How can we improve energy efficiency through user-directed vectorization and task-based parallelization?

Heterogeneity, parallelization and vectorization are key techniques to improve the performance and energy efficiency of modern computing systems. However, programming and maintaining code for these architectures poses a huge challenge due to the ever-increasing architecture complexity. Task-based environments hide most of this complexity, improving scalability and usage of the available resources. In these environments, while there has been a lot of effort to ease parallelization and improve the usage of heterogeneous resources, vectorization has been considered a secondary objective. Furthermore, there has been a swift and unstoppable burst of vector architectures at all market segments, from embedded to HPC. Vectorization can no longer be ignored, but manual vectorization is tedious, error-prone, and not practical for the average programmer. This work evaluates the feasibility of user-directed vectorization in task-based applications. Our evaluation is based on the OmpSs programming model, extended to support user-directed vectorization for different SIMD architectures (i.e. SSE, AVX2, AVX512, etc). Results show that user-directed codes achieve manually-optimized code performance and energy efficiency with minimal code modifications, favoring portability across different SIMD architectures

A Plague on Both Your Houses? Risks, Repeats, and Reconsiderations of Urban Residential Burglary

Research has shown that mapping techniques are useful in forecasting future crime events. However, the majority of prospective mapping techniques has focused on the event-dependent influence of instigator incidents on subsequent incidents and does not explicitly incorporate the risk heterogeneity of the setting. The study here discussed is a modest attempt to address this issue by using a two-step process: first, using risk terrain modeling, we operationalized the “environmental backcloth,” (the risk heterogeneity of an area) to forecast locations of residential burglaries in the urban city of Newark, New Jersey. Second, using the near repeat calculator, we assessed the variability of underlying risk between different types of residential burglaries. A discussion of the findings and the joint utility of these approaches is provided

Low pre-transplant levels of mannosebinding lectin are associated with viral infections and mortality after haematopoietic allogeneic stem cell transplantation

Background: Mannose-binding lectin (MBL) is a key component of innate immunity. Low serum MBL levels, related to promoter polymorphism and structural variants, have been associated with an increased risk of infection. The aim of this work was to analyse the incidence and severity of infections and mortality in relation to the MBL2 genotype and MBL levels in patients underwent allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (Allo-HSCT). Results: This was a prospective cohort study of 72 consecutive patients underwent Allo-HSCT between January 2007 and June 2009 in a tertiary referral centre. Three periods were considered in the patients? follow-up: the early period (0?30 days after Allo-HSCT), the intermediate period (30?100 days after Allo-HSCT) and the late period (> 100 days after Allo-HSCT). A commercial line probe assay for MBL2 genotyping and an ELISA Kit were used to measure MBL levels. A total of 220 episodes of infection were collected in the 72 patients. No association between donor or recipient MBL2 genotype and infection was found. The first episode of infection presented earlier in patients with pre-transplant MBL levels of < 1000 ng/ml (median 6d vs 8d, p = 0.036). MBL levels < 1000 ng/ml in the pre-transplant period (risk ratio (RR) 2.48, 95% CI 1.00?6.13), neutropenic period (0?30 days, RR 3.28, 95% CI 1.53?7.06) and intermediate period (30?100 days, RR 2.37, 95% CI 1.15?4.90) were associated with increased risk of virus infection. No association with bacterial or fungal disease was found. Mortality was associated with pre-transplant MBL levels < 1000 ng/ml (hazard ratio 5.55, 95% CI 1.17?26.30, p = 0.03) but not with MBL2 genotype. Conclusions: Patients who underwent Allo-HSCT with low pre-transplant MBL levels presented the first episode of infection earlier and had an increased risk of viral infections and mortality in the first 6 months post-transplant. Thus, pre-transplant MBL levels would be important in predicting susceptibility to viral infections and mortality and might be considered a biomarker to be included in the pre-transplantation risk assessment.This work was supported by grants from the Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias (Ministry of Health of Spain) PI04/0492 to MC Fariñas and Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Valdecilla (IDIVAL) API 06/01. The content of the paper is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views. The funding body was not involved in the design of the study, collection or analysis of the data, interpretation of the data, or in the writing of the manuscript

Estimação dos componentes da variância fenotípica em feijoeiro utilizando o método genealógico.

A obtenção de informações a respeito do controle genético dos caracteres por meio de variâncias com associação aos métodos de condução de populações de feijoeiro tem sido uma estratégia pouco empregada, porém pode ser de grande auxílio aos melhoristas na tomada de decisões. Com esse objetivo foi utilizada uma população segregante proveniente do cruzamento entre as cultivares BRS MG Talismã e BRS Valente. O avanço das gerações foi realizado de acordo com o preconizado pelo método genealógico. Em F4:5 obtiveram-se 256 progênies que foram avaliadas na safra das águas 2004/2005. As sementes de cada progênie foram colhidas em bulk originando as progênies F4:6, as quais foram avaliadas na safra das secas 2005. Os caracteres avaliados foram produtividade de grãos e porte das plantas. Constatou-se que na produção de grãos por planta, a variância ambiental dentro da parcela foi o principal componente da variância fenotípica entre progênies. A variância genética aditiva foi predominante para a produção de grãos, enquanto que para o porte a variância genética de dominância foi expressiva

CITES, wild plants, and opportunities for crime

The illegal trade in endangered plants damages both the environment and local communities by threatening and destroying numerous species and important natural resources. There is very little research which systematically addresses this issue by identifying specific opportunities for crime. This article presents the results of an interdisciplinary study which brings together criminological and conservation science expertise to identify criminal opportunities in the illegal wild plant trade and suggest strategies in order to prevent and mitigate the problem. Methodologically, the study adapts a crime proofing of legislation approach to the UN Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and is based on documentary and interview data. Situational crime prevention is used as a framework to provide points for effective intervention

Storylines of family medicine V:ways of thinking-honing the therapeutic self

Storylines of Family Medicine is a 12-part series of thematically linked essays with accompanying illustrations that explore the many dimensions of family medicine, as interpreted by individual family physicians and medical educators in the USA and elsewhere around the world. In 'V: ways of thinking-honing the therapeutic self', authors present the following sections: 'Reflective practice in action', 'The doctor as drug-Balint groups', 'Cultivating compassion', 'Towards a humanistic approach to doctoring', 'Intimacy in family medicine', 'The many faces of suffering', 'Transcending suffering' and 'The power of listening to stories.' May readers feel a deeper sense of their own therapeutic agency by reflecting on these essays.</p

Recommendations for perioperative prophylaxis of venous thromboembolism in the adult patient. National multidisciplinary consensus 2014

O propósito destas recomendações é fornecer uma ferramenta fundamentada na evidência científica atual, centrada no doente, que possa ser útil na prática clínica e que contribua para a implementação adequada, sistemática e transversal da profilaxia do tromboembolismo venoso no doente adulto. Foram aprovadas, com o apoio da Sociedade Portuguesa de Anestesiologia, por Consenso Nacional Multidisciplinar entre as especialidades de: Anestesiologia, Cardiologia; Cirurgia Cardiotorácica; Cirurgia Geral - Cirurgia da Obesidade; Cirurgia Plástica, Reconstrutiva e Estética; Cirurgia Vascular; Ginecologia e Obstetrícia; Imuno-Hemoterapia; Neurocirurgia; Oncologia; Ortopedia e Urologia. O tromboembolismo venoso constitui um grave problema de saúde pública. No período peri-operatório o risco de tromboembolismo está relacionado com fatores individuais do doente, tipo de cirurgia e de anestesia e tempo de internamento. Trombose venosa prévia, doença oncológica, idade avançada, cirurgia major ortopédica, cirurgia bariátrica e imobilização no leito, constituem alguns dos principais fatores de risco de eventos tromboembólicos. O bloqueio do neuro-eixo está associado a redução destes eventos. O estudo ENDORSE que avaliou o cumprimento internacional das recomendações do 7º Consenso do American College of Chest Physicians sobre profilaxia do tromboembolismo venoso, revelou que em Portugal a taxa de profilaxia adequada no doente cirúrgico em risco era inferior à de outros países europeus. Neste estudo, alguns dos doentes a quem foi prescrita tromboprofilaxia não preenchiam critérios de indicação, ficando expostos a riscos desnecessários. Os hiatos identificados na profilaxia do tromboembolismo venoso relacionam-se com a falta de comunicação interdisciplinar efetiva, desconhecimento das recomendações e da farmacologia dos agentes e o receio de complicações hemorrágicas. A falta de modelos de avaliação de risco validados e fáceis de aplicar tem dificultado a uniformização de critérios. Estas recomendações consideram o modelo de avaliação de risco de Caprini. A avaliação do risco de tromboembolismo venoso está indicada em todos os doentes propostos para cirurgia, devendo ser registada no processo clínico. A tromboprofilaxia é uma responsabilidade multidisciplinar, deve basear-se na ponderação dos riscos de tromboembolismo venoso e de hemorragia e ter em conta os valores e preferências do doente. A tromboprofilaxia deve iniciar-se 6-12 horas após a cirurgia (com exceções)