Simple Energy Aware Scheduler: An Empirical Evaluation

Mobile devices have evolved from single purpose devices, such as mobile phone, into general purpose multi-core computers with considerable unused capabilities. Therefore, several researchers have considered harnessing the power of these battery-powered devices for distributed computing. Despite their ever-growing capabilities, using battery as power source for mobile devices represents a major challenge for applying traditional distributed computing techniques. Particularly, researchers aimed at using mobile devices as resources for executing computationally intensive task. Different job scheduling algorithms were proposed with this aim, but many of them require information that is unavailable or difficult to obtain in real-life environments, such as how much energy would require a job to be finished. In this context, Simple Energy Aware Scheduler (SEAS) is a scheduling technique for computational intensive Mobile Grids that only require easily accessible information. It was proposed in 2010 and it has been the base for a range of research work. Despite being described as easily implementable in real-life scenarios, SEAS and other SEAS-improvements works have always been evaluated using simulations. In this work, we present a distributed computing platform for mobile devices that support SEAS and empirical evaluation of the SEAS scheduler. This evaluation followed the methodology of the original SEAS evaluation, in which Random and Round Robin schedulers were used as baselines. Although the original evaluation was performed by simulation using notebooks profile instead of smartphones and tablets, results confirms that SEAS outperforms the baseline schedulers.Fil: Pérez Campos, Ana Bella. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas; ArgentinaFil: Rodriguez, Juan Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Instituto Superior de Ingeniería del Software. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Instituto Superior de Ingeniería del Software; ArgentinaFil: Zunino Suarez, Alejandro Octavio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Instituto Superior de Ingeniería del Software. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Instituto Superior de Ingeniería del Software; Argentin

Reducing energy usage in resource-intensive Java-based scientific applications via micro-benchmark based code refactorings

In-silico research has grown considerably. Today's scientific code involves long-running computer simulations and hence powerful computing infrastructures are needed. Traditionally, research in high-performance computing has focused on executing code as fast as possible, while energy has been recently recognized as another goal to consider. Yet, energy-driven research has mostly focused on the hardware and middleware layers, but few efforts target the application level, where many energy-aware optimizations are possible. We revisit a catalog of Java primitives commonly used in OO scientific programming, or micro-benchmarks, to identify energy-friendly versions of the same primitive. We then apply the micro-benchmarks to classical scientific application kernels and machine learning algorithms for both single-thread and multi-thread implementations on a server. Energy usage reductions at the micro-benchmark level are substantial, while for applications obtained reductions range from 3.90% to 99.18%.Fil: Longo, Mathias. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Instituto Superior de Ingeniería del Software. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Instituto Superior de Ingeniería del Software; Argentina. University of Southern California; Estados UnidosFil: Rodriguez, Ana Virginia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Instituto Superior de Ingeniería del Software. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Instituto Superior de Ingeniería del Software; ArgentinaFil: Mateos Diaz, Cristian Maximiliano. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Instituto Superior de Ingeniería del Software. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Instituto Superior de Ingeniería del Software; ArgentinaFil: Zunino Suarez, Alejandro Octavio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Instituto Superior de Ingeniería del Software. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Instituto Superior de Ingeniería del Software; Argentin

Learning contract, co-operative and flipped learning as useful tools for studying metabolism

Es el Abstract de una comunicación a un congreso internacional sobre educaciónUndergraduate students in Biology identify Metabolic Biochemistry as a particularly difficult subject. This is due to the fact that students need to interconnect properly all the contents of its syllabus throughout their study of the subject in order to get a global insight of the complex regulatory features controlling metabolic pathways within the metabolic network under different physiologic and pathologic conditions, as well as metabolism as a whole. Due to these objective difficulties, a high percentage of our students face the study of this subject as a very hard task beyond their forces and capacities. This perception leads to high rates of premature dropout. In previous years, less than 40% of all the registered students attended the examinations of Metabolic Biochemistry (a subject in the second year of the Degree of Biology at our University). Even worse, less than 25% of our students passed the exams. From the academic year 2015/16 on, we are developing innovative teaching projects (PIE15-163 and PIE17-145, funded by University of Malaga) aimed to increase our student loyalty to the subject (and hence to increase their attendance to exams) and to help them to learn more effectively metabolism and its regulation. These innovative teaching projects are based on the use of several powerful tools: a learning contract and problem-based learning within the framework of group tasks promoting an actual collaborative learning in a flipped classroom. The present communication will show the implementation of the PIE15-163 and PIE17-145 projects and some results obtained from them.This work was supported by Malaga University funds granted to the educational innovation project PIE17-145. The attendance to the END2018 International Conference on Education and New Developments (June 2018, Budapest, Hungary) has received a grant from "I Plan Propio Integral de Docencia. Universidad de Málaga"]

Determinación de la presencia de Helicobacter pylori mediante un dispositivo cromatográfico específico, en cerdos sacrificados en el Frigorífico Vijagual.

