Cooperating runtime systems in LiPS

Performing computation using networks of workstations is increasingly becoming an alternative to using a supercomputer. This approach is motivated by the vast quantities of unused idle-time available in workstation networks. Unlike comptuting o a tighty coupled parallel computer, where a fixed number of processor nodes is used within a computation, the number of usable nodes in a workstation network is constantly changing over time. Additionally, workstations are more frequently subject to outages, e.g. due to reboots. The question arises how applications, adapting smoothly to this environment, should be realized. LiPS is a system for distributed computing using idle-cycles in networks for workstations. This system is ints version 2.3 is currently used at the Universität des Saarlandes in Saarbrücken, Germany to perform computationally intensive applications in the field of cryptography on a net of approximately 250 workstations and should be enhanced to work within an environment of more than 1000 machines all over the world within the next years. In this paper we present the runtime systems of LiPS along with performance measurements taken with the current LiPS development version 2.4

El transplante renal bajo la óptica de los niños que llevan la insuficiencia renal crónica en el tratamiento dialítico: estudio del caso

INTRODUCTION: To understand implications of the chronic disease for the child and his/her family it must be consider that the chronic disease can not be cured and that this cure may turn into a dangerous myth, involving the child s development process. AIM: To understand the meaning that renal transplantation has for those children in dyalitic treatment and to know their expectations regarding this treatment. METHOD: This is a qualitative study using as an investigation method a Case Study and the Mayeroff s philosophical referential. The techniques used to collect data were semi-structured interviews and the subject was the Design-Story. 15 children who gave their consent to take part of this research, with ages ranging from 6 to 16 years were interviewed and submitted to a dialytic and hemodialytic treatment. RESULTS: Four categories emerged from the semi-structured questions and after using the content analysis technique according to categories: building the knowledge on transplantation; searching to understand the wait for transplant; creating expectation on the transition; being in contact with frustration. Based on the design-story we had a category: unveiling feelings by means of the draw. In this study, we will show the results regarding the semi-structures questions emerged from the individual s speech. CONCLUSION: This study allowed us to understand that children realize the renal transplant as the only possibility to have their lives back to normal.RESUMEN INTRODUCCIÓN: Para comprender cuales son las implicaciones de la enfermedad crónica para el niño y sus familiares és necessário partir del presupuesto de que la enfermedad crónica no puede ser curada y que la cura deseada puede se transformarse en un mito peligroso, que puede comprometer todo el proceso de desarrolo del niño. OBJETIVOS: Compreender el significado del transplante renal para los niños en tratamiento dialítico y conocer sus expectativas en relación a este tratamiento. MÉTODO: Estudio cualitativo, utilizando el Estudio de Caso y las ideas de Mayeroff como refrencial teórico-filisófico. Las técnicas utilizadas para lel acopio de datos fueron la entrevista semiestructurado y el Diseño-Historia con tema. Fueron entrevistados 15 niños en tratamiento dialítico y hemodialítico, con edades entre 6 y 16 años que consintieron en participar del estudio. RESULTADOS: Del análises de contenido emergieron cuatro categorías: constituyendo el conocomiento sobre el transplante; buscando entender la espera del transplante; creando expectativas de cambios; en contacto con la frustración. Del diseño-historia con tema, la categoría: desvelando los sentimientos a través del diseño. En este artículo presentaremos un recorte de la disertación conteniendo los resultados referentes a las cuestiones semiestructuradas emergidas de las hablas de los sujetos. CONCLUSIÓN: El estudio posibilitó comprender que los niños perciben la realización del transplante renal como la única posibilidad de volver a tener una vida normal.INTRODUÇÃO: Para compreender quais são as implicações da doença crônica para a criança e seus familiares é necessário partir-se da premissa de que a doença crônica não pode ser curada e que a cura almejada pode se transformar em mito perigoso, que compromete todo o processo de desenvolvimento da criança. OBJETIVOS: Compreender o significado do transplante renal para crianças em tratamento dialítico e conhecer suas expectativas em relação a este tratamento. MÉTODO: Estudo qualitativo, utilizando o Estudo de Caso como método de investigação e os pressupostos de Mayeroff como referencial teórico-filosófico. Para coleta de dados foram utilizadas as técnicas de entrevista semi-estruturada e o Desenho-Estória com tema. Foram entrevistadas 15 crianças em tratamento dialítico e hemodialítico, com idades entre 6 e 16 anos que consentiram em participar do estudo RESULTADO: Da análise de conteúdo emergiram quatro categorias: Construindo o conhecimento sobre o transplante; Buscando entender a espera pelo transplante; Criando expectativas de mudanças; Em contato com a frustração. E do desenho-estória com tema a categoria: Desvelando os sentimentos através do desenho. Neste artigo apresentaremos os resultados referentes às questões semi-estruturadas que emergiram das falas dos sujeitos. CONCLUSÃO: O estudo possibilitou compreender que as crianças percebem a realização do transplante renal como a única possibilidade de voltarem a vivenciar uma vida normal.Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Hospital São Paulo Serviço de Nefrologia PediátricaUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Departamento de Enfermagem Disciplina de Enfermagem PediátricaUNIFESP, Hospital São Paulo Serviço de Nefrologia PediátricaUNIFESP, Depto. de Enfermagem Disciplina de Enfermagem PediátricaSciEL

Towards long term monitoring of electrodermal activity in daily life

Manic depression, also known as bipolar disorder, is a common and severe form of mental disorder. The European research project MONARCA aims at developing and validating mobile technologies for multi-parametric, long term monitoring of physiological and behavioral information relevant to bipolar disorder. One aspect of MONARCA is to investigate the long term monitoring of Electrodermal activity (EDA) to support the diagnosis and treatment of bipolar disorder patients. EDA is known as an indicator of the emotional state and the stress level of a person. To realize a long-term monitoring of the EDA, the integration of the sensor system in the shoe or sock is a promising approach. This paper presents a first step towards such a sensor system. In a feasibility study including 8 subjects, we investigate the correlation between EDA measurements at the fingers, which is the most established sensing site, with measurements of the EDA at the feet. The results indicate that 88% of the evoked skin conductance responses (SCRs) occur at both sensing sites. When using an action movie as psychophysiologically activating stimulus, we have found weaker reactivity in the foot than in the hand EDA. The results also suggest that the influence of moderate physical activity on EDA measurements is low and has a similar effect for both recording sites. This suggests that the foot recording location is suitable for recordings in daily life even in the presence of moderate movemen

Unobtrusive physiological monitoring in an airplane seat

Air travel has become the preferred mode of long-distance transportation for most of the world's travelers. People of every age group and health status are traveling by airplane and thus the airplane has become part of our environment, in which people with health-related limitations need assistive support. Since the main interaction point between a passenger and the airplane is the seat, this work presents a smart airplane seat for measuring health-related signals of a passenger. We describe the design, implementation and testing of a multimodal sensor system integrated into the seat. The presented system is able to measure physiological signals, such as electrocardiogram, electrodermal activity, skin temperature, and respiration. We show how the design of the smart seat system is influenced by the trade-off between comfort and signal quality, i.e. incorporating unobtrusive sensors and dealing with erroneous signals. Artifact detection through sensor fusion is presented and the working principle is shown with a feasibility study, in which normal passenger activities were performed. Based on the presented method, we are able to identify signal regions in which the accuracies for detecting the heart- and respiration-rate are 88 and 82%, respectively, compared to 40 and 76% without any artifact remova

PI3K induces B-cell development and regulates B cell identity.

Phosphoinositide-3 kinase (PI3K) signaling is important for the survival of numerous cell types and class IA of PI3K is specifically required for the development of B cells but not for T cell development. Here, we show that class IA PI3K-mediated signals induce the expression of the transcription factor Pax5, which plays a central role in B cell commitment and differentiation by activating the expression of central B cell-specific signaling proteins such as SLP-65 and CD19. Defective class IA PI3K function leads to reduction in Pax5 expression and prevents B cell development beyond the stage expressing the precursor B cell receptor (pre-BCR). Investigating the mechanism of PI3K-induced Pax5 expression revealed that it involves a network of transcription factors including FoxO1 and Irf4 that directly binds to the Pax5 gene. Together, our results suggest that PI3K signaling links survival and differentiation of developing B cells with B cell identity and that decreased PI3K activity in pre-B cells results in reduced Pax5 expression and lineage plasticity

Glutamic Acid Residues in HIV-1 p6 Regulate Virus Budding and Membrane Association of Gag

The HIV-1 Gag p6 protein regulates the final abscission step of nascent virions from the cell membrane by the action of its two late (l-) domains, which recruit Tsg101 and ALIX, components of the ESCRT system. Even though p6 consists of only 52 amino acids, it is encoded by one of the most polymorphic regions of the HIV-1 gag gene and undergoes various posttranslational modifications including sumoylation, ubiquitination, and phosphorylation. In addition, it mediates the incorporation of the HIV-1 accessory protein Vpr into budding virions. Despite its small size, p6 exhibits an unusually high charge density. In this study, we show that mutation of the conserved glutamic acids within p6 increases the membrane association of Pr55 Gag followed by enhanced polyubiquitination and MHC-I antigen presentation of Gag-derived epitopes, possibly due to prolonged exposure to membrane bound E3 ligases. The replication capacity of the total glutamic acid mutant E0A was almost completely impaired, which was accompanied by defective virus release that could not be rescued by ALIX overexpression. Altogether, our data indicate that the glutamic acids within p6 contribute to the late steps of viral replication and may contribute to the interaction of Gag with the plasma membrane

Indications for the Nonexistence of Three-Neutron Resonances near the Physical Region

The pending question of the existence of three-neutron resonances near the physical energy region is reconsidered. Finite rank neutron-neutron forces are used in Faddeev equations, which are analytically continued into the unphysical energy sheet below the positive real energy axis. The trajectories of the three-neutron S-matrix poles in the states of total angular momenta and parity J^\pi=1/2 +- and J^\pi= 3/2 +- are traced out as a function of artificial enhancement factors of the neutron-neutron forces. The final positions of the S-matrix poles removing the artificial factors are found in all cases to be far away from the positive real energy axis, which provides a strong indication for the nonexistence of nearby three-neutron resonances. The pole trajectories close to the threshold E=0 are also predicted out of auxiliary generated three-neutron bound state energies using the Pad\'e method and agree very well with the directly calculated ones.Comment: 20 pages, 7 Postscript figures, fig.1 is corrected, uses relax.st