Analysing I/O bottlenecks in LHC data analysis on grid storage resources

We describe recent I/O testing frameworks that we have developed and applied within the UK GridPP Collaboration, the ATLAS experiment and the DPM team, for a variety of distinct purposes. These include benchmarking vendor supplied storage products, discovering scaling limits of SRM solutions, tuning of storage systems for experiment data analysis, evaluating file access protocols, and exploring I/O read patterns of experiment software and their underlying event data models. With multiple grid sites now dealing with petabytes of data, such studies are becoming essential. We describe how the tests build, and improve, on previous work and contrast how the use-cases differ. We also detail the results obtained and the implications for storage hardware, middleware and experiment software

Elfenbein als Nasenimplantat bei Jacques Joseph

Aufgrund schlechter Erfahrungen mit der Resorption von Knochentransplantaten benutzte Jacques Joseph in geeigneten Fällen Elfenbeinspäne für die Sattelnasenkorrektur. Vor dem Hintergrund, dass sicher nicht mehr viele von Joseph so operierte Patienten am Leben sind, berichten die Autoren über Langzeitergebnisse von 3 Fällen, bei denen 42, 43 und 63 Jahre zuvor Elfenbeinspäne in den Nasenrücken implantiert worden waren. Die Langzeitprognose aus heutiger Sicht und Josephs eigene Beobachtungen zu diesem Material sowie einige auch heute noch nicht allseits geklärte Umstände des Wirkens dieses genialen Operateurs werden besprochen

Oviposition by European Corn Borer (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) in Response to Various Transgenic Corn Events

Oviposition preference by European corn borers, Ostrinia nubilalis (Hubner), for or against transgenic corn would influence amounts of refuge required for resistance management. The objective of this research was to determine if various Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) corn transgenic events influence 0. nubilalis oviposition. All commercially available events (currently 5) were evaluated, plus 1 experimental event. Results from 3 independent studies are reported, including 3 field-cage experiments with vegetative corn, 2 field-cage experiments with reproductive corn, and 2 field experiments with natural 0. nubilalis on reproductive corn. In each case, Bt corn hybrids are compared with their near isogenic hybrids by counting numbers of egg masses on each plant type. More extensive comparisons were made in 3 of the experiments by determining the number, size, and location of egg masses on the corn hybrids. Moths laid more egg masses on Bt corn than on non-Bt corn in 1 cage experiment. These results, however, were not found in any of the other experiments. There is evidence that suggests cage effects influence moth oviposition more than Bt protein. Four of the 5 cage experiments and 2 field experiments indicate that the tested Bt events do not influence 0. nubilalis oviposition. Larval injury to isogenic corn during the vegetative stage did not influence adult oviposition during the corn reproductive stage when compared with Bt corn and noninjured isogenic corn. Based on these experiments, suggestions are made for future studies that use natural 0. nubilalis rather than 0. nubilalis in cages

Bacillus thuringiensis plants expressing Cry1Ac, Cry2Ab and Cry1F are not toxic to the assassin bug, Zelus renardii

Cotton‐ and maize‐producing insecticidal crystal (Cry) proteins from the bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), have been commercialized since 1996. Bt plants are subjected to environmental risk assessments for non‐target organisms, including natural enemies that suppress pest populations. Here, we used Cry1F‐resistant Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith) and Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab‐resistant Trichoplusia ni (Hübner) as prey for the assassin bug, Zelus renardii (Kolenati), a common predator in maize and cotton fields. In tritrophic studies, we assessed several fitness parameters of Z. renardii when it fed on resistant S. frugiperda that had fed on Bt maize expressing Cry1F or on resistant T. ni that had fed on Bt cotton expressing Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab. Survival, nymphal duration, adult weight, adult longevity and female fecundity of Z. renardii were not different when they were fed resistant‐prey larvae (S. frugiperda or T. ni) reared on either a Bt crop or respective non‐Bt crops. ELISA tests demonstrated that the Cry proteins were present in the plant at the highest levels, at lower levels in the prey and at the lowest levels in the predator. While Z. renardii was exposed to Cry1F and Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab when it fed on hosts that consumed Bt‐transgenic plants, the proteins did not affect important fitness parameters in this common and important predator