Um estudo do desempenho dos protocolos iSCSI e Fibre Channel

Orientador: Nelson Luis Saldanha da FonsecaDissertação (mestrado profissional) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de ComputaçãoResumo: A maioria das corporações está enfrentando, nos dias de hoje, uma crescente demanda por métodos eficientes de manipulação da informação. Cada vez mais, as Aplicações de Sistema estão se tornando mais sofisticadas e com conteúdo mais rico e amplo. Assim, a necessidade de mais espaço para armazenamento de dados e um acesso mais rápido à informação aumenta. No passado, sistemas de armazenamento de dados e redes de computadores eram vistos como duas entidades independentes, porém, devido às crescentes exigências de armazenamento, o acesso à informação armazenada passou ser ultimamente interrelacionada com as redes de comunicação de dados. Em conseqüência, surgem as Redes de Armazenamento de Dados (Storage Area Network) que são redes que tem como principal finalidade a transferência dos dados entre Aplicações de Sistema e os Dispositivos de Armazenamento. Uma SAN (Storage Area Network) consiste em um infraestrutura de comunicação, a qual fornece conexões físicas, uma camada de gerenciamento de todas as conexões, elementos de armazenamento e Aplicações de Sistema, tornando a transferência de dados mais segura e robusta. Uma Rede de Armazenamento de Dados (Storage Area Network) pode ser baseada em uma infraestrutura de componentes Fibre Channel e utilizar o protocolo de transporte Fibre Channel Protocol (FCP). Outra alternativa existente é uma Rede de Armazenamento de Dados que utiliza uma infraestrutura composta pela pilha TCP/IP e pelo protocolo de transporte iSCSI. O presente trabalho analisa o desempenho dos protocolos iSCSI e Fibre Channel em Redes de Armazenamento de Dados. Experimentos foram realizados para a análise de desempenho de cada protocolo em relação as métricas Vazão e Utilização da CPU. Utilizou-se um modelo de carga sintética baseado em requisições homogêneas e heterogêneas. Os resultados obtidos indicam que o protocolo iSCSI produz resultados expressivos com desempenho similar ao desempenho do protocolo Fibre Channel. A adoção e implementação do protocolo iSCSI oferece também vantagens em relação a custo, utilização de uma infraestrutura TCP/IP e a possibilidade de interoperabilidade com dispositivos conectados a InternetAbstract: Nowadays, most of the corporations face a growing demand for efficient methods to manipulate information. Applications are becoming more sophisticated with richer content and consequent there is the need for more storage and faster access to information. In the past, storage systems and computer networks were two independent entities, but due to the huge demand of storage, these two need to be interrelated. Storage Area Network (SAN) are networks which primary purpose is the transfer of data between computer systems and storage devices. SANs consist of a communication infrastructure, which provides physical connections, a management layer, which organizes the connections, storage devices, and computer systems. Storage Area Network can be based on a Fibre Channel infrastructure using Fibre Channel Protocol (FCP) as a transport protocol. Another possibility is to be based on an IP infrastructure, using TCP/IP stack and iSCSI protocol. The present work analyzes the performance of iSCSI and Fibre Channel protocols in the Storage Area Networks. Experiments were conducted to analyze the performance of each protocol. Throughput and CPU utilization were the metrics used for comparison. Results indicate that the iSCSI protocol gives expressive results with a performance close to the Fibre Channel Protocol (FCP). iSCSI also offers other advantages related to cost, availability of TCP/IP infrastructure and the possibility of interoperability with devices connected to the InternetMestradoRedes de ComputadoresMestre em Computaçã

Characterizing Proof-of-Concept Practices using the Lens of Context Engineering

In this study, a Proof-of-Concept (PoC) context is acknowledged as an activity system with a set of practices performed by diverse practitioners, aiming to produce knowledge about performance of the technological artifacts under study. Ten PoC practices were identified through content analysis of narratives and observations, supported by the lens of Context Engineering (CE) from Information Systems (IS). CE introduces a framework of problems that help to understand the relevance of context as a fundamental factor in PoC, emphasizing the importance and need for reflection in action, for PoC practitioners. These practices are characterized as a cycle of knowledge production in the PoC context. The authors also identify the hermeneutic character of PoC activities, indicating a need to understand the whole activity system in relation to its constituent parts, while finding the meaning of the parts in the whole PoC context

[profile Of Effective Donors From Organ And Tissue Procurement Services].

