Digital Commons Network^™

Content Aware Request Distribution For High Performance Web Service: A Performance Study, Robert M. Jones

Dissertations and Theses

The World Wide Web is becoming a basic infrastructure for a variety of services, and the increases in audience size and client network bandwidth create service demands that are outpacing server capacity. Web clusters are one solution to this need for high performance, highly available web server systems. We are interested in load distribution techniques, specifically Layer-7 algorithms that are content-aware. Layer-7 algorithms allow distribution control based on the specific content requested, which is advantageous for a system that offers highly heterogenous services. We examine the performance of the Client Aware Policy (CAP) on a Linux/Apache web cluster consisting of …

Comparison Of Heat Output And Microchemical Changes Of Palladium Cathodes Under Electrolysis In Acidified Light And Heavy Water, Conrado Salas Cano

Dissertations and Theses

Two experiments have been conducted to ascertain if a cell with a palladium cathode, a platinum anode, and a solution of H₂SO₄ in D₂O can produce excess heat under electrolysis compared to a similar cell with H₂O. In each experiment, two cells were connected in series with constant current. The two cells were identical except for the fact that the heavy water cell used D₂O instead of H₂O in the electrolyte. Both cells in each experiment employed Pd cathodes, Pt anodes, and H₂SO₄ in the solution. …

Willamette River And Columbia River Waste Load Allocation Model, Chris Berger, Robert Leslie Annear, Scott A. Wells

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

A hydrodynamic and water quality model of the Lower Willamette River was developed to evaluate management alternatives designed to improve water quality. The Lower Willamette River is located in Oregon and drains a watershed covering 11500 square miles consisting of forested, agricultural, and urban lands. Inflows include treated municipal wastes and industrial effluents along with non-point sources from agricultural, silvicultural and urbanized land. The model was designed to address temperature, dissolved oxygen, algae, pH and bacteria concerns. The Corps of Engineers two-dimensional, laterally averaged, hydrodynamic and water quality model CE-QUAL-W2, Version 3 was applied. CE-QUAL-W2 consists of directly coupled hydrodynamic …

Microbial Composition Of Near-Boiling Silica-Depositing Thermal Springs Throughout Yellowstone National Park, Carrine E. Blank, Sherry L. Cady, Norman R. Pace

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The extent of hyperthermophilic microbial diversity associated with siliceous sinter (geyserite) was characterized in seven near-boiling silica-depositing springs throughout Yellowstone National Park using environmental PCR amplification of small-subunit rRNA genes (SSU rDNA), large-subunit rDNA, and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS). We found that Thermocrinis ruber, a member of the order Aquificales, is ubiquitous, an indication that primary production in these springs is driven by hydrogen oxidation. Several other lineages with no known close relatives were identified that branch among the hyperthermophilic bacteria. Although they all branch deep in the bacterial tree, the precise phylogenetic placement of many of these lineages …

Faculty Senate Monthly Packet June 2002, Portland State University Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Monthly Packets

The June 2002 Monthly packet includes the June agenda and appendices and the Faculty Senate minutes and attachments from the meeting held May 2002.

On The Intrinsic Evolution Of Material Inhomogeneities, Marek Elźanowski, Marcelo Epstein

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

The evolution of a distribution of material inhomogeneities (defects, dislo-cations, etc.) is investigated. Adopting our recently developed model of the anelastic evolution law of a defective solid crystal body and using the classical methods of the theory of hyperbolic waves we analyze such phenomena as the long-term relaxation of defects and the dislocation pile-up.

Logic Synthesis Of Reversible Wave Cascades, Alan Mishchenko, Marek Perkowski

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

A circuit is reversible if it maps each input vector into a unique output vector, and vice versa. Reversible circuits lead to power-efficient CMOS implementations. Reversible logic synthesis may be applicable to optical and quantum computing. Minimizing garbage bits is the main challenge in reversible logic synthesis. This paper introduces an algorithm to generate the cascade of reversible complex Maitra terms (called here reversible wave cascade) implementing incompletely specified Boolean functions. The remarkable property of the presented method compared to other reversible synthesis methods is that it creates at most one constant input and no additional garbage outputs. Preliminary estimation …

Gscope: A Visualization Tool For Time-Sensitive Software, Ashvin Goel, Jonathan Walpole

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper describes gscope, a visualization tool for time-sensitive applications. Gscope provides an oscilloscope-like interface that can be integrated with applications. It focuses on software visualization and is thus designed to handle various types of signal waveforms, periodic or event-driven, in single or multithreaded environments as well as local or distributed applications. Gscope helps in visually verifying system correctness and modifying system parameters and thus can complement standard debugging techniques and be used to build compelling software demos. Initial experiments with using gscope show that the library has low overhead.

Rock Glacier Surface Motion In Beacon Valley, Antarctica, From Synthetic-Aperture Radar Interferometry, Andrew G. Fountain, Eric Rignot, Bernard Hallet

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

We present radar interferograms of rock glaciers in the Beacon Valley sector of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, in East Antarctica, as part of a comprehensive study of surface processes in the area. Due to the relative absence of net precipitation (snow) in this region and the stability of the surface, the rock glaciers maintain excellent coherence of the radar returns over several years. As a result, we obtain a spatially continuous surface velocity field with a precision of fractions of a millimeter per year. On distinct rock glaciers entering Beacon Valley, we find coherent velocity patterns, with peak velocities approaching …

Implementing Infopipes: The Sip/Xip Experiment, Calton Pu, Galen Swint, Charles Consel, Younggyun Koh, Ling Liu, Koichi Moriyama, Jonathan Walpole, Wenchang Yan

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

We describe an implementation of the Infopipe abstraction for information flow applications. We have implemented software tools that translate the SIP/XIP variant of Infopipe specification into executable code. These tools are evaluated through the rewriting of two realistic applications using Infopipes: a multimedia streaming program and a web source combination application. Measurements show that Infopipe-generated code has the same execution overhead as the manually written original version. Source code of Infopipe version is reduced by 36% to 85% compared to the original.

The Meyer-Neldel Rule For A Property Determined By Two Transport Mechanisms, Ralf Widenhorn, Armin Rest, Erik Bodegom

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We propose that the Meyer-Neldel rule (MNR) arises naturally for a quantity where both an intrinsic process as well as a process involving impurities contribute. The strength of the latter depends solely on the density of the impurities. This leads to a spread in the apparent activation energy of the measured quantity and the observation of the MNR, even though the intrinsic processes have fixed activation energies. A consequence of the MNR is the occurrence of a temperature T[sub MN] where a measured parameter is independent of the activation energy. For the system studied, the MNR does not accurately predict …

Residual Images In Charged-Coupled Device Detectors, Armin Rest, Lars Mündermann, Ralf Widenhorn, Erik Bodegom, T. C. Mcglinn

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We present results of a systematic study of persistent, or residual, images that occur in charged-coupled device (CCD) detectors. A phenomenological model for these residual images, also known as "ghosting," is introduced. This model relates the excess dark current in a CCD after exposure to the number of filled impurity sites which is tested for various temperatures and exposure times. We experimentally derive values for the cross section, density, and characteristic energy of the impurity sites responsible for the residual images.

Provisioning On-Line Games: A Traffic Analysis Of A Busy Counter-Strike Server, Wu-Chang Feng, Francis Chang, Wu-Chi Feng, Jonathan Walpole

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper describes the results of a 500 million packet trace of a popular on-line, multi-player, game server. The results show that the traffic behavior of this heavily loaded game server is highly predictable and can be attributed to the fact that current game designs target the saturation of the narrowest, last-mile link. Specifically, in order to maximize the interactivity of the game itself and to provide relatively uniform experiences between players playing over different network speeds, on-line games typically fix their usage requirements in such a way as to saturate the network link of their lowest speed players. While …

Poster: Provisioning On-Line Games: A Traffic Analysis Of A Busy Counter-Strike Server, Francis Chang, Wu-Chang Feng, Wu-Chi Feng, Jonathan Walpole

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

A poster that illustrates the client/server model employed by an multiplayer online game, focusing on bandwidth usage.

