A Framework for Using Web Services to Enhance QoS for Content Delivery

An integrated approach to quality of service for content delivery using Web services includes quality definitions, user contracts, and fault monitoring.     

Quantitative Analysis of the Leakage of Confidential Data

Basic information theory is used to analyse the amount of confidential information which may be leaked by programs written in a very simple imperative language. In particular, a detailed analysis is given of the possible leakage due to equality tests and if statements. The analysis is presented as a set of syntax-directed inference rules and can readily be automated.     

AN EMPIRICAL EVALUATION OF PARAMETER SENSITIVITY TO CHOICE SET DEFINITION IN SHOPPING DESTINATION CHOICE MODELS

ABSTRACT This paper empirically examines parameter sensitivity to choice set specification in the context of shopping destination choice, using supermarket choice data from Gainesville, Horida. We estimate parameters of the widely applied multinomial logit (MNL) discrete choice mode) multiple times. Each estimation uses, for all observations, a single randomly selected subset of the universal choice set. The distribution of parameter estimates is examined for specific market segments and choice subset sizes. The results indicate that the parameters of the model can be quite sensitive to the selection of the choice set used in the calibration. However, this sensitivity is not even across all parameters and there are some interesting variations. Distance deterrence and chain image parameters, for example, exhibit much more stability than parameters for store size and store competition. Li addition, model parameters show encouraging stability with relatively small choice sets of seven to ten stores.     

New Raman pump module for reducing pump-signal four-wave-mixing interaction in co-pumped distributed Raman amplifiers

We propose a new Raman pump module that effectively reduces four-wave-mixing (FWM) nonlinear interaction among longitudinal pump modes and wavelength-division-multiplexed (WDM) signals in co-pumped distributed Raman amplifiers based on nonzero dispersion-shifted fibers (NZ-DSFs). Theory and experiments confirm that the proposed pump module structure, based on polarization- and wavelength-multiplexed Fabry-Perot lasers, allows distributed amplification with high co-propagating on-off Raman gain, providing a key technology for all-Raman-based dense-WDM ultralong-haul transmission.     

An ADC histogram test based on small-amplitude waves

This paper deals with a new method improving the static test for analogue-to-digital converters. The method is based on a histogram procedure using as test signals small-amplitude triangular waves superimposed on suitable constant offset values. The histogram is built over the converter fullscale by varying the offset step by step systematically. A small amplitude and a reduced time slope in comparison to the converter range and slew rate, respectively, lead to static test conditions. This procedure allows inexpensive function generators to be used and the test duration to be dramatically reduced. Experimental results of tests aimed at validating, characterizing, and comparing the proposed method on two different converter architectures are presented.     

A schedulability condition for deadline-ordered service disciplines

In a deadline-ordered service discipline, packets are assigned transmission deadlines and eligibility times and are transmitted in increasing order of deadlines. Different deadline-ordered service disciplines are distinguished by how they calculate deadlines and eligibility times. One of the more difficult analytical problems one faces when designing a new deadline-ordered service discipline is to prove that one can bound the end of transmission times of packets relative to their assigned deadlines, which we call schedulability. We show that, no matter how one calculates deadlines, there is a simple schedulability condition for deadline-ordered service disciplines. This schedulability condition is necessary and sufficient for preemptive deadline-ordered service disciplines, and for a server that allows the presence of nonreal-time packets (i.e., packets with no deadlines), it is also necessary and sufficient for nonpreemptive deadline-ordered service disciplines. We also address the schedulability problem for service disciplines in general, and show the optimality of deadline-ordered service disciplines. To demonstrate how our results simplify schedulability determination, we use them to prove the known schedulability conditions of VirtualClock, Packet-by-Packet Generalized Processor Sharing (PGPS), Stop-and-Go, and Delay-Earliest-Due-Date (Delay-EDD), and to provide a new result, the necessary schedulability condition of VirtualClock     

Percutaneous blind needle biopsy versus combined laparoscopic excisional and guided needle biopsy in the diagnosis of liver disorders in pediatric patients

A special interest, both in scientific publications and in the mass media, is recently emerged about the use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in post-menopausal women. Beside, in fact, the specific indication for the relief of menopausal symptoms, hypotheses are debated about a possible role of HRT in the reduction of risk of osteoporosis and cardiovascular diseases, and in the increased risk of breast cancer. This situation emphasizes the need for assessing the benefit/risk profile for HRT in order to ensure that strategies of proven clinical effectiveness, based on large randomized clinical trials, will be adopted in the population.     

Effect of hemodiafiltration with endogenous reinfusion on overt idiopathic chronic inflammation in maintenance hemodialysis patients: A multicenter longitudinal study

Chronic inflammation is widely diffuse in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients and is associated with poor survival. Hemodiafiltration with endogenous reinfusion (HFR) is a dialysis technique, highly biocompatible, able to adsorb proinflammatory cytokines and to decrease amino acids and antioxidants loss. These features could be helpful in MHD patients affected by idiopathic chronic inflammation, but this issue remains to be elucidated. We performed a multicenter longitudinal study to assess the effect of the switching from bicarbonate HD to HFR in patients with serum C‐reactive Protein (CRP) > 5 mg/L coupled with albumin <4.0 g/dL in the last 6 months. We enrolled 24/176 (14%) patients, of which 20 patients were assessed at 4 months and 18 completed the study. We excluded 11 patients with evident causes of inflammation. At baseline, serum levels of CRP (18.7[7.0–39.4] mg/L) and albumin (3.5[3.3–3.7] g/dL) were significantly correlated (r = ?0.49; P = 0.028). The effect on CRP and albumin was almost evident in the first 4 months and remained stable until to eighth month. A strict correlation (R = ?0.49; 0.040) between percentage change of CRP (?35%) and albumin (+14%) after 8 months of HFR. These effects were associated with the reduction of IL‐6, IL‐1β, and TNF‐α and the increment of pre‐albumin and leptin, whereas the serum levels of Branched Chain Amino Acid (BCAA) remained unchanged. In MHD patients affected by idiopathic chronic inflammation the switching from BHD to HFR is associated with improvement of inflammation. Whether these favorable effects may modify the outcomes of these high‐risk patients needs to be confirmed by studies ad hoc.     

A closed-loop jacobian transpose scheme for solving the inverse kinematics of nonredundant and redundant wrists

The solution of the inverse kinematic problem is of the utmost importance in robotic manipulator control. This article proposes a closed-loop scheme for solving the inverse kinematic problem for nonredundant and redundant wrists based on the computation of the Jacobian transpose. The manipulability measure is suitably introduced as a constraint for redundant wrists, by taking advantage of the null space of the Jacobian matrix. The resulting algorithm provides a computational tool to solve a specified orientation trajectory into a joint trajectory. Numerical results with two spherical wrists show the excellent performance of the scheme.