19,869 research outputs found
Interference Alignment in Regenerating Codes for Distributed Storage: Necessity and Code Constructions
Regenerating codes are a class of recently developed codes for distributed
storage that, like Reed-Solomon codes, permit data recovery from any arbitrary
k of n nodes. However regenerating codes possess in addition, the ability to
repair a failed node by connecting to any arbitrary d nodes and downloading an
amount of data that is typically far less than the size of the data file. This
amount of download is termed the repair bandwidth. Minimum storage regenerating
(MSR) codes are a subclass of regenerating codes that require the least amount
of network storage; every such code is a maximum distance separable (MDS) code.
Further, when a replacement node stores data identical to that in the failed
node, the repair is termed as exact.
The four principal results of the paper are (a) the explicit construction of
a class of MDS codes for d = n-1 >= 2k-1 termed the MISER code, that achieves
the cut-set bound on the repair bandwidth for the exact-repair of systematic
nodes, (b) proof of the necessity of interference alignment in exact-repair MSR
codes, (c) a proof showing the impossibility of constructing linear,
exact-repair MSR codes for d < 2k-3 in the absence of symbol extension, and (d)
the construction, also explicit, of MSR codes for d = k+1. Interference
alignment (IA) is a theme that runs throughout the paper: the MISER code is
built on the principles of IA and IA is also a crucial component to the
non-existence proof for d < 2k-3. To the best of our knowledge, the
constructions presented in this paper are the first, explicit constructions of
regenerating codes that achieve the cut-set bound.Comment: 38 pages, 12 figures, submitted to the IEEE Transactions on
Information Theory;v3 - The title has been modified to better reflect the
contributions of the submission. The paper is extensively revised with
several carefully constructed figures and example
Explicit Construction of Optimal Exact Regenerating Codes for Distributed Storage
Erasure coding techniques are used to increase the reliability of distributed
storage systems while minimizing storage overhead. Also of interest is
minimization of the bandwidth required to repair the system following a node
failure. In a recent paper, Wu et al. characterize the tradeoff between the
repair bandwidth and the amount of data stored per node. They also prove the
existence of regenerating codes that achieve this tradeoff.
In this paper, we introduce Exact Regenerating Codes, which are regenerating
codes possessing the additional property of being able to duplicate the data
stored at a failed node. Such codes require low processing and communication
overheads, making the system practical and easy to maintain. Explicit
construction of exact regenerating codes is provided for the minimum bandwidth
point on the storage-repair bandwidth tradeoff, relevant to
distributed-mail-server applications. A subspace based approach is provided and
shown to yield necessary and sufficient conditions on a linear code to possess
the exact regeneration property as well as prove the uniqueness of our
construction.
Also included in the paper, is an explicit construction of regenerating codes
for the minimum storage point for parameters relevant to storage in
peer-to-peer systems. This construction supports a variable number of nodes and
can handle multiple, simultaneous node failures. All constructions given in the
paper are of low complexity, requiring low field size in particular.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, in the Proceedings of Allerton Conference on
Communication, Control and Computing, September 200
Bitter Taste Receptors for Asthma Therapeutics.
