A survey of QoS architectures

Over the past several years there has been a considerable amount of research within the field of quality-of-service (QoS) support for distributed multimedia systems. To date, most of the work has been within the context of individual architectural layers such as the distributed system platform, operating system, transport subsystem and network layers. Much less progress has been made in addressing the issue of overall end-to-end support for multimedia communications. In recognition of this, a number of research teams have proposed the development of QoS architectures which incorporate QoS-configurable interfaces and QoS driven control and management mechanisms across all architectural layers. This paper examines the state-of-the-art in the development of QoS architectures. The approach taken is to present QoS terminology and a generalized QoS framework for understanding and discussing QoS in the context of distributed multimedia systems. Following this, we evaluate a number of QoS architectures that have emerged in the literature.     

Psychological and Social Predictors of Changes in Fruit and Vegetable Consumption Over 12 Months Following Behavioral and Nutrition Education Counseling.

This study assessed psychological and social factors predicting 12-month changes in fruit and vegetable consumption achieved by 271 men and women from a low-income population randomized to brief behavioral and nutrition education counseling. Greater increases in fruit and vegetable intake were achieved in the behavioral than in the nutrition education condition (1.49 vs. 0.87 portions per day, p=.021). Increases were predicted by baseline social support for dietary change but not by baseline psychological measures. However, short-term (8-week) changes in dietary self-efficacy, encouragement, anticipated regret, perceived benefits, and knowledge of recommended intake predicted 12-month changes in fruit and vegetable consumption independently of gender, age, ethnicity, income, and baseline intake. These factors accounted for 51% of the superiority of behavioral counseling over nutrition education. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Audience-induced inhibition of overt practice during learning.

Three experiments with 204 undergraduates examined the hypothesis that an audience can inhibit overt practice and thereby impair learning of unfamiliar words and enhance learning of familiar words. This hypothesis was derived from an analysis of motoric and symbolic mediation during learning. In comparison with learning while alone, the results show that the audience inhibited overt practice of unfamiliar and familiar words and that reduced practice was detrimental to learning unfamiliar words. Inhibition of overt practice with an audience enhanced learning of familiar words in only 1 of the experiments. Instructions to practice overtly reduced the audience-inhibition effect in learning unfamiliar words. The studies are discussed in the context of drive-theory explanations for social facilitation effects in learning. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Charles R. (Bob) Schuster (1930–2011).

Charles R. (Bob) Schuster, an internationally recognized researcher on the psychopharmacology of drugs of abuse, passed away on February 21, 2011. Bob Schuster was a pioneer in the scientific study of addiction and one of the founders of a specialized research field called behavioral pharmacology. Bob mentored many young scientists, including 15 doctoral students, 9 postdoctoral fellows, and many visiting scientists from around the world, as well as junior faculty members at the academic institutions where he had faculty appointments. Bob was active in numerous professional organizations and was the recipient of many national and international awards. Personally, Bob Schuster touched the lives of a great many people: his students, colleagues, extended family, and many friends. Bob is survived by his wife and colleague Chris-Ellyn Johanson; four children, Lyzbett, Rebecca, Robert, and Alyson; and seven grandchildren. He is also survived by his sister Bette Quemore. He was a man of many talents, a loving husband and father, and a great friend. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of coping in the relationship between perceived racism and racism-related stress for Asian Americans: Gender differences.

On the basis of stress and coping theory, the authors examined coping as a mediator of the relationship between perceptions of racism and racism-related stress with a sample of Asian American college students (N = 336). Results indicated that coping mediated the relationship between racism and racism-related stress differentially by gender. The more that men perceived racism, the more likely they were to use support-seeking coping strategies that were associated with higher levels of racism-related stress. The more that women perceived racism, the more they used active coping strategies that were associated with higher levels of racism-related stress. The findings demonstrate how coping with racism differs for Asian Americans on the basis of gender. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Modulated pulse laser with pseudorandom coding capabilities for underwater ranging, detection, and imaging

Optical detection, ranging, and imaging of targets in turbid water is complicated by absorption and scattering. It has been shown that using a pulsed laser source with a range-gated receiver or an intensity modulated source with a coherent RF receiver can improve target contrast in turbid water. A blended approach using a modulated-pulse waveform has been previously suggested as a way to further improve target contrast. However only recently has a rugged and reliable laser source been developed that is capable of synthesizing such a waveform so that the effect of the underwater environment on the propagation of a modulated pulse can be studied. In this paper, we outline the motivation for the modulated-pulse (MP) concept, and experimentally evaluate different MP waveforms: single-tone MP and pseudorandom coded MP sequences.     