Supporting Low-Latency Tcp-Based Media Streams, Ashvin Goel, Charles Krasic, Kang Li, Jonathan Walpole

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

The dominance of the TCP protocol on the Internet and its success in maintaining Internet stability has led to several TCP-based stored media-streaming approaches. The success of these approaches raises the question whether TCP can be used for low-latency streaming. Low latency streaming allows responsive control operations for media streaming and can make interactive applications feasible. We examined adapting the TCP send buffer size based on TCP's congestion window to reduce application perceived network latency. Our results show that this simple idea significantly improves the number of packets that can be delivered within 200 ms and 500 ms thresholds.

Le Bio Wall : Un Tissue Informatique Pour Le Prototypage De Systèmes Bio-Inspirés, Andre Stauffer, Daniel Mange, Gianluca Tempesti, Christof Teuscher

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Dans cet article, nous décrivons le BioWall, un tissu informatique reconfigurable géant développé dans le but d’y implémenter des machines mettant en oeuvre les principes de notre projet Embryonique. Bien que ses dimensions et ses caractéristiques en font d’abord un objet de démonstration publique, le BioWall constitue également un outil de recherche précieux, du fait que sa faculté de reprogrammation et sa structure cellulaire s’adaptent parfaitement à l’implémentation de toutes sortes de systèmes bioinspirés. Pour illustrer ces capacités, nous décrivons un ensemble d’applications qui reflètent différentes sources d’inspiration biologique allant des systèmes biologiques ontogénétiques aux dispositifs évolutifs phylogénétiques, en passant …

Coherent Vs Incoherent Interlayer Transport In Layered Metals, Gary L. Gard, J. Wosnitza, J. Hagel, J. S. Qualls, J. S. Brooks, E. Balthes, D. Schweitzer, J. A. Schlueter, U. Geiser, Javid Mohtasham, Rolf Walter Winter

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

The magnetic-field, temperature, and angular dependence of the interlayer magnetoresistance of two different quasi-two-dimensional (2D) organic superconductors is reported. For k -BEDT-TTF)₂I₃, where BEDTTTF is bisethylenedithio-tetrathiafulvalene, we find a well-resolved peak in the angle-dependent magnetoresistance at Q590°(field parallel to the layers). This clear-cut proof for the coherent nature of the interlayer transport is absent for β″–(BEDT-TTF)₂SF₅CH₂CF₂SO₃. This and the nonmetallic behavior of the magnetoresistance suggest an incoherent quasiparticle motion for the latter 2D metal.

Temperature Dependence Of Dark Current In A Ccd, Ralf Widenhorn, Morley M. Blouke, Alexander Weber, Armin Rest, Erik Bodegom

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We present data for dark current of a back-illuminated CCD over the temperature range of 222 to 291 K. Using an Arrhenius law, we found that the analysis of the data leads to the relation between the prefactor and the apparent activation energy as described by the Meyer-Neldel rule. However, a more detailed analysis shows that the activation energy for the dark current changes in the temperature range investigated. This transition can be explained by the larger relative importance at high temperatures of the diffusion dark current and at low temperatures by the depletion dark current. The diffusion dark current, …

A Compact Method For Optical Induction Of Proximal Probe Heating And Elongation, Andres H. La Rosa, Hans D. Hallen

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

A tapered, metal-coated, optical fiber probe will elongate when heated by light input through a fiber. The induced motion can be used for data storage or nanostructuring of a surface. The elongation produced by this alignment-free system is measured with force feedback in a near-field scanning optical microscope (NSOM). The input light intensity controls the elongation magnitude, which ranges from a few nanometers to more than 100 nm. A 0.5-mW input energy yields ~20 nm of probe elongation. The elongation quantified here can create artifacts in any experiment using pulsed laser light with a NSOM or an atomic force microscope.

Cross-Cultural Communication: Implications For Effective Information Services In Academic Libraries, Jian Wang, Donald G. Frank

Library Faculty and Staff Publications and Presentations

International students and scholars on campuses in the United States constitute a complex, diverse, and rapidly growing population that must be served effectively by academic libraries. This article examines cultural differences with a focus on communication processes and styles, and recommends ways to accommodate cross-cultural differences in information services. The article includes a survey of relevant literature and draws on the results of a series of focus groups conducted at Harvard University, the Georgia Institute of Technology, Portland State University, and one of the annual conferences of the American Library Association.

