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Deployment
Kinds of Deployment Terms modified by Deployment Selected AbstractsENDOSONOGRAPHY-GUIDED GALLBLADDER DRAINAGE FOR ACUTE CHOLECYSTITIS FOLLOWING COVERED METAL STENT DEPLOYMENTDIGESTIVE ENDOSCOPY, Issue 1 2009Osamu Takasawa Endosonography-guided biliary drainage (ESBD) is gaining acceptance as an effective treatment for obstructive jaundice. Only a few reports on the application of this technique to the gallbladder (endosonography-guided gallbladder drainage [ESGBD]) have been published in the literature. In order to relieve acute cholecystitis which developed in a patient with unresectable malignant biliary obstruction after deployment of a covered metal stent (CMS), we applied this technique. ESGBD was carried out by using an electronic curved linear array echoendoscope. After visualization of the gallbladder and determination of the puncture route, a needle knife papillotome was advanced with electrocautery to pierce the gastric and gallbladder walls. Under the guidance of a guidewire inserted through the needle sheath into the gallbladder, a 7.2 Fr, 30 cm-long, single pigtail plastic tube was placed to bridge the gallbladder and the stomach. No complications relevant to the procedure were encountered. ESGBD was quite effective in ameliorating the patient's acute cholecystitis and the drainage tube was removed after 10 days without sequelae. Acute cholecystitis following CMS deployment is considered to be a good indication for ESGBD. [source] CCLRC Portal infrastructure to support research facilitiesCONCURRENCY AND COMPUTATION: PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE, Issue 6 2007Asif Akram Abstract The emergence of portal technology is providing benefits in developing portlet interfaces to applications to meet the current and future requirements of CCLRC facilities support. Portlets can be reused by different projects, e.g. the high-profile Integrative Biology project (with the University of Oxford), and in different Java Specification Request 168 Portlet Specification (JSR 168) compliant portal frameworks. Deployment and maintenance of applications developed as portlets becomes easier and manageable. A community process is already beginning and many portal frameworks come with free-to-use useful portlets. As rendering is carried out in the framework, applications can be easily accessible and internationalized. Portlets are compatible with J2EE, thus providing additional capabilities required in the service-oriented architecture (SOA). We also describe how Web service gateways can be used to provide many of the functionalities encapsulated in a portal server in a way to support Grid applications. Portals used as a rich client can allow users to customize or personalize their user interfaces and even their workflow and application access. CCLRC facilities will be able to leverage the work so far carried out on the National Grid Service (NGS) and e-HTPX portals, as they are fully functional and have received detailed user feedback. This demonstrates the usefulness of providing advanced capabilities for e-Research and having the associated business logic in a SOA loosely coupled from the presentation layer for an Integrated e-Science Environment. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Ecological modernization and wind power in the UKENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND GOVERNANCE, Issue 3 2006Dave Toke Abstract We analyse the UK wind power programme using a particular variant of ecological modernization (EM) theory developed by Christoff (1996). This distinguishes between a centralist ,weak' EM strategy and a more decentralized ,strong' approach. A radical critique of EM is also considered. The ,weak' EM typology is most relevant to the case of wind power in the UK. However, ,strong' EM may have some purchase on account of its normative dimensions. Deployment of ,strong' EM may, in this case, go some way to defusing some of the criticisms made by observers operating from a radical green perspective. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] Parental Deployment and Youth in Military Families: Exploring Uncertainty and Ambiguous Loss,FAMILY RELATIONS, Issue 2 2007Angela J. Huebner Abstract: Parental deployment has substantial effects on the family system, among them ambiguity and uncertainty. Youth in military families are especially affected by parental deployment because their coping repertoire is only just developing; the requirements of deployment become additive to normal adolescent developmental demands. Focus groups were used to inquire about uncertainty, loss, resilience, and adjustment among youth aged 12,18 that had a parent deployed, most often to a war zone. The nature of uncertainty and ambiguous loss was explored. Response themes included overall perceptions of uncertainty and loss, boundary ambiguity, changes in mental health, and relationship conflict. These accounts suggest that ambiguous loss is a useful concept for understanding the experiences of these youth and for structuring prevention and intervention efforts. [source] QoS experiences in native IPv6 networksINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NETWORK MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2009Athanassios Liakopoulos Deployment of IPv6 technology in research and commercial networks has accelerated in the last few years. Inevitably, as more advanced services take advantage of the new technology, IPv6 traffic gradually increases. Today, there is limited experience in the deployment of Quality of Service (QoS) for IPv6 traffic in backbone networks that support the Differentiated Services framework. As available software and hardware are designed to handle IPv4 packets, there is a need to accurately measure and validate performance of QoS mechanisms in an IPv6 environment. This paper discusses tests and technical challenges in the deployment of IPv6 QoS in core networks, namely the production dual stack gigabit-speed Greek Research and Education Network (GRNET) and the IPv6-only 6NET European test network, using both hardware and software platforms. In either case, we succeeded in delivering advanced transport services to IPv6 traffic and provided different performance guarantees to portions of traffic. The deployed QoS schema was common to IPv6 and IPv4; in most cases both v4 and v6 traffic exhibited comparable performance per class, while imposing no significantly different overhead on network elements. A major conclusion of our tests is that the IPv6 QoS mechanisms are efficiently supported with state-of-the-art router cards at gigabit speeds. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Spatial Optimization of Resources Deployment for Forest-Fire ManagementINTERNATIONAL TRANSACTIONS IN OPERATIONAL RESEARCH, Issue 5 2001Maria Dimopoulou The main objective of forest-fire management is to minimize the damage caused by forest fires. This may be achieved by deploying fire-fighting forces in critical locations so as to detect fires as early as possible and quickly dispatch an initial attack force that can control them while they are small. Empirical studies have identified several factors that affect the development of a forest fire. In the present study, a methodology is employed to classify regions within a forest area according to these factors. The classification is based on information provided by a Geographic Information System (GIS). This information is then passed on to a spatial optimization model that determines the optimal location of fire-fighting resources. A maximal covering model is employed that takes into account the classification of regions by varying coverage in regions of different class. The method has been applied to the area of Parnitha, near Athens. [source] Clinical Usefulness of a Multielectrode Basket Catheter for Idiopathic Ventricular Tachycardia Originating from Right Ventricular Outflow TractJOURNAL OF CARDIOVASCULAR ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY, Issue 5 2001TAKESHI AIBA M.D. Basket Catheter in Idiopathic VT.Introduction: It often is difficult to determine the optimal ablation site for idiopathic ventricular tachycardia (VT) originating from the right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) when the VT or premature ventricular complex (PVC) does not occur frequently. The aim of our study was to evaluate the usefulness of a multielectrode basket catheter for ablation of idiopathic VT originating from the RVOT. Methods and Results: Radiofrequency (RF) catheter ablation was performed using a 4-mm tip, quadripolar catheter in 50 consecutive patients with 81 VTs originating from the RVOT with (basket group = 25 patients with 45 VTs) or without (control group = 25 patients with 36 VTs) predeployment of a multielectrode basket catheter composed of 64 electrodes. Deployment of the multielectrode basket catheter was possible and safe in all 25 patients in the basket group. Ablation was successful in 25 (100%) of 25 patients in the basket group and in 22 (88%) of 25 patients in the control group. The total number of RF applications and the number of RF applications per PVC morphology did not differ between the two groups. However, both the fluoroscopic and ablation procedure times per PVC morphology were shorter in the basket group than in the control group (36.8 ± 14.1 min vs 52.0 ± 32.5 min, P = 0.04; 60.0 ± 14.6 vs 81.5 ± 51.2 min, P = 0.05). This difference was more pronounced in the 29 patients in whom VT or PVC was not frequently observed. Conclusion: The multielectrode basket catheter is safe and useful for determining the optimal ablation site in patients with idiopathic VT originating from the RVOT, especially in those without frequent VT or PVC. [source] Contributions of electrochemical oxidation to waste-water treatment: fundamentals and review of applicationsJOURNAL OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY & BIOTECHNOLOGY, Issue 12 2009Ángela Anglada Abstract OVERVIEW: This paper provides an overview of some fundamental aspects of electrochemical oxidation and gives updated information on the application of this technology to waste-water treatment. In recent years, electrochemical oxidation has gained increasing interest due to its outstanding technical characteristics for eliminating a wide variety of pollutants normally present in waste-waters such as refractory organic matter, nitrogen species and microorganisms. IMPACT: The strict disposal limits and health quality standards set by legislation may be met by applying electrochemical oxidation. However, treatment costs have to be cut down before full-scale application of this technology. Deployment of electrochemical oxidation in combination with other technologies and the use of renewable sources to power this process are two steps in this direction. APPLICATIONS: Effluents from landfill and a wide diversity of industrial effluents including the agro-industry, chemical, textile, tannery and food industry, have been effectively treated by this technology. Its high efficiency together with its disinfection capabilities makes electro-oxidation a suitable technology for water reuse programs. