Microservice Transition and its Granularity Problem: A Systematic Mapping Study

Microservices have gained wide recognition and acceptance in software industries as an emerging architectural style for autonomic, scalable, and more reliable computing. The transition to microservices has been highly motivated by the need for better alignment of technical design decisions with improving value potentials of architectures. Despite microservices' popularity, research still lacks disciplined understanding of transition and consensus on the principles and activities underlying "micro-ing" architectures. In this paper, we report on a systematic mapping study that consolidates various views, approaches and activities that commonly assist in the transition to microservices. The study aims to provide a better understanding of the transition; it also contributes a working definition of the transition and technical activities underlying it. We term the transition and technical activities leading to microservice architectures as microservitization. We then shed light on a fundamental problem of microservitization: microservice granularity and reasoning about its adaptation as first-class entities. This study reviews state-of-the-art and -practice related to reasoning about microservice granularity; it reviews modelling approaches, aspects considered, guidelines and processes used to reason about microservice granularity. This study identifies opportunities for future research and development related to reasoning about microservice granularity.Comment: 36 pages including references, 6 figures, and 3 table

On Predicting Mössbauer Parameters of Iron-Containing Molecules with Density-Functional Theory

The performance of six frequently used density functional theory (DFT) methods (RPBE, OLYP, TPSS, B3LYP, B3LYP*, and TPSSh) in the prediction of Mössbauer isomer shifts(δ) and quadrupole splittings (ΔEQ) is studied for an extended and diverse set of Fe complexes. In addition to the influence of the applied density functional and the type of the basis set, the effect of the environment of the molecule, approximated with the conducting-like screening solvation model (COSMO) on the computed Mössbauer parameters, is also investigated. For the isomer shifts the COSMO-B3LYP method is found to provide accurate δ values for all 66 investigated complexes, with a mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.05 mm s–1 and a maximum deviation of 0.12 mm s–1. Obtaining accurate ΔEQ values presents a bigger challenge; however, with the selection of an appropriate DFT method, a reasonable agreement can be achieved between experiment and theory. Identifying the various chemical classes of compounds that need different treatment allowed us to construct a recipe for ΔEQ calculations; the application of this approach yields a MAE of 0.12 mm s–1 (7% error) and a maximum deviation of 0.55 mm s–1 (17% error). This accuracy should be sufficient for most chemical problems that concern Fe complexes. Furthermore, the reliability of the DFT approach is verified by extending the investigation to chemically relevant case studies which include geometric isomerism, phase transitions induced by variations of the electronic structure (e.g., spin crossover and inversion of the orbital ground state), and the description of electronically degenerate triplet and quintet states. Finally, the immense and often unexploited potential of utilizing the sign of the ΔEQ in characterizing distortions or in identifying the appropriate electronic state at the assignment of the spectral lines is also shown

Fabrication of thick silicon dioxide layers for thermal isolation

This paper reports a method of fabricating very thick (10–100 µm) silicon dioxide layers for thermal isolation without the need for very long deposition or oxidation. Deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) is used to create high-aspect-ratio trenches and silicon pillars, which are then oxidized and/or refilled with LPCVD oxide to create oxide layers as thick as the DRIE allows. Stiffeners are used to provide support for the pillars during oxidation. Thermal tests show that such thick silicon dioxide layers can effectively thermally isolate heated structures from neighboring structures within a distance of hundreds of microns. The thermal conductivity of the thick SiO2 is measured to be ∼1.1 W (m K)−1. Such SiO2 diaphragms of thickness 50–60 µm can sustain an extrinsic shear stress up to 3–5 MPa.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/49045/2/jmm4_6_002.pd

Indirect absorption in germanium quantum wells

Germanium has become a promising material for creating CMOS-compatible optoelectronic devices, such as modulators and detectors employing the Franz-Keldysh effect (FKE) or the quantum-confined Stark effect (QCSE), which meet strict energy and density requirements for future interconnects. To improve Ge-based modulator design, it is important to understand the contributions to the insertion loss (IL). With indirect absorption being the primary component of IL, we have experimentally determined the strength of this loss and compared it with theoretical models. For the first time, we have used the more sensitive photocurrent measurements for determining the effective absorption coefficient in our Ge/SiGe quantum well material employing QCSE. This measurement technique enables measurement of the absorption coefficient over four orders of magnitude. We find good agreement between our thin Ge quantum wells and the bulk material parameters and theoretical models. Similar to bulk Ge, we find that the 27.7 meV LA phonon is dominant in these quantum confined structures and that the electroabsorption profile can be predicted using the model presented by Frova, Phys. Rev., 145 (1966)

Spatial Presence Theory: State of the art and challenges ahead

Highlights key research currently being undertaken within the field of telepresence, providing the most detailed account of the field to date, advancing our understanding of a fundamental property of all media - the illusion of presence; the sense of "being there" inside a virtual environment, with actual or virtual others. This collection has been put together by leading international scholars from America, Europe, and Asia. Together, they describe the state-of-the-art in presence theory, research and technology design for an advanced academic audience. Immersed in Media provides research that can help designers optimize presence for users of advanced media technologies such as virtual and augmented reality, collaborative social media, robotics, and artificial intelligence and lead us to better understand human cognition, emotion and behaviour