Assessment, Design and Implementation of a Private Cloud for MapReduce Applications

[Abstract] Scientific computation and data intensive analyses are ever more frequent. On the one hand, the MapReduce programming model has gained a lot of attention for its applicability in large parallel data analyses and Big Data applications. On the other hand, Cloud computing seems to be increasingly attractive in solving these computing problems that demand a lot of resources. This paper explores the potential symbiosis between MapReduce and Cloud Computing, in order to create a robust and scalable environment to execute MapReduce workflows regardless of the underlaying infrastructure. The main goal of this work is to provide an easy-to-install interface, so as non-expert scientists can deploy a suitable testbed for their MapReduce experiments on local resources of their institution. Testing cases were performed in order to evaluate the required time for the whole executing process on a real cluster

Assessment, Design and Implementation of a Private Cloud for MapReduce Applications

Scientific computation and data intensive analyses are ever more frequent. On the one hand, the MapReduce programming model has gained a lot of attention for its applicability in large parallel data analyses and Big Data applications. On the other hand, Cloud computing seems to be increasingly attractive in solving these computing problems that demand a lot of resources. This paper explores the potential symbiosis between MapReduce and Cloud Computing, in order to create a robust and scalable environment to execute MapReduce workflows regardless of the underlaying infrastructure. The main goal of this work is to provide an easy-to-install interface, so as non-expert scientists can deploy a suitable testbed for their MapReduce experiments on local resources of their institution. Testing cases were performed in order to evaluate the required time for the whole executing process on a real clusterS

Adaptação cultural da Escala de Autotranscendênciade Pamela Reed ao contexto espanho

Objetivos: el presente estudio tuvo como objetivo adaptar la Escala de Autotrascendencia (Self-Transcendence Scale, STS) al contexto español y analizar sus propiedades psicométricas. Método: la STS se administró a una población española general de adultos (es decir, mayores de 20 años, n = 116) por medio de una plataforma en línea. Las escalas de Bienestar Psicológico (EBP) y la de Evaluación Funcional para el Tratamiento de Enfermedades Crónicas – Bienestar Espiritual – versión modificada para personas sanas (FACIT-Sp-Non-Illness) también se aplicaron en dos momentos separados por un intervalo de 15 días. Resultados: los resultados de la validación incluyeron los siguientes parámetros estadísticos: αt = 0,772 (test) y αrt = 0,833 (retest); CCI = 0,278 (p = 0,097, intraclase) y 0,932 (p <0.001, interclase); una confirmación de Bland-Altman de la concordancia de test-retest (TRT, por sus siglas en inglés); índice global de validez de contenido (S-CVI, por sus siglas en inglés) = 0,92; r1 = 0,636 (EBP) y r2 = 0,687 (FACIT-Non-Illness; ambos p <0,001); y tres factores explicaron el 42.3% de la varianza. La STS mostró una validez aparente y viabilidad positivas. Conclusiones: la versión española de la STS es válida para su uso en la población general, con actualizaciones relativas a la versión colombiana que incluyen redacciones más naturales, correcciones sintácticas, lenguaje inclusivo, una mejor definición de los conceptos y un modelo alternativo factorial.Objectives: the current study aimed to adapt the Self-Transcendence Scale (STS) to the Spanish context and analyse its psychometric properties. Method: the STS was administered to a general Spanish population of adults (i.e., older than 20 years; n = 116) through an online platform. The Psychological Well-Being (PWB) and the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy – Spiritual Well-being – modified version for healthy people (FACIT-Sp-Non-Illness) scales were also applied in two moments separated by an interval of 15 days. Results: the results of the validation included the following statistics: αt = 0.772 (test) and αrt = 0.833 (retest); ICC = 0.278 (p = 0.097, intraclass) and 0.932 (p < 0.001, interclass); a Bland-Altman confirmation of the test/re-test (TRT) concordance; global content validity coefficient (S-CVI) = 0.92; r1 = 0.636 (PWB) and r2 = 0.687 (FACIT-Non-Illness; both p < 0.001); and three factors explained 42.3% of the variance. The STS showed positive apparent validity and feasibility. Conclusions: the Spanish version of the STS is valid for use in the general population, with updates relative to the Colombian version that include more natural wordings, syntactic corrections, inclusive language, a better definition of the concepts, and an alternative factor model.Objetivos: o presente estudo teve como objetivo adaptar a Escala de Autotranscendência (Self-Transcendence Scale - STS) ao contexto espanhol e analisar as suas propriedades psicométricas. Método: a STS foi aplicada a uma amostra da população geral de espanhóis adultos (maiores de 20 anos de idade; n= 116) através de uma plataforma online. Também foram aplicadas as escalas de Bem Estar Psicológico (Psychological Well-Being–PWB) e Avaliação Funcional do Tratamento de Doenças Crônicas, Bem Estar Espiritual modificada para sujeitos saudáveis (Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy, Spiritual Well-being, modified version for healthy people–FACIT-Sp-Non-Illness) em dois momentos, com intervalo de 15 dias. Resultados: os resultados da validação incluem: αt = 0,772 (teste) e αrt = 0,833 (reteste); CCI = 0,278 (p = 0,097, intraclasse) e 0,932 (p < 0.001, interclasse); confirmação de concordância no teste-reteste (TRT) pelo método do Bland-Altman; coeficiente global de validade de conteúdo (CVC)= 0.92; r1 = 0,636 (PWB) and r2 = 0,687 (FACIT-Non-Illness; p < 0,001 em ambos); três fatores explicaram 42,3% da variância. A STS teve validade aparente e viabilidade positivas. Conclusões: a versão espanhola da STS é válida para uso na população geral, e traz atualizações em relação à versão colombiana, incluindo expressões mais naturais, correções sintáticas e linguísticas, melhor definição dos conceitos e um modelo fatorial alternativo

Status of global fits to neutrino oscillations

We review the present status of global analyses of neutrino oscillations, taking into account the most recent neutrino data including the latest KamLAND and K2K updates presented at Neutrino2004, as well as state-of-the-art solar and atmospheric neutrino flux calculations. We give the two-neutrino solar + KamLAND results, as well as two-neutrino atmospheric + K2K oscillation regions, discussing in each case the robustness of the oscillation interpretation against departures from the Standard Solar Model and the possible existence of non-standard neutrino physics. Furthermore, we give the best fit values and allowed ranges of the three-flavour oscillation parameters from the current worlds' global neutrino data sample and discuss in detail the status of the small parameters \alpha \equiv \Dms/\Dma as well as $\sin^2\theta_{13}$, which characterize the strength of CP violating effects in neutrino oscillations. We also update the degree of rejection of four-neutrino interpretations of the LSND anomaly in view of the most recent developments.Comment: v6: In the last Appendix we provide updated neutrino oscillation results which take into account the relevant oscillation data released by the MINOS and KamLAND collaboration

ANGPTL-4 is associated with obesity and lipid profile in children and adolescents

Angiopoietin-like protein 4 (ANGPTL-4) regulates lipidic metabolism and a_ects energy homeostasis. However, its function in children with obesity remains unknown. We investigated plasma ANGPTL-4 levels in children and its relationship with body mass index (BMI) and di_erent lipidic parameters such as free fatty acids (FFA). Plasma ANGPTL-4 levels were analyzed in two di_erent cohorts. In the first cohort (n = 150, age 3-17 years), which included children with normal weight or obesity, we performed a cross-sectional study. In the second cohort, which included only children with obesity (n = 20, age 5-18 years) followed up for two years after an intervention for weight loss, in which we performed a longitudinal study measuring ANGPTL-4 before and after BMI-loss. In the cross-sectional study, circulating ANGPTL-4 levels were lower in children with obesity than in those with normal weight. Moreover, ANGPTL-4 presented a negative correlation with BMI, waist circumference, weight, insulin, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance index (HOMA index), triglycerides, and leptin, and a positive correlation with FFA and vitamin-D. In the longitudinal study, the percent change in plasma ANGPTL-4 was correlated with the percent change in FFA, total-cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. This study reveals a significant association of ANGPTL-4 with pediatric obesity and plasma lipid profile

