14 research outputs found
Virender Sehwag and Cricket’s Existential Anxiety
No full textThe article is in the nature of a personal interpretation of the illustrious career of former Indian batsman Virender Sehwag. Known for his swashbuckling stroke play, he found his niche at the top of the famed Test batting line up that once boasted of the likes of Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, V.V.S. Laxman and Saurav Ganguly, despite unanimous opinion of critics about the glaring deficiencies in his batting technique. His rather inconsistent returns in limited overs cricket run counter to the conventional wisdom that associates the ‘copybook style’ of batting with greater successes in the longest format of the sport. The article is less of an attempt to a statistical analysis of the batsman for reaching a quantitative explanation for the said ‘anomaly’ in his performances, and more of an enquiry into his ‘inner world’ as a batsman, offering a metaphorical insight into the existential dichotomy of the longer and shorter formats of cricket. The author draws from the perspective of Danish theologian Soren Kierkegaard on anxiety and that of American anthropologist Ernest Becker on neurosis, reflecting on the various manifestations of despair that haunt batsmen across formats, as a window to Sehwag’s unique defences in dealing with the anxieties at the batting crease. In this quest, the author expresses concerns about the future of the game in the backdrop of the slippery slope of the age-old existential dilemma facing the governing body of the sport in its bid to go truly global
Toward predictable control of software-defined networks
No full textTraditional computer networks require manual configuration of potentially hundreds of forwarding devices. To ease this configuration burden, software-defined networking (SDN) provides centralized, programmatic control of switch data planes in the form of applications, or control modules. This modular design simplifies development, and allows network operators to leverage a potentially vast library of open source SDN applications.
However, configuring an SDN is still prone to misconfigurations, software bugs, and unexpected behavior. An operator must reason about the configuration on at least three planes in the network: the management plane, the control plane, and the data plane. At the control plane, an operator must ensure the applications driving the network are correct, or free of software bugs. At the management plane, an operator must determine how to compose together multiple applications to create a coherent forwarding behavior. This requires reasoning about inter-application interactions and how to resolve conflicts between them. Finally, she must understand the execution of the applications on top of the controller, and how any bugs in the controller's implementation may introduce unexpected behavior.
This thesis explores techniques in verification and synthesis to ease the burden of configuring of an SDN and provide techniques to automatically search for unpredictable behavior. We present three primitives to search program behavior at the management plane, control plane, and data plane, without the need to understand the implementation details of the controller or applications. Specifically, we design primitives for orchestration, fast-forwarding, and autocorrect.
First, to tackle the problem of SDN application correctness, we introduce a fast-forwarding primitive to verify and explore future behaviors of a control plane application. Unlike traditional approaches to software verification, this primitive faithfully models time --- an important source of complexity in control programs. We implement this idea in a model checker called DeLorean, and develop techniques to speed up the exploration of control programs. As a result, DeLorean can explore the future behavior of programs faster than they occur.
Next, to reduce the complexity of composing together multiple, independent applications, we provide an orchestration primitive. This technique automatically discovers dependencies between applications and can suggest conflict-free composition plans to operators. With this primitive, we adopt a relational representation of the network and use a standard PostgreSQL database to develop a controller called Ravel. In addition to logic-based reasoning of inter-application dependencies, Ravel enables ad-hoc creation of new programming abstractions. Furthermore, Ravel can act as a runtime on which different abstractions or controllers can execute using translations to Ravel’s schema.
Finally, to reduce the operator's burden of understanding the low-level implementation details of an application or controller, we introduce an autocorrection primitive with NEAt (Network Error Autocorrection). NEAt builds on synthesis techniques to prevent applications or a controller from installing policy-violating updates, ensuring the behavior of the network is correct and predictable at the data plane. NEAt allows backward-compatibility with existing SDN deployments and acts as a transparent layer between the network and controller, enforcing correctness by repairing updates that violate the network policy.