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry [source] Validating the use of temperature data loggers to measure survival of songbird nestsJOURNAL OF FIELD ORNITHOLOGY, Issue 4 2006Karel Weidinger ABSTRACT Accurate determination of nest fates and nest predators is possible through continuous video monitoring, but such monitoring is relatively expensive and labor intensive. If documenting of the timing of nest termination events is sufficient, then data loggers (DL) may allow more extensive sampling and may represent a viable alternative. I validated temperature DL records of nest survival time by simultaneous videotaping and compared results derived from DL records with those obtained by regular nest visits by an observer. I estimated the fate of 937 nests of nine species of open cup-nesting songbirds, including 673 nests monitored using DL, 165 monitored using video cameras, 33 validation nests monitored simultaneously using both DL and video cameras, and 132 control nests monitored only by observer visits. Deployment of DL did not negatively influence nest survival rate. DL reliably recorded survival time and allowed classification of nest fates based on the potential fledging age, regardless of the frequency of nest visits by an observer. The true fate of nests that survived beyond the potential fledging age can not be safely determined from time of failure, except for nocturnal events that suggest partial predation. Video revealed frequent partial or complete predation on nests with old nestlings that would have been categorized as successful by other methods. I conclude that temperature DL are efficient, reliable, and relatively inexpensive tools for recording exact nest survival times and classification of nest fates, with implications for nest survival modeling and discriminating between diurnal and nocturnal predation. SINOPSIS Es posible determinar con precisión la sobrevicencia en nidos y la depredación en estos mediante el uso de videos contínuos. Pero dicho monitoreo es relativamente costoso y requiere mucho trabajo. Si el documentar el momento en que se termina el anidamiento es suficiente para obtener la información, previamente mencionada, el uso de bitácoras electrónicas de temperatura (loggers) pudieran permitir el tomar muestras más amplias y por ende, representar una alternativa viable. Validé la toma de temperaturas con bitácoras electrónicas para determinar la sobrevivencia en nidos con la toma simultánea de videos y comparé los resultados obtenidos (con la bitácora) con los datos tomados por un observador que visitó regularmente los nidos. El estudio se hizo con 937 nidos de nueve especies de aves canoras cuyo nido es en forma de copa. De estos 673 se monitorearon utilizando bitácoras electrónicas de temperatura, 165 con cámaras de video, 33 con monitoreo simultáneo de bitacora y video y 132, como control, monitoreados mediante observación directa. El uso de las bitácoras no influyó negativamente en la tasa de sobrevivencia. La bitácora grabó el tiempo de sobrervivencia y permitió la clasificación de los nidos (exitoso o no exitoso) basado en el tiempo potencial de la edad de dejar el nido, sin importar la frecuencia de visita a los nidos por parte de observadores. La verdadera finalidad de los nidos que sobreviven, más alla de la edad potencial de dejar el nido los pichones, no puede ser determinado con exactitud, excepto en eventos nocturnos que surgieren depredación. El uso de videos permitió determinar la depredación parcial o completa en nidos, particularmente de pichones que se tardaron más que el tiempo promedio en dejar el nido y que en estudios se asume que sobrevivieron. Puedo concluir que las bitácoras electrónicas de temperatura son eficientes, confiables, de bajo costo y permiten determinar con precisión la sobrevivencia en nidos y la clasificación de estos entre exitosos y no exitosos, con implicaciones para construir modelos de sobrevivencia y discriminar entre depredores diurnos y nocturnos. [source] The Residual Platelet Aggregation after Deployment of Intracoronary Stent (PREDICT) scoreJOURNAL OF THROMBOSIS AND HAEMOSTASIS, Issue 1 2008T. GEISLER Summary.,Background:,Recent studies suggest a high interindividual variability of response to clopidogrel associated with adverse cardiovascular outcome. Different clinical factors are considered to influence a persistent residual platelet aggregation (RPA) despite conventional antiplatelet therapy. Objectives:,To investigate clinical factors that affect RPA after 600-mg clopidogrel loading in a large unselected cohort of patients with symptomatic CAD. Methods:,The study population included a consecutive cohort of 1092 patients treated with coronary stenting for stable angina and acute coronary syndromes (ACS). Residual platelet activity was assessed by ADP (20 ,mol L,1)-induced platelet aggregation , 6 h after LD. Eleven clinical factors were included in the primary analysis. Results:,In multivariate regression analysis increased RPA was significantly influenced by ACS, reduced LV-function, diabetes mellitus, renal failure (creatinine > 1.5 mg dL,1), and age > 65 years. In a factor-weighed model the risk for