Net Neutrality: Measuring the Problem, Assessing the Legal Risks

Network neutrality is a growing policy controversy. Traffic management techniques affect not only high-speed, high-money content, but by extension all other content too. Internet regulators and users may tolerate much more discrimination in the interests of innovation. For instance, in the absence of regulatory oversight, ISPs could use Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) to block some content altogether, if they decide it is not to the benefit of ISPs, copyright holders, parents or the government. ISP blocking is currently widespread in controlling spam email, and in some countries in blocking sexually graphic illegal images. In 1999 this led to scrutiny of foreclosure of Instant Messaging and video and cable-telephony horizontal merger. Fourteen years later, there were in 2013 net neutrality laws implemented in Slovenia, the Netherlands, Chile and Finland, regulation in the United States and Canada , co-regulation in Norway, and self-regulation in Japan, the United Kingdom and many other European countries . Both Germany and France in mid-2013 debated new net neutrality legislation, and the European Commission announced on 11 September 2013 that it would aim to introduce legislation in early 2014. This paper analyses these legal developments, and in particular the difficulty in assessing reasonable traffic management and ‘specialized’ (i.e. unregulated) faster services in both EU and US law. It also assesses net neutrality law against the international legal norms for user privacy and freedom of expression

Biomechanical Changes During a 50-minute Run in Different Footwear and on Various Slopes.

The effects of footwear and inclination on running biomechanics over short intervals are well documented. Although recognized that exercise duration can impact running biomechanics, it remains unclear how biomechanics change over time when running in minimalist shoes and on slopes. Our aims were to describe these biomechanical changes during a 50-minute run and compare them to those observed in standard shoes. Thirteen trained recreational male runners ran 50 minutes at 65% of their maximal aerobic velocity on a treadmill, once in minimalist shoes and once in standard shoes, 1 week apart in a random order. The 50-minute trial was divided into 5-minute segments of running at 0%, +5%, and -5% of treadmill incline sequentially. Data were collected using photocells, high-speed video cameras, and plantar-pressure insoles. At 0% incline, runners exhibited reduced leg stiffness and plantar flexion angles at foot strike and lower plantar pressure at the forefoot and toes in minimalist shoes from minute 34 of the protocol onward. However, only reduced plantar pressure at the toes was observed in standard shoes. Overall, similar biomechanical changes with increased exercise time were observed on the uphill and downhill inclines. The results might be due to the unfamiliarity of subjects to running in minimalist shoes.

Veneer Properties Determination for Plywood Manufacturing

The objective in this Master's Thesis was to determine and verify quality criteria for veneer in plywood manufacturing. In plywood manufacturing the veneer quality has a decisive part how well it can be produced to a final product. Modern equipment run at high speed and capacity. These machines require a good quality veneer to be able to maintain them. The quality criteria determination was done after the dominant veneer properties were determined. This research focuses to the birch veneer quality determination. The machines involved in the veneer manufacturing are introduced in the materials and methods section. The different veneer properties are determined and the measuring devices to measure these properties are examined. There are many parts in veneer manufacturing and these have different requirements to the veneer quality. To determine and verify these properties for every machine was the most demanding part of this Master's Thesis. During the research some new ideas and ways to measure veneer properties were also tested. Veneer properties and quality was followed in a factory environment and in a test runs at the Raute. Different machines were followed carefully in the production environment while for example test pieces were taken from veneers that broke on the line. Sample pieces were tested on site or delivered to Nastola for more extensive testing. Based on the tests and research the criteria for veneer to every machine involved in the veneer production were created. These veneer quality tolerances are recommendations to ensure that the machine operation will not be affected by the veneer quality.

Infrastructure and nation building: The regulation and financing of network transportation infrastructures in Spain (1720-2010)

This paper analyzes Spanish infrastructure policy since the early 1700s: Road building in the eighteenth century, railway creation and expansion in the nineteenth, motorway expansion in the twentieth, and high speed rail development in the twenty-first. The analysis reveals a long-term pattern, in which infrastructure policy in Spain has been driven not by the requirements of commerce and economic activity, but rather by the desire to centralize transportation around the country’s political capital.

