A self‐scalable load injection service

Load testing of applications is an important and costly activity for software provider companies. Classical solutions are very difficult to set up statically, and their cost is prohibitive in terms of both human and hardware resources. Virtualized cloud computing platforms provide new opportunities for stressing an application's scalability, by providing a large range of flexible and less expensive (pay‐per‐use model) computation units. On the basis of these advantages, load testing solutions could be provided on demand in the cloud. This paper describes a Benchmark‐as‐a‐Service solution that automatically scales the load injection platform and facilitates its setup according to load profiles. Our approach is based on: (i) virtualization of the benchmarking platform to create self‐scaling injectors; (ii) online calibration to characterize the injector's capacity and impact on the benched application; and (iii) a provisioning solution to appropriately scale the load injection platform ahead of time. We also report experiments on a benchmark illustrating the benefits of this system in terms of cost and resource reductions. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Drift hole mobility in strained and unstrained doped Si1-xGex alloys

Results of the drift hole mobility in strained and unstrained SiGe alloys are reported for Ge fractions varying from 0 to 30% and doping levels of 10¹⁵-10¹⁹ cm^-3. The mobilities are calculated taking into account acoustic, optical, alloy, and ionized-impurity scattering. The mobilities are then compared with experimental results for a boron doping concentration of 2×10¹⁹ cm^-3. Good agreement between experimental and theoretical values is obtained. The results show an increase in the mobility relative to that of silicon     

Artificial neural networks for coordination and control: The portability of experiential representations

It is time to locate connectionist representation theory in the new wave of robotics research. The utility of representations developed in artificial neural networks (ANNs) during learning has been demonstrated in cognitive science research since the 1980s. The research reported here puts learned representations to work in a decentered control task, the disembodied arm problem, in which a mobile robot operates an arm fixed to a table to pick up objects. There is no physical linkage between the arm and the robot and so the robot's point of view must be decentered. This is done by developing a modular Artificial Neural Net system in three stages: (i) a classifier net is trained with laser scan data to output transformationally invariant position classes; (ii) an arm net is trained for picking up objects; (iii) an inter net is trained to communicate and coordinate the sensing and acting. The completed system is shown to create new nonsymbolic transformationally invariant representations in order to perform the effective generalization of decentered viewpoints.     

Kinetic analysis of papaya proteinase omega

Papaya proteinase omega (pp omega) has been purified from dried latex both by immunoaffinity and traditional methods. Kinetic analysis revealed that (1), the pp omega-catalysed hydrolysis of N-benzoyl-L-arginine p-nitroanilide (BApNA) has a lower specificity (kcat/Km) than the same reaction catalysed by papain; (2), the pp omega-catalysed hydrolysis of a tripeptide substrate having phenylalanine at the second position (S2-site) showed a more similar specificity to that catalysed by papain; (3), the significant difference between the two enzymes is that steady state kinetics with both L-BApNA and a tripeptide enables the identification in pp omega of other ionizations affecting binding. The active sites of papain and pp omega can therefore be distinguished by pH-dependence of kcat/Km.     

Evaluating the mixing performance of a ribbon blender

This paper investigates the effects of processing and equipment parameters of a ribbon blender (i.e. loading method of lubricant, fill level, blade speed and blade design) on magnesium stearate homogeneity. A core sampling technique is used to obtain at least one hundred samples per sampling event, which are extracted throughout the blender and yield a thorough characterization of the entire bed. The results presented here can be used as a guideline to develop appropriate blending processes and characterization protocols for ribbon blenders.     

Comparison between photocatalytic ozonation and other oxidation processes for the removal of phenols from water

Photocatalytic ozonation (1O₃ + VUV + TiO₂), ozonation (O₃), catalytic ozonation (O₃ + TiO₂), ozone photolysis (O₃ + VUV), photocatalysis (TiO₂ + VUV) and photolysis (VUV) have been compared in terms of formation of intermediates, extent of, mineralization (TOC, COD, chloride, nitrate) and kinetics in the aqueous treatment of three phenols (phenol, p‐chlorophenol and p‐nitrophenol). In all cases, photocatalytic ozonation led to lower degradation times for chemical oxygen demand and total organic carbon removal. Intermediates formed were similar in the different oxidation systems with some exceptions. They can be classified into three different types: polyphenols (resorcinol, catechol, hydroquinone), unsaturated carboxylic acids (maleic and fumaric acids) and saturated carboxylic acids (glyoxylic, formic and oxalic acids). First order kinetic equations have been checked for the oxidation processes studied in the case of the parent compound. Rate constants of these systems have also been calculated. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry     

Conflict structure moderates associations between cardiovascular reactivity and negative marital interaction.

This study examined the role of marital conflict structure--who desires and requests change versus who responds to the change request--in spouses' cardiovascular responses to marital interactions. Forty-one couples discussed 2 marital topics: one in which the wife desired change in the husband, and one in which the husband desired change in the wife. Cardiovascular responses were assessed at 2-min intervals. Results indicated that marital conflict structure moderates cardiovascular reactivity during negative marital interactions: Husbands and wives whose interactions were characterized by high levels of negative behavior showed the most pronounced diastolic blood pressure reactivity, but only when they were in the role of desiring change in their spouses. Implications for gender differences in marital conflict physiology are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)