63 research outputs found
Towards Autonomic Service Provisioning Systems
This paper discusses our experience in building SPIRE, an autonomic system
for service provision. The architecture consists of a set of hosted Web
Services subject to QoS constraints, and a certain number of servers used to
run session-based traffic. Customers pay for having their jobs run, but require
in turn certain quality guarantees: there are different SLAs specifying charges
for running jobs and penalties for failing to meet promised performance
metrics. The system is driven by an utility function, aiming at optimizing the
average earned revenue per unit time. Demand and performance statistics are
collected, while traffic parameters are estimated in order to make dynamic
decisions concerning server allocation and admission control. Different utility
functions are introduced and a number of experiments aiming at testing their
performance are discussed. Results show that revenues can be dramatically
improved by imposing suitable conditions for accepting incoming traffic; the
proposed system performs well under different traffic settings, and it
successfully adapts to changes in the operating environment.Comment: 11 pages, 9 Figures,
http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/wo.jsp?WO=201002636
Revenue maximization problems in commercial data centers
PhD ThesisAs IT systems are becoming more important everyday, one of the main concerns is that users may
face major problems and eventually incur major costs if computing systems do not meet the expected
performance requirements: customers expect reliability and performance guarantees, while
underperforming systems loose revenues. Even with the adoption of data centers as the hub of
IT organizations and provider of business efficiencies the problems are not over because it is extremely
difficult for service providers to meet the promised performance guarantees in the face of
unpredictable demand. One possible approach is the adoption of Service Level Agreements (SLAs),
contracts that specify a level of performance that must be met and compensations in case of failure.
In this thesis I will address some of the performance problems arising when IT companies sell
the service of running ‘jobs’ subject to Quality of Service (QoS) constraints. In particular, the aim
is to improve the efficiency of service provisioning systems by allowing them to adapt to changing
demand conditions.
First, I will define the problem in terms of an utility function to maximize. Two different models
are analyzed, one for single jobs and the other useful to deal with session-based traffic. Then,
I will introduce an autonomic model for service provision. The architecture consists of a set of
hosted applications that share a certain number of servers. The system collects demand and performance
statistics and estimates traffic parameters. These estimates are used by management policies
which implement dynamic resource allocation and admission algorithms. Results from a number of
experiments show that the performance of these heuristics is close to optimal.QoSP (Quality of Service Provisioning)British Teleco
On Allocation Policies for Power and Performance
With the increasing popularity of Internet-based services and applications,
power efficiency is becoming a major concern for data center operators, as high
electricity consumption not only increases greenhouse gas emissions, but also
increases the cost of running the server farm itself. In this paper we address
the problem of maximizing the revenue of a service provider by means of dynamic
allocation policies that run the minimum amount of servers necessary to meet
user's requirements in terms of performance. The results of several experiments
executed using Wikipedia traces are described, showing that the proposed
schemes work well, even if the workload is non-stationary. Since any resource
allocation policy requires the use of forecasting mechanisms, various schemes
allowing compensating errors in the load forecasts are presented and evaluated.Comment: 8 pages, 11 figures, 2010 11th IEEE/ACM International Conference on
Grid Computing (GRID), pp 313 - 320 (E2GC2-2010 workshop
Revenue maximization problems in commercial data centers
As IT systems are becoming more important everyday, one of the main concerns is that users may face major problems and eventually incur major costs if computing systems do not meet the expected performance requirements: customers expect reliability and performance guarantees, while underperforming systems loose revenues. Even with the adoption of data centers as the hub of IT organizations and provider of business efficiencies the problems are not over because it is extremely difficult for service providers to meet the promised performance guarantees in the face of unpredictable demand. One possible approach is the adoption of Service Level Agreements (SLAs), contracts that specify a level of performance that must be met and compensations in case of failure. In this thesis I will address some of the performance problems arising when IT companies sell the service of running ‘jobs’ subject to Quality of Service (QoS) constraints. In particular, the aim is to improve the efficiency of service provisioning systems by allowing them to adapt to changing demand conditions. First, I will define the problem in terms of an utility function to maximize. Two different models are analyzed, one for single jobs and the other useful to deal with session-based traffic. Then, I will introduce an autonomic model for service provision. The architecture consists of a set of hosted applications that share a certain number of servers. The system collects demand and performance statistics and estimates traffic parameters. These estimates are used by management policies which implement dynamic resource allocation and admission algorithms. Results from a number of experiments show that the performance of these heuristics is close to optimal.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceQoSP (Quality of Service Provisioning) : British TelecomGBUnited Kingdo
