A processor-sharing scheduling strategy for NFV nodes

The introduction of the two paradigms SDN and NFV to "softwarize" the current Internet is making management and resource allocation two key challenges in the evolution towards the Future Internet. In this context, this paper proposes Network-Aware Round Robin (NARR), a processor-sharing strategy, to reduce delays in traversing SDN/NFV nodes. The application of NARR alleviates the job of the Orchestrator by automatically working at the intranode level, dynamically assigning the processor slices to the virtual network functions (VNFs) according to the state of the queues associated with the output links of the network interface cards (NICs). An extensive simulation set is presented to show the improvements achieved with respect to two more processor-sharing strategies chosen as reference

Matrimonio entre católicos e islamistas: encuentro/confrontación de dos culturas diferentes

El artículo es el resultado de una investigación cuidadosa sobre el cambio que está revolucionando la sociedad actual, cuya característica principal es la multiculturalidad. La multiculturalidad ha fomentado un deseo de integración, que induce a muchos jóvenes islamistas, presentes en Europa e Italia, a establecer relaciones emocionales con mujeres de religión católica que, si tienen éxito, pueden conducir a lo que se denominan "matrimonios mixtos". Se examinan en profundidad las cuestiones problemáticas que pueden surgir a diario en un contexto familiar heterogéneo, resaltando en primer lugar la crianza y la educación de los hijos. El creciente número de matrimonios con personas extranjeras, celebrados en Italia, y más específicamente, la peculiar celebración de matrimonios entre musulmanes y católicos pone de relieve cambios significativos e inesperados en el estatus familiar italiano. Es evidente que la diferencia de religión entre los cónyuges tiene un impacto real en la estructura organizativa y en las opciones básicas del contexto familiar cotidiano, respecto a la formación de las conciencias, el trabajo y la formación profesional de cada miembro, a la crianza y la educación de los hijos. Se aportan, así mismo, algunas pistas de refuerzo en el camino de discernimiento y reflexión, para lograr una vida común que más allá de los obstáculos facilite la armonía de las dos esferas culturales

Formación: Camino elegido (Opción y propuesta) para el crecimiento personal y vocacional

La formación como proceso dirigido al desarrollo integral del individuo tanto en términos de personalidad psicológica como en términos profesionales se propone como objetivo el desarrollo global de las potencialidades y el aumento de las capacidades psíquicas, refiriéndose a la esfera emocional y a las actitudes del hombre. El análisis detallado de los procesos formativos incide también en los diversos aspectos que permitirán al individuo mejorar las capacidades laborales en las personas, en los valores y dimensiones éticas y de responsabilidad social; con referencia específica a la formación para el trabajo social en función de la mejora de las organizaciones y los servicios. Se considera necesario fomentar una cultura de formación que haga posible la adopción de nuevas actitudes, comportamientos y competencias de la mano, de la mente y del corazón, apuntando a la elevación de la naturaleza humana

Effect of Islanding and Telecontrolled Switches on Distribution System Reliability Considering Load and Green-Energy Fluctuations

To improve electrical distribution network reliability, some portions of the network could operate in autonomous mode, provided that the related technical issues are addressed. More specifically, when there is not a path from those portions to the primary substation due to a fault in the network, such portions could be disconnected from the main network and supplied by local generation only. Such a mode of operation is known as "intentional islanding" and its effectiveness, in terms of adequacy, depends on the ability of the local generation to meet the island's load. In fact, the ratio between the available local generation and load demand can frequently change during islanding due to load variations and, especially, due to the strongly irregular behavior of the primary energy sources of renewable generators. This paper proposes an analytical formulation to assess local generation adequacy during intentional islanding, accounting for the aforementioned variations. More specifically, the fluctuations of load and green-energy generators during islanding are modeled by means of Markov chains, whose output quantities are encompassed in the proposed analytical formulation. Such a formulation is used by the analytical equations of load points' outage rate and duration. The evaluation of the reliability indices accounts for a protection scheme based on an appropriate communication infrastructure. Therefore, a brief overview on the telecommunications technologies has been presented with reference to their suitability for the specific application. In particular, distribution network safety issues have been considered as the main concern. The results show that neglecting load and generation fluctuations leads to a strong overestimation of the ability of distributed generators to meet the island load. Through a case study it is observed that the error on the load point outage rate is greater than the one affecting the outage duration

