PLAN: Joint policy- and network-aware VM management for cloud data centers

Policies play an important role in network configuration and therefore in offering secure and high performance services especially over multi-tenant Cloud Data Center (DC) environments. At the same time, elastic resource provisioning through virtualization often disregards policy requirements, assuming that the policy implementation is handled by the underlying network infrastructure. This can result in policy violations, performance degradation and security vulnerabilities. In this paper, we define PLAN, a PoLicy-Aware and Network-aware VM management scheme to jointly consider DC communication cost reduction through Virtual Machine (VM) migration while meeting network policy requirements. We show that the problem is NP-hard and derive an efficient approximate algorithm to reduce communication cost while adhering to policy constraints. Through extensive evaluation, we show that PLAN can reduce topology-wide communication cost by 38 percent over diverse aggregate traffic and configuration policies

Comment on "Carnot efficiency at divergent power output" (and additional discussion)

In a recent Letter [EPL, 118 (2017) 40003], Polettini and Esposito claimed that it is theoretically possible for a thermodynamic machine to achieve Carnot efficiency at divergent power output through the use of infinitely-fast processes. It appears however that this assertion is misleading as it is not supported by their derivations as demonstrated below. In this Comment, we first show that there is a confusion regarding the notion of optimal efficiency. We then analyze the quantum dot engine described in Ref. [EPL, 118 (2017) 40003] and demonstrate that Carnot efficiency is recovered only for vanishing output power. Moreover, a discussion on the use of infinite thermodynamical forces to reach Carnot efficiency is also presented in the appendix.Comment: Modified version compared to the manuscript submitted to EP

Penggunaan Media Gambar Dalam Meningkatkan Kemampuan Membaca Permulaan Siswa Kelas I SDN Uwedaka Kecamatan Pagimana Kabupaten Banggai

Pokok permasalahan dalam penelitian ini adalah rendahnya tingkat kemampuan membaca permulaan siswa kelas I SDN Uwedaka dalam pembelajaran Bahasa Indonesia. Tujuan Penelitian adalah untuk meningkatkan kemampuan membaca permulaan siswa kelas I SDN Uwedaka Kecamatan Pagimana Kabupaten Banggai. Berdasarkan hasil observasi yang didapatkan masih terdapat beberapa siswa yang sama sekali belum bisa membaca. Pembelajaran membaca permulaan di SDN Uwedaka selama ini hanya menggunakan media pembelajaran yang konvensional yaitu dengan menggunakan papan tulis, pembelajaran yang hanya berpusat pada guru, penggunaan media dalam pembelajaran sebagai alat bantu masih sangat terbatas, hal ini menyebabkan kemampuan membaca permulaan yang masih rendah dan terlihat hampir 65% siswa masih mengalami kesulitan membaca dalam proses belajar mengajar. Metode yang digunakan adalah metode deskriptif kualitatif dan kuantitatif. Data kualitatif didapatkan dari hasil tes dan observasi siswa dan guru. data kuantitatif didapatkan dari hasil tes belajar. Desain penelitian ini mengacu pada desain oleh Kemmis dan Mc Taggart yang terdiri dari empat tahapan, yaitu perencanaan, pelaksanaan tindakan, observasi dan refleksi. Data dikumpulkan melalui penilaian proses dan penilaian hasil setiap akhir tindakan. Penelitian ini dilakukan dalam dua siklus. Pada siklus I diperoleh nilai rata-rata siswa yaitu sebesar 67 dengan ketuntasan belajar klasikal sebesar 40% serta daya serap 66,6%. Pada siklus II, nilai rata-rata meningkat menjadi 83 dengan ketuntasan klasikal sebesar 100% serta daya serap klasikal sebesar 83,3%. Bersarkan hasil penelitian maka dapat disimpulkan bahwa penggunaan media gambar dapat meningkatkan kemampuan membaca permulaan terhadap siswa kelas I SDN Uwedaka Kecamatan Pagimana Kabupaten Banggai

Loss of Cardioprotective Effects at the ADAMTS7 Locus as a Result of Gene-Smoking Interactions