Trigger and data link system for CMS Resistive Plate Chambers at the LHC accelerator

The purpose of the work was to realize a high-speed digital data transfer system for RPC muon chambers in the CMS experiment on CERN’s new LHC accelerator. This large scale system took many years and many stages of prototyping to develop, and required the participation of tens of people. The system interfaces to Frontend Boards (FEB) at the 200,000-channel detector and to the trigger and readout electronics in the control room of the experiment. The distance between these two is about 80 metres and the speed required for the optic links was pushing the limits of available technology when the project was started. Here, as in many other aspects of the design, it was assumed that the features of readily available commercial components would develop in the course of the design work, just as they did. By choosing a high speed it was possible to multiplex the data from some the chambers into the same fibres to reduce the number of links needed. Further reduction was achieved by employing zero suppression and data compression, and a total of only 660 optical links were needed. Another requirement, which conflicted somewhat with choosing the components a late as possible was that the design needed to be radiation tolerant to an ionizing dose of 100 Gy and to a have a moderate tolerance to Single Event Effects (SEEs). This required some radiation test campaigns, and eventually led to ASICs being chosen for some of the critical parts. The system was made to be as reconfigurable as possible. The reconfiguration needs to be done from a distance as the electronics is not accessible except for some short and rare service breaks once the accelerator starts running. Therefore reconfigurable logic is extensively used, and the firmware development for the FPGAs constituted a sizable part of the work. Some special techniques needed to be used there too, to achieve the required radiation tolerance. The system has been demonstrated to work in several laboratory and beam tests, and now we are waiting to see it in action when the LHC will start running in the autumn 2008.

CFD simulation of complex phenomena containing suspensions and flow throughporous media

There is an increasing reliance on computers to solve complex engineering problems. This is because computers, in addition to supporting the development and implementation of adequate and clear models, can especially minimize the financial support required. The ability of computers to perform complex calculations at high speed has enabled the creation of highly complex systems to model real-world phenomena. The complexity of the fluid dynamics problem makes it difficult or impossible to solve equations of an object in a flow exactly. Approximate solutions can be obtained by construction and measurement of prototypes placed in a flow, or by use of a numerical simulation. Since usage of prototypes can be prohibitively time-consuming and expensive, many have turned to simulations to provide insight during the engineering process. In this case the simulation setup and parameters can be altered much more easily than one could with a real-world experiment. The objective of this research work is to develop numerical models for different suspensions (fiber suspensions, blood flow through microvessels and branching geometries, and magnetic fluids), and also fluid flow through porous media. The models will have merit as a scientific tool and will also have practical application in industries. Most of the numerical simulations were done by the commercial software, Fluent, and user defined functions were added to apply a multiscale method and magnetic field. The results from simulation of fiber suspension can elucidate the physics behind the break up of a fiber floc, opening the possibility for developing a meaningful numerical model of the fiber flow. The simulation of blood movement from an arteriole through a venule via a capillary showed that the model based on VOF can successfully predict the deformation and flow of RBCs in an arteriole. Furthermore, the result corresponds to the experimental observation illustrates that the RBC is deformed during the movement. The concluding remarks presented, provide a correct methodology and a mathematical and numerical framework for the simulation of blood flows in branching. Analysis of ferrofluids simulations indicate that the magnetic Soret effect can be even higher than the conventional one and its strength depends on the strength of magnetic field, confirmed experimentally by Völker and Odenbach. It was also shown that when a magnetic field is perpendicular to the temperature gradient, there will be additional increase in the heat transfer compared to the cases where the magnetic field is parallel to the temperature gradient. In addition, the statistical evaluation (Taguchi technique) on magnetic fluids showed that the temperature and initial concentration of the magnetic phase exert the maximum and minimum contribution to the thermodiffusion, respectively. In the simulation of flow through porous media, dimensionless pressure drop was studied at different Reynolds numbers, based on pore permeability and interstitial fluid velocity. The obtained results agreed well with the correlation of Macdonald et al. (1979) for the range of actual flow Reynolds studied. Furthermore, calculated results for the dispersion coefficients in the cylinder geometry were found to be in agreement with those of Seymour and Callaghan.

Sistema automático para determinação seqüencial de cianeto livre e total empregando eletrodo tubular íon-seletivo de membrana homogênea

This study presents an automated system for potentiometric determination of free and total cyanide which employs a homogeneous membrane tubular ion-selective electrode. After the electrode is assembled, it is connected to a system composed of 3 three-way solenoid valves, sample line, carrier line, acid stream, and gas diffusion chamber. A Turbo Pascal® computer program, developed specifically for this task, automatically performs all the steps involved in data acquisition and processing. The proposed analytical procedure offers operational simplicity, since detection is performed by a tubular electrode, whose assembly is fast and easy. The system has shown reproducibility (r.s.d. < 0.5%, n=6) and high speed (30 readings/hour); it is efficient for determination of free and total cyanide in waste waters of starch processing plants. The detection limit was 1.2x10-5 and 1.5x10-5 mol L-1, for determination of free and total cyanide, respectively. The linear response range was between 1.2x10-5 and 1.0x10-2 mol L-1 for free cyanide and between 1.5x10-5 and 1.0x10-2 for total cyanide.

Virranahto ja jänniterasitukset taajuusmuuttajakäytöissä

Nykyiset IGB-transistorit voivat tuottaa jopa 30 ns nousureunoja, jolloin jänniterasitus jakautuu hyvin epätasaisesti käämien ja kierrosten kesken. Tämä ja eristeissä esiintyvät ilmataskut asettavat käämikierrosten välisten eristeiden jännitekestävyyden koetukselle, ja aiheuttavat riskin osittaispurkaukselle. Urassa hajavuon epätasaisen jakauman aiheuttama virranahto on yleensä ollut esillä suurissa koneissa, jotka toimivat 50 Hz:llä. Nykyään taajuusmuuttajien soveltaminen on mahdollistanut nimellistaajuudeltaan satojen hertsien suurnopeuskoneiden käämitysten valmistamisen pyörölangasta, jolloin virranahto tulee merkittäväksi, koska kierroksia on muutama urassa. Työssä mitattiin jännitteen jakautumista 3.5 MW:n tuulivoimageneraattorin segmentissä käyttäen käämitysten syöttöön erilaisia jännitteen nousuaikoja, ja pyrittiin arvioimaan onko kyseinen kone vaarassa kokea osittaispurkauksia elinikänsä aikana. Työssä on myös käsitelty virranahtoa käyttäen finiittielementtimenetelmää simuloimaan ja vertaamaan erilaisia tilanteita käämitystavoissa pyörölankakoneessa. Tämä on myös osittain sovellettavissa muotokuparilla käämittyihin koneisiin. Käämivyyhdin vyyhdenpään alueella tehdyn johdinnipun 180 asteen kierron vaikutusta simuloitiin ja sen aiheuttamaa parannusta varmennettiin käytännön mittauksilla.

Simulations of 3D Stripixel Detectors

Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the main particle accelerator at CERN. LHC is created with main goal to search elementary particles and help science investigate our universe. Radiation in LHC is caused by charged particles circular acceleration, therefore detectors tracing particles in existed severe conditions during the experiments must be radiation tolerant. Moreover, further upgrade of luminosity (up to 1035 cm-2s-1) requires development of particle detector’s structure. This work is dedicated to show the new type 3D stripixel detector with serious structural improvement. The new type of radiation-hard detector has a three-dimensional (3D) array of the p+ and n+ electrodes that penetrate into the detector bulk. The electrons and holes are then collected at oppositely biased electrodes. Proposed 3D stripixel detector demonstrates that full depletion voltage is lower that that for planar detectors. Low depletion voltage is one of the main advantages because only depleted part of the device is active are. Because of small spacing between electrodes, charge collection distances are smaller which results in high speed of the detector’s response. In this work is also briefly discussed dual-column type detectors, meaning consisting both n+ and p+ type columnar electrodes in its structure, and was declared that dual-column detectors show better electric filed distribution then single sided radiation detectors. The dead space or in other words low electric field region in significantly suppressed. Simulations were carried out by using Atlas device simulation software. As a simulation results in this work are represented the electric field distribution under different bias voltages.

G+: Enhanced Traffic Grooming in WDM Mesh Networks using Lighttours

In this article, a new technique for grooming low-speed traffic demands into high-speed optical routes is proposed. This enhancement allows a transparent wavelength-routing switch (WRS) to aggregate traffic en route over existing optical routes without incurring expensive optical-electrical-optical (OEO) conversions. This implies that: a) an optical route may be considered as having more than one ingress node (all inline) and, b) traffic demands can partially use optical routes to reach their destination. The proposed optical routes are named "lighttours" since the traffic originating from different sources can be forwarded together in a single optical route, i.e., as taking a "tour" over different sources towards the same destination. The possibility of creating lighttours is the consequence of a novel WRS architecture proposed in this article, named "enhanced grooming" (G+). The ability to groom more traffic in the middle of a lighttour is achieved with the support of a simple optical device named lambda-monitor (previously introduced in the RingO project). In this article, we present the new WRS architecture and its advantages. To compare the advantages of lighttours with respect to classical lightpaths, an integer linear programming (ILP) model is proposed for the well-known multilayer problem: traffic grooming, routing and wavelength assignment The ILP model may be used for several objectives. However, this article focuses on two objectives: maximizing the network throughput, and minimizing the number of optical-electro-optical conversions used. Experiments show that G+ can route all the traffic using only half of the total OEO conversions needed by classical grooming. An heuristic is also proposed, aiming at achieving near optimal results in polynomial time

Caracterização por XPS de filmes passivos formados sobre aços de baixa liga em meio de bicarbonato

Passive films formed in bicarbonate solutions on carbon steel, chromium steel and high speed steel have been characterized by XPS. The passive films formed on chromium and high speed steels showed superior protective properties than those formed on carbon steel. It was confirmed by XPS that the steel composition influences the passive film composition. Chromium oxide and hydroxide, as well as molybdenum and tungsten oxides and hydroxides are present in the passive film of chromium steel and high speed steel, respectively, besides iron oxide and hydroxide. The more complex composition of the oxide film on high speed steel explains its electrochemical behaviour and highest corrosion resistance.

Entrenamiento de la fuerza orientado a la mejora de la velocidad de golpeo en tenis

El golpeo de la bola a velocidades elevadas, es un factor determinante para el rendimiento en el tenis moderno. Durante los últimos 20 años se ha producido una gran evolución del juego y los cambios en el juego moderno se han traducido en el uso de poderosos servicios y golpes de fondo. Aunque la fuerza es una capacidad determinante desde la perspectiva de la condición física, ha habido poca investigación para fundamentar la eficacia de los programas de entrenamiento de fuerza para los jugadores de tenis. El objetivo de este estudio es realizar una revisión sobre los criterios básicos para dirigir correctamente el entrenamiento de la fuerza orientado a la mejora de la de la velocidad de golpeo de la pelota. Aunque las necesidades de fuerza dinámica máxima (FDM) en los golpeos son bajas, la literatura científica parece apuntar que unos adecuados niveles de FDM ejercen efectos positivos sobre el aumento de velocidad de golpeo en el tenis. La mejora y mantenimiento de esta manifestación de fuerza se busca a expensas de factores neurales. Los entrenamientos de fuerza útil deben utilizar medios que permitan ejecutar el gesto técnico, implicar las mismas cadenas musculares, rango de movimiento o velocidades de ejecución. En este sentido, se han propuesto la utilización de pelotas medicinales, mancuernas de peso ligero, gomas elásticas, máquinas multifuncionales de resistencia neumática o poleas.

Isolamento do alcalóide ricinina das folhas de Ricinus communis (Euphorbiaceae) através de cromatografias em contracorrente

Droplet counter-current chromatography, rotation locular counter-current chromatography and high-speed counter-current chromatography were applied to the preparative separation of the alkaloid ricinine from the dichloromethane extracts of Ricinus communis leaves. The solvent system used was composed of dichloromethane-methanol-water (93:35:72 v/v/v) and all techniques led to the isolation of large amounts of the alkaloid. The best result was obtained through HSCCC, since the ricinine yield was respectively 50% and 30% higher than when using RLCCC or DCCC.

Study of a vapor-compression air-conditioning system for jetliners

Most modern passenger aeroplanes use air cycle cooling. A high-speed air cycle is a reliable and light option, but not very efficient. This thesis presents research work done to design a novel vapour cooling cycle for aeroplanes. Due to advancements in high-speed permanent magnet motors, the vapour cycle is seen as a competitive option for the air cycle in aeroplanes. The aerospace industry places tighter demands on the weight, reliability and environmental effects of the machinery than those met by conventional chillers, and thus modifications to conventional design are needed. The thesis is divided into four parts: the initial screening of the working fluid, 1-D design and performance values of the compressor, 1-D off-design value predictions of the compressor and the 3-D design of the compressor. The R245fa was selected as the working fluid based the study. The off-design range of the compressor was predicted to be wide and suitable for the application. The air-conditioning system developed is considerably smaller than previous designs using centrifugal compressors.