Study of Realistic Antenna Patterns in 5G mmWave Cellular Scenarios
Large antenna arrays and millimeter-wave (mmWave) frequencies have been
attracting growing attention as possible candidates to meet the high
requirements of future 5G mobile networks. In view of the large path loss
attenuation in these bands, beamforming techniques that create a beam in the
direction of the user equipment are essential to perform the transmission. For
this purpose, in this paper, we aim at characterizing realistic antenna
radiation patterns, motivated by the need to properly capture mmWave
propagation behaviors and understand the achievable performance in 5G cellular
scenarios. In particular, we highlight how the performance changes with the
radiation pattern used. Consequently, we conclude that it is crucial to use an
accurate and realistic radiation model for proper performance assessment and
system dimensioning.Comment: to be published in 2018 IEEE ICC Communications QoS, Reliability, and
Modeling Symposium (ICC18 CQRM), Kansas City, USA, May 201
Correction: Unexpected optical activity of cerium in Y2O3:Ce3+, Yb3+, Er3+ up and down-conversion system
Correction for 'Unexpected optical activity of cerium in Y2O3:Ce3+, Yb3+, Er3+ up and down-conversion system' by Riccardo Marin et al., Dalton Trans., 2013, 42, 16837–16845
Reconstruction and functional analysis of altered molecular pathways in human atherosclerotic arteries
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Atherosclerosis affects aorta, coronary, carotid, and iliac arteries most frequently than any other body vessel. There may be common molecular pathways sustaining this process. Plaque presence and diffusion is revealed by circulating factors that can mediate systemic reaction leading to plaque rupture and thrombosis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We used DNA microarrays and meta-analysis to study how the presence of calcified plaque modifies human coronary and carotid gene expression. We identified a series of potential human atherogenic genes that are integrated in functional networks involved in atherosclerosis. Caveolae and JAK/STAT pathways, and S100A9/S100A8 interacting proteins are certainly involved in the development of vascular disease. We found that the system of caveolae is directly connected with genes that respond to hormone receptors, and indirectly with the apoptosis pathway.</p> <p>Cytokines, chemokines and growth factors released in the blood flux were investigated in parallel. High levels of RANTES, IL-1ra, MIP-1alpha, MIP-1beta, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-7, IL-17, PDGF-BB, VEGF and IFN-gamma were found in plasma of atherosclerotic patients and might also be integrated in the molecular networks underlying atherosclerotic modifications of these vessels.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The pattern of cytokine and S100A9/S100A8 up-regulation characterizes atherosclerosis as a proinflammatory disorder. Activation of the JAK/STAT pathway is confirmed by the up-regulation of IL-6, STAT1, ISGF3G and IL10RA genes in coronary and carotid plaques. The functional network constructed in our research is an evidence of the central role of STAT protein and the caveolae system to contribute to preserve the plaque. Moreover, Cav-1 is involved in SMC differentiation and dyslipidemia confirming the importance of lipid homeostasis in the atherosclerotic phenotype.</p
Trends in Net Survival from Vulvar Squamous Cell Carcinoma in Italy (1990–2015)
Objective: In many Western countries, survival from vulvar squamous cell carcinoma (VSCC) has been stagnating for decades or has increased insufficiently from a clinical perspective. In Italy, previous studies on cancer survival have not taken vulvar cancer into consideration or have pooled patients with vulvar and vaginal cancer. To bridge this knowledge gap, we report the trend in survival from vulvar cancer between 1990 and 2015. (2) Methods: Thirty-eight local cancer registries covering 49% of the national female population contributed the records of 6274 patients. Study endpoints included 1- and 2-year net survival (NS) calculated using the Pohar-Perme estimator and 5-year NS conditional on having survived two years (5|2-year CNS). The significance of survival trends was assessed with the Wald test on the coefficient of the period of diagnosis, entered as a continuous regressor in a Poisson regression model. (3) Results: The median patient age was stable at 76 years. One-year NS decreased from 83.9% in 1990–2001 to 81.9% in 2009–2015 and 2-year NS from 72.2% to 70.5%. Five|2-year CNS increased from 85.7% to 86.7%. These trends were not significant. In the age stratum 70–79 years, a weakly significant decrease in 2-year NS from 71.4% to 65.7% occurred. Multivariate analysis adjusting for age group at diagnosis and geographic area showed an excess risk of death at 5|2-years, of borderline significance, in 2003–2015 versus 1990–2002. (4) Conclusions: One- and 2-year NS and 5|2-year CNS showed no improvements. Current strategies for VSCC control need to be revised both in Italy and at the global level
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