Zenith: Utility-Aware Resource Allocation for Edge Computing

In the Internet of Things(IoT) era, the demands for low-latency computing for time-sensitive applications (e.g., location-based augmented reality games, real-time smart grid management, real-time navigation using wearables) has been growing rapidly. Edge Computing provides an additional layer of infrastructure to fill latency gaps between the IoT devices and the back-end computing infrastructure. In the edge computing model, small-scale micro-datacenters that represent ad-hoc and distributed collection of computing infrastructure pose new challenges in terms of management and effective resource sharing to achieve a globally efficient resource allocation. In this paper, we propose Zenith, a novel model for allocating computing resources in an edge computing platform that allows service providers to establish resource sharing contracts with edge infrastructure providers apriori. Based on the established contracts, service providers employ a latency-aware scheduling and resource provisioning algorithm that enables tasks to complete and meet their latency requirements. The proposed techniques are evaluated through extensive experiments that demonstrate the effectiveness, scalability and performance efficiency of the proposed model

Social creatures: model animal systems for studying the neuroendocrine mechanisms of social behaviour

Work was supported by grants awarded to ML (BBSRC BB/S000224/1), OJB (BO 1958/8-2, GRK 2174), KEB (Wellcome Trust 109614/Z/15/Z, MRC MR/N004574/1), AJ (BBSRC BB/S000801) and GL (Israel Science Foundation #1511/16; United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation #2017325; Nella and Leon Benoziyo Center for Neurological Diseases, Richard F. Goodman Yale/Weizmann Exchange Program and Estate of Emile Mimran).The interaction of animals with conspecifics, termed social behaviour, has a major impact on the survival of many vertebrate species. Neuropeptide hormones modulate the underlying physiology that governs social interactions, and many findings concerning the neuroendocrine mechanisms of social behaviours have been extrapolated from animal models to humans. Neurones expressing neuropeptides show similar distribution patterns within the hypothalamic nucleus, even when evolutionarily distant species are compared. During evolution, hypothalamic neuropeptides and releasing hormones have retained not only their structures, but also their biological functions, including their effects on behaviour. Here, we review the current understanding of the mechanisms of social behaviours in several classes of animals, such as worms, insects and fish, as well as laboratory, wild and domesticated mammals.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Multi-omic data integration elucidates Synechococcus adaptation mechanisms to fluctuations in light intensity and salinity

Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 is a fast-growing cyanobacterium which flourishes in freshwater and marine environments, owing to its ability to tolerate high light intensity and a wide range of salinities. Harnessing the properties of cyanobacteria and understanding their metabolic efficiency has become an imperative goal in recent years owing to their potential to serve as biocatalysts for the production of renewable biofuels. To improve characterisation of metabolic networks, genome-scale models of metabolism can be integrated with multi-omic data to provide a more accurate representation of metabolic capability and refine phenotypic predictions. In this work, a heuristic pipeline is constructed for analysing a genome-scale metabolic model of Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002, which utilises flux balance analysis across multiple layers to observe flux response between conditions across four key pathways. Across various conditions, the detection of significant patterns and mechanisms to cope with fluctuations in light intensity and salinity provides insights into the maintenance of metabolic efficiency

Mixed-valent regime of the two-channel Anderson impurity as a model for UBe_13

We investigate the mixed-valent regime of a two-configuration Anderson impurity model for uranium ions, with separate quadrupolar and magnetic doublets. With a new Monte Carlo approach and the non-crossing approximation we find: (i) A non-Fermi-liquid fixed point with two-channel Kondo model critical behavior; (ii) Distinct energy scales for screening the low-lying and excited doublets; (iii) A semi-quantitative explanation of magnetic-susceptibility data for U$_{1-x}$Th$_x$Be$_{13}$ assuming 60-70% quadrupolar doublet ground-state weight, supporting the quadrupolar-Kondo interpretation.Comment: 4 Pages, 3 eps figures; submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

FULFIL Trial: Once-Daily Triple Therapy in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

