Time for Cloud? Design and implementation of a time-based cloud resource management system

The current pay-per-use model adopted by public cloud service providers has influenced the perception on how a cloud should provide its resources to end-users, i.e. on-demand and access to an unlimited amount of resources. However, not all clouds are equal. While such provisioning models work for well-endowed public clouds, they may not always work well in private clouds with limited budget and resources such as research and education clouds. Private clouds also stand to be impacted greatly by issues such as user resource hogging and the misuse of resources for nefarious activities. These problems are usually caused by challenges such as (1) limited physical servers/ budget, (2) growing number of users and (3) the inability to gracefully and automatically relinquish resources from inactive users. Currently, cloud resource management frameworks used for private cloud setups, such as OpenStack and CloudStack, only uses the pay-per-use model as the basis when provisioning resources to users. In this paper, we propose OpenStack Café, a novel methodology adopting the concepts of 'time' and booking systems' to manage resources of private clouds. By allowing users to book resources over specific time-slots, our proposed solution can efficiently and automatically help administrators manage users' access to resource, addressing the issue of resource hogging and gracefully relinquish resources back to the pool in resource-constrained private cloud setups. Work is currently in progress to adopt Café into OpenStack as a feature, and results of our prototype show promises. We also present some insights to lessons learnt during the design and implementation of our proposed methodology in this paper

GIS- Driven Translations of Film Narratives: A Space-Time Cube of Christopher Nolan\u27s Dunkirk

Space-time cubes are a form of 3D cartography ideal for the synthesis of temporal and spatial data, and have thus been used to construct qualitative narratives that map the pathways of stories and life histories over time. This project extends this methodology into the realm of filmmaking by translating Christopher Nolan’s 2017 film Dunkirk into a space-time cube. In doing so, this project in turn offers a synthesis of GIS and digital humanities. Through deliberate cutting across multiple characters’ perspectives, Dunkirk tells a tripartite narrative that is emotionally gripping yet logistically confusing. This project transforms Dunkirk’s non-linear narrative into a space-time cube for the purpose of chronological elucidation in a GIS environment. Multiple sets of temporal and spatial data were derived through the study of Dunkirk’s fictional plot and research of true historical events. The data were then mapped in a space-time cube in linear chronological order. The results of this project analyze the proficiency of GIS in translating stories from the medium of film into 3D cartographic space, as well as the wider application of spacetime cubes in film narrative storyboarding

Novel methods to characterise texture changes during food breakdown : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosphy in Food Technology at Massey University, New Zealand

