45,323 research outputs found
Spherical linear waves in de Sitter spacetime
We apply Christodoulou's framework, developed to study the Einstein-scalar
field equations in spherical symmetry, to the linear wave equation in de Sitter
spacetime, as a first step towards the Einstein-scalar field equations with
positive cosmological constant. We obtain an integro-differential evolution
equation which we solve by taking initial data on a null cone. As a corollary
we obtain elementary derivations of expected properties of linear waves in de
Sitter spacetime: boundedness in terms of (characteristic) initial data, and a
Price law establishing uniform exponential decay, in Bondi time, to a constant.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure; v2: minor changes, references added, matches final
published versio
Predicting Intermediate Storage Performance for Workflow Applications
Configuring a storage system to better serve an application is a challenging
task complicated by a multidimensional, discrete configuration space and the
high cost of space exploration (e.g., by running the application with different
storage configurations). To enable selecting the best configuration in a
reasonable time, we design an end-to-end performance prediction mechanism that
estimates the turn-around time of an application using storage system under a
given configuration. This approach focuses on a generic object-based storage
system design, supports exploring the impact of optimizations targeting
workflow applications (e.g., various data placement schemes) in addition to
other, more traditional, configuration knobs (e.g., stripe size or replication
level), and models the system operation at data-chunk and control message
level.
This paper presents our experience to date with designing and using this
prediction mechanism. We evaluate this mechanism using micro- as well as
synthetic benchmarks mimicking real workflow applications, and a real
application.. A preliminary evaluation shows that we are on a good track to
meet our objectives: it can scale to model a workflow application run on an
entire cluster while offering an over 200x speedup factor (normalized by
resource) compared to running the actual application, and can achieve, in the
limited number of scenarios we study, a prediction accuracy that enables
identifying the best storage system configuration
Genetics Analysis Workshop 16 Problem 2: tTe Framingham Heart Study Data
Genetic Analysis Workshop 16 (GAW16) Problem 2 presented data from the Framingham Heart Study (FHS), an observational, prospective study of risk factors for cardiovascular disease begun in 1948. Data have been collected in three generations of family participants in the study and the data presented for GAW16 included phenotype data from all three generations, with four examinations of data collected repeatedly for the first two generations. The trait data consisted of information on blood pressure, hypertension treatment, lipid levels, diabetes and blood glucose, smoking, alcohol consumed, weight, and coronary heart disease incidence. Additionally, genotype data obtained through a genome-wide scan (FHS SHARe) of 550,000 single-nucleotide polymorphisms from Affymetrix chips were included with the GAW16 data. The genotype data were also used for GAW16 Problem 3, where simulated phenotypes were generated using the actual FHS genotypes. These data served to provide investigators with a rich resource to study the behavior of genome-wide scans with longitudinally collected family data and to develop and apply new procedures.National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (2 N01-HC-25195-06); National Institutes of Health (National Institute of General Medical Sciences R01 GM031575
Statistical Mechanics Characterization of Neuronal Mosaics
The spatial distribution of neuronal cells is an important requirement for
achieving proper neuronal function in several parts of the nervous system of
most animals. For instance, specific distribution of photoreceptors and related
neuronal cells, particularly the ganglion cells, in mammal's retina is required
in order to properly sample the projected scene. This work presents how two
concepts from the areas of statistical mechanics and complex systems, namely
the \emph{lacunarity} and the \emph{multiscale entropy} (i.e. the entropy
calculated over progressively diffused representations of the cell mosaic),
have allowed effective characterization of the spatial distribution of retinal
cells.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure, The following article has been submitted to
Applied Physics Letters. If it is published, it will be found online at
http://apl.aip.org
The complex channel networks of bone structure
Bone structure in mammals involves a complex network of channels (Havers and
Volkmann channels) required to nourish the bone marrow cells. This work
describes how three-dimensional reconstructions of such systems can be obtained
and represented in terms of complex networks. Three important findings are
reported: (i) the fact that the channel branching density resembles a power law
implies the existence of distribution hubs; (ii) the conditional node degree
density indicates a clear tendency of connection between nodes with degrees 2
and 4; and (iii) the application of the recently introduced concept of
hierarchical clustering coefficient allows the identification of typical scales
of channel redistribution. A series of important biological insights is drawn
and discussedComment: 3 pages, 1 figure, The following article has been submitted to
Applied Physics Letters. If it is published, it will be found online at
http://apl.aip.org
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