Footprint-Based DIMM Hotplug

Power-efficiency has become one of the most critical concerns for HPC as we continue to scale computational capabilities. A significant fraction of system power is spent on large main memories, mainly caused by the substantial amount of DIMM standby power needed. However, while necessary for some workloads, for many workloads large memory configurations are too rich, i.e., these workloads only make use of a fraction of the available memory, causing unnecessary power usage. This observation opens new opportunities for power reduction by powering DIMMs on and off depending on the current workload. In this article, we propose footprint-based DIMM hotplug that enables a compute node to adjust the number of DIMMs that are powered on depending on the memory footprint of a running job. Our technique relies on two main subcomponents-memory footprint monitoring and DIMM management-which we both implement as part of an optimized page management system with small control overhead. Using Linux\u27s memory hotplug capabilities, we implement our approach on a real system, and our results show that our proposed technique can save 50.6-52.1 percent of the DIMM standby energy and the CPU+DRAM energy of up to 1.50 Wh for various small-memory-footprint applications without loss of performance

DNA methylation detection based on difference of base content

Methylation frequently occurs in cytosines of CpG sites to regulate gene expression. The identification of aberrant methylation of certain genes is important for cancer marker analysis. The aim of this study was to determine the methylation frequency in DNA samples of unknown length and/or concentration. Unmethylated cytosine is known to be converted to thymine following bisulfite treatment and subsequent PCR. For this reason, the AT content in DNA increases with an increasing number of methylation sites. In this study, the fluorescein-carrying bis-acridinyl peptide (FKA) molecule was used for the detection of methylation frequency. FKA contains fluorescein and two acridine moieties, which together allow for the determination of the AT content of double-stranded DNA fragments. Methylated and unmethylated human genomes were subjected to bisulfide treatment and subsequent PCR using primers specific for the CFTR, CDH4, DBC1, and NPY genes. The AT content in the resulting PCR products was estimated by FKA, and AT content estimations were found to be in good agreement with those determined by DNA sequencing. This newly developed method may be useful for determining methylation frequencies of many PCR products by measuring the fluorescence in samples excited at two different wavelengths.India-Japan Expert Group Meeting on Biomolecular Electronics & Organic Nanotechnology for Environment Preservation (IJEGMBE 2015), 23–26 December, 2015, Fukuoka, Japa

CENP-A Phosphorylation by Aurora-A in Prophase Is Required for Enrichment of Aurora-B at Inner Centromeres and for Kinetochore Function

AbstractThe Aurora (Ipl1)-related kinases are universal regulators of mitosis. We now show that Aurora-A, in addition to Aurora-B, regulates kinetochore function in human cells. A two-hybrid screen identified the kinetochore component CENP-A as a protein that interacts with Aurora-A. Aurora-A phosphorylated CENP-A in vitro on Ser-7, a residue also known to be targeted by Aurora-B. Depletion of Aurora-A or Aurora-B by RNA interference revealed that CENP-A is initially phosphorylated in prophase in a manner dependent on Aurora-A, and that this reaction appears to be required for the subsequent Aurora-B-dependent phosphorylation of CENP-A as well as for the restriction of Aurora-B to the inner centromere in prometaphase. Prevention of CENP-A phosphorylation also led to chromosome misalignment during mitosis as a result of a defect in kinetochore attachment to microtubules. Our observations suggest that phosphorylation of CENP-A on Ser-7 by Aurora-A in prophase is essential for kinetochore function

Indices calculated by serum creatinine and cystatin C as predictors of liver damage, muscle strength and sarcopenia in liver disease

Serum creatinine (Cr)-based glomerular filtration rate (CrGFR) is overestimated in liver disease. The present study evaluated whether the difference in CrGFR and cystatin C (CysC) GFR (dGFR) is significant in liver disease. The Cr-to-CysC ratio and sarcopenia index (SI) have been reported to correlate with muscle volume. An estimated total body muscle mass with Cr, CysC and calculated body muscle mass (CBMM) has also been reported to correlate with muscle mass. The applicability of dGFR, SI and CBMM for liver disease were evaluated. A total of 313 patients with liver damage were evaluated for Child-Pugh score, albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) score, model for end-stage liver disease, fibrosis-4, Cr, CysC, Cr-based estimated GFR (CreGFR), CysCGFR and grip strength. Of the 313 patients, 199 were evaluated using cross-sectional computed tomography (CT) of the third lumbar vertebra to determine the skeletal muscle (SM) mass. dGFR, CBMM and SI were compared to liver damage, muscle strength and muscle mass. In the 313 patients, dGFR was correlated with age, ALBI and grip strength; CBMM was correlated with body mass index (BMI) and grip strength; and SI was correlated with BMI and grip strength. In patients evaluated with CT, the correlation coefficients for CBMM and SI with SM were 0.804 and 0.293, respectively. Thus, CBMM and SI were associated with sarcopenia. The relationship between dGFR and ALBI does not differ with different grades of CrGFR-based chronic kidney disease (CKD). dGFR is a marker of liver damage and muscle strength regardless of CKD. CBMM and SI are markers for sarcopenia in liver disease

