Cold Storage Data Archives: More Than Just a Bunch of Tapes

The abundance of available sensor and derived data from large scientific experiments, such as earth observation programs, radio astronomy sky surveys, and high-energy physics already exceeds the storage hardware globally fabricated per year. To that end, cold storage data archives are the---often overlooked---spearheads of modern big data analytics in scientific, data-intensive application domains. While high-performance data analytics has received much attention from the research community, the growing number of problems in designing and deploying cold storage archives has only received very little attention. In this paper, we take the first step towards bridging this gap in knowledge by presenting an analysis of four real-world cold storage archives from three different application domains. In doing so, we highlight (i) workload characteristics that differentiate these archives from traditional, performance-sensitive data analytics, (ii) design trade-offs involved in building cold storage systems for these archives, and (iii) deployment trade-offs with respect to migration to the public cloud. Based on our analysis, we discuss several other important research challenges that need to be addressed by the data management community

State of stress in piezoelectric elements with interdigitated electrodes

Finite element analyses have been performed on the representative volume element of piezoelectric elements with interdigitated electrodes (IDE). In these investigations the change of the piezoelectric material properties during polarization has been considered prior to additional service loads, e.g. mechanical loading. The numerical results obtained with a specially coded finite element routine are compared with a reference model given by the so called uniform field model. The model indicates stress concentrations at the tip of the finger electrode, which have been validated by experimental results. The modeling approach presented allows for a better understanding of the overall effects in piezoelectric materials with ID

Race and culture in health research: a facilitated discussion

G5 - Minor Reports and Working Paper

Patterns and correlates of self-reported racial discrimination among Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults, 2008–09: analysis of national survey data

BackgroundThere is now considerable evidence that racism is a pernicious and enduring social problem with a wide range of detrimental outcomes for individuals, communities and societies. Although indigenous people worldwide are subjected to high levels of racism, there is a paucity of population-based, quantitative data about the factors associated with their reporting of racial discrimination, about the settings in which such discrimination takes place, and about the frequency with which it is experienced. Such information is essential in efforts to reduce both exposure to racism among indigenous people and the harms associated with such exposure.MethodsWeighted data on self-reported racial discrimination from over 7,000 Indigenous Australian adults participating in the 2008–09 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Survey, a nationally representative survey conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, were analysed by socioeconomic, demographic and cultural factors.ResultsMore than one in four respondents (27%) reported experiencing racial discrimination in the past year. Racial discrimination was most commonly reported in public (41% of those reporting any racial discrimination), legal (40%) and work (30%) settings. Among those reporting any racial discrimination, about 40% experienced this discrimination most or all of the time (as opposed to a little or some of the time) in at least one setting. Reporting of racial discrimination peaked in the 35–44 year age group and then declined. Higher reporting of racial discrimination was associated with removal from family, low trust, unemployment, having a university degree, and indicators of cultural identity and participation. Lower reporting of racial discrimination was associated with home ownership, remote residence and having relatively few Indigenous friends.ConclusionsThese data indicate that racial discrimination is commonly experienced across a wide variety of settings, with public, legal and work settings identified as particularly salient. The observed relationships, while not necessarily causal, help to build a detailed picture of self-reported racial discrimination experienced by Indigenous people in contemporary Australia, providing important evidence to inform anti-racism policy

The impact of racism on indigenous health in Australia and Aotearoa: towards a research agenda

It is well established that Indigenous Australians and Māori have higher levels of ill health and mortality than non-Indigenous people. It is also clear that the disadvantage suffered by Indigenous peoples2 is associated with both historical and contemporary racism, colonisation and oppression. Both an ‘adequate state of health’ and ‘freedom from racism’ are rights enshrined in legislation in Australia and Aotearoa (New Zealand).3 Although several recent national and international reports have shown a link between racism and public health, there is little research on this topic in Australia or Aotearoa. In response to this paucity of research, the ‘Racism and Indigenous Health’ symposium was held at The University of Melbourne on 27 November 2007. This event brought together 35 key researchers and policy-makers from Australia and Aotearoa in the area of racism and Indigenous health to discuss recent findings in this field and to set an agenda for future research. The symposium endorsed a cohesive research agenda to advance our understanding of, and our ability to combat, racism as a threat to Indigenous health in Australia and Aotearoa. Five key research questions were identified from the symposium: • What is the prevalence and experience of racism across the life course for Indigenous peoples? • What impact does racism have on Indigenous health across the life course? • How can we appropriately assess systemic racism against Indigenous peoples? • What are the best ways to address systemic racism against Indigenous peoples? • How can an understanding of the ways in which societal systems produce advantage and positive health outcomes for White Australians and Pākehā New Zealanders help improve Indigenous health? These key questions focus on systemic racism, stressing the importance of further research on the prevalence of racism, its impact on Indigenous health and approaches to eliminating it from society. The symposium also highlighted the need to explore the benefits of racial socialisation (i.e. learning about the nature and ubiquity of racism in society) and to find effective ways to combat interpersonal racism against Indigenous peoples. Improvements in health system performance were supported as an approach to addressing systemic racism in health care, and the symposium emphasised the need to systematically estimate the cost of racism to society in Australia and Aotearoa. This discussion paper highlights the vital importance of sound research in endeavours to combat racism as a threat to Indigenous health in Australia and Aotearoa. We hope that this paper will act as an impetus to policy and decision-makers at the national, regional and local levels to engage in efforts to combat racism against Indigenous peoples as a public health intervention