BACKGROUND: Common diseases such as coronary heart disease (CHD) are complex in etiology. The interaction of genetic susceptibility with lifestyle factors may play a prominent role. However, gene-lifestyle interactions for CHD have been difficult to identify. Here, we investigate interaction of smoking behavior, a potent lifestyle factor, with genotypes that have been shown to associate with CHD risk. METHODS: We analyzed data on 60 919 CHD cases and 80 243 controls from 29 studies for gene-smoking interactions for genetic variants at 45 loci previously reported to be associated with CHD risk. We also studied 5 loci associated with smoking behavior. Study-specific gene-smoking interaction effects were calculated and pooled using fixed-effects meta-analyses. Interaction analyses were declared to be significant at a P value of <1.0x10(-3) (Bonferroni correction for 50 tests). RESULTS: We identified novel gene-smoking interaction for a variant upstream of the ADAMTS7 gene. Every T allele of rs7178051 was associated with lower CHD risk by 12% in never-smokers (P= 1.3x10(-16)) in comparison with 5% in ever-smokers (P= 2.5x10(-4)), translating to a 60% loss of CHD protection conferred by this allelic variation in people who smoked tobacco (interaction P value= 8.7x10(-5)). The protective T allele at rs7178051 was also associated with reduced ADAMTS7 expression in human aortic endothelial cells and lymphoblastoid cell lines. Exposure of human coronary artery smooth muscle cells to cigarette smoke extract led to induction of ADAMTS7. CONCLUSIONS: Allelic variation at rs7178051 that associates with reduced ADAMTS7 expression confers stronger CHD protection in never-smokers than in ever-smokers. Increased vascular ADAMTS7 expression may contribute to the loss of CHD protection in smokers.Peer reviewe

Four-Wave Mixing Measurement of Third-Order Nonlinear Susceptibilities of Length-Sorted Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

The third-order nonlinear resonant electronic and Raman susceptibilities of length-sorted DNA-encased single-walled carbon nanotubes have been measured by the interferometric method of nondegenerate four-wave mixing spectroscopy. The four-wave mixing is predominantly resonant with the first interband transition E₁₁ of (10,5) nanotubes at 1275 nm. Large electronic third-order susceptibilities have been determined with a real part χ_Re⁽³⁾ = −3.0 × 10⁻⁸ esu and an imaginary part χ_Im⁽³⁾ = 2.9 × 10⁻⁸ esu. The G band Raman third-order susceptibility was simultaneously determined with a large value of χ⁽³⁾ = 3.3 × 10⁻⁸ esu, or 4.1 × 10⁻¹² esu per six-membered aromatic ring, which is ∼60 times larger that of 992 cm⁻¹ benzene ring breathing mode. Such large χ⁽³⁾ values suggest promising carbon nanotube applications in photonics and optical sensing

Size and linear growth rate of tail length of male and female <i>Phrynocephalus przewalskii</i> in Alax Zuoqi, China.

<p>The data are presented as means ±SE. The black circles represent male lizards and the open circles represent female lizards. Asterisks indicate significant size differences (a, ANCOVA with the SVL as covariate; b, ANOVA; ** <i>P</i><0.01; * <i>P</i><0.05).</p

Logistic growth curves for snout-vent length of male and female <i>P. przewalskii</i> in Alax Zuoqi, China.

<p>Months represent time spent growing (actual age minus 5 months of dormancy). Individual lizards occur more than once in this figure and hatching is assumed to have occurred in August. The continuous line represents male lizards and the dotted line represent female lizards.</p

Size and linear growth rate of hindlimb length of male and female <i>Phrynocephalus przewalskii</i> in Alax Zuoqi, China.

<p>The data are presented as means ±SE. The black circles represent male lizards and the open circles represent female lizards. Asterisks indicate significant size differences (a, ANCOVA with the SVL as covariate; b, ANOVA; ** <i>P</i><0.01; * <i>P</i><0.05).</p

Surface ligands in the imprinting and binding of molecularly imprinted cross-linked micelles

<p>Molecular recognition in water is challenging but water-soluble molecularly imprinted nanoparticle (MINP) receptors were produced readily by double cross-linking of surfactant micelles in the presence of suitable template molecules. When the micellar surface was decorated with different polyhydroxylated ligands, significant interactions could be introduced between the surface ligands and the template. Flexible surface ligands worked better than rigid ones to interact with the polar moiety of the template, especially for those template molecules whose water-exposed surface is not properly solvated by water. The importance of these hydrophilic interactions was examined in the context of different substrates, density of the surface ligands, and surface-cross-linking density of the MINP. Together with the hydrophobic interactions in the core, the surface hydrophilic interactions can be used to enhance the binding of guest molecules in water.</p

Size and linear growth rate of snout-vent length of male and female <i>Phrynocephalus przewalskii</i> in Alax Zuoqi, China.

<p>The data are presented as means ±SE. The black circles represent male lizards and the open circles represent female lizards. Data were collected using mark-recapture methods and the lizards were accurately aged from the month that they were first captured as hatchlings or early yearlings. Those larger than 2 years old when they first captured were eliminated. Individual lizards occur more than once in this figure and hatching was assumed to have occurred in August. Cohorts that hatched in different years are combined. Months represent the time spent growing (April–October), not actual ages. Lettering above the axis indicates the census date (month). Asterisks indicate significant size differences (a, ANOVA; b, ANCOVA with the mean SVL of initial and final capture as covariate; ** <i>P</i><0.01; * <i>P</i><0.05).</p