Proactive Anomaly Detection in Large-Scale Cloud-Native Databases

This disclosure describes techniques to identify anomalous patterns in customer workloads from database logs and to enable timely, corrective action that ensures uninterrupted operation of the database. Examples of anomalies include sudden increases (bursts) in the number of error messages written to a log file. An adaptive behavior norm is defined for each message type. Time instances or periods when the gap between messages of a given type in the database log deviate from the expected behavior norms are detected. A deviation from the behavior norm is a potential indicator of database problems. An anomaly detection tool outputs a ranked list of log statements exhibiting spikes of activity along with their time intervals that a database administrator (DBA) can examine to take corrective action. By automating anomaly detection, the valuable time of DBAs can be spent acting on issues rather than finding them

Effects of Aphid Population on the Major Economic Parameters of Soybean

During the growing period of soybeans, aphids are harmful to several economic parameters of soybean. The aphid population density has a significant positive correlation with the rate of soybean shriveling and significant negative correlation with the 100-kernel weight and individual kernel weight of soybean.Originating text in Chinese.Citation: Lin, Cunluan, Li, Lingtang, Wang, Yanpeng, Xun, Zhenshan, Zhang, Guangxin, Li, Suzhen. (1993). Effects of Aphid Population on the Major Economic Parameters of Soybean. Soybean Science, 12(3), 252-254

Association of Two Polymorphisms in CCL2 With Parkinson's Disease: A Case-Control Study

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is the most common neurodegenerative movement disorder that is known to be related to neuro-inflammation. Chemokines participate in this process usually through upregulation of expression levels, which are closely related to the polymorphisms in their genes. Recent studies have further revealed the association between these polymorphisms and the risk of PD in multiple populations, but not the Chinese Han population.Methods:The promoter region of CCL2 was sequenced in 411 PD patients and 422 gender-age matched control from a Chinese Han population using PCR-RFLP method. Their genotype frequencies were analyzed statistically. Dual-luciferase reporter assays were conducted in neuroblastoma cells to assess the promoter transcriptional activity of the rs1024611 variants (T>C) and the GRCh38.p12chr17:34252593 G>C alleles in CCL2.Results:We found that the frequency of the CCL2 genotype of rs1024611 was significantly different between the PD and control groups (p = 0.021), while the C allele was associated with a significantly increased risk in the PD group (p = 0.004). Moreover, C allele of this newly identified alteration in CCL2 (GRCh38.p12chr17:34252593 G>C) was also found to be associated with an increased risk of PD (P genotype = 0.006, P allele = 0.006). Dual-luciferase reporter assay results indicated that rs1024611 C allele and GRCh38.p12chr17:.34252593 C allele increased the transcriptional activity of the CCL2 promoter.Conclusions: We, for the first time, report a risk polymorphism (rs1024611) and a new locus (GRCh38.p12chr17:.34252593 G>C) on CCL2, both of which are suggested as risk factors for PD in a Chinese Han population

Lack of Association Between DJ-1 Gene Promoter Polymorphism and the Risk of Parkinson’s Disease

Low DJ-1 protein level caused by DJ-1 gene mutation leads to autosomal recessive Parkinson’s disease (PD) due to impaired antioxidative activity. In sporadic PD patients, although mutations were rarely found, lower DJ-1 protein level was also reported. Dysregulation of DJ-1 gene expression might contribute to low DJ-1 protein level. Since the promoter is the most important element to initiate gene expression, whether polymorphisms in the DJ-1 promoter result in the dysregulation of gene expression, thus leading to low protein level and causing PD, is worth exploring. The DJ-1 promoter region was sequenced in a Chinese cohort to evaluate possible links between DJ-1 promoter polymorphisms, PD risk and clinical phenotypes. Dual-luciferase reporter assay was conducted to evaluate the influence of promoter polymorphisms on DJ-1 transcriptional activity. Related information in an existing genome-wide association studies (GWAS) database were looked up, meta-analysis of the present study and other previous reports was conducted, and expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) analysis was performed to further explore the association. Three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs17523802, rs226249, and rs35675666) and one 18 bp deletion (rs200968609) were observed in our cohort. However, there was no significant association between the four detected genetic variations and the risk of PD either in allelic or genotype model, in single-point analysis or haplotype analysis. This was supported by the meta-analysis of this study and previous reports as well as that of GWAS database PDGene. Dual luciferase reporter assay suggested these promoter polymorphisms had no influence on DJ-1 transcriptive activity, which is consistent with the eQTL analysis results using the data from GTEx database. Thus, DJ-1 promoter polymorphisms may play little role in the dysregulation of DJ-1 expression and PD susceptibility in sporadic PD

