Why High-Performance Modelling and Simulation for Big Data Applications Matters

Modelling and Simulation (M&S) offer adequate abstractions to manage the complexity of analysing big data in scientific and engineering domains. Unfortunately, big data problems are often not easily amenable to efficient and effective use of High Performance Computing (HPC) facilities and technologies. Furthermore, M&S communities typically lack the detailed expertise required to exploit the full potential of HPC solutions while HPC specialists may not be fully aware of specific modelling and simulation requirements and applications. The COST Action IC1406 High-Performance Modelling and Simulation for Big Data Applications has created a strategic framework to foster interaction between M&S experts from various application domains on the one hand and HPC experts on the other hand to develop effective solutions for big data applications. One of the tangible outcomes of the COST Action is a collection of case studies from various computing domains. Each case study brought together both HPC and M&S experts, giving witness of the effective cross-pollination facilitated by the COST Action. In this introductory article we argue why joining forces between M&S and HPC communities is both timely in the big data era and crucial for success in many application domains. Moreover, we provide an overview on the state of the art in the various research areas concerned

The RESET project: constructing a European tephra lattice for refined synchronisation of environmental and archaeological events during the last c. 100 ka

This paper introduces the aims and scope of the RESET project (. RESponse of humans to abrupt Environmental Transitions), a programme of research funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (UK) between 2008 and 2013; it also provides the context and rationale for papers included in a special volume of Quaternary Science Reviews that report some of the project's findings. RESET examined the chronological and correlation methods employed to establish causal links between the timing of abrupt environmental transitions (AETs) on the one hand, and of human dispersal and development on the other, with a focus on the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic periods. The period of interest is the Last Glacial cycle and the early Holocene (c. 100-8 ka), during which time a number of pronounced AETs occurred. A long-running topic of debate is the degree to which human history in Europe and the Mediterranean region during the Palaeolithic was shaped by these AETs, but this has proved difficult to assess because of poor dating control. In an attempt to move the science forward, RESET examined the potential that tephra isochrons, and in particular non-visible ash layers (cryptotephras), might offer for synchronising palaeo-records with a greater degree of finesse. New tephrostratigraphical data generated by the project augment previously-established tephra frameworks for the region, and underpin a more evolved tephra 'lattice' that links palaeo-records between Greenland, the European mainland, sub-marine sequences in the Mediterranean and North Africa. The paper also outlines the significance of other contributions to this special volume: collectively, these illustrate how the lattice was constructed, how it links with cognate tephra research in Europe and elsewhere, and how the evidence of tephra isochrons is beginning to challenge long-held views about the impacts of environmental change on humans during the Palaeolithic. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd.RESET was funded through Consortium Grants awarded by the Natural Environment Research Council, UK, to a collaborating team drawn from four institutions: Royal Holloway University of London (grant reference NE/E015905/1), the Natural History Museum, London (NE/E015913/1), Oxford University (NE/E015670/1) and the University of Southampton, including the National Oceanography Centre (NE/01531X/1). The authors also wish to record their deep gratitude to four members of the scientific community who formed a consultative advisory panel during the lifetime of the RESET project: Professor Barbara Wohlfarth (Stockholm University), Professor Jørgen Peder Steffensen (Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen), Dr. Martin Street (Romisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, Neuwied) and Professor Clive Oppenheimer (Cambridge University). They provided excellent advice at key stages of the work, which we greatly valued. We also thank Jenny Kynaston (Geography Department, Royal Holloway) for construction of several of the figures in this paper, and Debbie Barrett (Elsevier) and Colin Murray Wallace (Editor-in-Chief, QSR) for their considerable assistance in the production of this special volume.Peer Reviewe

Peatland Microbial Communities as Indicators of the Extreme Atmospheric Dust Deposition

