Checkpointing as a Service in Heterogeneous Cloud Environments

A non-invasive, cloud-agnostic approach is demonstrated for extending existing cloud platforms to include checkpoint-restart capability. Most cloud platforms currently rely on each application to provide its own fault tolerance. A uniform mechanism within the cloud itself serves two purposes: (a) direct support for long-running jobs, which would otherwise require a custom fault-tolerant mechanism for each application; and (b) the administrative capability to manage an over-subscribed cloud by temporarily swapping out jobs when higher priority jobs arrive. An advantage of this uniform approach is that it also supports parallel and distributed computations, over both TCP and InfiniBand, thus allowing traditional HPC applications to take advantage of an existing cloud infrastructure. Additionally, an integrated health-monitoring mechanism detects when long-running jobs either fail or incur exceptionally low performance, perhaps due to resource starvation, and proactively suspends the job. The cloud-agnostic feature is demonstrated by applying the implementation to two very different cloud platforms: Snooze and OpenStack. The use of a cloud-agnostic architecture also enables, for the first time, migration of applications from one cloud platform to another.Comment: 20 pages, 11 figures, appears in CCGrid, 201

The Effect of Helicopter Parenting on the Prosocial Behaviors of Emerging Adults

We examined the relationship between helicopter parenting, the psychological needs of self-determination theory (i.e. autonomy, competence, and relatedness), and prosocial behaviors among emerging adults. Psychological needs satisfaction mediated the relationship between helicopter parenting and prosocial behaviors. As emerging adults perceived more helicopter parenting by their mothers or fathers, they reported less satisfaction of their psychological needs and fewer prosocial behaviors

SAFEGUARDING AGAINST IMPROPER CONFIGURATIONS FOR LORAWAN GATEWAYS

Presented herein are safeguard features for Long Range wide-area network (LoRaWAN) deployments on a LoRa gateway. The techniques presented herein provide a solution to prevent end users from wrongly or accidentally deploying LoRa gateways in unlawful Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) radio bands. The techniques presented herein require little computational and storage resources to be integrated into any LoRa gateway embedded system, operate automatically based on the standard LNS protocol, and are sufficiently flexible to suit different use cases

Nuf, a Rab11 Effector, Maintains Cytokinetic Furrow Integrity by Promoting Local Actin Polymerization

Plasma membrane ingression during cytokinesis involves both actin remodeling and vesicle-mediated membrane addition. Vesicle-based membrane delivery from the recycling endosome (RE) has an essential but ill-defined involvement in cytokinesis. In the Drosophila melanogaster early embryo, Nuf (Nuclear fallout), a Rab11 effector which is essential for RE function, is required for F-actin and membrane integrity during furrow ingression. We find that in nuf mutant embryos, an initial loss of F-actin at the furrow is followed by loss of the associated furrow membrane. Wild-type embryos treated with Latrunculin A or Rho inhibitor display similar defects. Drug- or Rho-GTP–induced increase of actin polymerization or genetically mediated decrease of actin depolymerization suppresses the nuf mutant F-actin and membrane defects. We also find that RhoGEF2 does not properly localize at the furrow in nuf mutant embryos and that RhoGEF2–Rho1 pathway components show strong specific genetic interactions with Nuf. We propose a model in which RE-derived vesicles promote furrow integrity by regulating the rate of actin polymerization through the RhoGEF2–Rho1 pathway

Nuf, a Rab11 effector, maintains cytokinetic furrow integrity by promoting local actin polymerization

Plasma membrane ingression during cytokinesis involves both actin remodeling and vesicle-mediated membrane addition. Vesicle-based membrane delivery from the recycling endosome (RE) has an essential but ill-defined involvement in cytokinesis. In the Drosophila melanogaster early embryo, Nuf (Nuclear fallout), a Rab11 effector which is essential for RE function, is required for F-actin and membrane integrity during furrow ingression. We find that in nuf mutant embryos, an initial loss of F-actin at the furrow is followed by loss of the associated furrow membrane. Wild-type embryos treated with Latrunculin A or Rho inhibitor display similar defects. Drug- or Rho-GTP–induced increase of actin polymerization or genetically mediated decrease of actin depolymerization suppresses the nuf mutant F-actin and membrane defects. We also find that RhoGEF2 does not properly localize at the furrow in nuf mutant embryos and that RhoGEF2–Rho1 pathway components show strong specific genetic interactions with Nuf. We propose a model in which RE-derived vesicles promote furrow integrity by regulating the rate of actin polymerization through the RhoGEF2–Rho1 pathway

