Analyzing Declarative Deployment Code with Large Language Models

In the cloud-native era, developers have at their disposal an unprecedented landscape of services to build scalable distributed systems. The DevOps paradigm emerged as a response to the increasing necessity of better automations, capable of dealing with the complexity of modern cloud systems. For instance, Infrastructure-as-Code tools provide a declarative way to define, track, and automate changes to the infrastructure underlying a cloud application. Assuring the quality of this part of a code base is of utmost importance. However, learning to produce robust deployment specifications is not an easy feat, and for the domain experts it is time-consuming to conduct code-reviews and transfer the appropriate knowledge to novice members of the team. Given the abundance of data generated throughout the DevOps cycle, machine learning (ML) techniques seem a promising way to tackle this problem. In this work, we propose an approach based on Large Language Models to analyze declarative deployment code and automatically provide QA-related recommendations to developers, such that they can benefit of established best practices and design patterns. We developed a prototype of our proposed ML pipeline, and empirically evaluated our approach on a collection of Kubernetes manifests exported from a repository of internal projects at Nokia Bell Labs

Short-circuit mechanical effects on outdoor HV substations with wide bundling.

peer reviewedThis paper presents results of a research project investigating the mechanical effects of short-circuit currents in high-voltage substations with conductor bundles. The experimental part was performed on two set-ups, called "100 kV arrangement" and "400 kV arrangement". Those two set-ups differed in the height of the crossarm, the phase-to-phase distance and the conductor sag. Additional parameters which were varied in the course of the experiments included the level and duration of the short-circuit current, the type and number of the spacers used and the bundle spacing. Various forces in the flexible busbar and the supporting structure were recorded during the tests and the stiffness as well as the eigenfrequency of the portals used for supporting the conductors were determined. The test results were evaluated with respect to the maxima of the pinch force, the tensile force and the drop force. They are presented and compared with existing assumptions and calculation methods. The results of this project shall enable IEC standardization committees and CIGRE working groups to carry on with their intended studies and establish a comprehensive method of calculating the mechanical effects in substations with bundle conductors

Managing Visibility and Validity of Distress Calls with an Ad-Hoc SOS System

The availability of ICT services can be severely disrupted in the aftermath of disasters. Ad-hoc assemblages of communication technology have the potential to bridge such breakdowns. This article investigates the use of an ad-hoc system for sending SOS signals in a large-scale exercise that simulated a terrorist attack. In this context, we found that the sensitivity that was introduced by the adversarial nature of the situation posed unexpected challenges for our approach, as giving away one's location in the immediate danger of a terrorist attack became an issue both for first responders and the affected people in the area. We show how practices of calling for help and reacting to help calls can be affected by such a system and affect the management of the visibility and validity of SOS calls, implying a need for further negotiation in situations where communication is sensitive and technically restrained

"Drop in" gastroscopy outpatient clinic - experience after 9 months

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Logistics handling referrals for gastroscopy may be more time consuming than the examination itself. For the patient, "drop in" gastroscopy may reduce uncertainty, inadequate therapy and time off work.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>After an 8-9 month run-in period we asked patients, hospital staff and GPs to fill in a questionnaire to evaluate their experience with "drop in" gastroscopy and gastroscopy by appointment, respectively. The diagnostic gain was evaluated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>112 patients had "drop in" gastroscopy and 101 gastroscopy by appointment. The number of "drop in" patients varied between 3 and 12 per day (mean 6.5). Mean time from first GP consultation to gastroscopy was 3.6 weeks in the "drop in" group and 14 weeks in the appointment group. The half-yearly number of outpatient gastroscopies increased from 696 before introducing "drop in" to 1022 after (47% increase) and the proportion of examinations with pathological findings increased from 42% to 58%. Patients and GPs expressed great satisfaction with "drop in". Hospital staff also acclaimed although it caused more unpredictable working days with no additional staff.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>"Drop in" gastroscopy was introduced without increase in staff. The observed increase in gastroscopies was paralleled by a similar increase in pathological findings without any apparent disadvantages for other groups of patients. This should legitimise "drop in" outpatient gastroscopies, but it requires meticulous observation of possible unwanted effects when implemented.</p

A calibrated diversity assay for nucleic acid libraries using DiStRO—a Diversity Standard of Random Oligonucleotides

We have determined diversities exceeding 1012 different sequences in an annealing and melting assay using synthetic randomized oligonucleotides as a standard. For such high diversities, the annealing kinetics differ from those observed for low diversities, favouring the remelting curve after annealing as the best indicator of complexity. Direct comparisons of nucleic acid pools obtained from an aptamer selection demonstrate that even highly complex populations can be evaluated by using DiStRO, without the need of complicated calculations

Sedimentation rates in the Makarov Basin, central Arctic Ocean: A paleomagnetic and rock magnetic approach

Three long sediment cores from the Makarov Basin have been subjected to detailed paleomagnetic and rock magnetic analyses. Investigated sediments are dominated by normal polarity including short reversal excursions, indicating that most of the sediments are of Brunhes age. In general, the recovered sediments show only low to moderate variability in concentration and grain size of the remanence-carrying minerals. Estimations of relative paleointensity variations yielded a well-documented succession of pronounced lows and highs that could be correlated to published reference curves. However, together with five accelerator mass spectrometry C-14 ages and an incomplete Be-10 record, still two different interpretations of the paleomagnetic data are possible, with long-term sedimentation rates of either 1.3 or 4 cm kyr(-1) However, both models implicate highly variable sedimentation rates of up to 10 cm kyr(-1), and abrupt changes in rock magnetic parameters might even indicate several hiatuses

XIV. Cosmic-ray propagation and magnetic field strengths in the radio halo of NGC4631

Mora-Partiarroyo SC, Krause M, Basu A, et al. XIV. Cosmic-ray propagation and magnetic field strengths in the radio halo of NGC4631. ASTRONOMY &amp; ASTROPHYSICS. 2019;632: A10.Aims. NGC4631 is an interacting galaxy that exhibits one of the largest, gaseous halos observed among edge-on galaxies. We aim to examine the synchrotron and cosmic-ray propagation properties of its disk and halo emission with new radio continuum data. Methods. Radio continuum observations of NGC4631 were performed with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array at C-band (5.99 GHz) in the C and D array configurations, and at L-band (1.57 GHz) in the B, C, and D array configurations. Complementary observations of NGC4631 with the E ffelsberg telescope were performed at 1.42 and 4.85 GHz. The interferometric total intensity data were combined with the single-dish E ffelsberg data in order to recover the missing large-scale total power emission. The thermal and nonthermal components of the total radio emission were separated by estimating the thermal contribution through the extinction-corrected H alpha emission. The Hff radiation was corrected for extinction using a linear combination of the observed H alpha and 24 mu m data. Results. NGC4631 has a global thermal fraction at 5.99 (1.57) GHz of 14 +/- 3% (5.4 +/- 1.1%). The mean scale heights of the total emission in the radio halo (thick disk) at 5.99 (1.57) GHz are 1 .79 +/- 0 .54 kpc (1 .75 +/- 0 .27 kpc) and have about the same values for the synchrotron emission. The total magnetic field of NGC4631 has a mean strength of similar or equal to 9 mu G in the disk, and a mean strength of similar or equal to 7 mu G in the halo. We also studied a double-lobed background radio galaxy southwest of NGC4631, which is an FR II radio galaxy according to the distribution of spectral index across the lobes. Conclusions. From the halo scale heights we estimated that the radio halo is escape-dominated with convective cosmic ray propagation, and conclude that there is a galactic wind in the halo of NGC4631