Pathologies of uncertain etiology manifested by gastric ulcers have been observed in pig. This research paper shows the association of Helicobacter sp. as the main causing agent of this disorder by studying a sample of 100 pigs slaughtered at the Vijagual abattoir in the Bucaramanga city. Sera samples were analyzed and samples of gastric tissue were processed by histopathological methods using Hematoxiline-Eosine and Warthin-Starry to confirm the correlation between spiral bacteria and gastric lesions. Blood sera of positive pigs in the histopathological examination were examined by a specific chromatographic device or immunoassay (ACON ®). Analysis of results was based on a experimental model describing the number of positive and negative pigs to Helicobacter sp. bacteria. Histopathologically, 53% of the animals were positive and 47% were negative. The species of bacteria assosiated were Helicobacter pylori (60,3%) and Helicobacter hellmanii (39,6%). For the serological procedure, 25 positive and 25 negative samples to Helicobacter sp. were analyzed. A reliability of 92% with the specific test and 75% of negative confirmation was found. The statistical test of Chi Square was utilized to evaluate the association of Helicobacter sp. to gastric lesions. Standardization was carried out by the ACON ®specific chromatographic device. This test is designed for the detection of IgG antibodies against Helicobacter pylori in human serum for the diagnosis of gastrointestinal diseases. Based on this method, reliability and specificity of the test was demonstrated for the determination of Helicobacter pylori in sera of pigs with gastric lesions. This technique represents a precise aid for the management of gastric clinical malfunctions that are frequentin porcine exploitations nowadays.    En las unidades de producción porcina se han presentado patologías de etiología incierta que indican la presencia de lesiones gástricas compatibles con infección por Helicobacter sp. Ante la necesidad de determinar la asociación entre los hallazgos clínicos y la infección con Helicobacter sp., el trabajo se propuso confirmar por serología la presencia de la bacteria. El desarrollo de la investigación utilizó una muestra de 100 cerdos de sacrificio del Frigorífico Vijagual, de la ciudad de Bucaramanga, realizando el muestreo sanguíneo y de tejido gástrico que fue procesado histopatológicamente con hematoxilina-eosina y warthin-starry para correlacionar la presencia de bacterias espiraladas con lesiones gástricas, y serológicamente confirmando la presencia de Helicobacter pylori mediante un dispositivo cromatográfico específico o inmunoensayo (ACONâ) en cerdos positivos al examen histopatológico.El análisis de resultados se basó en un modelo experimental que describe el número de cerdos positivos y negativos a bacterias del género helicobacter sp., donde histopatológicamente se hallaron 53% positivos y 47% negativos; se identificaron 60,3% compatibles a helicobacter pylori y 39,6% a helicobacter hellmanii. Para el procedimiento serológico se tomaron 25 sueros positivos y 25 negativos a Helicobacter sp., lo que expresó un 92% de confiabilidad con la prueba específica y un 76% que confirma la seronegatividad. Estos resultados utilizaron la prueba estadística de chi cuadrada para evaluar la asociación de la presencia de Helicobacter sp. y lesiones gástricas mediante la estandarización del dispositivo cromatográfico específico ACONâ.Esta prueba está diseñada para la detección de anticuerpos IgG contra Helicobacter pylori en suero humano para el diagnóstico de enfermedades gastrointestinales. Apoyados en esto hemos demostrado la confiabilidad y especificidad de la prueba para la determinar la presencia de Helicobacter pylori en suero de cerdos con lesiones gástricas, proporcionando la ayuda precisa para el manejo de cuadros clínicos gástricos, muy comunes en las actuales explotaciones porcinas

Methodological proposal to study the viability of the peasant farming and its testing in two farms in Santiago del Estero (Argentina)