Infopipes: An Abstraction For Multimedia Streaming, Andrew P. Black, Huang Jie, Rainer Koster, Jonathan Walpole, Calton Pu

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

To simplify the task of building distributed streaming applications, we propose a new abstraction for information flow – Infopipes. Infopipes make information flow primary, not an auxiliary mechanism that is hidden away. Systems are built by connecting predefined component Infopipes such as sources, sinks, buffers, filters, broadcasting pipes, and multiplexing pipes. The goal of Infopipes is not to hide communication, like an RPC system, but to reify it: to represent communication explicitly as objects that the program can interrogate and manipulate. Moreover, these objects represent communication in application-level terms, not in terms of network or process implementation.

Faculty Senate Monthly Packet March 2002, Portland State University Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Monthly Packets

The March 2002 Monthly packet includes the February agenda and appendices and the Faculty Senate minutes and attachments from the meeting held February 2002.

Sex, Politics, And Sustainability: Review Of Why Sex Matters: A Darwinian Look At Human Behavior, Robert Costanza

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

Book Review of "Why Sex Matters: A Darwinian Look at Human Behavior" by Bobbi S. Low. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 2001.

Bounding Space, Jeffrey L. Day, Brian T. Rex

Proceedings of the 18th National Conference on the Beginning Design Student

The cognition and description of spatial conditions are essential components of any foundation for design and the visual arts. However, the ability to discern subtle spatial distinctions and the limits of spatial boundaries is often clouded by habit and apparent familiarity with the conditions in question. For example, one thinks one "knows" the spatial make-up of one's bedroom, but can one real ly see the space of the room from a position outside of this perceived familiarity? Can pre-cognitive knowledge be converted into critical understanding? Or, to invert the question, how can one know a space that one sees with …

Design's Community Of Knowledge: Identifying And Organizing Design's Fundamental Concepts To Support Teaching And Learning, William R. Benedict

Proceedings of the 18th National Conference on the Beginning Design Student

The words we use and the concepts they represent affect how we see, think and talk about the world. Each community of knowledge (e.g., Architecture, Physics, Sociology, etc.) has a language that is specific to that community or discipline. Membership in a community of knowledge involves learning the community's language and developing an understanding of the concepts that it identifies. Our level of understanding of a community's language can either obscure or clarify-it can help or hinder communication. The degree to which we understand the language and concepts of a community of knowledge is directly related to our ability to …

The Resurrection Of A River: The Umatilla And Its Salmon, Christopher Ward Shelley

Dissertations and Theses

Until the 1990s, salmon had been extinct from the Umatilla River for over 70 years. The struggle to bring salmon back to this river is a compelling story that exemplifies some of the new relationships in Columbia River Basin salmon management.

The Umatilla River and the disappearance of its salmon was a local issue. Irrigation interests had used the river so thoroughly it ceased to flow during the late summer and fall months-precisely when salmon needed it for migration. The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation saw decided that they would change that: they would figure out a way …

Faculty Senate Monthly Packet February 2002, Portland State University Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Monthly Packets

The February 2002 Monthly packet includes the February agenda and appendices and the Faculty Senate minutes and attachments from the meeting held January 2002.

Forces On Permeable Conductors In Magnetic Fields, Lee W. Casperson

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

It is often implied that the force density formula dF/dV = JXB is all that is required to calculate the force that would be experienced by any stationary current-carrying medium in a region of space containing a magnetic field. However, representations of this formula are not all compatible, and the methods of applying such formulas when the conductor or surrounding medium have permeabilities different from vacuum are not widely known. The simplest case that one might consider is that of a current-carrying wire in an otherwise uniform field. It appears that the experimental measurements corresponding to such a situation have …

Faculty Senate Monthly Packet January 2002, Portland State University Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Monthly Packets

The January 2002 Monthly packet includes the January agenda and appendices and the Faculty Senate minutes and attachments from the meeting held December 2001.

The Pedagogics Of Play, Jay Mcclure

Proceedings of the 18th National Conference on the Beginning Design Student

Teachers should emphasize the importance of play to a student's development, noting their individual talents they need to explore, tryout, take apart and investigate which is fundamental to learning. Design fundamental programs should develop pedagogies that guide student's play into progressive learning experiences in the essentials of form, mathematics, geometry, and creativity.