CMS software and computing for LHC Run 2

The CMS offline software and computing system has successfully met the challenge of LHC Run 2. In this presentation, we will discuss how the entire system was improved in anticipation of increased trigger output rate, increased rate of pileup interactions and the evolution of computing technology. The primary goals behind these changes was to increase the flexibility of computing facilities where ever possible, as to increase our operational efficiency, and to decrease the computing resources needed to accomplish the primary offline computing workflows. These changes have resulted in a new approach to distributed computing in CMS for Run 2 and for the future as the LHC luminosity should continue to increase. We will discuss changes and plans to our data federation, which was one of the key changes towards a more flexible computing model for Run 2. Our software framework and algorithms also underwent significant changes. We will summarize the our experience with a new multi-threaded framework as deployed on our prompt reconstruction farm for 2015 and across the CMS WLCG Tier-1 facilities. We will discuss our experience with a analysis data format which is ten times smaller than our primary Run 1 format. This "miniAOD" format has proven to be easier to analyze while be extremely flexible for analysts. Finally, we describe improvements to our workflow management system that have resulted in increased automation and reliability for all facets of CMS production and user analysis operations.Comment: Contribution to proceedings of the 38th International Conference on High Energy Physics (ICHEP 2016

Evolving NoSQL Databases Without Downtime

NoSQL databases like Redis, Cassandra, and MongoDB are increasingly popular because they are flexible, lightweight, and easy to work with. Applications that use these databases will evolve over time, sometimes necessitating (or preferring) a change to the format or organization of the data. The problem we address in this paper is: How can we support the evolution of high-availability applications and their NoSQL data online, without excessive delays or interruptions, even in the presence of backward-incompatible data format changes? We present KVolve, an extension to the popular Redis NoSQL database, as a solution to this problem. KVolve permits a developer to submit an upgrade specification that defines how to transform existing data to the newest version. This transformation is applied lazily as applications interact with the database, thus avoiding long pause times. We demonstrate that KVolve is expressive enough to support substantial practical updates, including format changes to RedisFS, a Redis-backed file system, while imposing essentially no overhead in general use and minimal pause times during updates.Comment: Update to writing/structur

The Design and Usage of the New Data Management Features in NASTRAN

Two new data management features are installed in the April 1984 release of NASTRAN. These two features are the Rigid Format Data Base and the READFILE capability. The Rigid Format Data Base is stored on external files in card image format and can be easily maintained and expanded by the use of standard text editors. This data base provides the user and the NASTRAN maintenance contractor with an easy means for making changes to a Rigid Format or for generating new Rigid Formats without unnecessary compilations and link editing of NASTRAN. Each Rigid Format entry in the data base contains the Direct Matrix Abstraction Program (DMAP), along with the associated restart, DMAP sequence subset and substructure control flags. The READFILE capability allows an user to reference an external secondary file from the NASTRAN primary input file and to read data from this secondary file. There is no limit to the number of external secondary files that may be referenced and read

A new method for generating and maintaining rigid formats in NASTRAN

A new method for generating and updating Rigid Formats in NASTRAN is discussed. The heart of this method is a Rigid Format data base that is in card-image format and that can therefore be easily maintained by the use of standard text editors. Each Rigid Format entry in this data base will contain the Direct Matrix Abstraction Program (DMAP) for that Rigid Format along with the related restart, subset and substructure control tables. NASTRAN will read this data base directly in every NASTRAN run and perform the necessary transformations to allow the DMAP to be processed and compiled by the NASTRAN executive. This approach will permit Rigid Formats to be changed without unnecessary compilations and relinking of NASTRAN. Furthermore, this approach will also make it very easy for users to make permanent changes to existing Rigid Formats as well as to generate their own Rigid Formats. This new method will be incorporated in a future release of the public version of NASTRAN

Stated Choice Experiments with Complex Ecosystem Changes: The Effect of Information Formats on Estimated Variances and Choice Parameters

Stated choice experiments about ecosystem changes involve complex information. This study examines whether the format in which ecosystem information is presented to respondents affects stated choice outcomes. Our analysis develops a utility-maximizing model to describe respondent behavior. The model shows how alternative questionnaire formats alter respondents’ use of filtering heuristics and result in differences in preference estimates. Empirical results from a large-scale stated choice experiment confirm that different format presentations of the same information lead to different preference parameter estimates and error variances. A tabular format results in choice parameter estimates with statistically smaller variances than parameters estimated from data obtained with a text-based format. A text-based format also appears to induce greater use of decision heuristics than does a tabular format.choice experiments, heuristics, stated preference, valuation, web surveys, wetland mitigation, Crop Production/Industries, Demand and Price Analysis,

A novel fluorescent probe for NAD-consuming enzymes

A novel, fluorescent NAD derivative is processed as substrate by three different NAD-consuming enzymes. The new probe has been used to monitor enzymatic activity in a continuous format by changes in fluorescence and, in one case, to directly visualize alternative reaction pathways

A spatial analysis of the Italian Second Republic, Second Version

We apply the Optimal Classification method to a newly created dataset to provide a spatial map of the Italian Second Republic (1996-2008). We find a bi-dimensional political space in the XIII Legislature and virtually a one dimensional political space in the XIV and XV Legislatures. In addition, the main dimension is explained along the dimension government opposition rather than on the traditional left and right dimension. During the Second Republic, Italy experienced changes in electoral system and in the format of the parties. We use our data to discuss the implications of either change on the dimensionality space. We find that the format of the party system was a more important determinant of the dimensionality of the political space than changes in the electoral system.

Onward: How a Regional Temperance Magazine for Children Survived and Flourished in the Victorian Marketplace

This paper explores the purpose, use and content of nineteenth-century children’s temperance magazines by a case study of Onward (1869-1910, monthly), examining significant changes over a key forty-year period. Technological developments and the influence of competing publications led the magazine to transform its content, typography, format and size, decade by decade. What began as a regional title reached a national circulation of 250,000, and the changes implemented reveal its twin priorities of integration of readers into the Temperance movement, and the creation of a competitive "brand" of juvenile magazine