We test our primitives on real-world datasets and applications. With DeLorean and Neat, we find bugs in real configurations running on deployed systems.Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'U of I Access', the embargo will last until 2019-12-01The student, Jason Croft, accepted the attached license on 2017-12-05 at 10:55.The student, Jason Croft, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2017-12-05 at 11:08.This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2017-12-05 at 17:15.DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #11858 on 2018-03-13 at 09:56:53Made available in DSpace on 2018-03-13T15:25:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2
CROFT-DISSERTATION-2017.pdf: 1349032 bytes, checksum: f1e7fd3581fb037e52d9ab781e6dc255 (MD5)
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Previous issue date: 2017-12-05Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 105197
Lift date: 2020-03-13T15:25:40Z
Reason: Author requested U of Illinois access only (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD systemEmbargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 105197
Lift date: 2020-03-13T15:28:52Z
Reason: Author requested U of Illinois access only (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD systemU of I Only Restriction Lifted for Item 105197 on 2020-03-14T09:15:28Z
Application of ANFIS model to optimise the photocatalytic degradation of chlorhexidine digluconate
No full textThe degradation of chlorhexidine digluconate (CHD) has been investigated using TiO2 suspension under UV irradiation with variation of pH, catalyst loading and substrate concentration within the range of 4.0-10.5, 0.1-0.4 g L-1 and 0.5-1.5 g L-1, respectively. The molecules of CHD have been adsorbed on TiO2 nano particles and degraded under UV irradiation. The influence of reaction parameters has been studied and reasons behind those have been correspondingly established. The molecular weights of by-products have been identified after photocatalytic degradation using mass spectroscopy. During the optimization of the process parameters, subtractive clustering fuzzy inference system has been employed to generate the optimum fuzzy rule base sets. A stable estimation technique has been attained by applying hybrid learning algorithm. Moreover, the performance and accuracy of the developed model has been tested using distinct test data set randomly selected from the experimental domain. The effects of different inherent parameters of subtractive clustering have also been studied and among them only squash factor is found to be the most important one for the present study. ANFIS has thus proved to be a congenial tool for the optimization of process parameters of the photocatalytic reaction discussed here.FALSEsciescopu
Cyberbullying Detection in Bengali Social Media Using TF-IDF and Supervised Machine Learning Techniques
No full textSeedling germination success and survival of the invasive shrub Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius) in response to fire and experimental clipping in the montane grasslands of the Nilgiris, south India
No full textNi?hali? I?brahi?m I?bn Süleyman Hali?fe and Hi?s Work Named Mi?ratul-Ukala
No full textAhlak; insandaki iyi ve kötü huyların, yaratılış özelliklerinin, faziletlerin tümü için ortak kullanılan bir isimdir. Bu konu din, felsefe, mantık, siyaset vb. alanlarda olduğu gibi edebiyat alanında da işlenmiştir. Pend-nâme, siyaset-nâme, nasihat-nâme gibi edebî türlerle hikemî şiirler ahlak merkezinde oluşturulmuştur. Bunun yanında Ahlâk-ı Alâ’î, Ahlâk-ı Muhsinî, Mir’âtülAhlâk gibi önemli eserler edebiyat tarihimizde yerini almıştır. Nihâlî İbrâhîm ibn Süleymân Halîfe tarafından hicrî 1213 (m. 1798/1799) yılında kaleme alınan Mir’âtü’l-‘Ukalâ adlı eser de bunlardan biridir. Tıp ilmiyle ilgilenen ve bir müddet Mekke ve Medîne’de evrak memurluğu yapan Nihâlî, eserini Sultan III. Selim’in tahtta bulunduğu dönemde tamamlanmıştır. Makalenin giriş bölümünde ahlak ve ahlak ile ilişkili ilimler hakkında durulmuştur. Bunun yanında ahlak disiplini ile ilgili eser veren müellifler ve eserleri zikredilmiştir. Girişten sonra biyografik ve bibliyografik kaynaklar ışığında Nihâlî’nin hayatı hakkında yazılanlar tartışılmış ve kendi eserlerinden hareketle müellifin hayatı kaleme alınmıştır. Ardından ona ait eserlerin tanıtımına, Mir’âtü’l-‘Ukalâ’nın muhteva ve üslup açısından incelemesine yer verilmiştir. Çok yönlü bir şahsiyet olan Nihâlî’nin yararlandığı kaynaklar, oluşturduğu tertip ve üzerinde durduğu kavramlar hakkında incelemede bulunulmuştur. Son olarak da eserin ulaşabildiğimiz dokuz nüshasının katalog bilgilerine yer verilerek yazmaların nüsha tavsifi yapılmıştır.Ethics connotes a set of concepts encompassing the good or bad habits, truths about human nature, virtues and so on. This subject has been frequently discussed in the field of literature as well as of religion, philosophy, logic, politics, etc. Like hikemi (wise) poets, certain literary genres such as pendname (an ethical-based poetical book), siyaset-name (political epistel) and nasihat-name (book of advice for rulers) were constituted by taking ethics to the center. On the other side, a number of significant works, such as Ahlak-ı Alai, Mir’âtül-Ahlâk or Ahlak-ı Muhsini have imbedded in the history of literature in this sense. Miratul-Ukala is also one of them. Written by Nihali İbrahim ibn Süleyman Halife, who was interested in medicine and worked as a civil servant in Mecca and Medina, the book was completed during the reign of Selim III. In the introduction part of the article, we focused on morality and the sciences related to morality. In addition, the authors and their works on moral discipline are mentioned. After the introduction, in the light of biographical and bibliographic sources, the writings about the life of Nihali were discussed and the life of the author was written based on his own works. Then, the introduction of his works, and the examination of Miratu'l-‘Ukala in terms of content and style were included. The resources that Nihali, who has a wellrounded personality, benefited from, the organization he created and the concepts he focused on were examined. Finally, the manuscripts were classified by using the catalog information of the nine copies of the work that we can access