PFRED: A computational platform for siRNA and antisense oligonucleotides design [preprint]

PFRED a software application for the design, analysis, and visualization of antisense oligonucleotides and siRNA is described. The software provides an intuitive user-interface for scientists to design a library of siRNA or antisense oligonucleotides that target a specific gene of interest. Moreover, the tool facilitates the incorporation of various design criteria that have been shown to be important for stability and potency. PFRED has been made available as an open-source project so the code can be easily modified to address the future needs of the oligonucleotide research community. A compiled version is available for downloading at https://github.com/pfred/pfred-gui/releases as a java Jar file. The source code and the links for downloading the precompiled version can be found at https://github.com/pfred

PFRED: A computational platform for siRNA and antisense oligonucleotides design

PFRED a software application for the design, analysis, and visualization of antisense oligonucleotides and siRNA is described. The software provides an intuitive user-interface for scientists to design a library of siRNA or antisense oligonucleotides that target a specific gene of interest. Moreover, the tool facilitates the incorporation of various design criteria that have been shown to be important for stability and potency. PFRED has been made available as an open-source project so the code can be easily modified to address the future needs of the oligonucleotide research community. A compiled version is available for downloading at https://github.com/pfred/pfred-gui/releases/tag/v1.0 as a java Jar file. The source code and the links for downloading the precompiled version can be found at https://github.com/pfred

Histoire d’une innovation agricole récente à l’échelle régionale : sélection et circulation des sorghos repiqués dans le bassin tchadien

International audienceLe sorgho repiqué a fait l’objet d’une large diffusion dans le bassin du lac Tchad au XXe siècle. Cette culture présente une forte diversité variétale. Les nomenclatures paysannes suggèrent des groupes géographiquement distincts, subdivisés en variétés locales selon des critères qui peuvent varier en fonction des sociétés. À partir d’une taxonomie simplifiée en langue véhiculaire (fulfulde) et de la structure des diversités agro-morphologique et génétique du sorgho repiqué, nous montrons que la variation repose moins sur la définition de catégories taxonomiques intermédiaires (groupes variétaux) que sur celle, plus fine, de taxons terminaux en langues locales (types nommés). Cela est expliqué à l’échelle locale par les pratiques de sélection et de gestion variétale des agriculteurs. La proximité génétique des sorghos repiqués avec certaines populations de sorgho pluvial apporte de nouveaux éléments soutenant les hypothèses sur l’histoire évolutive des sorghos repiqués. L’association du sorgho repiqué à plusieurs clusters génétiques et plusieurs haplotypes chloroplastiques, la circulation régionale relativement récente ainsi que le statut de vivrier marchand du sorgho repiqué ne permettent pas de tracer des frontières géographiques ou culturelles dans la répartition actuelle du sorgho repiqué

Effective Reduction of Chromium-oxy-hydroxide Evaporation from Ni-Base Alloy 690

The corrosion of the Ni-base alloy 690 (60Ni, 30Cr and 10Fe) in humidified air was studied at 500–800\ua0\ub0C, and the rate of CrO2(OH)2 volatilization was measured quantitatively as a function of exposure time using a denuder technique. Different gas velocities were employed in exposures with a maximum duration of 200\ua0h. Corrosion morphology was investigated by SEM/EDX using BIB-milled cross sections. The rate of chromium volatilization increased with increasing temperature and gas velocity. The rate of volatilization decreased with exposure time. Two oxide scale morphologies were observed, depending on temperature and gas velocity. In the 500–700\ua0\ub0C range, the scale consisted of chromia-rich corundum-type oxide, while exposures with high gas velocities at 800\ua0\ub0C produced an entirely different type of scale that included a Ni-rich and Cr-poor cap layer. The latter scale morphology is suggested to result from extensive chromium depletion of the alloy substrate which triggers a new mode of oxidation involving formation of NiCr spinel oxide. Continued volatilization of CrO2(OH)2 causes the NiCr spinel to decompose into a Ni-rich oxide that forms a cap layer on the scale surface. This cap layer is very efficient in decreasing the rate of chromium volatilization, allowing the chromium levels in the substrate to recuperate. We show that volatilization of chromium (VI) from the alloy can be mitigated by an oxidation pre-treatment that allows the Ni-rich cap layer to form