazilian livestock production systems are lower than what can be obtained from both a biological and operational point of view (Pedreira and Mello 2000, Da Silva and Sbrissia 2000). Even with these limitations, the livestock industry is often able to sustain high productivity levels (animal product per hectare) by using good animal genetics and supplementation. Reducing production costs, however, will likely depend on the identification and incorporation of a high-quality forage resource, in terms of both improving diet quality of grazing animals and sustaining pasture soil productivity. The search for economically viable and sustainable forage production alternatives has been the subject of a great deal of research in many parts of the world. Among the alternatives explored, the diversification of pastures by the introduction of forage legumes in traditional production systems has been suggested, mainly to improve soil chemical characteristics (increased nitrogen levels) and improve forage quality (Perez 2004, Valentim and Andrade 2004). Promising legume germplasm is available in the tropics, but before these materials are incorporated into commercial systems, they need to be evaluated for adaptation, productivity and persistence in specific micro-environments. In addition, interactions involving grazing management strategies and genotypes should be described and explained, so that their agronomic potential can be explored. The aim of this study was to characterise sward structure of 4 perennial peanut genotypes subjected to 2 harvest management strategies, in south-eastern Brazil