Component-aware Orchestration of Cloud-based Enterprise Applications, from TOSCA to Docker and Kubernetes

Enterprise IT is currently facing the challenge of coordinating the management of complex, multi-component applications across heterogeneous cloud platforms. Containers and container orchestrators provide a valuable solution to deploy multi-component applications over cloud platforms, by coupling the lifecycle of each application component to that of its hosting container. We hereby propose a solution for going beyond such a coupling, based on the OASIS standard TOSCA and on Docker. We indeed propose a novel approach for deploying multi-component applications on top of existing container orchestrators, which allows to manage each component independently from the container used to run it. We also present prototype tools implementing our approach, and we show how we effectively exploited them to carry out a concrete case study

Thermal management challenges for HEA–FUTPRINT 50

Electric and Hybrid-Electric Aircraft (HEA) incorporate new systems, which demand an integration level higher than classical propulsion architectures systems do. High power electrical motors, converters, batteries or fuel cells, and distributed propulsion, all introduce new kinds of heat sources and dynamics that have to be accounted for and regulated. The latent opportunity to explore synergies among these systems requires the development of new models and their coupling with multi-disciplinary design optimization (MDO) toolchains. Also, an understanding of the implications into aircraft operations and trade-offs are critical to evaluate and validate gains at the aircraft level. This paper provides a definition of thermal management and functions of thermal management system (TMS) in aircraft, HEA thermal management challenges, main opportunities, conclusions and the way forward. A discussion of road ahead, regarding development of capabilities to support the design of TMS will be brought to the fore along the project, showcasing the open approach of FUTPRINT50 to be driven by open collaboration in order to accelerate the entry into service of this type of aircraft

Reconstruction of radio-ecological model parameters based on the results of monitoring the radiation situation in Mazovia after the Chernobyl accident (based on the «Warsaw» scenario of the IAEA EMRAS project)

The paper analyzes the consistency of the input data of the radioecological model: the results of measurements of 137Cs and 131I concentrations in the atmosphere after the Chernobyl accident in Warsaw, the meteo-data on precipitation during the main radioactive fallout, the values of minimum 137Cs deposition densities on the territories of two dairy areas of Warsaw Area and Ostroleka Area in the central part of Mazovia. According to meteorological data in Warsaw Area during the period of radioactive fallout there were local rains. In Ostroleka Area, according to all weather stations, there was no rainfall during this period. In Warsaw Area, a minimum 137Cs deposition density of 1.3 kBq/m2 with an error of less than 10% was found to be consistent with the “dry” deposition density of 137Cs (1.2 kBq/m2) reconstructed by a simulated agroclimatic model based on atmospheric 137Cs measurements. This agreement, taking into account the amount of precipitation recorded at weather stations during the period of radioactive fallout and the significant, more than 10 times, dispersion of 137Cs fallout densities across the Warsaw Area, suggests that a homogeneous cloud-uniform fallout model is preferable for this region in radio-ecological modeling. For the Ostroleka Area, the variation in deposition densities of 137Cs was relatively small, at 3.2, and the estimated dry deposition density of 137Cs was 2.0-2.7 times lower than the measured minimum deposition densities in districts and settlements. This discrepancy, given the absence of precipitation recorded by all weather stations during the deposition period, led to the assumption that the 137Cs and 131I atmospheric concentrations in Ostroleka Area were 2-2.7 times higher than those in Warsaw Area. The adjustment of the 137Cs and 131I atmospheric concentrations in the Ostroleka Area for this region will be verified by measuring the 131I specific activity in milk under the Warsaw scenario

From Pliny to Brexit: spatial representation of the British Isles

This essay explores the representation of the British Isles on maps and related geographical texts over the course of the Middle Ages. Emphasizing the classical basis for representation of the islands, it examines articulations of insular identity in the debate over the date of Easter as presented in Bede’s Ecclesiastical History, in Gerald of Wales’ Topographia Hiberniae, and in later medieval maps of various genres, including mappaemundi, regional maps, and portolan charts. It concludes with brief reflections on the contemporary crisis of insular identity manifest in the 2016 referendum on the United Kingdom’s membership of the European Union

Systematic review and meta-analysis of circulatory disease from exposure to low-level ionizing radiation and estimates of potential population mortality risks

Background: Although high doses of ionizing radiation have long been linked to circulatory disease, evidence for an association at lower exposures remains controversial. However, recent analyses suggest excess relative risks at occupational exposure level