Resource allocation and scheduling of multiple composite web services in cloud computing using cooperative coevolution genetic algorithm

In cloud computing, resource allocation and scheduling of multiple composite web services is an important and challenging problem. This is especially so in a hybrid cloud where there may be some low-cost resources available from private clouds and some high-cost resources from public clouds. Meeting this challenge involves two classical computational problems: one is assigning resources to each of the tasks in the composite web services; the other is scheduling the allocated resources when each resource may be used by multiple tasks at different points of time. In addition, Quality-of-Service (QoS) issues, such as execution time and running costs, must be considered in the resource allocation and scheduling problem. Here we present a Cooperative Coevolutionary Genetic Algorithm (CCGA) to solve the deadline-constrained resource allocation and scheduling problem for multiple composite web services. Experimental results show that our CCGA is both efficient and scalable

Hinged-rulers fold in 2−Θ(12n/4)2-\Theta(\frac{1}{2^{n/4}})

A hinged-ruler is a sequence of line segments in the plane joined end-to-end with hinges, so each hinge joins exactly two segments, the first segment and last segment are adjacent to only one hinge each, and all other segments are adjacent to exactly two hinges. Hopcroft, Joseph, and Whitesides first posed the hinged-ruler-folding problem in their 1985 paper "On the Movement of Robot Arms in 2-Dimensional Bounded Regions": given a hinged-ruler and a real number $K$, can the hinged-ruler be folded so as to fit within a one-dimensional interval of length $K$? We show that if the segment lengths are constrained to be real numbers in the interval $[0,1]$, then we can always fold the hinged-ruler so as to fit within a one-dimensional interval of length $2-\Omega(\frac{1}{2^{n/4}})$. On the other hand, we give a construction for a hinged-ruler which cannot be folded into some one-dimensional interval of length $2-O(\frac{1}{2^{n/4}})$.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Do Not Forget the "How" along with the "What": Improving the Transparency of Sustainability Reports

Considerable resources are invested in producing sustainability reports, yet few organizations reap the transparency benefits they promise. This article explores the way ten leading global fashion companies use a combination of data visualization and placement, stakeholder-driven interactive content, and multi-media and immersive content to build the trust necessary to improve their reporting and transparency. While few organizations have the resources of the global fashion giants, this article proposes a four-stage framework that guides managers through a step-change of systematic and targeted improvement

A pilot-testing study of multicultural lifestyle change questionnaire in Ottawa and Gatineau, Canada

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.A Multicultural Lifestyle Change Questionnaire that included English, French and Chinese versions which was developed by Ning Tang was pilot-tested in 98 English, French and Chinese speaking immigrants in two adjacent cities (Ottawa and Gatineau) of Canada. The participants were recruited by a purposive sampling and answered the questions in the questionnaire with self-reporting. The pilot-testing results exhibited that the questionnaire had higher validity (face validity, content validity, criterion-related validity and construct validity) and reliability (test-retest reliability). After being revised appropriately, the questionnaire could be used in multicultural lifestyle changes surveys in full population and more wide use

Health Status Change of English, French and Chinese Immigrants in Ottawa and Gatineau, Canada

All articles published by HRPUB are distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY). So anyone is allowed to copy, distribute, and transmit the article on condition that the original article and source is correctly cited.Background: Health status change of the immigrants is of particular interest to health researchers and policy-makers, because it can impact population health outcomes; English, French and Chinese speaking immigrants are main immigrant sub-groups in Canada. Objectives: The multicultural study aims at examining general Health Status Change of English, French and Chinese speaking immigrants in Ottawa and Gatineau, Canada, and identifying demographic factors that correlate with the change and impact the change. Methods: In total, 810 English, French and Chinese speaking immigrants in Ottawa and Gatineau, Canada were recruited by purposive-sampling. Using self-reports, respondents answered questions regarding general Health Status and Demography in a Multicultural Lifestyle Change Questionnaire of English, French or Chinese version. Data in Health Status Change were analyzed statistically in percentage, significance of difference, correlation and regression. Results: Immigrants of different gender, language and category sub-groups exhibited different Health Status Change Rates, Health Status Improving Rates and Health Status Declining Rates, but no statistical difference between the rates. Immigrant general Health Status Change was correlated positively with Age and Primary Occupation, and negatively with Income. Mother Tongue, Primary Occupation and Income significantly impacted Health Status Change. Conclusion: Immigrants of different sub-groups in Canada experienced different health status change. The results supported “healthy immigrant effect”. The “decline in immigrant health status” over time existed in some of immigrant sub-groups. Data of immigrant health status change can provide evidence for health policy-making and policy-revising in Canada

