Analysis of systems hardware flown on LDEF. Results of the systems special investigation group

The Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) was retrieved after spending 69 months in low Earth orbit (LEO). LDEF carried a remarkable variety of mechanical, electrical, thermal, and optical systems, subsystems, and components. The Systems Special Investigation Group (Systems SIG) was formed to investigate the effects of the long duration exposure to LEO on systems related hardware and to coordinate and collate all systems analysis of LDEF hardware. Discussed here is the status of the LDEF Systems SIG investigation through the end of 1991

An Investigation of the Judged Complexity of Stimuli With High Information Content

The complexity of stimuli with high constructed complexity was judged by 40 subjects on an equal-appearing intervals scale. Earlier studies had employed stimuli of lower constructed complexity, and it was felt that the judgment task would prove more difficult when the constructed complexity was increased. Results showed that subjects experienced no difficulty in making the judgments-as constructed complexity increased, so did judged complexity. It was suggested that magnitude estimation might be a more appropriate means of assessing judged complexity than equal-appearing intervals for future studies

Interactive Supercomputing’s Star-P Platform

The thesis of this extended abstract is simple. High productivity comes from high level infrastructures. To measure this, we introduce a methodology that goes beyond the tradition of timing software in serial and tuned parallel modes. We perform a classroom productivity study involving 29 students who have written a homework exercise in a low level language (MPI message passing) and a high level language (Star-P with MATLAB client). Our conclusions indicate what perhaps should be of little surprise: (1) the high level language is always far easier on the students than the low level language. (2) The early versions of the high level language perform inadequately compared to the tuned low level language, but later versions substantially catch up. Asymptotically, the analogy must hold that message passing is to high level language parallel programming as assembler is to high level environments such as MATLAB, Mathematica, Maple, or even Python. We follow the Kepner method that correctly realizes that traditional speedup numbers without some discussion of the human cost of reaching these numbers can fail to reflect the true human productivity cost of high performance computing. Traditional data compares low level message passing with serial computation. With the benefit of a high level language system in place, in our case Star-P running with MATLAB client, and with the benefit of a large data pool: 29 students, each running the same code ten times on three evolutions of the same platform, we can methodically demonstrate the productivity gains. To date we are not aware of any high level system as extensive and interoperable as Star-P, nor are we aware of an experiment of this kind performed with this volume of data

Index Transformation Algorithms in a Linear Algebra Framework

We present a linear algebraic formulation for a class of index transformations such as Gray code encoding and decoding, matrix transpose, bit reversal, vector reversal, shuffles, and other index or dimension permutations. This formulation unifies, simplifies, and can be used to derive algorithms for hypercube multiprocessors. We show how all the widely known properties of Gray codes, and some not so well-known properties as well, can be derived using this framework. Using this framework, we relate hypercube communications algorithms to Gauss-Jordan elimination on a matrix of 0's and 1's.Engineering and Applied Science

An Analysis of the Content of Perceptual Responses to Randomly Derived Stimuli

In order to understand the role of the stimulus in form perception, an analysis of perceptual responses and stimulus characteristics must be undertaken. Previous research was focused upon the characteristics of the stimulus. This study presents a first approach to categorization of response. Objective, randomly-derived stimuli were presented tachistoscopically to Ss, who responded with their associations to the stimuli. The data suggest that the categories are meaningful ways of construing these responses. Some categories seem to be basic, while others require further differentiation. Hypotheses for future research have been obtained from these data

State of the Tropics 2014 report

[Extract] Is life in the Tropics getting better? The landmark State of the Tropics 2014 Report addresses this nominally simple question. It provides the first in-depth, objective assessment of the Tropics as an environmental and geopolitical entity in its own right. Drawing on the knowledge, experience and diverse backgrounds of leading institutions across the Tropics the report assesses the state of the region and examines the implications of the immense changes the region is experiencing. The assessment demonstrates that nations in the Tropics have made extraordinary progress across a wide range of environmental, social and economic indicators in recent decades. Rapid population and economic growth mean its influence is set to rise dramatically in coming decades. The nature of this influence will depend on how the region addresses its many challenges, and whether it realises its potential and opportunities. The report provides a basis from which to work towards a prosperous, sustainable and equitable future for the Tropics and will be a valuable resource for policy makers, geopolitical analysts, researchers, students and other stakeholders interested in the Tropics

AI is a viable alternative to high throughput screening: a 318-target study

: High throughput screening (HTS) is routinely used to identify bioactive small molecules. This requires physical compounds, which limits coverage of accessible chemical space. Computational approaches combined with vast on-demand chemical libraries can access far greater chemical space, provided that the predictive accuracy is sufficient to identify useful molecules. Through the largest and most diverse virtual HTS campaign reported to date, comprising 318 individual projects, we demonstrate that our AtomNet® convolutional neural network successfully finds novel hits across every major therapeutic area and protein class. We address historical limitations of computational screening by demonstrating success for target proteins without known binders, high-quality X-ray crystal structures, or manual cherry-picking of compounds. We show that the molecules selected by the AtomNet® model are novel drug-like scaffolds rather than minor modifications to known bioactive compounds. Our empirical results suggest that computational methods can substantially replace HTS as the first step of small-molecule drug discovery

Index Transformation Algorithms in a Linear Algebra Framework

We present a linear algebraic formulation for a class of index transformations such as Gray code encoding and decoding, matrix transpose, bit reversal, vector reversal, shuffles, and other index or dimension permutations. This formulation unifies, simplifies, and can be used to derive algorithms for hypercube multiprocessors. We show how all the widely known properties of Gray codes, and some not so well-known properties as well, can be derived using this framework. Using this framework, we relate hypercube communications algorithms to Gauss-Jordan elimination on a matrix of 0's and 1's

Index Transformation Algorithms in a Linear Algebra Framework

We present a linear algebraic formulation for a class of index transformations such as Gray code encoding and decoding, matrix transpose, bit reversal, vector reversal, shuffles, and other index or dimension permutations. This formulation unifies, simplifies, and can be used to derive algorithms for hypercube multiprocessors. We show how all the widely known properties of Gray codes and some not so well-known properties as well, can be derived using this framework. Using this framework, we relate hypercube communications algorithms to Gauss-Jordan elimination on a matrix of 0's and 1's. Keywords and phrases: binary-complement/permute, binary hypercube, Connection Machine, Gray code, index transformation, multiprocessor communication, routing, shuffle Simultaneously appears as Thinking Machines technical report TMC--223. y Supported by the Applied Mathematical Sciences subprogram of the Office of Energy Research, U.S. Department of Energy under Contract DE-AC03-76SF00098. z Also a..