Object Database Scalability for Scientific Workloads

We describe the PetaByte-scale computing challenges posed by the next generation of particle physics experiments, due to start operation in 2005. The computing models adopted by the experiments call for systems capable of handling sustained data acquisition rates of at least 100 MBytes/second into an Object Database, which will have to handle several PetaBytes of accumulated data per year. The systems will be used to schedule CPU intensive reconstruction and analysis tasks on the highly complex physics Object data which need then be served to clients located at universities and laboratories worldwide. We report on measurements with a prototype system that makes use of a 256 CPU HP Exemplar X Class machine running the Objectivity/DB database. Our results show excellent scalability for up to 240 simultaneous database clients, and aggregate I/O rates exceeding 150 Mbytes/second, indicating the viability of the computing models

Distributed Heterogeneous Relational Data Warehouse In A Grid Environment

This paper examines how a "Distributed Heterogeneous Relational Data Warehouse" can be integrated in a Grid environment that will provide physicists with efficient access to large and small object collections drawn from databases at multiple sites. This paper investigates the requirements of Grid-enabling such a warehouse, and explores how these requirements may be met by extensions to existing Grid middleware. We present initial results obtained with a working prototype warehouse of this kind using both SQLServer and Oracle9i, where a Grid-enabled web-services interface makes it easier for web-applications to access the distributed contents of the databases securely. Based on the success of the prototype, we proposes a framework for using heterogeneous relational data warehouse through the web-service interface and create a single "Virtual Database System" for users. The ability to transparently access data in this way, as shown in prototype, is likely to be a very powerful facility for HENP and other grid users wishing to collate and analyze information distributed over Grid.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figure

The Clarens web services architecture

Clarens is a uniquely flexible web services infrastructure providing a unified access protocol to a diverse set of functions useful to the HEP community. It uses the standard HTTP protocol combined with application layer, certificate based authentication to provide single sign-on to individuals, organizations and hosts, with fine-grained access control to services, files and virtual organization (VO) management. This contribution describes the server functionality, while client applications are described in a subsequent talk.Comment: Talk from the 2003 Computing in High Energy and Nuclear Physics (CHEP03), La Jolla, Ca, USA, March 2003, 6 pages, LaTeX, 4 figures, PSN MONT00

Clarens Client and Server Applications

Several applications have been implemented with access via the Clarens web service infrastructure, including virtual organization management, JetMET physics data analysis using relational databases, and Storage Resource Broker (SRB) access. This functionality is accessible transparently from Python scripts, the Root analysis framework and from Java applications and browser applets.Comment: Talk from the 2003 Computing in High Energy and Nuclear Physics (CHEP03), La Jolla, Ca, USA, March 2003, 4 pages, LaTeX, no figures, PSN TUCT00

Grid enabled data analysis on handheld devices

The requirement for information on portable, handheld devices demands the realization of increasingly complex applications for increasingly small and ubiquitous devices. This trend promotes the migration of technologies that were originally developed for desktop computers to handheld devices. With the onset of grid computing, users of handheld devices should be able to accomplish much more complex tasks, by accessing the processing and storage resources of the grid. This paper describes the development, features, and performance aspects of a grid enabled analysis environment designed for handheld devices. We also describe some differences in the technologies required to run these applications on desktop machines and handheld devices. In addition, we propose a prototype agent-based distributed architecture for carrying out high-speed analysis of physics data on handheld devices

Grid enabled data analysis on handheld devices

The requirement for information on portable, handheld devices demands the realization of increasingly complex applications for increasingly small and ubiquitous devices. This trend promotes the migration of technologies that were originally developed for desktop computers to handheld devices. With the onset of grid computing, users of handheld devices should be able to accomplish much more complex tasks, by accessing the processing and storage resources of the grid. This paper describes the development, features, and performance aspects of a grid enabled analysis environment designed for handheld devices. We also describe some differences in the technologies required to run these applications on desktop machines and handheld devices. In addition, we propose a prototype agent-based distributed architecture for carrying out high-speed analysis of physics data on handheld devices

Bending the curve of global freshwater biodiversity loss: an emergency recovery plan

Despite their limited spatial extent, freshwater ecosystems host remarkable biodiversity, including one-third of all vertebrate species. This biodiversity is declining dramatically: Globally, wetlands are vanishing three times faster than forests, and freshwater vertebrate populations have fallen more than twice as steeply as terrestrial or marine populations. Threats to freshwater biodiversity are well documented but coordinated action to reverse the decline is lacking. We present an Emergency Recovery Plan to bend the curve of freshwater biodiversity loss. Priority actions include accelerating implementation of environmental flows; improving water quality; protecting and restoring critical habitats; managing the exploitation of freshwater ecosystem resources, especially species and riverine aggregates; preventing and controlling nonnative species invasions; and safeguarding and restoring river connectivity. We recommend adjustments to targets and indicators for the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Sustainable Development Goals and roles for national and international state and nonstate actors

PAPP-A2 Deficiency Does Not Exacerbate the Phenotype of a Mouse Model of Intrauterine Growth Restriction

BACKGROUND: Pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A2 (PAPP-A2) is consistently upregulated in the placentae of pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia and fetal growth restriction. The causes and significance of this upregulation remain unknown, but it has been hypothesized that it is a compensatory response to improve placental growth and development. We predicted that, if the upregulation of PAPP-A2 in pregnancy complications reflects a compensatory response, then deletion of Pappa2 in mice would exacerbate the effects of a gene deletion previously reported to impair placental development: deficiency of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP9). METHODS: We crossed mice carrying deletions in Pappa2 and Mmp9 to produce pregnancies deficient in one, both, or neither of these genes. We measured pregnancy rates, number of conceptuses, fetal and placental growth, and the histological structure of the placenta. RESULTS: We found no evidence of reduced fertility, increased pregnancy loss, or increased fetal demise in Mmp9 -/- females. In pregnancies segregating for Mmp9, Mmp9 -/- fetuses were lighter than their siblings with a functional Mmp9 allele. However, deletion of Pappa2 did not exacerbate or reveal any effects of Mmp9 deficiency. We observed some effects of Pappa2 deletion on placental structure that were independent of Mmp9 deficiency, but no effects on fetal growth. At G16, male fetuses were heavier than female fetuses and had heavier placentae with larger junctional zones and smaller labyrinths. CONCLUSIONS: Effects of Mmp9 deficiency were not exacerbated by the deletion of Pappa2. Our results do not provide evidence that upregulation of placental PAPP-A2 represents a mechanism to compensate for impaired fetal growth. &nbsp