Neutrino Detection with Inclined Air Showers

The possibilities of detecting high energy neutrinos through inclined showers produced in the atmosphere are addressed with an emphasis on the detection of air showers by arrays of particle detectors. Rates of inclined showers produced by both down-going neutrino interactions and by up-coming $\tau$ decays from earth-skimming neutrinos as a function of shower energy are calculated with analytical methods using two sample neutrino fluxes with different spectral indices. The relative contributions from different flavors and charged, neutral current and resonant interactions are compared for down-going neutrinos interacting in the atmosphere. No detailed description of detectors is attempted but rough energy thresholds are implemented to establish the ranges of energies which are more suitable for neutrino detection through inclined showers. Down-going and up-coming rates are compared.Comment: Submitted to New Journal of Physic

eIMRT: a web platform for the verification and optimization of radiation treatment plans

The eIMRT platform is a remote distributed computing tool that provides users with Internet access to three different services: Monte Carlo optimization of treatment plans, CRT & IMRT treatment optimization, and a database of relevant radiation treatments/clinical cases. These services are accessible through a user-friendly and platform independent web page. Its flexible and scalable design focuses on providing the final users with services rather than a collection of software pieces. All input and output data (CT, contours, treatment plans and dose distributions) are handled using the DICOM format. The design, implementation, and support of the verification and optimization algorithms are hidden to the user. This allows a unified, robust handling of the software and hardware that enables these computation-intensive services. The eIMRT platform is currently hosted by the Galician Supercomputing Center (CESGA) and may be accessible upon request (there is a demo version at http://eimrt.cesga.es:8080/ eIMRT2/demo; request access in http://eimrt.cesga.es/signup.html). This paper describes all aspects of the eIMRT algorithms in depth, its user interface, and its services. Due to the flexible design of the platform, it has numerous applications including the intercenter comparison of treatment planning, the quality assurance of radiation treatments, the design and implementation of new approaches to certain types of treatments, and the sharing of information on radiation treatment techniques. In addition, the web platform and software tools developed for treatment verification and optimization have a modular design that allows the user to extend them with new algorithms. This software is not a commercial product. It is the result of the collaborative effort of different public research institutions and is planned to be distributed as an open source project. In this way, it will be available to any user; new releases will be generated with the new implemented codes or upgradesThis work was financed by Xunta de Galicia of Spain through grant PGIDT05SIN00101CT and by the European Community through the BeInGrid projectS

Deglacial-Holocene Pulses of Old Carbon-Enriched Mediterranean Water Masses: Implications for Aragonite Mounds Growth and Global Carbon Cycle

Major changes in the Mediterranean Thermohaline Circulation (MedTHC) related to deglaciation and monsoon dynamics have been documented, while in turn, Mediterranean waters have been proposed to play a role back in global climate variability, ocean circulation and carbon cycle budgets, for instance via changes in water mass residence times. The 14C offset between coeval planktonic and benthic foraminifera over time is a very useful tool to infer variations in the water column ventilation (with no biological interference) that becomes more accurate when combined with local paired 14C-U/Th analyses in cold-water corals (CWC). Here, we present a multi-proxy-archive study (i.e., estimates of reservoir ages, εNd, [CO3 2-], O2 and current speed) carried out on the on-mound sediment core MD13-3452 (305 m, West Melilla, Alboran Sea, Western Mediterranean), which investigates potential deglacial changes and triggers in deep reservoir ages, as well as possible impacts on CWC aragonite mound growth and on global carbon cycle.Our combined foraminifera-CWC radioactive isotopes results show: 1) the arrival of two pulses of aged waters at intermediate depth corresponding to the Younger Dryas (YD) and to the end of the last sapropel (S1), when low CWC mound growth rates dominated, and 2) a very well-ventilated water mass between those two events, parallel to a CWC mound flourishing stage. In combination with the other proxies, poorer ventilated water pulses seem to have had a different origin, but common higher content in respired carbon. Our results allow, for the first time, changes in ventilation rates to be shown, quantified, and timed in association with a periodical MedTHC weakening, as well as suggesting significant aragonite dissolution as a cause of decreased mound growth rate when higher CO2 episodes. Our findings may have implications for past hydrographic interconnexions between Mediterranean basins and for global marine carbon storage and alkalinity budget in particular