To characterize the profile of effective organ and tissue donors and to understand which organs and tissues were donated for transplantation. This was a quantitative, descriptive, exploratory, retrospective study that analyzed clinical data from 305 donors between January 2006 to December 2010. The data were then analyzed using descriptive analyses, generating frequency tables, measures of position (mean, minimum and maximum) and measures of dispersion (standard deviation) for data that was social and clinical in nature. There was an overall predominance of white (72%) and male (55%) individuals between the ages of 41 and 60 years (44%). The primary cause of brain death was cerebrovascular accident (55%). In the patient history, 31% of the patients were classified as overweight, 27% as hypertensive and only 4.3% as having diabetes mellitus. Vasoactive drugs were used in 92.7% of the donors, and the main drug of choice was noradrenaline (81.6%). Hyperglycemia and hypernatremia were diagnosed in 78% and 71% of the donors, respectively. Significant hemodynamic changes were found, and the results indicate that the use of vasoactive drugs was the main strategy used to control these changes. Furthermore, most donors presented with hyperglycemia and hypernatremia, which were frequently reported in association with brain death. The persistent nature of these findings suggests that the organ donors were inadequately maintained.2621-

S-PLUS : exploring wide field properties of multiple populations in galactic globular clusters at different metallicities

Multiple stellar populations (MSPs) are a ubiquitous phenomenon in Galactic globular clusters (GCs). By probing different spectral ranges affected by different absorption lines using the multiband photometric survey S-PLUS, we study four GCs – NGC 104, NGC 288, NGC 3201, and NGC 7089 – that span a wide range of metallicities. With the combination of broad and narrow-band photometry in 12 different filters from 3485A (u) to 9114A (z), we identified MSPs along the rectified red-giant branch in colour–magnitude diagrams and separated them using a K-means clustering algorithm. Additionally, we take advantage of the large Field of View of the S-PLUS detector to investigate radial trends in our sample. We report on six colour combinations that can be used to successfully identify two stellar populations in all studied clusters and show that they can be characterized as Na-rich and Na-poor. For both NGC 288 and NGC 7089, their radial profiles show a clear concentration of 2P population. This directly supports the formation theories that propose an enrichment of the intra-cluster medium and subsequent star formation in the more dense central regions. However, in the case of NGC 3201, the trend is reversed. The 1P is more centrally concentrated, in direct contradiction with previous literature studies. NGC 104 shows a well-mixed population. We also constructed radial profiles up to 1 half-light radius of the clusters with HST data to highlight that radial differences are lost in the inner regions of the GCs and that wide-field studies are essential when studying this

Deficient Regulatory T Cell Activity and Low Frequency of IL-17-Producing T Cells Correlate with the Extent of Cardiomyopathy in Human Chagas' Disease

Background: Myocardium damage during Chagas' disease results from the immunological imbalance between pro-and production of anti-inflammatory cytokines and has been explained based on the Th1-Th2 dichotomy and regulatory T cell activity. Recently, we demonstrated that IL-17 produced during experimental T. cruzi infection regulates Th1 cells differentiation and parasite induced myocarditis. Here, we investigated the role of IL-17 and regulatory T cell during human Chagas' disease. Methodology/Principal Findings: First, we observed CD4(+)IL-17(+) T cells in culture of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from Chagas' disease patients and we evaluated Th1, Th2, Th17 cytokine profile production in the PBMC cells from Chagas' disease patients (cardiomyopathy-free, and with mild, moderate or severe cardiomyopathy) cultured with T. cruzi antigen. Cultures of PBMC from patients with moderate and severe cardiomyopathy produced high levels of TNF-alpha, IFN-gamma and low levels of IL-10, when compared to mild cardiomyopathy or cardiomyopathy-free patients. Flow cytometry analysis showed higher CD4(+)IL-17(+) cells in PBMC cultured from patients without or with mild cardiomyopathy, in comparison to patients with moderate or severe cardiomyopathy. We then analyzed the presence and function of regulatory T cells in all patients. All groups of Chagas' disease patients presented the same frequency of CD4(+)CD25(+) regulatory T cells. However, CD4(+)CD25(+) T cells from patients with mild cardiomyopathy or cardiomyopathy-free showed higher suppressive activity than those with moderate and severe cardiomyopathy. IFN-gamma levels during chronic Chagas' disease are inversely correlated to the LVEF (P = 0.007, r = -0.614), while regulatory T cell activity is directly correlated with LVEF (P = 0.022, r = 0.500). Conclusion/Significance: These results indicate that reduced production of the cytokines IL-10 and IL-17 in association with high levels of IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha is correlated with the severity of the Chagas' disease cardiomyopathy, and the immunological imbalance observed may be causally related with deficient suppressor activity of regulatory T cells that controls myocardial inflammation.Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP)Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP)Millennium Institute for Vaccine Development and Technology (CNPq)Millennium Institute for Vaccine Development and Technology (CNPq)Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES)Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES

Alpha cluster structure in 16O.