Figures 2-6 (=Ogawa et al., 2001 Fig 2) & 2-12 (=Hutchings & Lillford, 1998 Fig 1) were removed for copyright reasons. Some possibly copyrighted Figures remain for the sake of clarity, while other Figures are in the public domain.The purpose of the mastication process is to break down food for bolus formation so that it can be swallowed safely. Although light has been shed on the criterion for a swallow safe bolus, quantifying these in terms of the bolus properties is not fully understood. There is a lack of suitable measurement techniques to quantify these identified bolus properties. Thus, the purpose of this work was to develop novel techniques that would be useful in in-vitro studies of food breakdown for the characterisation of bolus properties. A mastication robot (MR) had been previously developed to enable the reproducible mastication of food so that masticatory efficiency and food breakdown dynamics can be assessed quantitatively. To evaluate if the MR could be a controllable and reproducible alternative to subjects for food break down studies, a series of experiments involving the mastication of peanuts using a range of machine parameters was conducted. The bolus particle size distributions were used to characterise the breakdown of the peanuts. There were significant differences in the average particle size of the particles chewed by the different chewing trajectories during the initial chews. The performance of the mastication robot was validated against human subjects (n=5) by comparing the particle size distribution (PSD) of peanut boluses collected from subjects and the MR. Although the MR was unable to achieve similar breakdown capability as that for the human subjects, the MR proved to have good reproducibility in bolus preparation. Two novel techniques were developed to characterise bolus properties. The slip extrusion test was developed to characterise two determinant properties for safe swallowing, the bolus deformation and slippage properties. The test measures the force needed to extrude a bolus through a test bag imitating the swallowing action of a bolus. The multiple pin penetrometer was previously developed to measure the spatial distribution of texture in foods exhibiting heterogenous structures. The forces experienced by each pin is measured independently as they pushed through the food, providing a pressure distribution for each food. This allowed the characterisation of fibrous (non-fracturable) foods in a similar way to PSD analysis, offering a method to characterise boluses that do not form discrete particles. The variability in the structure of the boluses was also characterised using the grey level co-occurrence matrix through the image textural features: contrast, energy and homogeneity. Finally, these developed novel techniques were applied to five real foods with varying textures to show how the MR and these techniques may be used to characterise the changes in bolus properties across the mastication stages. Subjects (n=5) were asked to masticate the foods to determine their chewing behaviour and the bolus properties (deformation and slip properties) at swallow point. The chewing parameters from the median subject (subject A) was used to establish the parameters for the mastication robot’s set up for the factorial design of experiments. The developed models from the factorial study were used to optimize the conditions needed for the MR to achieve boluses with similar DR and SR properties as subject A. The five foods were then broken down using the MR configured in this way, and bolus properties were evaluated at various stages of the mastication process through the application of the slip extrusion test, textural mapping using the multiple pin penetrometer, and the back-extrusion test. Factor analysis was applied to the various data collected, which showed that the properties related to the hardness, swallowability and homogeneity attributes were best at describing the changes in the boluses as they were masticated to swallow point. In conclusion, the mastication robot could be used to replicate human chewing trajectories to consistently produce boluses in a controlled trajectory with controlled “simulated saliva” rates throughout the various stages of mastication. Thus, it is relevant as a tool to produce boluses for comparative analysis especially for studies investigating the properties of boluses collected from various stages of the mastication process. In addition, the developed characterisation techniques could be used to track the dynamic changes in the bolus properties for most of the mastication stages from initial chews to the swallow point and beyond that

GFP Transgenic Medaka (Oryzias latipes) under the Inducible cyp1a Promoter Provide a Sensitive and Convenient Biological Indicator for the Presence of TCDD and Other Persistent Organic Chemicals

10.1371/journal.pone.0064334PLoS ONE85

A Case of Lung Cancer with Isolated Skip Metastasis to an External Iliac Lymph Node

Introduction: Isolated skip metastases to intra-abdominal lymph nodes from lung cancer are rare and management of such disease remains controversial.  Presentation of case: We report a case of lung adenocarcinoma in the right upper lobe with isolated lymph node metastasis to an external iliac lymph node detected by Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan which was confirmed histopathologically.  Conclusion: Isolated intra-abdominal lymph nodes from lung cancer are a rare occurrence.  In these patients, lymphadenectomy can be considered together with definitive treatment of the lung primary

What is the Relationship among Team Psychological Safety, Nursing Agency, and Rapid Response System Activation?

When patients show signs of clinical deterioration, nurses should activate the rapid response system (RRS) to summon specialized help to the bedside. Failure or delay to activate the RRS is associated with increased length of stay and increased mortality. Currently, nurses only activate the RRS 21-57% of the time. Nurses’ fear of criticism for making the wrong call has been identified as a reason or avoiding or delaying activation. Currently, only limited individual level factors affecting nurse RRS activation has been identified, but team-level barriers or facilitators or nurse RRS activation has not been systematically studied. A cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the relationships among team psychological safety, nursing agency, and nurse RRS activation. Findings suggest that nurses’ personal sense of power, which may be a foundational disposition of nursing agency, is a predictor of nurse RRS activation. Strategies to develop nurses’ personal sense of power may be key to ensure nurses can exercise their full agency to overcome barriers and act on behalf of their patients

DEVELOPMENT OF LIVING COLOR TRANSGENIC MEDAKA LINES FOR BIOMONITORING AQUATIC CONTAMINATION

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH