On using micro-clouds to deliver the fog

The cloud is scalable and cost-efficient, but it is not ideal for hosting all applications. Fog computing proposes an alternative of offloading some computation to the edge. Which applications to offload, where to, and when is not entirely clear yet due to our lack of understanding of potential edge infrastructures. Through a number of experiments, we showcase the feasibility and readiness of micro-clouds formed by collections of Raspberry Pis to host a range of fog applications, particularly for network-constrained environments

Supercomputing Frontiers

This open access book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 7th Asian Conference Supercomputing Conference, SCFA 2022, which took place in Singapore in March 2022. The 8 full papers presented in this book were carefully reviewed and selected from 21 submissions. They cover a range of topics including file systems, memory hierarchy, HPC cloud platform, container image configuration workflow, large-scale applications, and scheduling

Vibrational Spectroscopy of Glycans in Helium Nanodroplets

A central theme among the glycosciences is the Janus-faced nature ofglycans. Their tremendous structural diversity enables a myriad ofbiological functions ranging from energy storage to molecular recogni-tion processes. But at the same time, this structural diversity poses aformidable challenge for glycan analysis that impedes the full develop-ment of structural glycobiology. In contrast to genomics and proteomics,glycomics lacks generic sequencing methods that allow reliable, high-throughput analyses with low sample consumption. Instead, a variety ofsophisticated methods is used for glycan analysis, including mass spec-trometry. A general challenge using mass spectrometry alone, however,is the unambiguous identification of isomeric glycans. Therefore, it isoften coupled to orthogonal techniques, such as liquid chromatography.In the last two decades, the combination of mass spectrometry andgas-phase action spectroscopy emerged for glycan analysis. Variouschallenges, however, limited gas-phase spectroscopy to smaller glycans.In particular, the thermal activation of ions during the measurement ininfrared multiple-photon dissociation spectroscopy leads to significantline-broadening, which limits the amount of structural information thatcan be obtained by this method.This work overcomes these limitations by combining mass spectrom-etry and cryogenic vibrational spectroscopy using superfluid helium nanodroplets. The unique low-temperature environment of heliumdroplets allows the acquisition of vibrational spectra in the absenceof significant thermal contributions. A systematic study of isomericglycans demonstrates the outstanding resolving power that provides avariety of well-resolved absorption bands that are unique to each isomer:a true spectral fingerprint. The unique optical signatures allow theresolution of even minute structural details, such as the stereochemicalorientation of a single hydroxy group.The exceptional ability of this method to resolve structural detailswas used to investigate an elusive rearrangement reaction, called fu-cose migration, which frequently leads to the detection of misleadingfragment ions and erroneous sequence assignments in tandem massspectrometry. Because fucose migration was only observed in fragmentions, it was strictly associated with the fragmentation process. In thiswork, cryogenic vibrational spectroscopy reveals that fucose migrationis not restricted to fragment ions, and instead occurs in intact ions aswell. These results generalize fucose migration to a universal issue inmass spectrometry as a whole.In another study, the combination of cryogenic vibrational spec-troscopy and first-principles theory was used to unravel the structureof glycosyl cations, the key intermediates during chemical glycosyla-tion reactions. Various reaction pathways were postulated many yearsago, but the exact structure of glycosyl cations remained obscure dueto their short-lived and reactive nature in the condensed phase. Inthis work, the fragmentation of precursor ions was used to generateglycosyl cations in the gas phase, which provides a unique clean-roomenvironment that stabilizes these transient intermediates. The highlyresolved vibrational spectra obtained for various glycosyl cations allowan in-depth structural analysis that reveals detailed insights into the two fundamental structural motifs that enable stereoselective glycosylationreactions: neighboring group participation and remote participation.These results facilitate the mechanistic understanding of glycosylationreactions and will eventually lead to a more rational design of buildingblocks that is based on structural rather than anecdotal evidence.Een centraal thema in de glyco-wetenschappen is het dubbele karaktervan glycanen. Enerzijds maakt de enorme structurele diversiteit vanglycanen een groot aantal biologische functies mogelijk, variërend vanenergieopslag tot moleculaire herkenningsprocessen. Maar tegelijkertijdvormt deze structurele diversiteit een enorme uitdaging voor de ana-lyse van glycanen, wat de ontwikkeling van structurele glycobiologiebelemmert. In tegenstelling tot genomics en proteomics, ontbreekthet glycomics aan een generieke sequentiemethode die betrouwbare,high-throughput analyses van kleine hoeveelheden glycanen mogelijkmaakt. In plaats daarvan wordt een verscheidenheid aan geavanceerdemethoden gebruikt, waaronder massaspectrometrie. Met uitsluitendmassa-spectrometrische methoden, is een eenduidige identificatie vanverschillende isomeren van glycanen echter slechts beperkt mogelijk.Daarom wordt massaspectrometrie vaak gekoppeld aan orthogonale tech-nieken, zoals vloeistofchromatografie. In de laatste twee decennia is ookde combinatie van massaspectrometrie met gasfase-actiespectroscopieopgekomen voor glycaan analyse. Deze combinatie is tot dusver metname gebruikt voor de analyse van kleinere glycanen. In het bijzonderleidt de thermische activering van ionen gedurende infrarood multifotondissociatie spectroscopie tot een significante lijnverbreding, hetgeen de hoeveelheid structurele informatie beperkt die met deze methodeverkregen kan worden.Het onderzoek beschreven in dit proefschrift lost deze beperkingenop door massaspectrometrie te combineren met cryogene vibratiespec-troscopie, gebruikmakend van superfluïde helium nanodruppels. Delage temperatuur in de heliumdruppels maakt de opname van vibratie-spectra mogelijk in afwezigheid van significante thermische bijdragen.Een systematische studie van isomere glycanen toont het uitstekendeoplossend vermogen van deze techniek. De spectra bevatten volledigopgeloste absorptiebanden die uniek zijn voor een specifiek isomeer:een echte spectrale vingerafdruk. Deze spectra maken een identificatiemogelijk van zeer subtiele structurele details, zoals de stereochemie vaneen enkele hydroxygroep.Het uitzonderlijke vermogen van deze methode om structurele de-tails te onderscheiden is gebruikt om een lastige migratie-reactie, dezogenaamde fucose migratie, te onderzoeken. Deze migratie-reactie leidtvaak tot de detectie van misleidende fragmentionen en foutieve sequen-tietoewijzingen in tandem massaspectrometrie. Omdat fucose migratiealleen werd waargenomen in fragmentionen, werd het enkel geassoci-eerd met het fragmentatieproces. Zoals beschreven in dit proefschrift,onthult cryogene vibratiespectroscopie dat fucose migratie niet beperktis tot fragmentionen maar dat dit ook voorkomt in intacte ionen. Dezeresultaten maken duidelijk dat fucose migratie een universele kwestie isin de massaspectrometrie.In een andere studie is de combinatie van cryogene vibratiespectro-scopie en ab initio theorie gebruikt om de structuur van glycosylkationen,de belangrijkste tussenproducten tijdens chemische glycosyleringsreac-ties, te ontrafelen. Verschillende reactiepaden zijn vele jaren geledengepostuleerd, maar de exacte structuur van glycosylkationen bleef onduidelijk vanwege hun kortstondige en reactieve aard in de gecondenseerdefase. In dit werk is de fragmentatie van precursor-ionen gebruikt omglycosylkationen te genereren in de gasfase. Dit creëert een unieke“clean-room” omgeving die deze tijdelijke tussenproducten stabiliseert.De vibratiespectra verkregen voor verschillende glycosylkationen makeneen diepgaande structurele analyse mogelijk. Dit onthult gedetailleerdeinzichten in de twee fundamentele structurele motieven die stereoselec-tieve glycosyleringsreacties mogelijk maken: participatie van naburigegroepen en participatie op afstand. Deze resultaten maken een mecha-nistisch begrip van glycosyleringsreacties mogelijk en zullen uiteindelijkleiden tot een rationeler ontwerp van de benodigde bouwstenen, geba-seerd op structureel in plaats van anekdotisch bewijs

Research reports: 1990 NASA/ASEE Summer Faculty Fellowship Program

Reports on the research projects performed under the NASA/ASEE Summer Faculty Fellowship Program are presented. The program was conducted by The University of Alabama and MSFC during the period from June 4, 1990 through August 10, 1990. Some of the topics covered include: (1) Space Shuttles; (2) Space Station Freedom; (3) information systems; (4) materials and processes; (4) Space Shuttle main engine; (5) aerospace sciences; (6) mathematical models; (7) mission operations; (8) systems analysis and integration; (9) systems control; (10) structures and dynamics; (11) aerospace safety; and (12) remote sensin