Battery Management in a Green Fog-Computing Node: a Reinforcement-Learning Approach

In the last years, Internet is evolving towards the cloud-computing paradigm complemented by fog-computing in order to distribute computing, storage, control, networking resources, and services close to end-user devices as much as possible, while sending heavy jobs to the remote cloud. When fog-computing nodes cannot be powered by the main electric grid, some environmental-friendly solutions, such as the use of solar- or wind-based generators could be adopted. Their relatively unpredictable power output makes it necessary to include an energy storage system in order to provide power, when a peak of work occurs during periods of low-power generation. An optimized management of such an energy storage system in a green fog-computing node is necessary in order to improve the system performance, allowing the system to cope with high job arrival peaks even during low-power generation periods. In this perspective, this paper adopts reinforcement learning to choose a server activation policy that ensures the minimum job loss probability. A case study is presented to show how the proposed system works, and an extensive performance analysis of a fog-computing node highlights the importance of optimizing battery management according to the size of the Renewable-Energy Generator system and the number of available servers

Role of Acute Graft-Versus-Host Disease in the Risk of Bacteremia and Invasive Fungal Disease after Allogeneic Hemopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation in Children. Results from a Single-Center Observational Study

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Delirium symptoms duration and mortality in SARS-COV2 elderly: results of a multicenter retrospective cohort study

BACKGROUND: Since the occurrence of the SARS-COV2 pandemic, there has been an increasing interest in investigating the epidemiology of delirium. Delirium is frequent in SARS-COV2 patients and it is associated with increased mortality; however, no information is available on the association between delirium duration in SARS-COV2 patients and related outcomes. AIMS: The aim of this study is to investigate the association between the duration of delirium symptoms and in-hospital mortality in older patients with SARS-COV2 infection. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study of patients 65 years of age and older with SARS-CoV 2 infection admitted to two acute geriatric wards and one rehabilitation ward. Delirium symptoms duration was assessed retrospectively with a chart-based validated method. In-hospital mortality was ascertained via medical records. RESULTS: A total of 241 patients were included. The prevalence of delirium on admission was 16%. The median number of days with delirium symptoms was 4 (IQR 2–6.5) vs. 0 (IQR 0–2) in patients with and without delirium on admission. In the multivariable Cox regression model, each day with a delirium symptom in a patient with the same length of stay was associated with a 10% increase in in-hospital mortality (Hazard ratio 1.1, 95% Confidence interval 1.01–1.2; p = 0.03). Other variables associated with increased risk of in-hospital death were age, comorbidity, CPAP, CRP levels and total number of drugs on admission. CONCLUSIONS: The study supports the necessity to establish protocols for the monitoring and management of delirium during emergency conditions to allow an appropriate care for older patients. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40520-021-01899-8

The relationship between subjective risk intelligence and courage with working performance : the potential mediating effect of workplace social courage

Background: There is a growing attention toward the construct of courage from a psychological point of view; recently, courage has been related with numerous positive individual behaviors and outcomes, such as coping strategies and subjective wellbeing, and an increasing number of studies explore the role of courage in the working and organizational environments. The present study is aimed to analyze the effect that individual courage—together with risk intelligence—and workplace social courage have on working performance; Methods: The participants are 961 Italian workers, balanced by gender; the measures used are: Courage, Subjective Risk Intelligence Scale, Workplace Social Courage Scale, and Performance Scale. Data were analyzed using Structural Equation Models; Results: The results show the effect of subjective risk intelligence and courage on working performance, both directly and through the mediation of workplace social courage; Conclusions: Suggestions for further research and practical implications are discussed