Consensus in Networks Prone to Link Failures

We consider deterministic distributed algorithms solving Consensus in synchronous networks of arbitrary topologies. Links are prone to failures. Agreement is understood as holding in each connected component of a network obtained by removing faulty links. We introduce the concept of stretch, which is a function of the number of connected components of a network and their respective diameters. Fast and early-stopping algorithms solving Consensus are defined by referring to stretch resulting in removing faulty links. We develop algorithms that rely only on nodes knowing their own names and the ability to associate communication with local ports. A network has $n$ nodes and it starts with $m$ functional links. We give a general algorithm operating in time $n$ that uses messages of $O(\log n)$ bits. If we additionally restrict executions to be subject to a bound $\Lambda$ on stretch, then there is a fast algorithm solving Consensus in time $O(\Lambda)$ using messages of $O(\log n)$ bits. Let $\lambda$ be an unknown stretch occurring in an execution; we give an algorithm working in time $(\lambda+2)^3$ and using messages of $O(n\log n)$ bits. We show that Consensus can be solved in the optimal $O(\lambda)$ time, but at the cost of increasing message size to $O(m\log n)$. We also demonstrate how to solve Consensus by an algorithm that uses only $O(n)$ non-faulty links and works in time $O(n m)$, while nodes start with their ports mapped to neighbors and messages carry $O(m\log n)$ bits. We prove lower bounds on performance of Consensus solutions that refer to parameters of evolving network topologies and the knowledge available to nodes

Fast Agreement in Networks with Byzantine Nodes

We study Consensus in synchronous networks with arbitrary connected topologies. Nodes may be faulty, in the sense of either Byzantine or proneness to crashing. Let t denote a known upper bound on the number of faulty nodes, and D_s denote a maximum diameter of a network obtained by removing up to s nodes, assuming the network is (s+1)-connected. We give an algorithm for Consensus running in time t + D_{2t} with nodes subject to Byzantine faults. We show that, for any algorithm solving Consensus for Byzantine nodes, there is a network G and an execution of the algorithm on this network that takes ?(t + D_{2t}) rounds. We give an algorithm solving Consensus in t + D_{t} communication rounds with Byzantine nodes using authenticated messages of polynomial size. We show that for any numbers t and d > 4, there exists a network G and an algorithm solving Consensus with Byzantine nodes using authenticated messages in fewer than t + 3 rounds on G, but all algorithms solving Consensus without message authentication require at least t + d rounds on G. This separates Consensus with Byzantine nodes from Consensus with Byzantine nodes using message authentication, with respect to asymptotic time performance in networks of arbitrary connected topologies, which is unlike complete networks. Let f denote the number of failures actually occurring in an execution and unknown to the nodes. We develop an algorithm solving Consensus against crash failures and running in time ?(f + D_{f}), assuming only that nodes know their names and can differentiate among ports; this algorithm is also communication-efficient, by using messages of size ?(mlog n), where n is the number of nodes and m is the number of edges. We give a lower bound t+D_t-2 on the running time of any deterministic solution to Consensus in (t+1)-connected networks, if t nodes may crash

Incomplete Protection against Dengue Virus Type 2 Re-infection in Peru

© 2016 Public Library of Science. All Rights Reserved. Background: Nearly half of the world’s population is at risk for dengue, yet no licensed vaccine or anti-viral drug is currently available. Dengue is caused by any of four dengue virus serotypes (DENV-1 through DENV-4), and infection by a DENV serotype is assumed to provide life-long protection against re-infection by that serotype. We investigated the validity of this fundamental assumption during a large dengue epidemic caused by DENV-2 in Iquitos, Peru, in 2010–2011, 15 years after the first outbreak of DENV-2 in the region. Methodology/Principal Findings: We estimated the age-dependent prevalence of serotype-specific DENV antibodies from longitudinal cohort studies conducted between 1993 and 2010. During the 2010–2011 epidemic, active dengue cases were identified through active community- and clinic-based febrile surveillance studies, and acute inapparent DENV infections were identified through contact tracing studies. Based on the age-specific prevalence of DENV-2 neutralizing antibodies, the age distribution of DENV-2 cases was markedly older than expected. Homologous protection was estimated at 35.1% (95% confidence interval: 0%–65.2%). At the individual level, pre-existing DENV-2 antibodies were associated with an incomplete reduction in the frequency of symptoms. Among dengue cases, 43% (26/66) exhibited elevated DENV-2 neutralizing antibody titers for years prior to infection, compared with 76% (13/17) of inapparent infections (age-adjusted odds ratio: 4.2; 95% confidence interval: 1.1–17.7). Conclusions/Significance: Our data indicate that protection from homologous DENV re-infection may be incomplete in some circumstances, which provides context for the limited vaccine efficacy against DENV-2 in recent trials. Further studies are warranted to confirm this phenomenon and to evaluate the potential role of incomplete homologous protection in DENV transmission dynamics