Ferroptosis Modulation: Potential Therapeutic Target for Glioblastoma Treatment

Glioblastoma multiforme is a lethal disease and represents the most common and severe type of glioma. Drug resistance and the evasion of cell death are the main characteristics of its malignancy, leading to a high percentage of disease recurrence and the patients’ low survival rate. Exploiting the modulation of cell death mechanisms could be an important strategy to prevent tumor development and reverse the high mortality and morbidity rates in glioblastoma patients. Ferroptosis is a recently described type of cell death, which is characterized by iron accumulation, high levels of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA)-containing phospholipids, and deficiency in lipid peroxidation repair. Several studies have demonstrated that ferroptosis has a potential role in cancer treatment and could be a promising approach for glioblastoma patients. Thus, here, we present an overview of the mechanisms of the iron-dependent cell death and summarize the current findings of ferroptosis modulation on glioblastoma including its non-canonical pathway. Moreover, we focused on new ferroptosis-inducing compounds for glioma treatment, and we highlight the key ferroptosis-related genes to glioma prognosis, which could be further explored. Thereby, understanding how to trigger ferroptosis in glioblastoma may provide promising pharmacological targets and indicate new therapeutic approaches to increase the survival of glioblastoma patients.     

Utilizing identity-by-descent probabilities for genetic fine-mapping in population based samples, via spatial smoothing of haplotype effects

Genetic fine mapping can be performed by exploiting the notion that haplotypes that are structurally similar in the neighbourhood of a disease predisposing locus are more likely to harbour the same susceptibility allele. Within the framework of Generalized Linear Mixed Models this can be formalized using spatial smoothing models, i.e. inducing a covariance structure for the haplotype risk parameters, such that risks associated with structurally similar haplotypes are dependent. In a Bayesian procedure a local similarity measure is calculated for each update of the presumed disease locus. Thus, the disease locus is searched as the place where the similarity structure produces risk parameters that can best discriminate between cases and controls.From a population genetic perspective the use of an identity-by-descent based similarity metric is theoretically motivated. This approach is then compared to other more intuitively motivated models and other similarity measures based on identity-by-state, suggested in the literature.     

Spanish Content on Hospital Websites: An Analysis of U.S. Hospitals' in Concentrated Latino Communities

This study explores the nature and extent of Spanish language translation of hospital websites. A quantitative content analysis of 121 U.S. hospital websites located in Hispanic communities was conducted. Results indicate that a significant number of U.S. hospitals fail on their websites to offer equal content for Spanish language users. The study also examines several factors potentially associated with the incidence of website translation. First, organizational factors such as hospital size, ownership type and formal statements of diversity commitment are investigated. Second, demographic factors such as county population size and Hispanic population size are also considered. Hispanics' use of the Internet, the digital divide, culture's impact on Internet use, and eHealth provide a background for discussion of the findings.     

Attribute Charts for Monitoring the Mean Vector of Bivariate Processes

This article proposes two Shewhart charts, denoted np_xy and np_w charts, which use attribute inspection to control the mean vector (μ_x; μ_y)′ of bivariate processes. The units of the sample are classified as first‐class, second‐class, or third‐class units, according to discriminate limits and the values of their two quality characteristics, X and Y. When the np_xy chart is in use, the monitoring statistic is M = N₁ + N₂, where N₁ and N₂ are the number of sample units with a second‐class and third‐class classification, respectively. When the np_w chart is in use, the monitoring statistic is W = N₁ + 2N₂. We assume that the quality characteristics X and Y follow a bivariate normal distribution and that the assignable cause shifts the mean vector without changing the covariance matrix. In general, the synthetic np_xy and np_w charts require twice larger samples to outperform the T² chart. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.