high RPA increased with higher score levels (OR for patients with a score of 1,3, 1.21, 95% CI 0.7,2.1; score 4,6, OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.17,3.5; P = 0.01; score 7,9, OR 3.3, 95% CI 1.8,6.0). During a 30-day follow-up the incidence of major adverse events was higher in patients with RPA in the upper tertile (4.8% vs. 2.5% in the 2nd and 1.5% in the 1st tertile; P < 0.05). Conclusions:,The PREDICT score provides a good tool to estimate residual platelet activity after clopidogrel LD by easily available patient details. Additionally, we demonstrate its association with short-term outcome. Thus, patients with a high score may benefit from intensified antiplatelet therapy by improved platelet inhibition and risk reduction for thromboischemic events. [source] The Productivity Impact of IT Deployment: An Empirical Evaluation of ATM IntroductionOXFORD BULLETIN OF ECONOMICS & STATISTICS, Issue 5 2000Michelle Haynes The term ,IT paradox' has been widely used to describe the apparent failure of much economic research to discover significant productivity gains associated with IT investment. In part this has been ascribed to measurement problems associated with both IT inputs and with outputs in IT-intensive industries. The current paper seeks to circumvent these difficulties by taking the ATM as a clearly defined embodied IT application and then using anaugmented production function approach to isolate its productivity effectsacross a sample of UK building societies, over the period of the ATM'sdiffusion. The paper finds no support for the ,IT paradox' and reports large robust and statistically significant productivity gains associated with ATM introduction. [source] Safe motherhood in Jamaica: from slavery to self-determinationPAEDIATRIC & PERINATAL EPIDEMIOLOGY, Issue 4 2005Affette McCaw-Binns Summary The development of maternal health care in Jamaica is reviewed by examining government documents and publications to identify social and political factors associated with maternal mortality decline. Modern maternity services began with the 1887 establishment of the Victoria Jubilee Hospital and Midwifery School. Community midwives were deployed widely by the 1930s and community antenatal care expanded in the 1950s. Social policies in the 1970s increased women's access to primary health care, education and social support; improved transportation in the 1990s facilitated hospital delivery. Maternal mortality declined rapidly from ,600/100 000 in the 1930s to 200/100 000 in 1960, led by a 69% decline in sepsis by 1950, and a 72% decline from all causes thereafter, settling at ,100/100 000 in the 1980s. Skilled birth attendant deliveries moved from 39% in 1950 to 95% in 2001 and hospital births from 31% in 1960 to 91% in 2001. Maternal mortality plateaued at 70,80% prevalence of skilled delivery care. Deployment of midwives into rural communities and social development focused on women and children were associated with the observed improvements. Further reductions will require greater attention to the quality of emergency obstetric care. [source] Pain among Veterans Returning from Deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan: Update on the Veterans Health Administration Pain Research ProgramPAIN MEDICINE, Issue 7 2009Robert D. Kerns PhD First page of article [source] Customer-Driven Product Development Through Quality Function Deployment in the U.S. and JapanTHE JOURNAL OF PRODUCT INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2000John J. Cristiano Quality Function Deployment is a tool for bringing the voice of the customer into the product development process from conceptual design through to manufacturing. It begins with a matrix that links customer desires to product engineering requirements, along with competitive benchmarking information, and further matrices can be used to ultimately link this to design of the manufacturing system. Unlike other methods originally developed in the U.S. and transferred to Japan, the QFD methodology was born out of Total Quality Control (TQC) activities in Japan during the 1960s and has been transferred to companies in the U.S. This article reports on the results of a 1995 survey of more than 400 companies in the U.S. and Japan using QFD. The research questions investigated in this study were developed both inductively from QFD case studies in the U.S. and Japan and deductively from the literature. The reported results are in part counterintuitive. The U.S. companies reported a higher degree of usage, management support, cross-functional involvement, use of QFD driven data sources, and perceived benefits from using QFD. For the most part, the main uses of QFD in the U.S. were restricted to the first matrix ("House of Quality") that links customer requirements to product engineering requirements and rarely was this carried forward to later matrices. U.S. companies were more apt to use newly collected customer data sources (e.g., focus groups) and methods for analyzing customer requirements. Japanese companies reported using existing product data (e.g., warranty) and a broader set of matrices to a greater extent. The use of analytical techniques in conjunction with QFD (e.g., simulation, design of experiments, regression, mathematical target setting, and analytic hierarchy process) was not wide spread in either country. U.S. companies were more likely to report benefits of QFD in improving cross-functional integration