1,039 research outputs found
Risks associated with endotoxins in feed additives produced by fermentation
Acknowledgements We thank Jordi Tarrés Call, who recorded the discussions and offered advice about procedures, and Nicole Reisinger and Gerd Schatzmayr, who provided valuable information about endotoxins in animal feeds. The Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health is funded by the Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division (RESAS) of the Scottish Government.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Beyond XSPEC: Towards Highly Configurable Analysis
We present a quantitative comparison between software features of the defacto
standard X-ray spectral analysis tool, XSPEC, and ISIS, the Interactive
Spectral Interpretation System. Our emphasis is on customized analysis, with
ISIS offered as a strong example of configurable software. While noting that
XSPEC has been of immense value to astronomers, and that its scientific core is
moderately extensible--most commonly via the inclusion of user contributed
"local models"--we identify a series of limitations with its use beyond
conventional spectral modeling. We argue that from the viewpoint of the
astronomical user, the XSPEC internal structure presents a Black Box Problem,
with many of its important features hidden from the top-level interface, thus
discouraging user customization. Drawing from examples in custom modeling,
numerical analysis, parallel computation, visualization, data management, and
automated code generation, we show how a numerically scriptable, modular, and
extensible analysis platform such as ISIS facilitates many forms of advanced
astrophysical inquiry.Comment: Accepted by PASP, for July 2008 (15 pages
Quantum Monte Carlo Study of Strongly Correlated Electrons: Cellular Dynamical Mean-Field Theory
We study the Hubbard model using the Cellular Dynamical Mean-Field Theory
(CDMFT) with quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations. We present the algorithmic
details of CDMFT with the Hirsch-Fye QMC method for the solution of the
self-consistently embedded quantum cluster problem. We use the one- and
two-dimensional half-filled Hubbard model to gauge the performance of CDMFT+QMC
particularly for small clusters by comparing with the exact results and also
with other quantum cluster methods. We calculate single-particle Green's
functions and self-energies on small clusters to study their size dependence in
one- and two-dimensions.Comment: 14 pages, 18 figure
Session-Based Programming for Parallel Algorithms: Expressiveness and Performance
This paper investigates session programming and typing of benchmark examples
to compare productivity, safety and performance with other communications
programming languages. Parallel algorithms are used to examine the above
aspects due to their extensive use of message passing for interaction, and
their increasing prominence in algorithmic research with the rising
availability of hardware resources such as multicore machines and clusters. We
contribute new benchmark results for SJ, an extension of Java for type-safe,
binary session programming, against MPJ Express, a Java messaging system based
on the MPI standard. In conclusion, we observe that (1) despite rich libraries
and functionality, MPI remains a low-level API, and can suffer from commonly
perceived disadvantages of explicit message passing such as deadlocks and
unexpected message types, and (2) the benefits of high-level session
abstraction, which has significant impact on program structure to improve
readability and reliability, and session type-safety can greatly facilitate the
task of communications programming whilst retaining competitive performance
Passage time distributions in large Markov chains
Accepted versio
Design and evaluation of Nemesis, a scalable, low-latency, message-passing communication subsystem
This paper presents a new low-level communication subsystem called Nemesis. Nemesis has been designed and implemented to be scalable and efficient both in the intranode communication context using shared-memory and in the internode communication case using high-performance networks and is natively multimethod-enabled. Nemesis has been integrated in MPICH2 as a CH3 channel and delivers better performance than other dedicated communication channels in MPICH2. Furthermore, the resulting MPICH2 architecture outperforms other MPI implementations in point-to-point benchmarks
Finding apparent horizons and other two-surfaces of constant expansion
Apparent horizons are structures of spacelike hypersurfaces that can be
determined locally in time. Closed surfaces of constant expansion (CE surfaces)
are a generalisation of apparent horizons. I present an efficient method for
locating CE surfaces. This method uses an explicit representation of the
surface, allowing for arbitrary resolutions and, in principle, shapes. The CE
surface equation is then solved as a nonlinear elliptic equation.
It is reasonable to assume that CE surfaces foliate a spacelike hypersurface
outside of some interior region, thus defining an invariant (but still
slicing-dependent) radial coordinate. This can be used to determine gauge modes
and to compare time evolutions with different gauge conditions. CE surfaces
also provide an efficient way to find new apparent horizons as they appear e.g.
in binary black hole simulations.Comment: 21 pages, 8 figures; two references adde
R.A.Fisher, design theory, and the Indian connection
Design Theory, a branch of mathematics, was born out of the experimental
statistics research of the population geneticist R. A. Fisher and of Indian
mathematical statisticians in the 1930s. The field combines elements of
combinatorics, finite projective geometries, Latin squares, and a variety of
further mathematical structures, brought together in surprising ways. This
essay will present these structures and ideas as well as how the field came
together, in itself an interesting story.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure
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