Workflow models for heterogeneous distributed systems

The role of data in modern scientific workflows becomes more and more crucial. The unprecedented amount of data available in the digital era, combined with the recent advancements in Machine Learning and High-Performance Computing (HPC), let computers surpass human performances in a wide range of fields, such as Computer Vision, Natural Language Processing and Bioinformatics. However, a solid data management strategy becomes crucial for key aspects like performance optimisation, privacy preservation and security. Most modern programming paradigms for Big Data analysis adhere to the principle of data locality: moving computation closer to the data to remove transfer-related overheads and risks. Still, there are scenarios in which it is worth, or even unavoidable, to transfer data between different steps of a complex workflow. The contribution of this dissertation is twofold. First, it defines a novel methodology for distributed modular applications, allowing topology-aware scheduling and data management while separating business logic, data dependencies, parallel patterns and execution environments. In addition, it introduces computational notebooks as a high-level and user-friendly interface to this new kind of workflow, aiming to flatten the learning curve and improve the adoption of such methodology. Each of these contributions is accompanied by a full-fledged, Open Source implementation, which has been used for evaluation purposes and allows the interested reader to experience the related methodology first-hand. The validity of the proposed approaches has been demonstrated on a total of five real scientific applications in the domains of Deep Learning, Bioinformatics and Molecular Dynamics Simulation, executing them on large-scale mixed cloud-High-Performance Computing (HPC) infrastructures

Accessible software frameworks for reproducible image analysis of host-pathogen interactions

Um die Mechanismen hinter lebensgefährlichen Krankheiten zu verstehen, müssen die zugrundeliegenden Interaktionen zwischen den Wirtszellen und krankheitserregenden Mikroorganismen bekannt sein. Die kontinuierlichen Verbesserungen in bildgebenden Verfahren und Computertechnologien ermöglichen die Anwendung von Methoden aus der bildbasierten Systembiologie, welche moderne Computeralgorithmen benutzt um das Verhalten von Zellen, Geweben oder ganzen Organen präzise zu messen. Um den Standards des digitalen Managements von Forschungsdaten zu genügen, müssen Algorithmen den FAIR-Prinzipien (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability) entsprechen und zur Verbreitung ebenjener in der wissenschaftlichen Gemeinschaft beitragen. Dies ist insbesondere wichtig für interdisziplinäre Teams bestehend aus Experimentatoren und Informatikern, in denen Computerprogramme zur Verbesserung der Kommunikation und schnellerer Adaption von neuen Technologien beitragen können. In dieser Arbeit wurden daher Software-Frameworks entwickelt, welche dazu beitragen die FAIR-Prinzipien durch die Entwicklung von standardisierten, reproduzierbaren, hochperformanten, und leicht zugänglichen Softwarepaketen zur Quantifizierung von Interaktionen in biologischen System zu verbreiten. Zusammenfassend zeigt diese Arbeit wie Software-Frameworks zu der Charakterisierung von Interaktionen zwischen Wirtszellen und Pathogenen beitragen können, indem der Entwurf und die Anwendung von quantitativen und FAIR-kompatiblen Bildanalyseprogrammen vereinfacht werden. Diese Verbesserungen erleichtern zukünftige Kollaborationen mit Lebenswissenschaftlern und Medizinern, was nach dem Prinzip der bildbasierten Systembiologie zur Entwicklung von neuen Experimenten, Bildgebungsverfahren, Algorithmen, und Computermodellen führen wird

Currency security and forensics: a survey

By its definition, the word currency refers to an agreed medium for exchange, a nation’s currency is the formal medium enforced by the elected governing entity. Throughout history, issuers have faced one common threat: counterfeiting. Despite technological advancements, overcoming counterfeit production remains a distant future. Scientific determination of authenticity requires a deep understanding of the raw materials and manufacturing processes involved. This survey serves as a synthesis of the current literature to understand the technology and the mechanics involved in currency manufacture and security, whilst identifying gaps in the current literature. Ultimately, a robust currency is desire