and better decision-making processes compared to Japanese companies. Possible reasons for these cross-national differences as well as their implications are discussed. [source] Deployment of diversity for enhanced crop functionANNALS OF APPLIED BIOLOGY, Issue 3 2009A.C. Newton Abstract Mixtures of genotypes are the norm in natural and seminatural ecosystems and subsistence agriculture but have been replaced by pure genotypes in modern agriculture to maximise profitability in high-input systems. However, crop function with respect to the stability of yield and quality in particular tends to be lost in this process. Diversity can be reintroduced into cropping systems as a trait not only to confer stability but also to exploit synergies between component genotypes, compensating for potential performance losses against the best performing genotype in any given season or location. Quality need not be compromised, and research has demonstrated practical development and deployment approaches, which challenge the assumed benefits of current approaches to agronomy and achieve enhanced crop function. [source] Experimental evaluation of the JenaClip transcatheter aortic valve,CATHETERIZATION AND CARDIOVASCULAR INTERVENTIONS, Issue 3 2009Alexander Lauten Abstract Objective: Transcatheter techniques of aortic valve replacement are a treatment option for valvular heart disease in high-risk surgical candidates. We evaluated a self-expanding valve system with a novel mechanism of fixation in an experimental setting in an acute animal model and ex vivo in aortic root specimens. Method: A self-expanding nitinol stent containing a pericardial tissue valve was implanted in a transapical approach in 15 sheeps. The valve was introduced under fluoroscopic guidance through a 22F sheath by means of a specially designed delivery catheter. Deployment was performed on the beating heart without cardiopulmonary bypass or rapid ventricular pacing and facilitated by positioning feelers anchoring the device to the native aortic cusps. To investigate release and anchoring of the device during retrograde implantation, the stent was also implanted in aortic root specimens obtained from an autopsy series. Results: In animal experiments, stent deployment was primarily successful in 12 (80%) animals. Positioning feelers facilitated implantation by confirming the correct implantation plane of the stent and anchoring to the native aortic cusps. If primary location was not satisfactory the stent was retracted into the catheter and repositioned. After successful implantation no significant changes of hemodynamics were observed. Two animals (13%) developed ventricular fibrillation early in this experimental series due to displacement of one positioning element into a coronary ostium, major regurgitation was observed in two animals. Ex vivo evaluation of the device in aortic root specimens proved feasibility of stent release and leaflet fixation; ex vivo implantation was successful in all cases. Conclusion: .In this study, we demonstrate feasibility of a leaflet-fixation device in nondiseased aortic valves. The JenaClip provides an effective concept of fixation with positioning feelers that allows exact positioning without outflow obstruction and anchoring the valve to the native leaflets. Further studies are necessary to investigate this concept in diseased aortic valves. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Catheter closure of atrial septal defects with deficient inferior vena cava rim under transesophageal echo guidance,CATHETERIZATION AND CARDIOVASCULAR INTERVENTIONS, Issue 1 2009K.S. Remadevi MD Abstract Objectives: To describe the case selection, imaging considerations, technique, and results of catheter closure of atrial septal defects (ASD) with deficient inferior vena cava (IVC) rim. Background: Transcatheter closure with Amplatzer septal occluder (ASO) has become standard treatment for most secundum ASDs. Defects with deficient IVC rim continue to be challenging to image and close in the catheterization laboratory. Methods: Records of 12 patients with deficient IVC rim (<5 mm), who underwent catheter closure (April 2007 to June 2008) were reviewed. General anesthesia and transesophageal echo (TEE) guidance was used in all. The IVC rim was imaged at 70°,90° with retroflexion of the TEE probe, in addition to the conventional views. Devices 1,4 mm > maximal ASD size were selected. Deployment was accomplished either from the left atrium, left upper or from the right pulmonary veins. Results: The median age was 5.5 (2.5,27) years and median weight was 19.5 (9-65) kg. The defects measured 16,32 mm and 18,36 mm septal occluders were used. The median fluoroscopic time was 13.1 (4.2,32.7) min. Initial device selection was revised in four patients. Two patients had residual flows at IVC margin. The device embolized to right ventricular outflow tract in one patient. This was retrieved, and a larger device was deployed. No other complications were observed immediately or on follow-up (median 6; range 1,14 months). Conclusions: Transcatheter closure of ASDs with deficient IVC rim is feasible under TEE guidance. The modified retroflexed view allows adequate imaging of IVC rim through TEE. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Reducing Ambulance Response Times Using Geospatial,Time Analysis of Ambulance DeploymentACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 9 2010Marcus Eng Hock Ong MBBS (S'pore) ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE 2010; 17:951,957 © 2010 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine Abstract Objectives:, This study aimed to determine if a deployment strategy based on geospatial,time analysis is able to reduce ambulance response times for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OOHCA) in an urban emergency medical services (EMS) system. Methods:, An observational prospective study examining geographic locations of all OOHCA in Singapore was conducted. Locations of cardiac arrests were spot-mapped using a geographic information system (GIS). A progressive strategy of satellite ambulance deployment was implemented, increasing ambulance bases from 17 to 32 locations. Variation in ambulance deployment according to demand, based on time of day, was also implemented. The total number of ambulances and crews remained constant over the study period. The main outcome measure was ambulance response times. Results:, From October 1, 2001, to October 14, 2004, a total of 2,428 OOHCA patients were enrolled into the study. Mean ± SD age for arrests was 60.6 ± 19.3 years with 68.0% male. The overall return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) rate was 17.2% and survival to discharge rate was 1.6%. Response time decreased significantly as the number of fire stations/fire posts increased (Pearson ,2 = 108.70, df = 48, p < 0.001). Response times for OOHCA decreased from a monthly median of 10.1 minutes at the beginning to 7.1 minutes at the end of the study. Similarly, the proportion of cases with response times < 8 minutes increased from 22.3% to 47.3% and < 11 minutes from 57.6% to 77.5% at the end of the study. Conclusions:, A simple, relatively low-cost ambulance deployment strategy was associated with significantly reduced response times for OOHCA. Geospatial,time analysis can be a useful tool for EMS providers. [source] The Interdependence of U.S. Troop Deployments and Trade in the Developing WorldFOREIGN POLICY ANALYSIS, Issue 3 2009Glen Biglaiser The relationship between political conflict and trade has contributed to a riveting discussion in international relations about whether trade produces conflict, or whether conflict itself reduces trade. Most studies proxy "the flag" using militarized interstate disputes (MIDs). However, extensions of "the flag" might well obtain in environments short of MIDs. A more general way to proxy the flag is troop deployments. The deployment of military troops is an essential element of foreign policy. Using panel data for 126 developing countries from 1965 to 2002 and a two-stage least square approach, this essay investigates the relationship between trade and United States troop deployments. We find that trade and troops have a nonrecursive relationship: trade follows the flag and troops follow trade. Given the increased insecurity in the world today, the results are timely and reinforce previous research about the reciprocal relationship between the flag and trade. [source] On-Line Control Architecture for Enabling Real-Time Traffic System OperationsCOMPUTER-AIDED CIVIL AND INFRASTRUCTURE ENGINEERING, Issue 5 2004Srinivas Peeta Critical to their effectiveness are the control architectures that provide a blueprint for the efficient transmission and processing of large amounts of real-time data, and consistency-checking and fault tolerance mechanisms to ensure seamless automated functioning. However, the lack of low-cost, high-performance, and easy-to-build computing environments are key impediments to the widespread deployment of such architectures in the real-time traffic operations domain. This article proposes an Internet-based on-line control architecture that uses a Beowulf cluster as its computational backbone and provides an automated mechanism for real-time route guidance to drivers. To investigate this concept, the computationally intensive optimization modules are implemented on a low-cost 16-processor Beowulf cluster and a commercially available supercomputer, and the performance of these systems on representative computations is measured. The results highlight the effectiveness of the cluster in generating substantial computational performance scalability, and suggest that its performance is comparable to that of the more expensive supercomputer. [source] Case,Based Reasoning for Assessing Intelligent Transportation Systems BenefitsCOMPUTER-AIDED CIVIL AND INFRASTRUCTURE ENGINEERING, Issue 3 2003Adel Sadek Existing transportation planning modeling tools have critical limitations with respect to assessing the benefits of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) deployment. In this article, we present a novel framework for developing modeling tools for quantifying ITS deployments benefits. This approach is based on using case,based reasoning (CBR), an artificial intelligence paradigm, to capture and organize the insights gained from running a dynamic traffic assignment (DTA) model. To demonstrate the feasibility of the approach, the study develops a prototype system for evaluating the benefits of diverting traffic away from incident locations using variable message signs. A real,world network from the Hartford area in Connecticut is used in developing the system. The performance of the prototype is evaluated by comparing its predictions to those obtained using a detailed DTA model. The prototype system is shown to yield solutions comparable to those obtained