Autonomic Management of Large Clusters and Their Integration into the Grid

We present a framework for the co-ordinated, autonomic management of multiple clusters in a compute center and their integration into a Grid environment. Site autonomy and the automation of administrative tasks are prime aspects in this framework. The system behavior is continuously monitored in a steering cycle and appropriate actions are taken to resolve any problems. All presented components have been implemented in the course of the EU project DataGrid: The Lemon monitoring components, the FT fault-tolerance mechanism, the quattor system for software installation and configuration, the RMS job and resource management system, and the Gridification scheme that integrates clusters into the Grid

La santé au risque du marché

Sida, vache folle, fièvre aphteuse, tabac, amiante, mais aussi effets de la pauvreté et de la précarité sur la santé ou encore décryptage du génome… Jamais les grands enjeux de la santé publique n’ont autant fait irruption dans notre vie quotidienne qu’au cours de ces dernières années. Au même moment, à l’autre bout du monde la diarrhée, le paludisme ou la tuberculose continuent chaque jour à tuer silencieusement des milliers de personnes. Il est remarquable de constater à quel point la mondialisation du commerce, des investissements et de la communication amplifie ces enjeux et leur donne, par le biais de leur valeur économique et sociale, un relief particulièrement menaçant. Des spécialistes de disciplines diverses (santé publique, économistes, sociologues, anthropologues, acteurs de terrain) nous font partager leurs interrogations quant au lien entre problèmes de santé publiques et les approches néolibérales de l'économie

New methods based on capillary electrophoresis for in vitro evaluation of protein tau phosphorylation by glycogen synthase kinase 3-β

International audienceThe hyperphosphorylation of tau protein is associated with the development of the neuronal pathology of Alzheimer’s disease. As most conventional methods study only particular phosphorylation sites of tau, it is necessary to develop a simple and reliable assay to determine the phosphorylation of tau at multiple sites. Capillary electrophoresis (CE)-based enzymatic assays are not yet used to monitor tau phosphorylation. The present work aims to develop CE-based assays to evaluate tau phosphorylation by the glycogen synthase kinase 3-β (GSK3β). A novel pre-capillary CE assay was first developed. An in-capillary CE-based enzymatic assay was also used since this approach is known to be time- and cost- effective. The enzymatic reaction was monitored by quantifying the product adenosine 5′- diphosphate (ADP). The influence of two classes of glycosaminoglycan (GAG), namely heparin and heparan sulfate, on the phosphorylation reaction was also assessed. Results obtained by both CE approaches were comparable and in excellent agreement with those reported in the literature using conventional radiometric and immunoblotting methods. In fact, CE results confirmed the inductory effect of the sulfated sugars heparin and heparan sulfate on tau hyperphosphorylation, probably because of the exposition of new sites phosphorylatable by GSK3β. This study shows that simple (no-labeling), rapid (less than 30 min per assay), and eco-friendly (no-radioactivity) CE-based kinase assays can give insight into the abnormal phosphorylation of tau. They can be extended to screen different modulators of tau phosphorylation to highlight their function and to develop effective drugs for neurodegenerative disease treatments

Towards automation of computing fabrics using tools from the fabric management workpackage of the EU DataGrid project

This article describes the architecture behind the designed fabric management system and the status of the different developments. It also covers the experience with an existing tool for automated configuration and installation that have been adapted and used from the beginning to manage the EU DataGrid testbed, which is now used for LHC data challenge