Noble Gas Clusters and Nanoplasmas in High Harmonic Generation

We report a study of high harmonic generation from noble gas clusters of xenon atoms in a gas jet. Harmonic spectra were investigated as a function of backing pressure, showing spectral shifts due to the nanoplasma electrons in the clusters. At certain value of laser intensity this process may oppose the effect of the well-known ionization-induced blueshift. In addition, these cluster-induced harmonic redshifts may give the possibility to estimate cluster density and cluster size in the laser-gas jet interaction range.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Rumination and Positive Autobiographical Memories in Depression: An Examination of the Undermining Effect of Maladaptive Emotion Regulation on Adaptive Emotion Regulation

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a highly prevalent disorder of a recurrent nature that enacts a high burden across many domains. MDD has been conceptualized as a disorder of emotion regulation deficits in the frequent use of maladaptive ER responses as opposed to adaptive ER responses. While adaptive ER responses have been generally found to be efficacious in reducing distress within laboratory settings, they often fail to predict depression symptoms, do not differentiate those at high- from low-risk for MDD, and do not prognosticate risk for new MDD episodes. Given the preponderance of evidence suggesting a reliance on maladaptive ER among depressed persons and those at risk for the disorder, it is feasible maladaptive response deployment precedes and undermines the effectiveness of adaptive ER responses. The present study sought to test this possibility in a sample of 59 adults who following a negative mood induction either deployed an adaptive ER response (recalling a Positive Autobiographical Memory, PAM) or maladaptive ER (engaging in rumination) that preceded PAM. Contrary to expectation, neither rumination, participants’ depression levels, nor their interaction undermines PAM’s mood repair effects. An interaction between ER response sequence and depression levels was observed regarding the negative affect endorsed post-PAM. Moderation analysis revealed that those who immediately recalled PAM following mood induction endorsed higher negative affect compared to those who ruminated prior to PAM

Multi-site Resource Allocation in a QoS-Aware 5G Infrastructure

Network softwarization has paved the way for 5G technologies, and a wide-range of (radically new) verticals. As the telecommunications infrastructure evolves into a sort of distributed datacenter, multiple tenants such as vertical industries and network service providers share its aggregate pool of resources (e.g., networking, computing, etc.) in a layered \u201das-a-Service\u201d approach exposed as slice abstractions. The challenge remains in the coordination of various stakeholders\u2019 assets in realizing end-to-end network slices and supporting the multi-site deployment and chaining of the micro-service components needed to implement cloud-native vertical applications (vApps). In this context, particular care must be taken to ensure that the required resources are identified, made available and managed in a way that satisfies the vApp requirements, allows for a fair share of resources and has a reasonable impact on the overall vApp deployment time. With these challenges in mind, this paper presents the Resource Selection Optimizer (RSO)-a software-service in the MATILDA Operations Support System (OSS), whose main goal is to select the most appropriate network and computing resources (according to some criterion) among a list of options provided by the Wide-area Infrastructure Manager (WIM). It consists of three submodules that respectively handle: (i) the aggregation of vApp components based on affinities, (ii) the forecasting of (micro-) datacenter resources utilization, (iii) and the multi-site placement of the (aggregated) vApp micro-service components. The RSO\u2019s performance is mainly evaluated in terms of the execution times of its submodules while varying their respective input parameters, and additionally, three selection policies are also compared. Experimental results aim to highlight the RSO behavior in both execution times and deployment costs, as well as the RSO interactions with other OSS submodules and network platform components, not only for multi-site vApp deployment but also for other network/services management operations

The dark side of network functions virtualization: A perspective on the technological sustainability

The Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) paradigm is undoubtedly a key technological advancement in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) community, especially for the upcoming 5G network design. While most of its promise is quite straightforward, the implied reduction of the power consumption/carbon footprint is still debatable, and not in line with the energy efficiency perspective forecasted by the ETSI NFV working group (WG). In this paper, we provide an estimate of the possible future requirements of this upcoming technology when deployed according to the virtual Evolved Packet Core (vEPC) use case specified by the ETSI NFV WG. Our estimation is based on real performance levels, certified by independent third-party laboratories, and datasheet values provided by existing commercial products for both the legacy and NFV network architectures, under different deployment scenarios. Obtained results show that a massive deployment of the current NFV technologies in the EPC may lead to a minimum increase of 106 % in the carbon footprint/energy consumption with respect to the Business As Usual (BAU) network solutions. Moreover, these values tend to increase at a very high pace when the most suitable software/hardware combination is not applied, or when packet processing latency is taken into account