from the DTA model, thus demonstrating the feasibility of the approach. [source] Coupling integrated Earth System Model components with BFG2CONCURRENCY AND COMPUTATION: PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE, Issue 6 2009C. W. Armstrong Abstract GENIE is a suite of modular Earth System Model components coupled in a variety of configurations used to investigate climate phenomena. As part of the GENIEfy project, there is a desire to make the activity of coupling GENIE configurations more flexible in order to ease the integration of new components, permit experimentation with alternative model orderings and connectivity, and execute GENIE components in distributed environments. The current coupling framework is inflexible because models are run in a fixed order by a prescriptive main code. This paper shows how the BFG2 (Bespoke Framework Generator,version 2) coupling tool offers significantly more flexibility. Using BFG2, scientists describe GENIE configurations as metadata that can then be transformed automatically into the desired framework. It is demonstrated that BFG2 provides flexibility in composition and deployment, improvements that are brought without modification to the GENIE components, without loss of performance and in a such a manner that it is possible to produce exactly the same results as under the original framework. We also demonstrate how BFG2 may be used to improve the performance of future GENIE coupled models. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Plug-and-play remote portlet publishingCONCURRENCY AND COMPUTATION: PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE, Issue 12 2007X. D. Wang Abstract Web Services for Remote Portlets (WSRP) is gaining attention among portal developers and vendors to enable easy development, increased richness in functionality, pluggability, and flexibility of deployment. Whilst currently not supporting all WSRP functionalities, open-source portal frameworks could in future use WSRP Consumers to access remote portlets found from a WSRP Producer registry service. This implies that we need a central registry for the remote portlets and a more expressive WSRP Consumer interface to implement the remote portlet functions. This paper reports on an investigation into a new system architecture, which includes a Web Services repository, registry, and client interface. The Web Services repository holds portlets as remote resource producers. A new data structure for expressing remote portlets is found and published by populating a Universal Description, Discovery and Integration (UDDI) registry. A remote portlet publish and search engine for UDDI has also been developed. Finally, a remote portlet client interface was developed as a Web application. The client interface supports remote portlet features, as well as window status and mode functions. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Performance analysis of high-performance file-transfer systems for Grid applicationsCONCURRENCY AND COMPUTATION: PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE, Issue 8 2006Cosimo Anglano Abstract Data-intensive Grid applications require the availability of tools able to transfer very large files in the shortest amount of time. Many file-transfer tools, based on solutions aimed at overcoming the limitations imposed by the TCP protocol, have recently been developed. In this paper we experimentally compare the performance of some of these tools in various network scenarios by running experiments on PlanetLab, an open platform for the development, deployment, and access of planetary-scale services, that comprises hundreds of hosts scattered across the globe. Our results show that solutions based on UDP and adopting rate-based algorithms result in better performance than other alternatives in most cases, while solutions based on TCP achieve similar performance only under specific circumstances. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Neuroscience instrumentation and distributed analysis of brain activity data: a case for eScience on global GridsCONCURRENCY AND COMPUTATION: PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE, Issue 15 2005Rajkumar Buyya Abstract The distribution of knowledge (by scientists) and data sources (advanced scientific instruments), and the need for large-scale computational resources for analyzing massive scientific data are two major problems commonly observed in scientific disciplines. Two popular scientific disciplines of this nature are brain science and high-energy physics. The analysis of brain-activity data gathered from the MEG (magnetoencephalography) instrument is an important research topic in medical science since it helps doctors in identifying symptoms of diseases. The data needs to be analyzed exhaustively to efficiently diagnose and analyze brain functions and requires access to large-scale computational resources. The potential platform for solving such resource intensive applications is the Grid. This paper presents the design and development of MEG data analysis system by leveraging Grid technologies, primarily Nimrod-G, Gridbus, and Globus. It describes the composition of the neuroscience (brain-activity analysis) application as parameter-sweep application and its on-demand deployment on global Grids for distributed execution. The results of economic-based scheduling of analysis jobs for three different optimizations scenarios on the world-wide Grid testbed resources are presented along with their graphical visualization. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Enabling interactive and collaborative oil reservoir simulations on the GridCONCURRENCY AND COMPUTATION: PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE, Issue 11 2005Manish Parashar Abstract Grid-enabled infrastructures and problem-solving environments can significantly increase the scale, cost-effectiveness and utility of scientific simulations, enabling highly accurate simulations that provide in-depth insight into complex phenomena. This paper presents a prototype of such an environment, i.e. an interactive and collaborative problem-solving environment for the formulation, development, deployment and management of oil reservoir and environmental flow simulations in computational Grid environments. The project builds on three independent research efforts: (1) the IPARS oil reservoir and environmental flow simulation framework; (2) the NetSolve Grid engine; and (3) the Discover Grid-based computational collaboratory. Its primary objective is to demonstrate the advantages of an integrated simulation infrastructure towards effectively supporting scientific investigation on the Grid, and to investigate the components and capabilities of such an infrastructure. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] A CORBA Commodity Grid KitCONCURRENCY AND COMPUTATION: PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE, Issue 13-15 2002Manish Parashar Abstract This paper reports on an ongoing research project aimed at designing and deploying a Common Object Resource Broker Architecture (CORBA) (ww.omg.org) Commodity Grid (CoG) Kit. The overall goal of this project is to enable the development of advanced Grid applications while adhering to state-of-the-art software engineering practices and reusing the existing Grid infrastructure. As part of this activity, we are investigating how CORBA can be used to support the development of Grid applications. In this paper, we outline the design of a CORBA CoG Kit that will provide a software development framework for building a CORBA ,Grid domain'. We also present our experiences in developing a prototype CORBA CoG Kit that supports the development and deployment of CORBA applications on the Grid by providing them access to the Grid services provided by the Globus Toolkit. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The ASCI Computational Grid: initial deploymentCONCURRENCY AND COMPUTATION: PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE, Issue 13-15 2002Randal Rheinheimer Abstract Grid Services, a Department of Energy Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative program, has designed, implemented, and deployed a grid-based solution for customer access to large computing resources at DOE weapons labs and plants. Customers can access and monitor diverse, geographically distributed resources using the common Grid Services interfaces. This paper discusses the architecture, security, and user interfaces of the Grid Services infrastructure. Published in 2002 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] A quality-of-service-based framework for creating distributed heterogeneous software componentsCONCURRENCY AND COMPUTATION: PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE, Issue 12 2002Rajeev R. Raje Abstract Component-based software development offers a promising solution for taming the complexity found in today's distributed applications. Today's and future distributed software systems will certainly require combining heterogeneous software components that are geographically dispersed. For the successful deployment of such a software system, it is necessary that its realization, based on assembling heterogeneous components, not only meets the functional requirements, but also satisfies the non-functional criteria such as the desired quality of service (QoS). In this paper, a framework based on the notions of a meta-component model, a generative domain model and QoS parameters is described. A formal specification based on two-level grammar is used to represent these notions in a tightly integrated way so that QoS becomes a part of the generative domain model. A simple case study is described in the context of this framework. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] THE CITY AS BARRACKS: Freetown, Monrovia, and the Organization of Violence in Postcolonial African CitiesCULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 3 2007DANNY HOFFMAN Responding to characterizations of the postcolonial African city as a negative space, theorists of African urban processes have begun to focus on the city's unique modes of production. But what does this emphasis on productive capacity mean if "the city" is not Johannesburg or Nairobi but the West African urban warscape of Freetown or Monrovia? I explore that question by examining how the labor of male urban youth is organized according to the logic of the barracks. I suggest that these West African capitals make labor simultaneously available for use on regional battlefields or mines, logging camps, or rubber plantations. Focusing on the Brookfields Hotel in central Freetown and Monrovia's Duala neighborhood underscores how urban spaces are increasingly configured by the structure and function of the barracks: as spaces for the organization and deployment of violent labor. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||