High-Performance Modelling and Simulation for Big Data Applications

This open access book was prepared as a Final Publication of the COST Action IC1406 “High-Performance Modelling and Simulation for Big Data Applications (cHiPSet)“ project. Long considered important pillars of the scientific method, Modelling and Simulation have evolved from traditional discrete numerical methods to complex data-intensive continuous analytical optimisations. Resolution, scale, and accuracy have become essential to predict and analyse natural and complex systems in science and engineering. When their level of abstraction raises to have a better discernment of the domain at hand, their representation gets increasingly demanding for computational and data resources. On the other hand, High Performance Computing typically entails the effective use of parallel and distributed processing units coupled with efficient storage, communication and visualisation systems to underpin complex data-intensive applications in distinct scientific and technical domains. It is then arguably required to have a seamless interaction of High Performance Computing with Modelling and Simulation in order to store, compute, analyse, and visualise large data sets in science and engineering. Funded by the European Commission, cHiPSet has provided a dynamic trans-European forum for their members and distinguished guests to openly discuss novel perspectives and topics of interests for these two communities. This cHiPSet compendium presents a set of selected case studies related to healthcare, biological data, computational advertising, multimedia, finance, bioinformatics, and telecommunications

Suivi de culture cellulaire par imagerie sans lentille

Biological studies always start from curious observations. This is exemplified by description of cells for the first time by Robert Hooke in 1665, observed using his microscope. Since then the field of microscopy and cell biology grew hand in hand, with one field pushing the growth of the other and vice-versa. From basic description of cells in 1665, with parallel advancements in microscopy, we have travelled a long way to understand sub-cellular processes and molecular mechanisms. With each day, our understanding of cells increases and several questions are being posed and answered. Several high-resolution microscopic techniques are being introduced (PALM, STED, STORM, etc.) that push the resolution limit to few tens of nm, taking us to a new era where ‘seeing is believing'. Having said this, it is to be noted that the world of cells is vast, with information spread from nanometers to millimetres, and also over extended time-period, implying that not just one microscopic technique could acquire all the available information. The knowledge in the field of cell biology comes from a combination of imaging and quantifying techniques that complement one another.Majority of modern-day microscopic techniques focuses on increasing resolution which, is achieved at the expense of cost, compactness, simplicity, and field of view. The substantial decrease in the field of observation limits the visibility to a few single cells at best. Therefore, despite our ability to peer through the cells using increasingly powerful optical instruments, fundamental biology questions remain unanswered at mesoscopic scales. A global view of cell population with significant statistics both in terms of space and time is necessary to understand the dynamics of cell biology, taking in to account the heterogeneity of the population and the cell-cell variability. Mesoscopic information is as important as microscopic information. Although the latter gains access to sub-cellular functions, it is the former that leads to high-throughput, label-free measurements. By focussing on simplicity, cost, feasibility, field of view, and time-lapse in-incubator imaging, we developed ‘Lensfree Video Microscope' based on digital in-line holography that is capable of providing a new perspective to cell culture monitoring by being able to capture the kinetics of thousands of cells simultaneously. In this thesis, we present our lensfree video microscope and its applications in in-vitro cell culture monitoring and quantification.We validated the system by performing more than 20,000 hours of real-time imaging, in diverse conditions (e.g.: 37°C, 4°C, 0% O2, etc.) observing varied cell types and culture conditions (e.g.: primary cells, human stem cells, fibroblasts, endothelial cells, epithelial cells, 2D/3D cell culture, etc.). This permitted us to develop label-free cell based assays to study the major cellular events – cell adhesion and spreading, cell division, cell division orientation, cell migration, cell differentiation, network formation, and cell death. The results that we obtained respect the heterogeneity of the population, cell to cell variability (a raising concern in the biological community) and the massiveness of the population, whilst adhering to the standard cell culture practices - a rare combination that is seldom attained by existing real-time monitoring methods.We believe that our microscope and associated metrics would complement existing techniques by bridging the gap between mesoscopic and microscopic information

The Largest Unethical Medical Experiment in Human History

This monograph describes the largest unethical medical experiment in human history: the implementation and operation of non-ionizing non-visible EMF radiation (hereafter called wireless radiation) infrastructure for communications, surveillance, weaponry, and other applications. It is unethical because it violates the key ethical medical experiment requirement for “informed consent” by the overwhelming majority of the participants. The monograph provides background on unethical medical research/experimentation, and frames the implementation of wireless radiation within that context. The monograph then identifies a wide spectrum of adverse effects of wireless radiation as reported in the premier biomedical literature for over seven decades. Even though many of these reported adverse effects are extremely severe, the true extent of their severity has been grossly underestimated. Most of the reported laboratory experiments that produced these effects are not reflective of the real-life environment in which wireless radiation operates. Many experiments do not include pulsing and modulation of the carrier signal, and most do not account for synergistic effects of other toxic stimuli acting in concert with the wireless radiation. These two additions greatly exacerbate the severity of the adverse effects from wireless radiation, and their neglect in current (and past) experimentation results in substantial under-estimation of the breadth and severity of adverse effects to be expected in a real-life situation. This lack of credible safety testing, combined with depriving the public of the opportunity to provide informed consent, contextualizes the wireless radiation infrastructure operation as an unethical medical experiment

High-Performance Modelling and Simulation for Big Data Applications

This open access book was prepared as a Final Publication of the COST Action IC1406 “High-Performance Modelling and Simulation for Big Data Applications (cHiPSet)“ project. Long considered important pillars of the scientific method, Modelling and Simulation have evolved from traditional discrete numerical methods to complex data-intensive continuous analytical optimisations. Resolution, scale, and accuracy have become essential to predict and analyse natural and complex systems in science and engineering. When their level of abstraction raises to have a better discernment of the domain at hand, their representation gets increasingly demanding for computational and data resources. On the other hand, High Performance Computing typically entails the effective use of parallel and distributed processing units coupled with efficient storage, communication and visualisation systems to underpin complex data-intensive applications in distinct scientific and technical domains. It is then arguably required to have a seamless interaction of High Performance Computing with Modelling and Simulation in order to store, compute, analyse, and visualise large data sets in science and engineering. Funded by the European Commission, cHiPSet has provided a dynamic trans-European forum for their members and distinguished guests to openly discuss novel perspectives and topics of interests for these two communities. This cHiPSet compendium presents a set of selected case studies related to healthcare, biological data, computational advertising, multimedia, finance, bioinformatics, and telecommunications