Total transferrin in cerebrospinal fluid is a novel biomarker for spontaneous intracranial hypotension

Spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH) is caused by cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage. Patients with SIH experience postural headaches, nausea, etc., due to CSF hypovolemia. Imaging studies and clinical examinations, such as radioisotope (RI) scintigraphy, are useful for diagnosing SIH. However, 20-30% of patients do not show typical morphology and clinical test results. We previously reported that CSF contains transferrin (Tf) isoforms:"brain-type" Tf derived from the choroid plexus and "serum-type" Tf derived from blood. We showed that both isoforms increased in the CSF of patients with SIH by Western blotting. In the present study, we demonstrate that conventional ELISA for quantifying total Tf is useful for diagnosing SIH more accurately than Western blotting. In addition, SIH with chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH) was also accurately diagnosed. Total Tf in the CSF can serve as a useful biomarker for diagnosing SIH with or without CSDH

CA19-9 and apolipoprotein-A2 isoforms as detection markers for pancreatic cancer: a prospective evaluation.

Recently, we identified unique processing patterns of apolipoprotein A2 (ApoA2) in patients with pancreatic cancer. Our study provides a first prospective evaluation of an ApoA2 isoform ("ApoA2-ATQ/AT"), alone and in combination with carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9), as an early detection biomarker for pancreatic cancer. We performed ELISA measurements of CA19-9 and ApoA2-ATQ/AT in 156 patients with pancreatic cancer and 217 matched controls within the European EPIC cohort, using plasma samples collected up to 60 months prior to diagnosis. The detection discrimination statistics were calculated for risk scores by strata of lag-time. For CA19-9, in univariate marker analyses, C-statistics to distinguish future pancreatic cancer patients from cancer-free individuals were 0.80 for plasma taken ≤6 months before diagnosis, and 0.71 for >6-18 months; for ApoA2-ATQ/AT, C-statistics were 0.62, and 0.65, respectively. Joint models based on ApoA2-ATQ/AT plus CA19-9 significantly improved discrimination within >6-18 months (C = 0.74 vs. 0.71 for CA19-9 alone, p = 0.022) and ≤ 18 months (C = 0.75 vs. 0.74, p = 0.022). At 98% specificity, and for lag times of ≤6, >6-18 or ≤ 18 months, sensitivities were 57%, 36% and 43% for CA19-9 combined with ApoA2-ATQ/AT, respectively, vs. 50%, 29% and 36% for CA19-9 alone. Compared to CA19-9 alone, the combination of CA19-9 and ApoA2-ATQ/AT may improve detection of pancreatic cancer up to 18 months prior to diagnosis under usual care, and may provide a useful first measure for pancreatic cancer detection prior to imaging

実親と暮らせない虐待被害児の養育上の課題および看護支援に関する研究： 児童養護施設・ファミリーホーム・里親への全国調査を通して

京都府立医科大学医学部看護学科滋賀医科大学医学部看護学科福岡女学院看護大学看護学部看護学科名古屋学芸大学看護学部看護学科長崎大学大学院医歯薬学総合研究科School of Nursing, Kyoto Prefecture University of MedicinSchool of Nursing, Shiga University of Medical ScienceFukuoka Jo-Gakuin Nursing UniversityFaculty of Nursing, Nagoya University of Arts and SciencesGraduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki University　本研究は、実親と暮らせない児童の養育を担う児童養護施設およびファミリーホーム、里親を対象に、虐待被害児の自立と生活支援の観点から、養育上の課題、看護師への相談・支援ニーズの検討を目的とした。　全国の児童養護施設593ヵ所、ファミリーホーム136ヵ所、里親1050ヵ所、計1779ヵ所を対象に485ヵ所から回答を得た。全体の回収率は27.3% で、調査の結果、児童養護施設における虐待被害児の養育困難な事柄として、①コミュニケーションの学習、②ストレス対処の学習、③年齢相応の学力の習得、④家族としてのルールの習得、⑤基本的生活習慣の獲得などが高い割合を占めた。　さらに、障害や慢性疾患をもつ児童の養育経験は児童養護施設、ファミリーホーム、里親の全てにおいて高い割合を示し、養育上の課題が浮き彫りになった。看護師による相談支援では「児童の身体や健康状態・病気」、「児童の精神的な問題」といったニーズが高い割合を占めた

Deformation of the hypopharyngeal cavities due to F0 changes and its acoustic effects

International audienceOur observation from a male speaker showed that rise and fall of F0 in vowel production involves geometrical changes of the hypopharyngeal cavities and alters their resonance pattern. In high F0, the upper part of the laryngeal cavity widens to increase the frequency of the fourth formant, and the piriform fossa elongates to decrease its zero frequency. On the contrary, in low F0, the upper part of the laryngeal cavity is constricted to decrease the frequency of the fourth formant, and the piriform fossa shortens to increase its dip frequency. As a result, the pole and zeros generated by the hypopharyngeal cavities approximate each other in high F0, while they dissociate in low F0