Modular detergents tailor the purification and structural analysis of membrane proteins including G-protein coupled receptors

Detergents enable the purification of membrane proteins and are indispensable reagents instructural biology. Even though a large variety of detergents have been developed in the lastcentury, the challenge remains to identify guidelines that allowfine-tuning of detergents forindividual applications in membrane protein research. Addressing this challenge, here weintroduce the family of oligoglycerol detergents (OGDs). Native mass spectrometry (MS)reveals that the modular OGD architecture offers the ability to control protein purificationand to preserve interactions with native membrane lipids during purification. In addition to abroad range of bacterial membrane proteins, OGDs also enable the purification and analysisof a functional G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR). Moreover, given the modular design ofthese detergents, we anticipatefine-tuning of their properties for specific applications instructural biology. Seen from a broader perspective, this represents a significant advance forthe investigation of membrane proteins and their interactions with lipids

Analisis Karakteristik Dan Biaya Kecelakaan Lalu Lintas Di Kota Kupang

Kecelakaan lalu lintas merupakan indikator utama tingkat keselamatan jalan raya. Kota Kupang sebagai ibukota Propinsi Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT) adalah salah satu daerah penyumbang angka kecelakaan terbesar di NTT. Penelitian ini disusun untuk mengetahui karakteristik kecelakaan lalu lintas, besar biaya kecelakaan lalu lintas pada ruas jalan di Kota Kupang, serta besar santunan yang harus dibayarkan oleh PT Jasa Raharja. Data yang digunakan adalah data jumlah kecelakaan lalu lintas Kota Kupang sepanjang tahun 2010-2013. Hasil analisis deskriptif menunjukkan bahwa karakteristik kecelakaan lalu lintas yang dominan terjadi adalah pada hari Minggu (22%), pukul 12.01–18.00 WITA (38%), posisi tabrakan depan - depan (30%), tipe tabrakan ganda (82%), jenis kelamin laki-laki (77%), usia 17 tahun - 30 tahun (64%), profesi Swasta (48%), pendidikan terakhir SMA (48%), dan tidak memiliki SIM (76%). Analisis biaya korban kecelakaan lalu lintas (BBKO) dengan metode The Gross Output menunjukkan bahwa ruas jalan Timor Raya dengan panjang 11 kilometer merupakan ruas jalan dengan BBKO terbesar yaitu Rp.13.196.013.148,-, dimana biaya kecelakaan per kilometernya yang paling tinggi adalah pada tahun 2013 yaitu sebesar Rp. 514,013,928/ km. Jumlah total santunan (maksimal) Jasa Raharja yang harus dibayarkan kepada korban kecelakaan lalu lintas di kota Kupang periode tahun 2011–2013 ialah sebesar Rp.4.905.000.000.-. Traffic accident is a major indicator of road safety level. Kupang city as the capital of East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) is one of the largest contributors to the number of traffic accidents in the province. This research was to determine the characteristics of traffic accidents, the accident cost, and the compensation to be paid by PT Jasa Raharja (the state insurance company). The data of traffic accidents were taken throughout year 2010 to 2013. The descriptive analysis results showed that the dominant traffic accidents occurred on Sunday (22 %) , at 12:01 to 18:00 pm (38 %), head-on collisions (30 %), two-vehicle collisions (82 %), involve male (77 %), 17 - 30 years old (64 %), work at private sector (48 %), senior high school graduate (48 %), and does not have a driver's license (76 %). The accident cost analysis used The Gross Output method showed that Timor Raya road, with a length of 11 kilometers, has the highest traffic accident cost that is Rp.13.196.013.148, where the highest accident cost per kilometer was in year 2013 that is Rp.514,013,928/km. The total amount of (maximum) compensation should be paid by PT Jasa Raharja, to the traffic accident victims in Kupang city at year 2011 to 2013, is Rp.4.905.000.000.-