Clinical management of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has primarily relied on the use of beta 2 adrenergic receptor agonists (bronchodilators) and corticosteroids, and more recently, monoclonal antibody therapies (biologics) targeting specific cytokines and their functions. Although these approaches provide relief from exacerbations, questions remain on their long-term efficacy and safety. Furthermore, current therapeutics do not address progressive airway remodeling (AR), a key pathological feature of severe obstructive lung disease. Strikingly, agonists of the bitter taste receptors (TAS2Rs) deliver robust bronchodilation, curtail allergen-induced inflammatory responses in the airways and regulate airway smooth muscle (ASM) cell proliferation and mitigate features of A
Sustainable valorisation of organic urban wastes : insights from African case studies
Understanding the problems and potentials of the organic waste stream is perhaps the single most important step that city authorities in Africa could take in moving towards sustainable, affordable, effective and efficient waste management. This publication presents four examples of recent attempts to manage organic waste sustainably in the African context. The participants in the ‘Nairobi organic urban waste’ project have structured this case exercise in order to use the case studies as object lessons, to harvest genuine insights into the feasibility of a variety of ways to successfully and sustainably valorise urban organic waste streams. Three contemporary case examples of compost production are presented. These include composting by a community-based organisation in the Kenyan private sector and by a public-private partnership in Malawi. In all three cases, the project and case study focus is on the relations between city waste and the agricultural supply chain. A fourth case study describes the technical and economic potential to produce and use biogas from urban organic waste
Evolution of the DeNOC-based dynamic modelling for multibody systems
Dynamic modelling of a multibody system plays very essential role in its analyses. As a result, several methods for dynamic modelling have evolved over the years that allow one to analyse multibody systems in a very efficient manner. One such method of dynamic modelling is based on the concept of the Decoupled Natural Orthogonal Complement (DeNOC) matrices. The DeNOC-based methodology for dynamics modelling, since its introduction in 1995, has been applied to a variety of multibody systems such as serial, parallel, general closed-loop, flexible, legged, cam-follower, and space robots. The methodology has also proven useful for modelling of proteins and hyper-degree-of-freedom systems like ropes, chains, etc. This paper captures the evolution of the DeNOC-based dynamic modelling applied to different type of systems, and its benefits over other existing methodologies. It is shown that the DeNOC-based modelling provides deeper understanding of the dynamics of a multibody system. The power of the DeNOC-based modelling has been illustrated using several numerical examples
Exploiting resource contention in highly mobile environments and its application to vehicular ad-hoc networks
As network resources are shared between many users, resource management must be a key part of any communication system as it is needed to provide seamless communication and to ensure that applications and servers receive their required Quality-of-Service. However, mobile environments also need to consider handover issues. Furthermore, in a highly mobile environment, traditional reactive approaches to handover are inadequate and thus proactive techniques have been investigated. Recent research in proactive handover techniques, defined two key parameters: Time Before Handover and Network Dwell Time for a mobile node in any given networking topology. Using this approach, it is possible to enhance resource management in common networks using probabilistic mechanisms because it is possible to express contention for resources in terms of: No Contention, Partial Contention and Full Contention. This proactive approach is further enhanced by the use of a contention queue to detect contention between incoming requests and those waiting for service. This paper therefore presents a new methodology to support proactive resource allocation for future networks such as Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks. The proposed approach has been applied to a vehicular testbed and results are presented that show that this approach can improve overall network performance in mobile heterogeneous environments
Local origins impart conserved bone type-related differences in human osteoblast behaviour
Osteogenic behaviour of osteoblasts from trabecular, cortical and subchondral bone were examined to determine any bone type-selective differences in samples from both osteoarthritic (OA) and osteoporotic (OP) patients. Cell growth, differentiation; alkaline phosphatase (TNAP) mRNA and activity, Runt-related transcription factor-2 (RUNX2), SP7-transcription factor (SP7), bone sialoprotein-II (BSP-II), osteocalcin/bone gamma-carboxyglutamate (BGLAP), osteoprotegerin (OPG, TNFRSF11B), receptor activator of nuclear factor-κβ ligand (RANKL, TNFSF11) mRNA levels and proangiogenic vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) mRNA and protein release were assessed in osteoblasts from paired humeral head samples from age-matched, human OA/OP (n = 5/4) patients. Initial outgrowth and increase in cell number were significantly faster (p < 0.01) in subchondral and cortical than trabecular osteoblasts, in OA and OP, and this bone type-related differences were conserved despite consistently faster growth in OA. RUNX2/SP7 levels and TNAP mRNA and protein activity were, however, greater in trabecular than subchondral and cortical osteoblasts in OA and OP. BSP-II levels were significantly greater in trabecular and lowest in cortical osteoblasts in both OA and OP. In contrast, BGLAP levels showed divergent bone type-selective behaviour; highest in osteoblasts from subchondral origins in OA and trabecular origins in OP. We found virtually identical bone type-related differences, however, in TNFRSF11B:TNFSF11 in OA and OP, consistent with greater potential for paracrine effects on osteoclasts in trabecular osteoblasts. Subchondral osteoblasts (OA) exhibited highest VEGF-A mRNA levels and release. Our data indicate that human osteoblasts in trabecular, subchondral and cortical bone have inherent, programmed diversity, with specific bone type-related differences in growth, differentiation and pro-angiogenic potential in vitro
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