Mood Change of English, French and Chinese Speaking Immigrants in Ottawa and Gatineau, Canada

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public.This multicultural study aimed at examining moodchange of English, French and Chinese speaking immigrants in Ottawa and Gatineau, Canada, and identifying demographic factors that impact the change. 810 immigrants of English, French and Chinese speaking sub-groupswere recruited by purposive-sampling. Using self-reports, respondents answered questions regarding moodchange (moodstatus change and mood belief change) and demography in Multicultural Lifestyle Change Questionnaire of English, French or Chinese version. Data were analyzed statistically for the different immigrant sub-groups. Immigrants of different gender, language and category sub-groups exhibited different Mood Change Rates, Mood Improving Rates, Mood Declining Rates and MoodBelief Change Rates. There was no statistical difference between the ratesof immigrant subgroups. Mood Change (MoodStatus Change + MoodBelief Change) was correlated positively with Mother Tongue and negatively with Speaking Languages. MoodStatusChange was negatively correlated with Marital Status and Highest Level of Education. Mother Tongue, Speaking Languages and Highest Level of Education significantly impacted MoodChange (MoodStatus Change + MoodBelief Change).Marital Status and Highest Level of Education significantly influenced MoodStatus Change. Immigrants of different sub-groups in Canada experience ddifferent mood changes. Marital Status and Highest Level of Educationweremain factors impactingMoodStatus Change. Mother Tongue and Speaking Languages wereprincipal factors influencing Mood Belief Change. Culture was an important factor contributingMoodChange. Acculturation could impact MoodStatus Change andMood Belief Change. Data of immigrant mood change can provide evidence for health policy-making and policy-revising in Canada

Alcohol Consumption Change of English, French and Chinese Speaking Immigrants in Ottawa and Gatineau, Canada

This is the author accepted manuscript (post-print) made available in accordance with publisher copyright policy. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10389-015-0666-7Aim: The multicultural study aimed at examining alcohol consumption change or drinking change of English, French and Chinese speaking immigrants in Ottawa and Gatineau, Canada, and identifying demographic factors that impact the change. Subjects and methods: In all, 810 immigrants of three language sub-groups were recruited by purposive-sampling. Using self-reports, respondents answered questions regarding drinking change and demography in the Multicultural Lifestyle Change Questionnaire in either the English, French or Chinese versions. Data on drinking were analyzed statistically. Results: The immigrants of different gender, language and category sub-groups exhibited different drinking rates, drinking rates before immigration, drinking rates after immigration, drinking change rates and drinking belief change rates. Drinking change (drinking behavior change + drinking belief change) was correlated positively with mother tongue and negatively with gender. Drinking behavior change was negatively correlated with gender and category of immigration. Mother tongue and gender significantly impacted drinking change. Gender significantly impacted drinking behavior change. Conclusion: The immigrants of different sub-groups in Canada experienced different drinking change. Mother tongue and gender were main impacting factors. Culture and acculturation were important contributing factors. Data of immigrant drinking change may provide evidence for drinking policy-making and policy-revising in Canada

Genome-guided methods for discovering new natural product from fungi

For decades, fungi have been an important source of medically relevant natural products (NPs). Recent advances in DNA sequencing have revealed that the biosynthetic potential of fungal genomes is much deeper than previously realized. Difficulties in culturing and genetically engineering many fungi, combined with the fact that many NP biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) are not expressed under standard laboratory conditions has lead to much of this biosynthetic potential remaining untapped. Here we describe the realization of a pipeline based in S. cerevisiae encompassing bioinformatic tools for BGC curation, genetic parts for BGC refactoring, and improved DNA assembly for BGC building. With this pipeline, we have successfully detected novel NPs from several previously unstudied fungal BGCs, and have structurally characterized a subset of the BGC-associated compounds. We also developed activity-guided methods to discover natural products of new function, and validated the biological activity using higher-order model systems. Our pipeline demonstrates how high-throughput synthetic biology tools can facilitate the rapid discovery of complex chemical scaffolds of potential pharmaceutical relevance and their production in model fungal hosts