APLICACIÓN DE LA ESCALA NEMS EN LA CUANTIFICACIÓN DEL TRABAJO DE ENFERMERÍA EN UNA UCI POLIVALENTE

Workloads nursing should be the basis for the staffing of nursing. In the present study, using the scale of NEMS workloads to hear and evaluate the utilization of human resources of a polyvalent ICU. It is noted that the score of that scale is high, and that the rate of use of labour is higher than the European average, and that the efficiency of human resources of the unit is higher. There is a correlation between severity of the patients and scoring NEMS, as well as conditions of isolation. The valuation of workloads allows an ICU monitor and evaluate adequately the potential changes in time, as well as sharing of resources between units objectively, always competing in times of shortage of human resources.Las cargas de trabajo de enfermería deben ser la base de la dotación de personal de enfermería. En el presente estudio, se utiliza la escala NEMS de cargas de trabajo para conocer y valorar la utilización de recursos humanos de una UCI polivalente. Se observa que la puntuación de dicha escala es alta, y que la razón de utilización de trabajo es más elevada que la media europea, y que la eficiencia de recursos humanos de la unidad es más elevada. Se observa una correlación entre gravedad de los pacientes y puntuación del NEMS, así como con existencia de condiciones de aislamiento. La valoración de las cargas de trabajo permite monitorizar una UCI y valorar adecuadamente los posibles cambios producidos en el tiempo, así como repartir de forma objetiva recursos entre unidades, siempre en competencia en épocas de escasez de recursos humanos

Research-based flow cytometry assays for pathogenic assessment in the human B-cell biology of gene variants revealed in the diagnosis of inborn errors of immunity: a Bruton’s tyrosine kinase case-study

IntroductionInborn errors of immunity (IEI) are an expanding group of rare diseases whose field has been boosted by next-generation sequencing (NGS), revealing several new entities, accelerating routine diagnoses, expanding the number of atypical presentations and generating uncertainties regarding the pathogenic relevance of several novel variants.MethodsResearch laboratories that diagnose and provide support for IEI require accurate, reproducible and sustainable phenotypic, cellular and molecular functional assays to explore the pathogenic consequences of human leukocyte gene variants and contribute to their assessment. We have implemented a set of advanced flow cytometry-based assays to better dissect human B-cell biology in a translational research laboratory. We illustrate the utility of these techniques for the in-depth characterization of a novel (c.1685G&gt;A, p.R562Q) de novo gene variant predicted as probably pathogenic but with no previous insights into the protein and cellular effects, located in the tyrosine kinase domain of the Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) gene, in an apparently healthy 14-year-old male patient referred to our clinic for an incidental finding of low immunoglobulin (Ig) M levels with no history of recurrent infections.Results and discussionA phenotypic analysis of bone marrow (BM) revealed a slightly high percentage of pre-B-I subset in BM, with no blockage at this stage, as typically observed in classical X-linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA) patients. The phenotypic analysis in peripheral blood also revealed reduced absolute numbers of B cells, all pre-germinal center maturation stages, together with reduced but detectable numbers of different memory and plasma cell isotypes. The R562Q variant allows Btk expression and normal activation of anti-IgM-induced phosphorylation of Y551 but diminished autophosphorylation at Y223 after anti IgM and CXCL12 stimulation. Lastly, we explored the potential impact of the variant protein for downstream Btk signaling in B cells. Within the canonical nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) activation pathway, normal IκBα degradation occurs after CD40L stimulation in patient and control cells. In contrast, disturbed IκBα degradation and reduced calcium ion (Ca2+) influx occurs on anti-IgM stimulation in the patient’s B cells, suggesting an enzymatic impairment of the mutated tyrosine kinase domain