Feminist phenomenology and the woman in the running body

Modern phenomenology, with its roots in Husserlian philosophy, has been taken up and utilised in a myriad of ways within different disciplines, but until recently has remained relatively under-used within sports studies. A corpus of sociological-phenomenological work is now beginning to develop in this domain, alongside a longer standing literature in feminist phenomenology. These specific social-phenomenological forms explore the situatedness of lived-body experience within a particular social structure. After providing a brief overview of key strands of phenomenology, this article considers some of the ways in which sociological, and particularly feminist phenomenology, might be used to analyse female sporting embodiment. For illustrative purposes, data from an autophenomenographic project on female distance running are also included, in order briefly to demonstrate the application of phenomenology within sociology, as both theoretical framework and methodological approach

Challenging Masculinity in CSR Disclosures: Silencing of Women’s Voices in Tanzania’s Mining Industry

This paper presents a feminist analysis of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in a male-dominated industry within a developing country context. It seeks to raise awareness of the silencing of women’s voices in CSR reports produced by mining companies in Tanzania. Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in Africa, and women are often marginalised in employment and social policy considerations. Drawing on work by Hélène Cixous, a post-structuralist/radical feminist scholar, the paper challenges the masculinity of CSR discourses that have repeatedly masked the voices and concerns of ‘other’ marginalised social groups, notably women. Using interpretative ethnographic case studies, the paper provides much-needed empirical evidence to show how gender imbalances remain prevalent in the Tanzanian mining sector. This evidence draws attention to the dynamics faced by many women working in or living around mining areas in Tanzania. The paper argues that CSR, a discourse enmeshed with the patriarchal logic of the contemporary capitalist system, is entangled with tensions, class conflicts and struggles which need to be unpacked and acknowledged. The paper considers the possibility of policy reforms in order to promote gender balance in the Tanzanian mining sector and create a platform for women’s concerns to be voiced

The Refrain of the A-grammatical Child: Finding Another Language in/for Qualitative Research

The article critically interrogates the figure of the child in Deleuze and its relation to language as an entry point to the question of what a materialist theory of language might involve and how it might be put to work in qualitative methodology. The Deleuzian child is a figure of destratification and resistance to dominant narratives—a resistance that is inextricably bound up with the materiality of the child’s body and its relation to language. Not yet fully striated by the rules of grammar that order and subjugate the world, children challenge “the hegemony of the signifier” by remaining open to multiple semiotic connections. What would it mean for qualitative methodology to engage its own “becoming-child”

Identification of Novel Pathogenicity Loci in Clostridium perfringens Strains That Cause Avian Necrotic Enteritis

Type A Clostridium perfringens causes poultry necrotic enteritis (NE), an enteric disease of considerable economic importance, yet can also exist as a member of the normal intestinal microbiota. A recently discovered pore-forming toxin, NetB, is associated with pathogenesis in most, but not all, NE isolates. This finding suggested that NE-causing strains may possess other virulence gene(s) not present in commensal type A isolates. We used high-throughput sequencing (HTS) technologies to generate draft genome sequences of seven unrelated C. perfringens poultry NE isolates and one isolate from a healthy bird, and identified additional novel NE-associated genes by comparison with nine publicly available reference genomes. Thirty-one open reading frames (ORFs) were unique to all NE strains and formed the basis for three highly conserved NE-associated loci that we designated NELoc-1 (42 kb), NELoc-2 (11.2 kb) and NELoc-3 (5.6 kb). The largest locus, NELoc-1, consisted of netB and 36 additional genes, including those predicted to encode two leukocidins, an internalin-like protein and a ricin-domain protein. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and Southern blotting revealed that the NE strains each carried 2 to 5 large plasmids, and that NELoc-1 and -3 were localized on distinct plasmids of sizes ∼85 and ∼70 kb, respectively. Sequencing of the regions flanking these loci revealed similarity to previously characterized conjugative plasmids of C. perfringens. These results provide significant insight into the pathogenetic basis of poultry NE and are the first to demonstrate that netB resides in a large, plasmid-encoded locus. Our findings strongly suggest that poultry NE is caused by several novel virulence factors, whose genes are clustered on discrete pathogenicity loci, some of which are plasmid-borne

Transgenesis in Animal Agriculture: Addressing Animal Health and Welfare Concerns

The US Food and Drug Administration’s final Guidance for Industry on the regulation of transgenesis in animal agriculture has paved the way for the commercialization of genetically engineered (GE) farm animals. The production-related diseases associated with extant breeding technologies are reviewed, as well as the predictable welfare consequences of continued emphasis on prolificacy at the potential expense of physical fitness. Areas in which biotechnology could be used to improve the welfare of animals while maintaining profitability are explored along with regulatory schema to improve agency integration in GE animal oversight