PIASA: A power and interference aware resource management strategy for heterogeneous workloads in cloud data centers

Cloud data centers have been progressively adopted in different scenarios, as reflected in the execution of heterogeneous applications with diverse workloads and diverse quality of service (QoS) requirements. Virtual machine (VM) technology eases resource management in physical servers and helps cloud providers achieve goals such as optimization of energy consumption. However, the performance of an application running inside a VM is not guaranteed due to the interference among co-hosted workloads sharing the same physical resources. Moreover, the different types of co-hosted applications with diverse QoS requirements as well as the dynamic behavior of the cloud makes efficient provisioning of resources even more difficult and a challenging problem in cloud data centers. In this paper, we address the problem of resource allocation within a data center that runs different types of application workloads, particularly CPU- and network-intensive applications. To address these challenges, we propose an interference- and power-aware management mechanism that combines a performance deviation estimator and a scheduling algorithm to guide the resource allocation in virtualized environments. We conduct simulations by injecting synthetic workloads whose characteristics follow the last version of the Google Cloud tracelogs. The results indicate that our performance-enforcing strategy is able to fulfill contracted SLAs of real-world environments while reducing energy costs by as much as 21%

Integrating environmental impacts in an intercity corridor level pricing scheme

A significant part of the transport sector externalities occurs in intercity corridors, which account for 65% of the total of the kilometers travelled in for example, Portugal (for 2017). A thorough analysis of intercity corridors characteristics has been receiving less attention compared to urban roads. The objective of this work is to propose a methodology to tackle intercity corridors issues with respect to environmental impacts. It will focus on suggesting smart and dynamic toll systems, integration of impacts in pricing schemes, and optimization of public transport fares, coupled with a scheme based on the “polluter pays” principle. This vision paper presents the main objectives and methodology of an ongoing research in which the final objective is to lead to a more efficient usage of the infrastructures. The optimization is mainly focused on an environmental perspective, which can be important for decision-makers to improve specific intercity corridor measures/policies.publishe

Exploring new ways to charge intercity mobility: impact on road traffic externalities

Around 70% of transport-related emissions in the EU (European Union) came from road transportation. A major contribution to the transport-related emission externalities comes from all the passenger car trips generated in intercity corridors. In Portugal, these trips represent 65% of the kilometers travelled and more than 55% of CO2 and NOx emissions. Portugal is the second worst country withing EU, only followed by Luxembourg, in terms of the relationship between external costs of transport and the country GDP (Gross Domestic Product)., the external costs of transport account for 7.2% of the country GDP. This work intends to assess how generalized GPS-based toll systems can reduce emissions compared with a flat-electronic collection system. The model for estimating network demand and traffic assignment is PTV VISUM. Emissions are estimated using a macroscopic methodology. The variables under study are the CO2 and NOx emissions, emissions-related external costs, total revenue, user costs. A trade-off will be performed to discuss the best strategy for different periods under study (peak and off-peak hours). Previous research efforts related to GPS-based toll collection systems do not refer to the environmental impacts of the application. These research gaps are addressed in this work by proposing a methodology focused on innovative road pricing emission-based tolls (e.g. GPS-based tolls) in intercity corridors. Simulation experiment results on a case study in Portugal comprising alternative routes of approximately 60km show that two different strategies are recommended for the peak and off-peak hours period. A GPS-based toll collection is only applicable on the Motorway for peak hours, and a GPS-based toll collection is applied in both road options off-peak hours. This strategy in a 24-hour span would allow a total decrease in emissions-related externalities (-1.4%) with only a small decrease of the total revenue without sacrificing the cost each user would pay to travel through this intercity corridor. Bearing in mind the residual emission reductions and the level on uncertainty associated with the model, these results are promising in that they suggest that it is plausible to implement a system that internalizes emission costs more directly as a function of demand, driving conditions and speed.publishe

A Study on Cloud Cost Efficiency by Exploiting Idle Billing Period Fractions

In most of the current commercial Clouds, resources are billed based on a time interval equal to one hour, as is the case of virtual machine (VM) instances on Amazon EC2. Such time interval is usually long, and yet the user has to pay for the whole last hour, even if he/she has only used a fraction of it, contradicting the pay-as-you-go model of Clouds. In this paper, we analyse the advantages of adopting alternative scheduling policies that exploit idle last time intervals, in terms of service cost to Cloud users and operating costs to Cloud providers. Using a real-life astronomy workflow application, constrained by user-defined Deadline and Budget quality of service (QoS) parameters, a set of online state-ofthe- art-based scheduling algorithms try different execution and resource provisioning plans. Our results show that exploitation of partially idle last time intervals can reduce the cost of service to the end user, and augments providers competitiveness up to 21.6% through energy efficiency improvement and consequent lowering of operational costs.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Analysis of the critical moments in the League ACB 2007-2008

The aim of this paper was to identify the variables that determine winning or losing in the critical moments of the basketball games. A total of forty one critical moments were analyzed, corresponding to 30 games of the regular season from the Spanish Professional League (ACB, season 2007-2008). Games were selected according to the definition of critical moments (described in the available literature), which corresponded to overtime and the last 5 minutes of games with score differences equal or below to six points. The results revealed better values in the winners in defensive rebounds and successful free-throws

Laccase immobilization on bacterial nanocellulose membranes: antimicrobial, kinetic and stability properties

This work studied the physical immobilization of a commercial laccase on bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) aiming to identify the laccase antibacterial properties suitable for wound dressings. Physico-chemical analysis demonstrates that the BNC structure is manly formed by pure crystalline I cellulose. The pH optimum and activation energy of free laccase depends on the substrate employed corresponding to pH 6, 7, 3 and 57, 22, 48 kJ mol1 for 2,6-dimethylphenol (DMP), catechol and 2,2 -azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS), respectively. The Michaelis-Menten constant (Km) value for the immobilized laccase (0.77 mM) was found to be almost double of that of the free enzyme (0.42 mM). However, the specific activities of immobilized and free laccase are similar suggesting that the cage-like structure of BNC allows entrapped laccase to maintain some flexibility and favour substrate accessibility. The results clearly show the antimicrobial effect of laccase in Gram-positive (92%) and Gram-negative (26%) bacteria and cytotoxicity acceptable for wound dressing applications.Andrea Zille (C2011-UMINHO-2C2T-01) acknowledges FCT funding from Programa Compromisso para a Ciência 2008, Portugal, FEDER funding on the Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade - COMPETE and by national funds through FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology within the scope of the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007136 and UID/CTM/00264. Jorge Padrão and João P. Silva acknowledge Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) grants SFRH/BD/64901/2009 and SFRH/BPD/64958/2009 respectively. The authors Jorge Padrão, JoãoP. Silva and Fernando Dourado would like to thank the FCT StrategicProject PEst-OE/EQB/LA0023/2013, also to the Project “BioHealth −Biotechnology and Bioengineering approaches to improve healthquality”, Ref. NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000027, co-funded by thePrograma Operacional Regional do Norte (ON.2-O Novo Norte),QREN, FEDER, and finnally to RECI/BBB-EBI/0179/2012 (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-027462)

Palaeolithic engravings and sedimentary environments in the Côa River Valley (Portugal): implications for the detection, interpretation and dating of open-air rock art

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Probable Person-to-Person Transmission of Legionnaires’ Disease

Correspondence to the Editor.Legionnaires’ disease is an often severe form of pneumonia that is typically acquired by susceptible persons (e.g., elderly persons and smokers) through inhalation of aerosols that contain legionella species.1-4 A cluster of cases of this disease occurred in Vila Franca de Xira, Portugal, in 2014

Influência do tempo de viagem nos custos ambientais

Em cidades de média dimensão com baixa densidade populacional, o sistema de transporte públicos tende a ser deficitário, sendo, portanto, a utilização do veículo rodoviário individual o modo de transporte predominante. A utilização deste meio de transporte pode levar a congestionamento a certas horas do dia, implicando um aumento das emissões. Neste trabalho propôs-se estudar a influência que o congestionamento tem nas emissões e nos custos ambientais. Com este objetivo, num caso de estudo, foi estimado o aumento de emissões/custos que um cenário com congestionamento tem em relação a um cenário sem congestionamento. Foi verificada a emissão de poluentes para um veículo típico a diesel e um a gasolina, e para um cenário de congestionamento as emissões de CO2 aumentaram 32% e 46%, e os custos ambientais 33% e 46%, respetivamente para cada tipo de veículo. Neste estudo foi também possível desenvolver modelos que descrevem os custos ambientais em função do tempo de viagem e da distância percorrida. Foi estimado o custo para as 3 rotas sugeridas para realizar uma certa viagem; conclui-se que uma das rotas implica menores custos ambientais, cerca de 20% menos do que a rota que implica maiores custos ambientaispublishe