Distintos autores expresaron dudas sobre la viabilidad de la producción campesina y su capacidad de subsistencia en el contexto capitalista actual. Sin embargo, la misma realidad brinda evidencias sobre su persistencia. Probablemente su preconcepción como sector marginal y condenado a la desaparición haya generado ciertas dificultades para comprender su potencial; y también haya contribuido a que en la actualidad, y a pesar de los avances logrados en los últimos años, no exista un consenso sobre la viabilidad de la producción campesina, ni tampoco sea sencillo encontrar propuestas metodológicas para estudiarla. Este trabajo intenta adentrarse en la problemática, y propone utilizar dos vertientes teórico-metodológicas (la agroecología y los balances de la producción) que fueron complementadas entre si y aplicadas en dos casos de estudio (ambos en Santiago del Estero, Argentina). Los resultados indican que la producción campesina puede ser viable, que es factible su constatación empírica y que esto puede realizarse mediante una herramienta fácilmente utilizable en terreno; sin embargo, para lograrlo es necesario partir desde otros indicadores más amplios que los análisis estrictamente económicos.Some authors expressed concerns about the viability of peasant production and its subsistence capacity in the current capitalist context. However, reality shows evidence of its persistence. Probably, its conception as a marginal sector, condemned to disappear, has made it difficult to understand its potential. Despite the progress made in recent years, there is no consensus about the viability of peasant production, and it is not easy to find methodological proposals to study it. This paper aims to immerse into the dilemma, using two theoretical and methodological frameworks of relevance (agroecology and production balances) that were complemented and applied in two case studies (both in Santiago del Estero, Argentina). The results indicate that peasant production may be viable, that its empirical finding is feasible, and that it can be easily usable in the field methods; however, in order to achieve this goals, it is necessary to take into account other indicators or forms of measurement, more comprehensive, than strictly economic analyzes.Fil: Villalba, Ana Eliza. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet Noa Sur. Instituto de Estudios para el Desarrollo Social. - Universidad Nacional de Santiago del Estero. Facultad de Humanidades Ciencias Sociales y de la Salud. Instituto de Estudios para el Desarrollo Social; ArgentinaFil: Rodriguez Sperat, Ramiro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet Noa Sur. Instituto de Estudios para el Desarrollo Social. - Universidad Nacional de Santiago del Estero. Facultad de Humanidades Ciencias Sociales y de la Salud. Instituto de Estudios para el Desarrollo Social; ArgentinaFil: Suarez, Maria Victoria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet Noa Sur. Instituto de Estudios para el Desarrollo Social. - Universidad Nacional de Santiago del Estero. Facultad de Humanidades Ciencias Sociales y de la Salud. Instituto de Estudios para el Desarrollo Social; Argentin

Willingness to pay for beach ecosystem services: the case study of three Colombian beaches

Throughout the scientific literature, beaches have been regarded as very valuable ecosystems for the tourism industry; however, these ecosystems provide multiple direct and indirect benefits beyond tourism. This paper accounts for the results from a Willingness to Pay (WTP) study using data from 425 respondents at three beaches in the Colombian Caribbean Region. Out of the respondents from the three beaches, over 70% expressed a positive WTP to maintain Beach Ecosystem Services (BES) beyond tourism purposes. At two beaches, the payment amount was 3.40 US$/month, while at the third beach the payment amount was 6.80 US$/month. Beach environmental quality seemed to be an important aspect regarding the payment amount. It is highlighted that WTP in beaches did not depend on economic variables such as income or employment, whereas variables related to perception had a determining impact. WTP for BES was defined by interest in environmental issues and concerns about ecosystem services loss. The results offered hereto could provide support to decision makers through quantitative information on social preferences regarding beach improvement projects policies, if several reflections are considered

Effects of a persistent binge drinking pattern of alcohol consumption in young people: a follow-up study using event-related potentials

