Simulating Wde-area Replication

We describe our experiences with simulating replication algorithms for use in far flung distributed systems. The algorithms under scrutiny mimic epidemics. Epidemic algorithms seem to scale and adapt to change (such as varying replica sets) well. The loose consistency guarantees they make seem more useful in applications where availability strongly outweighs correctness; e.g., distributed name service

The smell of Showa: Time, materiality and regimes of value in Japan's second-hand kimono industry

This article maps the way second-hand kimono pass between different regimes of value as they move out of people’s homes and into second-hand shops. Joining recent calls for a greater anthropological focus on the processes of divestment and disposal, the author highlights how kimono move from the inalienable space of the domestic sphere and into the alienable domain of retail, and considers how their materiality – worn fabrics, dated aesthetics and musty smell – is an active agent in the transformation of value. When initially purchased, the symbolic and economic values of kimono are congruent. But with the passage of time and the deterioration of materials and fraying of kinship bonds, the value of kimono as treasured family possessions is diminished. Yet the very materiality that caused their loss of economic and symbolic value, their undesirable smells, colours and designs can cause them to enter a new regime of value as vintage fashion supported by fashion magazines. By rethinking Arjun Appadurai’s regimes of value with a greater focus on material properties and qualities, this article aims to link cycles of divestment and consumption practices with the generation, loss and re-creation of value

Wide-address spaces - exploring the design space

In a recent issue of Operating System Review, Hayter and McAuley [1991] argue that future high-performance systems trade a traditional, bus-based organization for one where all components are linked together by network switches (the Desk-Area Network). In this issue of Operating System Review, Leslie, McAuley and Mullender conclude that DAN-based architectures allow the exploitation of shared memory on a wider scale than just a single (multi)processor. In this paper, we will explore how emerging 64-bit processors can be used to implement shared address spaces spanning multiple machines

High-Tech Urban Agriculture in Amsterdam : An Actor Network Analysis

The agriculture and horticulture sector in the Netherlands is one of the most productive in the world. Although the sector is one of the most advanced and intense agricultural production systems worldwide, it faces challenges, such as climate change and environmental and social unsustainability of industrial production. To overcome these challenges, alternative food production initiatives have emerged, especially in large cities such as Amsterdam. Some initiatives involve producing food in the urban environment, supported by new technologies and practices, so-called high-tech urban agriculture (HTUA). These initiatives make cultivation of plants inside and on top of buildings possible and increase green spaces in urban areas. The emerging agricultural technologies are creating new business environments that are shape d by technology developers (e.g., suppliers of horticultural light emitting diodes (LED) and control environment systems) and developers of alternative food production practices (e.g., HTUA start-ups). However, research shows that the uptake of these technological innovations in urban planning processes is problematic. Therefore, this research analyzes the barriers that local government planners and HTUA developers are facing in the embedding of HTUA in urban planning processes, using the city of Amsterdam as a case study. This study draws on actor-network theory (ANT) to analyze the interactions between planners, technologies, technology developers and developers of alternative food production practices. Several concepts of ANT are integrated into a multi-level perspective on sustainability transitions (MLP) to create a new theoretical framework that can explain how interactions between technologies and planning actors transform the incumbent social\u2013technical regime. The configuration of interactions between social and material entities in technology development and adoption processes in Amsterdam is analyzed through the lens of this theoretical framework. The data in this study were gathered by tracing actors and their connections by using ethnographic research methods. In the course of the integration of new technologies into urban planning practices, gaps between technologies, technology developers, and planning actors have been identified. The results of this study show a lacking connection between planning actors and technology developers, although planning actors do interact with developers of alternative food production practices. These interactions are influenced by agency of artefacts such as visualizations of the future projects. The paper concludes that for the utilization of emerging technologies for sustainability transition of cities, the existing gap between technology developers and planning actors needs to be bridged through the integration of technology development visions in urban agendas and planning processe

Onderzoek naar de mogelijkheden om via de voeding de methaan- en ammoniakemissie te verminderen op een aantal praktijkbedrijven in de buurt van Wanroij

Op een vijftal melkveehouderij bedrijven in de buurt van Wanroij en Oploo is het effect van voedingsmaatregelen op de methaan- en ammoniakemissie nader bekekenbekeken. De bedrijven voerden verschillende hoeveelheden gras- en snijmaïskuil, variërend van alleen graskuil tot alleen snijmaïskuil als ruwvoer in het rantsoe

Science handbook

2000 handbook for the faculty of Scienc

Prairie pothole marshes as traps for nitrogen and phosphorous in agricultural runoff

Water quality of drainage influents and the lone effluent at Eagle Lake marsh, Iowa, was studied for 4 years (1976-1979). Because of drought conditions, there was no effluent from the marsh in 1976, 1977, or 1978. In 1979, the marsh was effective at removing inorganic N, especially N03-N, from runoff water passing through. It had little impact on levels of inorganic-P, total-P, and Kjeldahl-N; it was a net exporter of soluble organic carbon

Topical Generalization for Presentation of User Profiles

Fine-grained user profile generation approaches have made it increasingly feasible to display on a profile page in which topics a user has expertise or interest. Earlier work on topical user profiling has been directed at enhancing search and personalization functionality, but making such profiles useful for human consumption presents new challenges. With this work, we have taken a first step toward a semantic layout mode for topical user profiles. We have developed a topical generalization approach which finds coherent groups of topics and adds labels to them, based on their association with broader topics in the Wikipedia category graph. A nested layout mode, employing topical generalization, is compared with a simpler flat layout mode in our user study. The results indicate that users favor the nested structure over flat profiles, but tend to overlook the specific topics on the lower level. We propose a third layout mode to address this issue.Comment: (to be) presented at DIR'16, November 25, 2016, Delft, The Netherland