Evaluating kernels on Xeon Phi to accelerate Gysela application

This work describes the challenges presented by porting parts ofthe Gysela code to the Intel Xeon Phi coprocessor, as well as techniques used for optimization, vectorization and tuning that can be applied to other applications. We evaluate the performance of somegeneric micro-benchmark on Phi versus Intel Sandy Bridge. Several interpolation kernels useful for the Gysela application are analyzed and the performance are shown. Some memory-bound and compute-bound kernels are accelerated by a factor 2 on the Phi device compared to Sandy architecture. Nevertheless, it is hard, if not impossible, to reach a large fraction of the peek performance on the Phi device,especially for real-life applications as Gysela. A collateral benefit of this optimization and tuning work is that the execution time of Gysela (using 4D advections) has decreased on a standard architecture such as Intel Sandy Bridge.Comment: submitted to ESAIM proceedings for CEMRACS 2014 summer school version reviewe

Solving heterogeneous-agent models with parameterized cross-sectional distributions

A new algorithm is developed to solve models with heterogeneous agents and aggregate uncertainty. Projection methods are the main building blocks of the algorithm and – in contrast to the most popular solution procedure – simulations only play a very minor role. The paper also develops a new simulation procedure that not only avoids cross-sectional sampling variation but is 10 (66) times faster than simulating an economy with 10,000 (100,000) agents. Because it avoids cross-sectional sampling variation, it can generate an accurate representation of the whole cross-sectional distribution. Finally, the paper outlines a set of accuracy tests

PoPe (Projection on Proper elements) for code control: verification, numerical convergence and reduced models. Application to plasma turbulence simulations

The Projection on Proper elements (PoPe) is a novel method of code control dedicated to 1) checking the correct implementation of models, 2) determining the convergence of numerical methods and 3) characterizing the residual errors of any given solution at very low cost. The basic idea is to establish a bijection between a simulation and a set of equations that generate it. Recovering equations is direct and relies on a statistical measure of the weight of the various operators. This method can be used in any dimensions and any regime, including chaotic ones. This method also provides a procedure to design reduced models and quantify the ratio costs to benefits. PoPe is applied to a kinetic and a fluid code of plasma turbulence

Empowering mimicry: Female leader role models empower women in leadership tasks through body posture mimicry

In two studies we investigated the behavioral process through which visible female leader role models empower women in leadership tasks. We proposed that women tend to mimic the powerful (open) body postures of successful female role models, thus leading to more empowered behavior and better performance on a challenging leadership task, a process we called empowering mimicry. In Study 1, we experimentally manipulated the body posture of the male and female role models and showed that 86 Swiss college women mimicked the body posture of the female (ingroup) but not the male (outgroup) role model, thus leading to more empowered behavior and better performance on a public speaking task. In Study 2, we investigated the boundary conditions of this process and showed that empowering mimicry does not extend to exposures to non-famous female models among 50 Swiss college women. These findings suggest that nonverbal mimicry is one important mechanism through which female leader role models inspire women performing a challenging leadership task. From a practice perspective, our research underscores the importance of female leaders’ visibility because visibility can drive other women’s advancement in leadership by affording women the opportunity to mimic and be empowered by successful female role models

Power poses – where do we stand?

<p>Dynamic results for Scenario 2.</p

Conductive-probe atomic force microscopy characterization of silicon nanowire

The electrical conduction properties of lateral and vertical silicon nanowires (SiNWs) were investigated using a conductive-probe atomic force microscopy (AFM). Horizontal SiNWs, which were synthesized by the in-plane solid-liquid-solid technique, are randomly deployed into an undoped hydrogenated amorphous silicon layer. Local current mapping shows that the wires have internal microstructures. The local current-voltage measurements on these horizontal wires reveal a power law behavior indicating several transport regimes based on space-charge limited conduction which can be assisted by traps in the high-bias regime (> 1 V). Vertical phosphorus-doped SiNWs were grown by chemical vapor deposition using a gold catalyst-driving vapor-liquid-solid process on higly n-type silicon substrates. The effect of phosphorus doping on the local contact resistance between the AFM tip and the SiNW was put in evidence, and the SiNWs resistivity was estimated

The politics of heroes through the prism of popular heroism

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Palgrave Macmillan via the DOI in this record.In modern day Britain, the discourse of national heroification is routinely utilised by politicians, educationalists and cultural industry professionals, whilst also being a popular concept to describe deserving ‘do-gooders’ who contribute to British society in a myriad of ways. We argue that although this heroification discourse is enacted as a discursive device of encouraging politically and morally desirable behaviour, it is dissociated from the largely under-explored facets of contemporary popular heroism. To compensate for this gap, this paper explores public preferences for heroes using survey data representative of British adults. This analysis demonstrates a conceptual stretching in the understanding of heroism, and allows identifying age- and gender-linked dynamics which effect public choices of heroes. In particular, we demonstrate that age above all determines the preference for having a hero, but does not explain preferences for specific hero-types. The focus on gender illustrates that the landscape of popular heroism reproduces a male-dominated bias which exists in the wider political and cultural heroification discourse. Simultaneously, our study shows that if national heroification discourse in Britain remains male-centric, the landscape of popular heroism is characterised by a gendered trend towards privatisation of heroes being particularly prominent amongst women. In the conclusion, this paper argues for a conceptual revision and re-gendering of the national heroification discourse as a step towards both empirically grounded, and age- and gender-sensitive politics of heroes and heroines.AHR

Complete Genome Sequences of Cluster A Mycobacteriophages BobSwaget, Fred313, KADY, Lokk, MyraDee, Stagni, and StepMih

Seven mycobacteriophages from distinct geographical locations were isolated, using Mycobacterium smegmatis mc2155 as the host, and then purified and sequenced. All of the genomes are related to cluster A mycobacteriophages, BobSwaget and Lokk in subcluster A2; Fred313, KADY, Stagni, and StepMih in subcluster A3; and MyraDee in subcluster A18, the first phage to be assigned to that subcluster