Aims: The objective of this study was to examine brain activity related to visual attention processes in youths who had maintained a binge drinking (BD) pattern of alcohol consumption for > 2 years. Methods: The participants were 57 university students (26 binge drinkers: BDs) with no personal or family history of alcoholism or psychopathological disorders in first-degree relatives. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded while participants performed a visual oddball task (twice within a 2-year interval). The latency and amplitude of the P3b component of the ERPs were analysed. Results: The P3b amplitude was larger in young BDs than in aged-matched controls at both evaluation times, and the difference was more pronounced after 2 years of maintenance of a BD pattern of consumption. The larger P3b amplitude was associated with an earlier onset of regular drinking and with a greater quantity and intensity of consumption. Conclusions: These findings suggest that young BDs exhibit anomalies in neural activity involved in attentional/working memory processes, which increase after 2 years of maintenance of BD. This anomalous neural activity may reflect underlying dysfunctions in neurophysiological mechanisms as well as the recruitment of additional attentional/working memory resources to enable the binge drinkers to perform the task adequately.The study was supported by a grant from the Galician Regional R&D Autorithy, Xunta de Galicia, (INCITE08PXIB211015PR) and two grants from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (EDU2008-03400; PSI2011-22575). Eduardo Lopez-Caneda was supported by the FPU program (AP2008-03433) of the Spanish Ministerio de Educacion; S.D. was supported by a postdoctoral contract from the Isidro Parga Pondal program (Xunta de Galicia, Spain), and A.F.G. was supported by the FPI program (CG2008-0461-C02-01) of the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion

Benefit with preventive noninvasive ventilation in subgroups of patients at high-risk for reintubation: a post hoc analysis.

Background: High-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) was shown to be non-inferior to noninvasive ventilation (NIV) for preventing reintubation in a general population of high-risk patients. However, some subgroups of high-risk patients might benefit more from NIV. We aimed to determine whether the presence of many risk factors or overweight (body mass index (BMI) ≥ 25 kg/m2) patients could have different response to any preventive therapy, NIV or HFNC in terms of reduced reintubation rate. Methods: Not pre-specified post hoc analysis of a multicentre, randomized, controlled, non-inferiority trial comparing NFNC and NIV to prevent reintubation in patients at risk for reintubation. The original study included patients with at least 1 risk factor for reintubation. Results: Among 604 included in the original study, 148 had a BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2. When adjusting for potential covariates, patients with ≥ 4 risk factors (208 patients) presented a higher risk for reintubation (OR 3.4 [95%CI 2.16–5.35]). Patients with ≥ 4 risk factors presented lower reintubation rates when treated with preventive NIV (23.9% vs 45.7%; P = 0.001). The multivariate analysis of overweight patients, adjusted for covariates, did not present a higher risk for reintubation (OR 1.37 [95%CI 0.82–2.29]). However, those overweight patients presented an increased risk for reintubation when treated with preventive HFNC (OR 2.47 [95%CI 1.18–5.15]). Conclusions: Patients with ≥ 4 risk factors for reintubation may benefit more from preventive NIV. Based on this result, HFNC may not be the optimal preventive therapy in overweight patients. Specific trials are needed to confirm these results.post-print916 K

Antibióticos empíricos para la neumonía adquirida en la comunidad en pacientes adultos: Una revisión sistemática y un metaanálisis en red