Author Correction: Alleviation of drought stress in pulse crops with ACC deaminase producing rhizobacteria isolated from acidic soil of Northeast India
No full textA correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML and PDF versions of this paper. The error has been fixed in the paper.</jats:p
A review on the important aspects of lipase immobilization on nanomaterials
No full textLipase is one of the most widely used enzymes and plays an important role in biotechnological and industrial processes including food, paper, and oleochemical industries, as well as in pharmaceutical applications. However, its aqueous solubility and instability make its application relatively difficult and expensive. The immobilization technique is often used to improve lipase performance, and the strategy has turned out to be a promising method. Immobilized lipase on nanomaterials (NMs) has shown superiority to the free lipase, such as improved thermal and pH stability, longer stable time, and the capacity of being reused. However, immobilization of lipase on NMs also sometimes causes activity loss and protein loading is relatively lowered under some conditions. The overall performance of immobilized lipase on NMs is influenced by mechanisms of immobilization, type of NMs being used, and physicochemical features of the used NMs (such as particle size, aggregation behavior, NM dimension, and type of coupling/modifying agents being used). Based on the specific features of lipase and NMs, this review discusses the recent developments, some mechanisms, and influence of NMs on lipase immobilization and their activity. Multiple application potential of the immobilized lipases has also been considered. (C) 2016 International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada [355254]; MAPAQ [809051]; Ministere des Relations Internationales du Quebec; MITACs Globalinks programme; FQRNT merit scholarship programSCI(E)PubMedREVIEW5496-5086
Spectrally resolved ion imaging from laser produced plasmas using CR-39 detectors
No full textIntense laser-produced plasmas generate bright, ultrashort bursts of accelerated ions. Reducing the required laser intensity and increasing the repetition rate of the laser to generate high energy ions is important, and mesoscopic particle targets are an attractive option to address this issue. Newer experimental strategies to measure ion energies and their angular distribution are needed in studies of such systems. In this paper, we outline a method to simultaneously measure these quantities using a single CR39 film. Although CR-39 detectors are known for ion imaging or spectroscopy, combining these specially for lower ion energies and applications to low-intensity laser experiments is not common. The paradigm chosen in our study is to consider the spatial distribution of nuclear tracks on a CR-39 sheet, while simultaneously separating them by their track diameter. Our method achieves an energy resolution of about 100 keV and a spatial resolution of tens of micrometers. In addition, ion species other than protons, i.e., carbon and oxygen, can also be imaged in an energy-resolved manner. © 2021 Author(s)
Global-referenced navigation grids for off-road vehicles and environments
No full text[EN] The presence of automation and information technology in agricultural environments seems no longer questionable; smart spraying, variable rate fertilizing, or automatic guidance are becoming usual management tools in modern farms. Yet, such techniques are still in their nascence and offer a lively hotbed for innovation. In particular, significant research efforts are being directed toward vehicle navigation and awareness in off-road environments. However, the majority of solutions being developed are based on occupancy grids referenced with odometry and dead-reckoning, or alternatively based on GPS waypoint following, but never based on both. Yet, navigation in off-road environments highly benefits from both approaches: perception data effectively condensed in regular grids, and global references for every cell of the grid. This research proposes a framework to build globally referenced navigation grids by combining three-dimensional stereo vision with satellite-based global positioning. The construction process entails the in-field recording of perceptual information plus the geodetic coordinates of the vehicle at every image acquisition position, in addition to other basic data as velocity, heading, or GPS quality indices. The creation of local grids occurs in real time right after the stereo images have been captured by the vehicle in the field, but the final assembly of universal grids takes place after finishing the acquisition phase. Vehicle-fixed individual grids are then superposed onto the global grid, transferring original perception data to universal cells expressed in Local Tangent Plane coordinates. Global referencing allows the discontinuous appendage of data to succeed in the completion and updating of navigation grids along the time over multiple mapping sessions. This methodology was validated in a commercial vineyard, where several universal grids of the crops were generated. Vine rows were correctly reconstructed, although some difficulties appeared around the headland turns as a consequence of unreliable heading estimations. Navigation information conveyed through globally referenced regular grids turned out to be a powerful tool for upcoming practical implementations within agricultural robotics. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.The author would like to thank Juan Jose Pena Suarez and Montano Perez Teruel for their assistance in the preparation of the prototype vehicle, Veronica Saiz Rubio for her help during most of the field experiments, Ratul Banerjee for his contribution in the development of software, and Luis Gil-Orozco Esteve for granting permission to perform multiple tests in the vineyards of his winery Finca Ardal. Gratitude is also extended to the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation for funding this research through project AGL2009-11731.Rovira Más, F. (2011). Global-referenced navigation grids for off-road vehicles and environments. Robotics and Autonomous Systems. 60(2):278-287. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.robot.2011.11.007S27828760