We investigated a peat profile from the Izery Mountains, located within the so-called Black Triangle, the border area of Poland, Czech Republic, and Germany. This peatland suffered from an extreme atmospheric pollution during the last 50 years, which created an exceptional natural experiment to examine the impact of pollution on peatland microbes. Testate amoebae (TA), Centropyxis aerophila and Phryganella acropodia, were distinguished as a proxy of atmospheric pollution caused by extensive brown coal combustion. We recorded a decline of mixotrophic TA and development of agglutinated taxa as a response for the extreme concentration of Al (30 g kg−1) and Cu (96 mg kg−1) as well as the extreme amount of fly ash particles determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis, which were used by TA for shell construction. Titanium (5.9 %), aluminum (4.7 %), and chromium (4.2 %) significantly explained the highest percentage of the variance in TA data. Elements such as Al, Ti, Cr, Ni, and Cu were highly correlated (r>0.7, p<0.01) with pseudostome position/body size ratio and pseudostome position. Changes in the community structure, functional diversity, and mechanisms of shell construction were recognized as the indicators of dust pollution. We strengthen the importance of the TA as the bioindicators of the recent atmospheric pollution

A Novel GPU-Enabled Simulator for Large Scale Spiking Neural Networks

The understanding of the structural and dynamic complexity of neural networks is greatly facilitated by computer simulations. An ongoing challenge for simulating realistic models is, however, computational speed. In this paper a framework for modeling and parallel simulation of biological-inspired large scale spiking neural networks on high-performance graphics processors is described. This tool is implemented in the OpenCL programming technology. It enables simulation study with three models: Integrate-andfire, Hodgkin-Huxley and Izhikevich neuron model. The results of extensive simulations are provided to illustrate the operation and performance of the presented software framework. The particular attention is focused on the computational speed-up factor

Comparative Study of PSO and CMA-ES Algorithms on Black-box Optimization Benchmarks

Numerous practical engineering applications can be formulated as non-convex, non-smooth, multi-modal and ill-conditioned optimization problems. Classical, deterministic algorithms require an enormous computational effort, which tends to fail as the problem size and its complexity increase, which is often the case. On the other hand, stochastic, biologically-inspired techniques, designed for global optimum calculation, frequently prove successful when applied to real life computational problems. While the area of bio-inspired algorithms (BIAs) is still relatively young, it is undergoing continuous, rapid development. Selection and tuning of the appropriate optimization solver for a particular task can be challenging and requires expert knowledge of the methods to be considered. Comparing the performance of viable candidates against a defined test bed environment can help in solving such dilemmas. This paper presents the benchmark results of two biologically inspired algorithms: covariance matrix adaptation evolution strategy (CMA-ES) and two variants of particle swarm optimization (PSO). COCO (COmparing Continuous Optimizers) – a platform for systematic and sound comparisons of real-parameter global optimization solvers was used to evaluate the performance of CMA-ES and PSO methods. Particular attention was paid to the effciency and scalability of both techniques

Infrastructure and Energy Conservation in Big Data Computing: A Survey

Progress in life, physical sciences and technology depends on efficient data-mining and modern computing technologies. The rapid growth of data-intensive domains requires a continuous development of new solutions for network infrastructure, servers and storage in order to address Big Datarelated problems. Development of software frameworks, include smart calculation, communication management, data decomposition and allocation algorithms is clearly one of the major technological challenges we are faced with. Reduction in energy consumption is another challenge arising in connection with the development of efficient HPC infrastructures. This paper addresses the vital problem of energy-efficient high performance distributed and parallel computing. An overview of recent technologies for Big Data processing is presented. The attention is focused on the most popular middleware and software platforms. Various energy-saving approaches are presented and discussed as well

Price Method and Network Congestion Control

Price instruments are useful in achieving market balance conditions in various markets. Those instruments can be also used for control of other composite systems. The formulation and basic properties of the Price Method are reviewed and then the congestion control by price instruments in a computer network is described and tested

Comparative Study of Wireless Sensor Networks Energy-Efficient Topologies and Power Save Protocols

Ad hoc networks are the ultimate technology in wireless communication that allow network nodes to communicate without the need for a fixed infrastructure. The paper addresses issues associated with control of data transmission in wireless sensor networks (WSN) - a popular type of ad hoc networks with stationary nodes. Since the WSN nodes are typically battery equipped, the primary design goal is to optimize the amount of energy used for transmission. The energy conservation techniques and algorithms for computing the optimal transmitting ranges in order to generate a network with desired properties while reducing sensors energy consumption are discussed and compared through simulations. We describe a new clustering based approach that utilizes the periodical coordination to reduce the overall energy usage by the network