Objetivo: El objetivo principal de este metaanálisis en red es identificar el antibiótico empírico (Em-ATB) con mayor probabilidad de ser el mejor (HPBB) en términos de (1) tasa de curación y (2) tasa de mortalidad en pacientes hospitalizados con neumonía adquirida en la comunidad (NAC) . Método: Criterios de inclusión: (1) pacientes adultos (>16 años) diagnosticados de NAC que requirieron hospitalización; (2) aleatorizados a al menos dos Em-ATB diferentes, (3) que informen de la tasa de curación y (4) que estén escritos en inglés o español. Criterios de exclusión: (1) protocolo de antibióticos ambiguo y (2) publicados exclusivamente en formato resumen o carta. Fuentes de datos: Medline, Embase, Cochrane y revisiones de citas desde el 1 de enero de 2000 hasta el 31 de diciembre de 2018. Riesgo de sesgo: Herramienta de Cochrane. Calidad de la revisión sistemática (RS): A MeaSurement Tool to Assess systematic Reviews-2. Certeza de la evidencia: Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation. Análisis estadísticos: método frecuentista realizado con la biblioteca 'netmeta', paquete R. Resultados: se incluyeron 27 ensayos controlados aleatorizados (ECA) de las 41.307 citas seleccionadas inicialmente. En cuanto al riesgo de sesgo, más de una cuarta parte de los estudios presentaron riesgo bajo y ningún estudio presentó riesgo alto en todos los dominios. La calidad de la RS es moderada. Para la curación, se construyeron dos redes. Así, dos Em-ATB tienen la HPBB: cetarolina 600 mg (dos veces al día) y piperacilina 2000 mg (dos veces al día). Para la mortalidad, se construyeron tres redes. Así, tres Em-ATB tienen la HPBB: ceftriaxona 2000 mg (una vez al día) más levofloxacino 500 (dos veces al día), ertapenem 1000 mg (dos veces al día) y amikacina 250 mg (dos veces al día) más claritromicina 500 mg (dos veces al día). La certeza de la evidencia para cada resultado es moderada. Conclusiones: Para la tasa de curación, ceftarolina y piperacilina son las opciones con la HPBB. Sin embargo, para la tasa de mortalidad, las opciones son ceftriaxona más levofloxacino, ertapenem y amikacina más claritromicina. Parece necesario realizar un ECA que compare los tratamientos con el HPBB para cada evento (curación o mortalidad) (CRD42017060692).Objective: The main aim of this network meta-analysis is to identify the empiric antibiotic (Em-ATB) with the highest probability of being the best (HPBB) in terms of (1) cure rate and (2) mortality rate in hospitalised patients with community acquired pneumonia (CAP) . Method: Inclusion criteria: (1) adult patients (>16 years old) diagnosed with CAP that required hospitalisation; (2) randomised to at least two different Em-ATBs, (3) that report cure rate and (4) are written in English or Spanish. Exclusion criteria: (1) ambiguous antibiotics protocol and (2) published exclusively in abstract or letter format. Data sources: Medline, Embase, Cochrane and citation reviews from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2018. Risk of bias: Cochrane's tool. Quality of the systematic review (SR): A MeaSurement Tool to Assess systematic Reviews-2. Certainity of the evidence: Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation. Statistical analyses: frequentist method performed with the 'netmeta' library, R package. Results: 27 randomised controlled trials (RCTs) from the initial 41 307 screened citations were included. Regarding the risk of bias, more than one quarter of the studies presented low risk and no study presented high risk in all domains. The SR quality is moderate. For cure, two networks were constructed. Thus, two Em-ATBs have the HPBB: cetaroline 600 mg (two times a day) and piperacillin 2000 mg (two times a day). For mortality, three networks were constructed. Thus, three Em-ATBs have the HPBB: ceftriaxone 2000 mg (once a day) plus levofloxacin 500 (two times a day), ertapenem 1000 mg (two times a day) and amikacin 250 mg (two times a day) plus clarithromycin 500 mg (two times a day). The certainity of evidence for each results is moderate. Conclusion: For cure rate, ceftaroline and piperaciline are the options with the HPBB. However, for mortality rate, the options are ceftriaxone plus levofloxacin, ertapenem and amikacin plus clarithromycin. It seems necessary to conduct an RCT that compares treatments with the HPBB for each event (cure or mortality) (CRD42017060692)

Turismo y Género. Una mirada desde Iberoamérica

En las últimas cuatro décadas ha crecido el interés de la academia, gobiernos y organizaciones internacionales por estudiar cómo ha sido, en qué circunstancias y qué efectos ha traído la incorporación de las mujeres al turismo. De esta forma se inicia un debate internacional en el que se cuestionan, por un lado, los efectos negativos de esta actividad en la vida de las mujeres y, por el otro, se realzan beneficios económicos que mejoran su calidad de vida y la de sus familias. A pesar del interés y la importante participación de mujeres en el sector turístico, aún son insuficientes los estudios enfocados en explicar y evidenciar su situación laboral. En este contexto, surge la idea de publicar un libro que compilara trabajos recientes en torno a las condiciones de las trabajadoras en el sector turístico de Iberoamérica.Esta obra se compone de tres secciones, Aproximaciones teórico metodológicas, Mujer y turismo en zonas rurales y La mujer en empresas turísticas, cuyas investigaciones abordan distintos temas para evidenciar los problemas enfrentados por las mujeres, proponer diversas soluciones y comprender su escenario laboral. En la primera sección, hay dos capítulos que proponen marcos teóricos para analizar el empoderamiento de las mujeres en el turismo rural. Los resultados de investigaciones de la segunda sección visibilizan las desigualdades, reflexionan y proponen acciones para mejorar las condiciones de las trabajadoras turísticas. En la última, en los tres capítulos, concentrados en las actividades empresariales, se estudian las desventajas y obstáculos de la empleada en alguna compañía turística.Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México