RATIONALE: Randomized data comparing triple therapy with dual inhaled corticosteroid (ICS)/long-acting β2-agonist (LABA) therapy in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are limited. OBJECTIVES: We compared the effects of once-daily triple therapy on lung function and health-related quality of life with twice-daily ICS/LABA therapy. METHODS: FULFIL was a randomized, double-blind, double-dummy study comparing 24 weeks of once-daily triple therapy (fluticasone furoate/umeclidinium/vilanterol 100 μg/62.5 μg/25 μg; ELLIPTA(®) inhaler) with twice-daily ICS/LABA therapy (budesonide/formoterol 400 μg/12 μg; Turbuhaler(®)). A patient subgroup remained on blinded treatment for up to 52 weeks. Co-primary endpoints were change from baseline in trough forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) and in St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) Total score, at Week 24. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: In the intent-to-treat population (N = 1,810) at Week 24 for triple therapy (n = 911) and ICS/LABA therapy (n = 899): mean change from baseline in FEV1 was 142 mL (95% confidence interval [CI], 126,158) and -29 mL (95% CI, -46,-13), respectively; mean change from baseline SGRQ was -6.6 units (95% CI, -7.4,-5.7) and -4.3 units (95% CI, -5.2,-3.4), respectively. For both endpoints, the between-group differences were statistically significant (P < 0.001). There was a statistically significant reduction in moderate/severe exacerbation rate with triple versus ICS/LABA therapy (35% reduction, 95% CI, 14,51; P = 0.002). The safety profile of triple therapy reflected the known profiles of the components. CONCLUSIONS: These results support the benefits of single inhaler triple therapy compared with ICS/LABA therapy, in patients with advanced COPD. Clinical trial registration available at www.clinicaltrials.gov, ID NCT02345161

Crossover between Fermi Liquid and non-Fermi Liquid in Orbitally Degenerate Kondo Systems

Entanglement of spin and orbital Kondo effect is investigated on the basis of a Kondo-type exchange model with twofold orbital degeneracy. By using Wilson's numerical renormalization-group method, we examine dynamical and thermal properties respecting the difference in time-reversal property of multipole operators. In the presence of particle-hole symmetry, the model has a new non-Fermi-liquid fixed point with a fractional entropy. The spectral intensity of the quadrupole susceptibility diverges in the zero-frequency limit, while the dipole susceptibility shows a Fermi-liquid-like behavior. This is understood by mapping to the two-channel Kondo model, in which the dipole moment is mapped onto the operators with the scaling dimension $\Delta_m=1$, while the quadrupole moment onto the operators with another scaling dimension $\Delta_e=1/2$. Even for a fairly particle-hole asymmetric case with the Fermi-liquid ground state, the non-Fermi-liquid behavior has significant influences in electric and thermal properties.Comment: 7 pages, 9 figures, to appear in J. Phys Soc. Jpn. Vol. 68 No. 12, title changed and some corrections mad

⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology, fluid inclusions, and ore‐grade distribution of the Jiawula Ag–Pb–Zn deposit, NE China: implications for deposit genesis and exploration

The Jiawula Ag–Pb–Zn deposit is located in the northern part of the Great Xing'an Range metallogenic belt within the eastern segment of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt. Here, we report results from muscovite ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology and fluid inclusion study and formulate a vertical projection map of the ore grade in this deposit. The muscovite from the Jiawula deposit yields a plateau age of 133.27 ± 0.66 Ma and a ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar isochron age of 131.88 ± 0.83 Ma. The muscovite ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar data indicate a discrete second hydrothermal event postdating the mineralization, which we correlate with post‐collisional extension after the subduction direction of the Palaeo‐Pacific Plate changed. Low‐salinity aqueous fluid inclusions in quartz from the Jiawula deposit represent meteoric water or groundwater. Based on the fluid inclusion study, the fluids were trapped during cooling and decompression, which may have resulted in metal precipitation. We envisage that the copper precipitated from a high‐temperature fluid in the southern domain whereas lead, zinc, and silver precipitated at a lower temperature in the north. The spatial distribution of the ore‐forming elements, therefore, reflects the ore fluid migration‐cooling path from the south to north

Asymptotically stable phase synchronization revealed by autoregressive circle maps

A new type of nonlinear time series analysis is introduced, based on phases, which are defined as polar angles in spaces spanned by a finite number of delayed coordinates. A canonical choice of the polar axis and a related implicit estimation scheme for the potentially underlying auto-regressive circle map (next phase map) guarantee the invertibility of reconstructed phase space trajectories to the original coordinates. The resulting Fourier approximated, Invertibility enforcing Phase Space map (FIPS map) is well suited to detect conditional asymptotic stability of coupled phases. This rather general synchronization criterion unites two existing generalisations of the old concept and can successfully be applied e.g. to phases obtained from ECG and airflow recordings characterizing cardio-respiratory interaction.Comment: PDF file, 232 KB, 24 pages, 3 figures; cheduled for Phys. Rev. E (Nov) 200