The Politics of Commerce : The Congress of Chambers of Commerce of the Empire, 1886-1914

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

On the Complexity of Conditional DAG Scheduling in Multiprocessor Systems

As parallel processing became ubiquitous in modern computing systems, parallel task models have been proposed to describe the structure of parallel applications. The workflow scheduling problem has been studied extensively over past years, focusing on multiprocessor systems and distributed environments (e.g. grids, clusters). In workflow scheduling, applications are modeled as directed acyclic graphs (DAGs). DAGs have also been introduced in the real-time scheduling community to model the execution of multi-threaded programs on a multi-core architecture. The DAG model assumes, in most cases, a fixed DAG structure capturing only straight-line code. Only recently, more general models have been proposed. In particular, the conditional DAG model allows the presence of control structures such as conditional (if-then-else) constructs. While first algorithmic results have been presented for the conditional DAG model, the complexity of schedulability analysis remains wide open. We perform a thorough analysis on the worst-case makespan (latest completion time) of a conditional DAG task under list scheduling (a.k.a. fixed-priority scheduling). We show several hardness results concerning the complexity of the optimization problem on multiple processors, even if the conditional DAG has a well-nested structure. For general conditional DAG tasks, the problem is intractable even on a single processor. Complementing these negative results, we show that certain practice-relevant DAG structures are very well tractable

Clinical disorders affecting mesopic vision

Vision in the mesopic range is affected by a number of inherited and acquired clinical disorders. We review these conditions and summarize the historical background, describing the clinical characteristics alongside the genetic basis and molecular biological mechanisms giving rise to rod and cone dysfunction relevant to twilight vision. The current diagnostic gold standards for each disease are discussed and curative and symptomatic treatment strategies are summarized

Trade blocs and trade wars during the interwar period

What precisely were the causes and consequences of the trade wars in the 1930s? Were there perhaps deeper forces at work in reorienting global trade prior to the outbreak of World War II? And what lessons may this particular historical episode provide for the present day? To answer these questions, we distinguish between long‐run secular trends in the period from 1920 to 1939 related to the formation of trade blocs and short‐run disruptions associated with the trade wars of the 1930s. We argue that the trade wars mainly served to intensify pre‐existing efforts toward the formation of trade blocs which dated from at least 1920. More speculatively, we argue that the trade wars of the present day may serve a similar purpose as those in the 1930s, that is, the intensification of China‐ and US‐centric trade blocs

Diagnosis of inflammatory demyelination in biopsy specimens: a practical approach

Multiple sclerosis is the most frequent demyelinating disease in adults. It is characterized by demyelination, inflammation, gliosis and a variable loss of axons. Clinically and histologically, it shares features with other demyelinating and/or inflammatory CNS diseases. Diagnosis of an inflammatory demyelinating disease can be challenging, especially in small biopsy specimens. Here, we summarize the histological hallmarks and most important neuropathological differential diagnoses of early MS, and provide practical guidelines for the diagnosis of inflammatory demyelinating diseases