Task Runtime Prediction in Scientific Workflows Using an Online Incremental Learning Approach

Many algorithms in workflow scheduling and resource provisioning rely on the performance estimation of tasks to produce a scheduling plan. A profiler that is capable of modeling the execution of tasks and predicting their runtime accurately, therefore, becomes an essential part of any Workflow Management System (WMS). With the emergence of multi-tenant Workflow as a Service (WaaS) platforms that use clouds for deploying scientific workflows, task runtime prediction becomes more challenging because it requires the processing of a significant amount of data in a near real-time scenario while dealing with the performance variability of cloud resources. Hence, relying on methods such as profiling tasks' execution data using basic statistical description (e.g., mean, standard deviation) or batch offline regression techniques to estimate the runtime may not be suitable for such environments. In this paper, we propose an online incremental learning approach to predict the runtime of tasks in scientific workflows in clouds. To improve the performance of the predictions, we harness fine-grained resources monitoring data in the form of time-series records of CPU utilization, memory usage, and I/O activities that are reflecting the unique characteristics of a task's execution. We compare our solution to a state-of-the-art approach that exploits the resources monitoring data based on regression machine learning technique. From our experiments, the proposed strategy improves the performance, in terms of the error, up to 29.89%, compared to the state-of-the-art solutions.Comment: Accepted for presentation at main conference track of 11th IEEE/ACM International Conference on Utility and Cloud Computin

The Phase Structure of Higher-Dimensional Black Rings and Black Holes

We construct an approximate solution for an asymptotically flat, neutral, thin rotating black ring in any dimension D>=5 by matching the near-horizon solution for a bent boosted black string, to a linearized gravity solution away from the horizon. The rotating black ring solution has a regular horizon of topology S^1 x S^{D-3} and incorporates the balancing condition of the ring as a zero-tension condition. For D=5 our method reproduces the thin ring limit of the exact black ring solution. For D>=6 we show that the black ring has a higher entropy than the Myers-Perry black hole in the ultra-spinning regime. By exploiting the correspondence between ultra-spinning black holes and black membranes on a two-torus, we take steps towards qualitatively completing the phase diagram of rotating blackfolds with a single angular momentum. We are led to propose a connection between MP black holes and black rings, and between MP black holes and black Saturns, through merger transitions involving two kinds of `pinched' black holes. More generally, the analogy suggests an infinite number of pinched black holes of spherical topology leading to a complicated pattern of connections and mergers between phases.Comment: 61 pages, 6 figures, latex. v2: Added refs., typos corrected, improved section 8. v3: minor changes, version appearing in JHE

Socio-demographic, Clinical, and Genetic Determinants of Quality of Life in Lung Cancer Patients.

Patient reported health-related quality of life (QOL) is a major component of the overall well-being of cancer patients, with links to prognosis. In 6,420 lung cancer patients, we identified patient characteristics and genetic determinants of QOL. Patient responses from the SF-12 questionnaire was used to calculate normalized Physical Component Summary (PCS) and Mental Component Summary (MCS) scores. Further, we analyzed 218 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the p38 MAPK signaling pathway, a key mediator of response to cellular and environmental stress, as genetic determinants of QOL in a subset of the study population (N = 641). Trends among demographic factors for mean PCS and MCS included smoking status (PCS Ptrend < 0.001, MCS Ptrend < 0.001) and education (PCS Ptrend < 0.001, MCS Ptrend < 0.001). Similar relationships were seen for MCS. The homozygous rare genotype of MEF2B: rs2040562 showed an increased risk of a poor MCS (OR: 3.06, 95% CI: 1.05-8.92, P = 0.041). Finally, survival analysis showed that a low PCS or a MCS was associated with increased risks of five-year mortality (HR = 1.63, 95% CI: 1.51-1.77, HR = 1.23, 95% CI: 1.16-1.32, respectively) and there was a significant reduction in median survival time (Plog-rank < 0.001). These findings suggest that multiple factors contribute to QOL in lung cancer patients, and baseline QOL can impact survival

Rapport in distance education

Rapport has been recognized as important in learning in general but little is known about its importance in distance education (DE). The study we report on in this paper provides insights into the importance of rapport in DE as well as challenges to and indicators of rapport-building in DE. The study relied on interviews with 42 Canadian high-school DE teachers. Findings revealed that rapport is necessary in DE because of the absence of face-to-face communication. Challenges to building rapport relate to the geographic dispersion of students, the asynchronous nature of DE, teacher workload, limits of the software, teachers and students not seeing the need for rapport, and DE traditions. We identified six categories of rapport-building in DE as follows: Recognizing the person/individual; Supporting and monitoring; Availability, accessibility, and responsiveness; Non text-based interactions; Tone of interactions; Non-academic conversation/interactions. We break the categories into subcategories and provide indicators for each one. The indicators might also be used in contexts of DE teacher professional development as a springboard for discussion, or, more prescriptively, as guides to DE teacher behaviour. A follow-up study using a more fine-grained focus on specific indicators might provide insights into specific rapport-related behaviours

Lifelong learning and widening participation in HE in developing countries - The challenge for e-Learning

Ever since the publication by UNESCO of Faure’s ‘Learning to be – the world of today and tomorrow’ (1972), in which lifelong learning was proposed as a ‘master concept’, nations both within and beyond Europe have been striving to promote the concept, with varying degrees of success (Smith, 2002). In 2001 the concept again gained prominence with the European Commission’s declaration: ‘Making a European area of lifelong learning a reality’. With e-learning and the move to digitise knowledge becoming ever more prevalent, so at last the prospect of lifelong learning and widening participation can become a reality. However, whilst these days it is the norm in the Northern and industrialised nations of the world for households to have computers and virtually unlimited access to the internet, it is a quite different story in the developing countries of the world. With poor infrastructure, connectivity and bandwidth problems, many countries are finding it difficult to prosper in this new e-learning age. Yet it is precisely such countries which stand to benefit most in terms of wider accessibility to knowledge. If this ‘digital divide’ is not to become insurmountable, strategies need to be put in place to maximise the available technology for widening participation. The University of Bolton (UoB) has several years experience of delivering ‘traditional’ programmes off-campus in developing countries. However it now has new programmes scheduled for delivery, under the initiatives described above, that will significantly increase the use of e-methods for programme delivery. Under one such initiative, our intention is to create cadres of ‘learning professionals’ in the workplace who can, by their proximity and roles, act as change agents within their respective institutions. Although the learners will be work-based and use on-line tools for some programme delivery, cadres from different organisations will come together for a series of residential sessions in which knowledge and experiences will be shared through the medium of a range of modular programme inputs. This paper seeks to explore some of the practical issues that are likely to be faced when incorporating a blended learning / e-learning approach into a Masters distance programme. By reflecting on past experience the authors will also suggest ways in which an optimum learning outcome can be achieved using a combination of these approaches in a developing country

A constitutive model for analyzing martensite formation in austenitic steels deforming at high strain rates

This study presents a constitutive model for steels exhibiting SIMT, based on previous seminal works, and the corresponding methodology to estimate their parameters. The model includes temperature effects in the phase transformation kinetics, and in the softening of each solid phase through the use of a homogenization technique. The model was validated with experimental results of dynamic tensile tests on AISI 304 sheet steel specimens, and their predictions correlate well with the experimental evidence in terms of macroscopic stress–strain curves and martensite volume fraction formed at high strain rates. The work shows the value of considering temperature effects in the modeling of metastable austenitic steels submitted to impact conditions. Regarding most of the works reported in the literature on SIMT, modeling of the martensitic transformation at high strain rates is the distinctive feature of the present paper.The researchers of the University Carlos III of Madrid are indebted to the Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid (Project CCG10-UC3M/DPI-5596)) and to the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación de España (Project DPI/2008-06408) for the financial support received which allowed conducting part of this work. The authors express their thanks to Mr. Philippe and Mr. Tobisch from the company Zwick for the facilities provided to perform the tensile tests at high strain rates