The alpha cluster phenomenon in the light nuclei structure has been the subject of a longtime\ud investigation since the proposal of the Ikeda diagrams, however the mechanism of the cluster\ud formation is still not completely understood. In fact, if the clusters have a fairly rigid crystal-like or a\ud gas-like structure remains an open question. The interpretation of the Hoyle state as an α\ud condensate brought a renewed interest to this subject, in particular to resonances analogous to the\ud Hoyle state. In this context the study of the experimental evolution of the α-cluster phenomenon\ud through (6Li,d) transfer reactions has been performed in São Paulo. Particularly important are the\ud regions around the nα thresholds where the α-cluster structure states are predicted. The resonant\ud states around the 4α threshold in the nucleus 16O are the focus of the present contribution. The\ud 12C(6Li,d)16O reaction was measured at a bombarding energy of 25.5 MeV employing the São Paulo\ud Pelletron-Enge-Spectrograph facility and the nuclear emulsion detection technique. Resonant states\ud above the α threshold were measured and an energy resolution of 15-30 keV allows to define states\ud previously unresolved. The angular distributions of the absolute cross sections were determined in a\ud range of 4-40 degree in the center of mass system and up to 17 MeV excitation energy. The upper\ud limit for the resonance widths in the crucial region of the 4α threshold was obtained. These values\ud revealed to be at least a factor three smaller than the ones previously reported in the literature,\ud indicating that the α cluster structure information on this region should be revised

Oxidative Stress and Modification of Renal Vascular Permeability Are Associated with Acute Kidney Injury during P. berghei ANKA Infection

Malaria associated-acute kidney injury (AKI) is associated with 45% of mortality in adult patients hospitalized with severe form of the disease. However, the causes that lead to a framework of malaria-associated AKI are still poorly characterized. Some clinical studies speculate that oxidative stress products, a characteristic of Plasmodium infection, as well as proinflammatory response induced by the parasite are involved in its pathophysiology. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the development of malaria-associated AKI during infection by P. berghei ANKA, with special attention to the role played by the inflammatory response and the involvement of oxidative stress. For that, we took advantage of an experimental model of severe malaria that showed significant changes in the renal pathophysiology to investigate the role of malaria infection in the renal microvascular permeability and tissue injury. Therefore, BALB/c mice were infected with P. berghei ANKA. To assess renal function, creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, and ratio of proteinuria and creatininuria were evaluated. The products of oxidative stress, as well as cytokine profile were quantified in plasma and renal tissue. The change of renal microvascular permeability, tissue hypoxia and cellular apoptosis were also evaluated. Parasite infection resulted in renal dysfunction. Furthermore, we observed increased expression of adhesion molecule, proinflammatory cytokines and products of oxidative stress, associated with a decrease mRNA expression of HO-1 in kidney tissue of infected mice. The measurement of lipoprotein oxidizability also showed a significant increase in plasma of infected animals. Together, our findings support the idea that products of oxidative stress, as well as the immune response against the parasite are crucial to changes in kidney architecture and microvascular endothelial permeability of BALB/c mice infected with P. berghei ANKA.State of Sao Paulo Foundation for Research Support (FAPESP)State of Sao Paulo Foundation for Research Support (FAPESP) [07/07139-3, 10/52180-4, 12/02270-2]CAPESCAPESBrazilian Council of Scientific and Technologic Development (International Associated Laboratory of Renal Immunopathology, CNPq/Inserm)Brazilian Council of Scientific and Technologic Development (International Associated Laboratory of Renal Immunopathology, CNPq/Inserm)Complex Fluids INCT (FAPESP/CNPq)Complex Fluids INCT (FAPESP/CNPq

Energy Estimation of Cosmic Rays with the Engineering Radio Array of the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA) is part of the Pierre Auger Observatory and is used to detect the radio emission of cosmic-ray air showers. These observations are compared to the data of the surface detector stations of the Observatory, which provide well-calibrated information on the cosmic-ray energies and arrival directions. The response of the radio stations in the 30 to 80 MHz regime has been thoroughly calibrated to enable the reconstruction of the incoming electric field. For the latter, the energy deposit per area is determined from the radio pulses at each observer position and is interpolated using a two-dimensional function that takes into account signal asymmetries due to interference between the geomagnetic and charge-excess emission components. The spatial integral over the signal distribution gives a direct measurement of the energy transferred from the primary cosmic ray into radio emission in the AERA frequency range. We measure 15.8 MeV of radiation energy for a 1 EeV air shower arriving perpendicularly to the geomagnetic field. This radiation energy -- corrected for geometrical effects -- is used as a cosmic-ray energy estimator. Performing an absolute energy calibration against the surface-detector information, we observe that this radio-energy estimator scales quadratically with the cosmic-ray energy as expected for coherent emission. We find an energy resolution of the radio reconstruction of 22% for the data set and 17% for a high-quality subset containing only events with at least five radio stations with signal.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO