What Do Programmers of Parallel Machines Need? A Survey

We performed semistructured, open-ended interviews with 11 professional developers of parallel, scientific applications to determine how their programming time is spent and where tools could improve productivity. The subjects were selected from a variety of research laboratories, both industrial and governmental. The major findings were that programmers would prefer a global over a per-processor view of data structures, struggle with load balancing and optimizations, and need interactive tools for observing the behavior of parallel programs. Furthermore, handling and processing massive amounts of data in parallel is emerging as a new challenge

To a Deeper Understanding of Loneliness amongst Older Irish Adults

Loneliness can play a significant role in the wellbeing of older adults. This article describes a qualitative method for using case notes from the clinical records of older individuals in order to investigate the priority concerns spontaneously reported by older adults to deepen our understanding of both the context in which reported loneliness occurs in Ireland and the potential triggers. The participants in this study represent a cross-section of older adults who participated in the Technology Research for Independent Living Clinic (TRIL). Data were collected from participants through interviewer case notes at the TRIL centre in St James’s hospital, Dublin. 624 participants (431 females; 193 males) ranging in age from 60–92 years (Mean 73 years, SD 7 years) took part in the study. All were community dwelling and provided consent. A thematic analysis from grounded theory was used to evaluate the case notes for each participant. Preliminary results highlight the richness of phenomenological experience to enhance our understanding of loneliness and provide an opportunity to better understand the precursors and variability that loneliness may take. In this study we found themes in the case note analysis linking social loneliness with self-imposed limitations on social engagement due to declining health while predominate themes for emotionally lonely focused on psychological issues of stress and anxiety associated with adverse life events. The results suggest the importance of case notes to inform clinical practice. Qualitative results provided insights into differing live events of older Irish adults, which help distinguish the causal differences between social and emotional loneliness

Enhance, Extend, Empower: Understanding Faculty Use of E-Learning Technologies

[EN] There has been scant nation-wide assessment of institutional use of learning technology in Canada (Grant, 2016) and where assessment has been done of student access to e-resources, considerable variability within and across institutions has been reported (Kaznowska, Rogers, & Usher, 2011). With a broad goal of improved and increased use of learning technologies, one university wanted to explore the use of e-learning technologies across campus. The purpose of this study was to identify instructors' needs and aspirations with respect to how learning technologies at the university could be designed, implemented, and supported. The 3E framework of Enhance, Extend, Empower, proposed by Smyth, Burce, Fotheringham, & Mainka (2011), was useful in examining the underlying purposes of using e-learning technologies. For this qualitative study, the research team engaged 32 instructors in individual interviews or in focus groups to discuss how they currently use e-learning technologies, how they hope to advance their uses of these technologies, and their perceived barriers or enablers to implementation. The study has implications for practice and policy at postsecondary institutions; additionally, this study suggests possibilities for further research into the scholarship of teaching and learning in the context of e-learning technologies.Squires, V.; Turner, N.; Bassendowski, S.; Wilson, J.; Bens, S. (2017). Enhance, Extend, Empower: Understanding Faculty Use of E-Learning Technologies. En Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Higher Education Advances. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 1033-1043. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD17.2017.55081033104

The effect of variable labels on deep learning models trained to predict breast density

Purpose: High breast density is associated with reduced efficacy of mammographic screening and increased risk of developing breast cancer. Accurate and reliable automated density estimates can be used for direct risk prediction and passing density related information to further predictive models. Expert reader assessments of density show a strong relationship to cancer risk but also inter-reader variation. The effect of label variability on model performance is important when considering how to utilise automated methods for both research and clinical purposes. Methods: We utilise subsets of images with density labels to train a deep transfer learning model which is used to assess how label variability affects the mapping from representation to prediction. We then create two end-to-end deep learning models which allow us to investigate the effect of label variability on the model representation formed. Results: We show that the trained mappings from representations to labels are altered considerably by the variability of reader scores. Training on labels with distribution variation removed causes the Spearman rank correlation coefficients to rise from $0.751\pm0.002$ to either $0.815\pm0.006$ when averaging across readers or $0.844\pm0.002$ when averaging across images. However, when we train different models to investigate the representation effect we see little difference, with Spearman rank correlation coefficients of $0.846\pm0.006$ and $0.850\pm0.006$ showing no statistically significant difference in the quality of the model representation with regard to density prediction. Conclusions: We show that the mapping between representation and mammographic density prediction is significantly affected by label variability. However, the effect of the label variability on the model representation is limited

Border Screening for SARS

Screening at national borders may not be effective in controlling SARS spread

Interplay of Static and Dynamic Disorder in the Mixed-Metal Chalcohalide Sn₂SbS₂I₃

Chalcohalide mixed anion crystals have seen a rise in interest as perovskite inspired materials with the goal of combining the ambient stability of metal chalcogenides with the exceptional optoelectronic performance of metal halides. Sn2SbS2I3 is a promising candidate, having achieved a photovoltaic power conversion efficiency above 4 . However, there is uncertainty over the crystal structure and physical properties of this crystal family. Using a first principles cluster expansion approach, we predict a disordered room temperature structure, comprising both static and dynamic cation disorder on different crystallographic sites. These predictions are confirmed using single crystal X ray diffraction. Disorder leads to a lowering of the bandgap from 1.8 eV at low temperature to 1.5 eV at the experimental annealing temperature of 573 K. Cation disorder tailoring the bandgap allows for targeted application or for the use in a graded solar cell, which when combined with material properties associated with defect and disorder tolerance, encourages further investigation into the group IV V chalcohalide family for optoelectronic application

Interplay of Static and Dynamic Disorder in the Mixed-Metal Chalcohalide Sn2SbS2I3

Chalcohalide mixed-anion crystals have seen a rise in interest as "perovskite-inspired materials" with the goal of combining the ambient stability of metal chalcogenides with the exceptional optoelectronic performance of metal halides. Sn2SbS2I3 is a promising candidate, having achieved a photovoltaic power conversion efficiency above 4%. However, there is uncertainty over the crystal structure and physical properties of this crystal family. Using a first-principles cluster expansion approach, we predict a disordered room-temperature structure, comprising both static and dynamic cation disorder on different crystallographic sites. These predictions are confirmed using single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Disorder leads to a lowering of the bandgap from 1.8 eV at low temperature to 1.5 eV at the experimental annealing temperature of 573 K. Cation disorder tailoring the bandgap allows for targeted application or for the use in a graded solar cell, which when combined with material properties associated with defect and disorder tolerance, encourages further investigation into the group IV/V chalcohalide family for optoelectronic applications

Our water world : 4-H marine science discovery project : leader guide

This book is offered to youth leaders and teachers as a tool to help young learners discover some of the wonders that the sea has to offer. It is also a tool for youth development.Reprinted July 2001; original published July 1999. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalo