A Java-based Mobile Agent Framework for Distributed Network Applications

Recently, a new paradigm has emerged forstructuring and developing distributed network applications inopen distributed and heterogeneous environments. Manyapplication areas, such as electronic commerce, mobilecomputing, network management and information retrieval canbenefit from the application of the Mobile Agent technology. Theexploitation of Mobile Agents offers several peculiar advantages,such as reduction of network latency, asynchronous execution,robust and fault tolerant behavior. Java technology provides aplatform-independent, portable software environment whichmakes it an excellent tool for mobile agent development. MobileAgents are mainly intended to be used for applicationsdistributed over large scale (slow) networks because they allowsaving communication costs by moving computation to the hoston which the target data resides. However, it has not becomepopular due to some problems such as security. In this paper, wepresent a distributed network architecture based on the MobileAgent approach. A network of communicating servers each ofwhich support multiple clients is our goal. We also propose asecurity approach for mobile agents, which protect critical dataof mobile agents from malicious attacks, by using cryptographictechniques. We implement a bank service application to be testedon our mobile agent framework. The results suggest that fornetworks with high latency, Mobile Agents may provideimprovements over more conventional client-server systems

Develop Guidelines for Pavement Preservation Treatments and for Building a Pavement Preservation Program Platform for Alaska

INE/AUTC 12.0

Measurements and Models for Hazardous chemical and Mixed Wastes

Mixed solvent aqueous waste of various chemical compositions constitutes a significant fraction of the total waste produced by industry in the United States. Not only does the chemical process industry create large quantities of aqueous waste, but the majority of the waste inventory at the DOE sites previously used for nuclear weapons production is mixed solvent aqueous waste. In addition, large quantities of waste are expected to be generated in the clean-up of those sites. In order to effectively treat, safely handle, and properly dispose of these wastes, accurate and comprehensive knowledge of basic thermophysical properties is essential. The goal of this work is to develop a phase equilibrium model for mixed solvent aqueous solutions containing salts. An equation of state was sought for these mixtures that (a) would require a minimum of adjustable parameters and (b) could be obtained from a available data or data that were easily measured. A model was developed to predict vapor composition and pressure given the liquid composition and temperature. It is based on the Peng-Robinson equation of state, adapted to include non-volatile and salt components. The model itself is capable of predicting the vapor-liquid equilibria of a wide variety of systems composed of water, organic solvents, salts, nonvolatile solutes, and acids or bases. The representative system o water + acetone + 2-propanol + NaNo3 was selected to test and verify the model. Vapor-liquid equilibrium and phase density measurements were performed for this system and its constituent binaries

Governing the Global Land Grab: Multipolarity, Ideas and Complexity in Transnational Governance

Since 2008, a series of new regulatory initiatives have emerged to address large-scale land grabs. These initiatives are occurring simultaneously at multiple levels of social organization instead of a single, overarching institutional site. A significant portion of this activity is taking place at the transnational level. We suggest that transnational land governance is indicative of emerging shifts in the practice of governance of global affairs. We analyze such shifts by asking two related questions: what does land grabbing tell us about developments in transnational governance, particularly with regard to North-South relations, and what do these developments in transnational governance mean for regulating land grabbing?Desde 2008, ha surgido una serie de nuevas iniciativas regulatorias para tratar acaparamientos de tierra a gran escala. Estas iniciativas están sucediendo simultáneamente a niveles múltiples de la organización social en vez de un lugar institucional predominante. Una porción importante de esta actividad está tomando lugar al nivel transnacional. Sugerimos que la gobernanza de tierras trasnacionales es indicativa de los cambios que están surgiendo en la práctica de gobernanza de los asuntos globales. Analizamos tales cambios haciendo dos preguntas relacionadas: ¿qué nos dice el acaparamiento de tierras sobre los desarrollos en la gobernanza trasnacional, particularmente con las relaciones norte-sur?, y ¿qué significan estos desarrollos en gobernanza trasnacional para regular el acaparamiento de tierras

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival

Third sector partnerships for public service delivery: an evidence review

Partnership working has been driven by the policy of the last Labour administration, which aimed to make the third sector more efficient and aligned to the delivery of a range of public services. Since the election of a coalition government in 2010 these drivers have not lessened but have been re-asserted. Interest in externalisation has been reinforced by the drive for efficiency, made more pressing by the financial crisis, deficit reduction programme and resulting public spending cuts in 2010-2011. The current government has been in many respects radical in its approach to service delivery, with the promotion of a ‘Big Society’ involving new and expanded roles for third sector organisations (TSOs) in public service delivery, expanded roles for mutuals and co-ops (particularly in health), and the ‘community right to challenge’. These all have implications for the way in which TSOs enter into partnerships, with each other, public and private organisations. The working paper is based on a full evidence review. It considers the main forms of partnership working, governance and accountability, and looks at outcomes and evaluation. Key emerging directions are the growth of the commissioning agenda, an increasing emphasis on TSO/private sector partnerships as part of a supply chain, and greater application of outcome-based approaches linked to payment by results

Partnership working

This working paper summarises the findings of a research project into third sector partnerships for public service delivery. Earlier findings from an evidence review were reported in Working Paper 60. Partnership working in and with the third sector in the context of public service delivery reflects a longer history of the opening up and fragmentation of public services and the increasing complexity that has been associated with the shift to more ‘networked’ governance. The emphasis on partnership was given an extra boost by the policies of New Labour, and looks set to continue to be relevant under the Coalition. The research was based on five case studies of organisations involved in public service delivery in different policy fields including housing, welfare, and employment services, preceded by a period of scoping research with national interviewees. Overall the research aimed to explore three main themes – the forms of partnership working that exist, partnerships, strategic alliances and mergers within the sector, and innovation and learning from partnership working. The case studies were very diverse, and this paper synthesises the main findings across the cases in four logical sections: meanings of partnership; structures, drivers and barriers; processes and organisational change, and impacts of partnership. Finally, we draw the findings across the cases together in a reflective section on learning before moving on to the main academic and policy messages in a brief conclusion and discussion section

Estimation of Henry\u27s constants for aqueous systems at elevated temperatures

The treatment and removal of dilute organic contaminants from water require methods for estimating the vapor-liquid equilibrium behavior of these mixtures. Highly hydrophobic solutes may exhibit a maximum in Henry\u27s law constant that is difficult to predict using traditional activity coefficient models. This paper examines the application of an activity coefficient model fitted specifically for dilute aqueous systems (UNIFAC-ENV) to make predictions for the infinite dilution activity coefficients at ambient conditions. The use of activity coefficient based mixing rules for equations of state to extend the range of the UNIFAC-ENV predictions to the temperatures typical for steam stripping conditions (80-140°C) is also evaluated. Application of this approach to Henry\u27s law data for trichloroethylene in water indicates that these models require temperature dependent interaction coefficients to accurately predict the highly non-ideal solution behavior observed