Distributed Coordination and Workflow on the World Wide Web

This paper describes WebFlow, an environment thatsupports distributed coordination services on theWorld Wide Web. WebFlow leverages the HTTP Webtransport protocol and consists of a number of toolsfor the development of applications that require thecoordination of multiple, distributed servers.Typical applications of WebFlow include distributeddocument workspaces, inter/intra-enterprise workflow,and electronic commerce. In this paper we describe thegeneral WebFlow architecture for distributedcoordination, and then focus on the environment fordistributed workflow.     

Supernovae and gamma-ray bursts in the induced gravitational collapse paradigm

I review recent progress in the understanding of long, energetic (10⁵²–10⁵⁴ erg) gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) associated to supernovae (SN) Ib/c. This occurrence is explained within the Induced Gravitational Collapse (IGC) paradigm, following the sequence: 1) an initial binary system consists in a compact Iron-Carbon-Oxygen (FeCO) core and a neutron star (NS); 2) the FeCO core explodes, giving origin to a SN, and part of the SN ejecta accretes onto the NS which reaches its criticalmass and collapses to a black hole (BH) giving rise to a long GRB; 3) a new NS (ν-NS) is generated by the SN as a remnant. Observational consequences of this scenario are outlined.     

Low-cost telepresence for collaborative virtual environments

We present a novel low-cost method for visual communication and telepresence in a CAVEtrade-like environment, relying on 2D stereo-based video avatars. The system combines a selection of proven efficient algorithms and approximations in a unique way, resulting in a convincing stereoscopic real-time representation of a remote user acquired in a spatially immersive display. The system was designed to extend existing projection systems with acquisition capabilities requiring minimal hardware modifications and cost. The system uses infrared-based image segmentation to enable concurrent acquisition and projection in an immersive environment without a static background. The system consists of two color cameras and two additional b/w cameras used for segmentation in the near-IR spectrum. There is no need for special optics as the mask and color image are merged using image-warping based on a depth estimation. The resulting stereo image stream is compressed, streamed across a network, and displayed as a frame-sequential stereo texture on a billboard in the remote virtual environment     

XPECT: a framework for electronic commerce

Electronic commerce is emerging as one of the most important applications on the Internet, with the potential to revolutionize the whole structure of retail merchandising and shopping. There is already a need for an information technology infrastructure that goes well beyond the simple capabilities offered by the current development environments for Internet applications. For electronic commerce to really take off, however, it will have to give shoppers options not available through traditional commercial channels. This implies the further need for an infrastructure that can support complex and flexible services to manage customer tailored requests in the context of highly dynamic networks and federations of providers. To achieve this level of support will mean using the functionalities now considered to be whole applications as the elementary building blocks of e-commerce applications. Among these functionalities are: transactional payment; workflow; and multiparty agreement. To address these issues, we developed XPect, a generic framework for electronic commerce. The XPect framework supports the integration of multiple component functionalities. It is implemented in the Coordination Language Facility, an object based distributed application development tool. CLF assumes an object model of autonomous agents that can engage in interactions, more sophisticated than those in the traditional object paradigm. In addition, CLF allows for dynamically adding new services and for coordinating the access to multiple services     

Critical Role for the Protons in FRTL-5 Thyroid Cells: Nuclear Sphingomyelinase Induced-Damage

Proliferating thyroid cells are more sensitive to UV-C radiations than quiescent cells. The effect is mediated by nuclear phosphatidylcholine and sphingomyelin metabolism. It was demonstrated that proton beams arrest cell growth and stimulate apoptosis but until now there have been no indications in the literature about their possible mechanism of action. Here we studied the effect of protons on FRTL-5 cells in culture. We showed that proton beams stimulate slightly nuclear neutral sphingomyelinase activity and inhibit nuclear sphingomyelin-synthase activity in quiescent cells whereas stimulate strongly nuclear neutral sphingomyelinase activity and do not change nuclear sphingomyelin-synthase activity in proliferating cells. The study of neutral sphingomyelinase/sphingomyelin-synthase ratio, a marker of functional state of the cells, indicated that proton beams induce FRTL-5 cells in a proapoptotic state if the cells are quiescent and in an initial apoptotic state if the cells are proliferating. The changes of cell life are accompanied by a decrease of nuclear sphingomyelin and increase of bax protein.     

Surface hydrothermal alteration mapping at Vulcano Island using MIVIS data

Remotely sensed data (airborne hyperspectral Multispectral Infrared and Visible Imaging Spectroradiometer (MIVIS) data) were used to map active hydrothermal areas at Vulcano island (Sicily), related to a shallow magmatic chamber inducing hot fluid movements in the overlying rocks. A multispectral analysis was carried out using selected MIVIS band combinations and field spectra of selected altered surfaces. Results were checked by field survey, especially in the most active La Fossa crater area, where the zonation of a superficial high sulphidation hydrothermal system was reconstructed. The band selection used was able to clearly discriminate between fresh and hydrothermally altered rocks, especially at La Fossa crater; but differences between advanced argillic and the silicic alteration facies, as identified by field spectra, were not recognized, probably due to the occurrence of fumaroles. Despite the bias introduced by vegetation cover, illumination conditions and buildings, previously unrecognized sites of potential hydrothermal alteration and fumaroles were mapped in the northern sector of Vulcano island.     

Realization of a New Inverter Circuit for Direct Photovoltaic Energy Feedback into the Public Grid

A new regulated utility interactive inverter for direct photovoltaic energy feedback to the mains has been realized. A modulated buck converter converts the photovoltaic dc current to a rectified 50-Hz sine wave current, and the following self-commutated half-bridge generates a 50-Hz sine wave current, which is fed into one phase of the public power grid. This nonclassical inverter needs only three power transistor switches and isolates the grid and the photovoltaic array using a commercial 50-Hz transformer. It acts as a current source, and due to pulsewidth modulation its output is a sine wave current with very low total harmonic distortion of one percent. The overall efficiency of the 1-kW prototype is at least 88 percent between 250 and 1000 W, and the projected efficiency is over 90 percent for 1-20 kW. Furthermore, a circuit which tracks the maximum power available from the photovoltaic generator has been developed. This circuit regulates the input power to its maximum by detecting the phase angle between the voltage and power ripples at the inverter input.