High-throughput mutational analysis of TOR1A in primary dystonia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Although the c.904_906delGAG mutation in Exon 5 of <it>TOR1A </it>typically manifests as early-onset generalized dystonia, DYT1 dystonia is genetically and clinically heterogeneous. Recently, another Exon 5 mutation (c.863G>A) has been associated with early-onset generalized dystonia and some ΔGAG mutation carriers present with late-onset focal dystonia. The aim of this study was to identify <it>TOR1A </it>Exon 5 mutations in a large cohort of subjects with mainly non-generalized primary dystonia.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>High resolution melting (HRM) was used to examine the entire <it>TOR1A </it>Exon 5 coding sequence in 1014 subjects with primary dystonia (422 spasmodic dysphonia, 285 cervical dystonia, 67 blepharospasm, 41 writer's cramp, 16 oromandibular dystonia, 38 other primary focal dystonia, 112 segmental dystonia, 16 multifocal dystonia, and 17 generalized dystonia) and 250 controls (150 neurologically normal and 100 with other movement disorders). Diagnostic sensitivity and specificity were evaluated in an additional 8 subjects with known ΔGAG DYT1 dystonia and 88 subjects with ΔGAG-negative dystonia.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>HRM of <it>TOR1A </it>Exon 5 showed high (100%) diagnostic sensitivity and specificity. HRM was rapid and economical. HRM reliably differentiated the <it>TOR1A </it>ΔGAG and c.863G>A mutations. Melting curves were normal in 250/250 controls and 1012/1014 subjects with primary dystonia. The two subjects with shifted melting curves were found to harbor the classic ΔGAG deletion: 1) a non-Jewish Caucasian female with childhood-onset multifocal dystonia and 2) an Ashkenazi Jewish female with adolescent-onset spasmodic dysphonia.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>First, HRM is an inexpensive, diagnostically sensitive and specific, high-throughput method for mutation discovery. Second, Exon 5 mutations in <it>TOR1A </it>are rarely associated with non-generalized primary dystonia.</p

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Feedback-based task scheduling in real-time systems

Real-time computing is an enabling technology for many current and next generation applications. One of the key components of real-time systems is the scheduling of tasks, the objective of which is to meet task deadlines predictably. Traditional real-time task scheduling paradigms perform well in static or dynamic systems in which the workload can be accurately modeled. Unfortunately, in many complex applications, unpredictable dynamic factors exist due to which precise workload characterization is difficult. In recent years, feedback control techniques have been successfully applied to address the issue of unpredictable workload in computing systems. In this dissertation, we develop feedback-based algorithms and analysis for some important dynamic scheduling problems in real-time systems.;First, we address the problem of selective herbicide spraying in precision farming application. The goal is to achieve low weed miss ratio and high CPU utilization. We carry out system identification, vehicle modeling and controller design. In our design, the requested CPU utilization is fed back and the vehicle speed is controlled. The system model is verified and performance evaluation is carried out through simulation studies.;The second problem is task scheduling based on (m, k)-firm deadline constraints in real-time systems. The proposed solution feeds back the current dynamic failure rate (DFR) and adjusts the task's QoS based on DFR on-line. We also propose a novel fairness metric to evaluate the fairness in QoS among tasks achieved by the scheduler. The simulation results show that the QoS of tasks can be improved significantly while keeping the DFR below a certain threshold.;The third problem is combined task scheduling with fault tolerance in real-time systems. In our model, the rate monotonic scheduling algorithm and deferrable server algorithm are used to schedule periodic and aperiodic tasks, respectively. By using feedback control technique, we adjust the capacity of the deferrable servers based on the failure rate of the periodic tasks. The performances of the systems are evaluated through simulation studies.;The last problem is task scheduling in distributed real-time systems. We propose a double-loop scheme to keep the deadline miss ratio close to the set point and maximize the CPU utilization, and analyze the stability of the system in Z-domain. We also propose a global scheduling method to achieve load balancing by using a suitable load index. The performances of the systems are evaluated through simulation studies.;The feedback-based solutions proposed in this dissertation are based on the principle of controlling the trade-off between deadline miss ratio and resource utilization. This idea can be adapted not only to other scheduling problems in real-time systems, but also to scheduling problems in non-real-time systems.</p

A Reflection on the Phenomenon of “argot” in linguistic view of landscape of Macao Shop

the landscape of Macao shops is first architectural symbol, which has the significance of design, then landscape symbol, which has geographical significance, and also public regional symbol, which has sociological significance. No matter which kind of symbol, in the final analysis, the essence is the collection of symbolic elements, first manifested as language symbols, then is the political, economic, cultural, educational and other multi-element word-formation, and finally affect its written writing style and communication mechanism is comprehensive and pluralistic. This paper expounds the phenomenon of “argot” in the language landscape of Macao shops from the aspects of folk culture, industry linkage and resource particularity, hoping to arouse more thinking about Macao’s language landscape. It also hopes to provide some strategic thinking for changing the “single economic structure” mentioned in the outline

A Feedback-Based Adaptive Algorithm for Combined Scheduling with Fault-Tolerance in Real-Time Systems

Abstract. In this paper, we propose a feedback-based combined scheduling algorithm with fault tolerance for applications that have both periodic tasks and aperiodic tasks in real-time uniprocessor systems. Each periodic task is assumed to have a primary copy and a backup copy. By using the rate monotonic scheduling and deferrable server algorithm, we create two servers, one for serving aperiodic tasks and the other for executing backup copies of periodic tasks. The goal is to maximize the schedulability of aperiodic tasks while keeping the recovery rate of periodic tasks close to 100%. Our algorithm uses feedback control technique to balance the CPU allocation between the backup server and the aperiodic server. Our simulation studies show that the algorithm can adapt the parameters of the servers to recover the failed periodic tasks. Keywords: Real-time systems, feedback-based scheduling, deferrable server algorithm, fault-tolerance.