A Reconfigurable Vector Instruction Processor for Accelerating a Convection Parametrization Model on FPGAs

High Performance Computing (HPC) platforms allow scientists to model computationally intensive algorithms. HPC clusters increasingly use General-Purpose Graphics Processing Units (GPGPUs) as accelerators; FPGAs provide an attractive alternative to GPGPUs for use as co-processors, but they are still far from being mainstream due to a number of challenges faced when using FPGA-based platforms. Our research aims to make FPGA-based high performance computing more accessible to the scientific community. In this work we present the results of investigating the acceleration of a particular atmospheric model, Flexpart, on FPGAs. We focus on accelerating the most computationally intensive kernel from this model. The key contribution of our work is the architectural exploration we undertook to arrive at a solution that best exploits the parallelism available in the legacy code, and is also convenient to program, so that eventually the compilation of high-level legacy code to our architecture can be fully automated. We present the three different types of architecture, comparing their resource utilization and performance, and propose that an architecture where there are a number of computational cores, each built along the lines of a vector instruction processor, works best in this particular scenario, and is a promising candidate for a generic FPGA-based platform for scientific computation. We also present the results of experiments done with various configuration parameters of the proposed architecture, to show its utility in adapting to a range of scientific applications.Comment: This is an extended pre-print version of work that was presented at the international symposium on Highly Efficient Accelerators and Reconfigurable Technologies (HEART2014), Sendai, Japan, June 911, 201

Information Security Policy Violations in the Work-From-Home Era

Remote working has become the new normal in modern organizations. This transition has brought various challenges for the organizations in terms of their security infrastructure. Insider threats in organizations have been increasing in recent years. This paper proposes various behavioral and situational aspects that can influence employees’ intentions to violate information security policies (ISP) in a remote working environment, including subjective norms, the absence of peer monitoring, and the moderating role of shame. This research also proposes the role of neutralization techniques utilized by employees to rationalize and justify their behavior in the context of policy violations. A conceptual model has been developed, and a pilot study was conducted among 30 participants. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge on ISP compliance in the era of remote working, characterized by behavioral changes of employees

Behaviour of short-finned pilot whales Globicephala macrorhynchus (Gray, 1846) (Mammalia: Cetartiodactyla: Delphinidae) in the Southeastern Arabian Sea

Behaviour of short-finned pilot whales Globicephala macrorhynchus (Gray, 1846) (Mammalia: Cetartiodactyla: Delphinidae) in the Southeastern Arabian Se

Renewed research focus on cephalopod resources in the Southern Ocean

Investigations of Southern Ocean cephalopods began with the pioneering expedition of HMS Challenger (Hoyle,1886) and Valdivia expedition conducted by Germany (Odhner, 1923). After the 1970s, there has been considerable research effort in cephalopod taxonomy and abundance all over the world. However, very little is known about the abundance and biodiversity of cephalopods in the Southern Ocean sector. Southern Ocean cephalopod fauna is distinctive, with high levels of endemism in the squid and play an important role, linking the abundant mesopelagic fish and crustaceans with higher predators such as albatross, seals and whales. Although not yet commercially exploited species of the family Ommastrephidae have high potential (Collins and Rodhouse, 2006)

Influence of Chemical Parameters on Artemia sp. (Crustacea: Anostraca) Population in Al Wathba Lake in the Abu Dhabi Emirate, UAE

Long term monitoring programme on Brine shrimp (Artemia sp.) is being carried out by the Environment Agency, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (EAD) with the prime purpose of understanding the population dynamics, ecology and habitat requirements of Artemia at Al Wathba Lake, situated within Al Wathba Wetland Reserve, which is an artificial wetland near Abu Dhabi City. The present study, being a component of this programme, intends to understand the influence of chemical parameters such as dissolved oxygen, nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, ammonia and total organic carbon on Artemia biomass and cyst production at different sites of the Al Wathba Lake. The study was carried out by sampling lake water quarterly for a period of 5 years from 2010 to 2014. The Artemia population was found to have direct impact of the above mentioned parameters on its abundance. The abundance was highest during the year 2010. Further, temperature, dissolved oxygen, nitrate and cadmium were found to be the most crucial parameters for production of Artemia. The study further aimed to determine the significant relationship between physico-chemical parameters and Artemia sp. population dynamics and cyst production

Application of remote sensing techniques for locating pelagic fish concentrations along the Kerala coast (SW coast of India) - work done and future prospects

Intensive validation programme on Potential Fishing Zone forecasts carried out by the MARSIS, Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Cochin, at 17 selectedjish landing centres along the Kerala coast between November 1995 and May 1996 revealed a positive relationship betwen PFZ and occurence/abundance of commercially important pelagic fishes. An attempt is made to identify possible reasons for the above, based on results of oceanographic itivestigations undertaken in the area and also taking into consideration fish behaviour in relation to environn-ieni based on past data. Future plans for evolving a suitable prediction system for commercially important pelagic fishes in the coastal waters of the mainland and skipjack fishery in the Lakshadweep islands based on PFZ forecasts are also discussed in view of its importance to the artisanal and small mechanised sector fishermen for reducing the searching time and thereby effecting an overall reduction in the cost of fishing

Empirical support for the vascular apathy hypothesis:A structured review

Objectives: A systematic review of the relationship between subclinical small vessel disease (SSVD) in the general population and apathy to examine the hypothesis that apathy has a vascular basis. Methods: We searched for studies on associations between apathy and SSVD, operationalized as white matter hyperintensities (WMH) or white matter diffusivity changes, lacunar infarcts, cerebral microbleeds, decreasing cortical thickness, and perivascular spaces, while also peripheral proxies for SSVD were considered, operationalized as ankle brachial pressure index (ABI), intima media thickness, arterial stiffness, cardio-femoral pulse wave velocity, hypertension, or cardiovascular disease. Only eligible retrospective and prospective observational studies conducted in the general population were included. Results: The 14 studies eligible for review examined the associations between apathy and hypertension (3), ABI (1), arterial stiffness (1), cardiovascular disease (2), WMH (3), white matter diffusivity (2), cerebral microbleeds (1), or cortical thickness (3). Arterial stiffness and white matter diffusivity were not related to apathy, while the associations with cortical thickness were contradictory. Cross-sectional studies in the general population did find evidence of apathy being associated with WMH, CM, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and ABI, and cardiovascular disease was prospectively associated with apathy. The methodologies of the studies reviewed were too heterogeneous to perform meta-analyses. Conclusions: Although more prospective evidence is needed and vascular depression needs to be controlled for, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and ABI as proxies for SSVD, and WMH and cerebral microbleeds as direct measures of SSVD have been found to be associated with apathy in the general population, supporting the hypothesis of vascular apathy

A rare case of pediatric enteroplueural fistula, which presented as lung abscess

We report a case of a 14-year-old male patient referred to us as a case of right-sided lung abscess. The patient was treated for the entericperforation elsewhere, following which he developed productive cough, which progressively worsened. The preoperative diagnosis ofentero-pleural fistula was made with the help of thoraco abdominal computed tomography scan after 4 months of antitubercular andantibiotic treatment. Enteric perforation leading to entero-pleural fistula is very rare. The patient did well after laparotomy and completeexcision of the fistula

Singularities of line congruences

A line congruence is a two parameter family of lines in IR3. In this paper we study singu­larities of line congruences. We show that generic singularities of general line congruences are the same as those of stable mappings between three dimensional manifolds. Moreover, we also study singularities of normal congruences and equiaffine normal congruences from the view point of the theory of Lagrangian singularities

Scope for light assisted fishing in Southeastern Arabian Sea

Scope for light assisted fishing in Southeastern Arabian Se