Pervasive Parallel And Distributed Computing In A Liberal Arts College Curriculum

We present a model for incorporating parallel and distributed computing (PDC) throughout an undergraduate CS curriculum. Our curriculum is designed to introduce students early to parallel and distributed computing topics and to expose students to these topics repeatedly in the context of a wide variety of CS courses. The key to our approach is the development of a required intermediate-level course that serves as a introduction to computer systems and parallel computing. It serves as a requirement for every CS major and minor and is a prerequisite to upper-level courses that expand on parallel and distributed computing topics in different contexts. With the addition of this new course, we are able to easily make room in upper-level courses to add and expand parallel and distributed computing topics. The goal of our curricular design is to ensure that every graduating CS major has exposure to parallel and distributed computing, with both a breadth and depth of coverage. Our curriculum is particularly designed for the constraints of a small liberal arts college, however, much of its ideas and its design are applicable to any undergraduate CS curriculum

Entitlement Failure from a Food Quality Perspective: The Life and Death Role of Vitamins and Minerals in Humanitarian Crises

entitlement theory, micronutrients, food, humanitarian, emergencies, Sen

Complexity of the XY antiferromagnet at fixed magnetization

We prove that approximating the ground energy of the antiferromagnetic XY model on a simple graph at fixed magnetization (given as part of the instance specification) is QMA-complete. To show this, we strengthen a previous result by establishing QMA-completeness for approximating the ground energy of the Bose-Hubbard model on simple graphs. Using a connection between the XY and Bose-Hubbard models that we exploited in previous work, this establishes QMA-completeness of the XY model

Quantum Interference and Inelastic Scattering in a Model Which-Way Device

A which-way device is one which is designed to detect which of 2 paths is taken by a quantum particle, whether Schr\"odinger's cat is dead or alive. One possible such device is represented by an Aharonov-Bohm ring with a quantum dot on one branch. A charged cantilever or spring is brought close to the dot as a detector of the presence of an electron. The conventional view of such a device is that any change in the state of the cantilever implies a change in the electron state which will in turn destroy the interference effects. In this paper we show that it is in fact possible to change the state of the oscillator while preserving the quantum interference phenomenon.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figures, Localisation 2002 Toky

Phrasing Bimanual Interaction for Visual Design

Architects and other visual thinkers create external representations of their ideas to support early-stage design. They compose visual imagery with sketching to form abstract diagrams as representations. When working with digital media, they apply various visual operations to transform representations, often engaging in complex sequences. This research investigates how to build interactive capabilities to support designers in putting together, that is phrasing, sequences of operations using both hands. In particular, we examine how phrasing interactions with pen and multi-touch input can support modal switching among different visual operations that in many commercial design tools require using menus and tool palettes—techniques originally designed for the mouse, not pen and touch. We develop an interactive bimanual pen+touch diagramming environment and study its use in landscape architecture design studio education. We observe interesting forms of interaction that emerge, and how our bimanual interaction techniques support visual design processes. Based on the needs of architects, we develop LayerFish, a new bimanual technique for layering overlapping content. We conduct a controlled experiment to evaluate its efficacy. We explore the use of wearables to identify which user, and distinguish what hand, is touching to support phrasing together direct-touch interactions on large displays. From design and development of the environment and both field and controlled studies, we derive a set methods, based upon human bimanual specialization theory, for phrasing modal operations through bimanual interactions without menus or tool palettes

The appropriate role of colloids in managing fluid imbalance: a critical review of recent meta-analytic findings

Three meta-analyses have recently been reported on the relationship between choice of resuscitation fluid and risk of mortality in critically ill patients. The relative risk of death (1.16-1.19) in two of the meta-analyses was slightly higher in colloid than crystalloid recipients; however, this observation was not statistically significant. In the third meta-analysis, 6% (95% confidence interval [CI], 3-9%) pooled excess mortality was documented in patients receiving albumin for hypovolaemia, burns or hypoalbuminaemia. The mortality difference in hypovolaemia patients (4%; 95% CI, 0-8%) was not statistically significant. A variety of serious limitations apply to the three meta-analyses, suggesting that their findings be interpreted cautiously. More than one-half of the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) included in the meta-analyses were reported prior to 1990 and hence do not reflect current practice. Each meta-analysis included only a subset of relevant RCTs, and therefore the scope of inferences to be drawn from the meta-analytic results is limited. The meta-analyses combined RCTs that were notably heterogeneous with respect to patient characteristics, type of illness, administered fluids and physiologic endpoints. Differences in illness severity, concomitant therapies and fluid management approaches were not taken into account. Very few of the RCTs were blinded. The meta-analyses do not support the conclusion that choice of resuscitation fluid is a major determinant of mortality in critically ill patients, nor do they support changes to current fluid management practice. Changes such as exclusive reliance on crystalloids would necessitate a reassessment of the goals and methods of fluid therapy. Since the effect on mortality may be minimal or non-existent, choice of resuscitation fluid should rest on whether the particular fluid permits the intensive care unit to provide better patient care

Archean Geodynamic Conditions Using P-T Constraints of the East Pilbara Craton TTGs

We know very little about the tectonic setting present during the Hadean, but based on studies of surviving Hadean zircons, we know that a Hadean protocrust must have been established by at least 4.4 Ga (Kemp et al. 2010), and it must have also been able to accommodate minimum melt conditions (Harrison 2005). Tectonic models for Earth during the Hadean and Archean follow two trends: uniformitarianism and non-uniformitarianism. Uniformitarian models (following the famed geological concept that the present is the key to the past) argue that Hadean zircons and Archean rocks formed via processes akin to modern-style oceanic crust production and subduction. Non-uniformitarian models speculate that a different style of tectonics, likely dominated by magmatism and vertical crustal / lithospheric kinematics, created the Hadean-Archean geological record. In order to help test these models, I studied the East Pilbara craton, an extremely well preserved Archean terrane. The craton consists of eight synclinic granitoid domes surrounded by greenstone belts. This dome-and-keel structure has been interpreted by most workers as the result of vertical tectonics, with prominent research teams arguing that it records buoyancy-driven partial convection within the crust caused by crustal heating by an underlying mantle plume. To examine the conditions present in the East Pilbara Craton and provide a direct point of comparison to the Hadean zircon record, I used titanium-in-zircon geothermometry and zircon U-Pb age dating of zircons from the granitoid domes. These approaches allow a direct comparison with published results from Hadean zircons. The Pilbara zircons show temperatures hotter than Hadean zircons by 400-700° C. The crystallization temperatures estimated from seven Pilbara samples of ages ranging from 3.40-3.21 Ga show a general cooling trend with a slight increase in temperature c. 3.31 Ga, which could reflect cooling after a crustal heating event. The crustal conditions of the Paleoarchean East Pilbara craton are evidently different than those recorded by the preserved Hadean zircons, and thus may represent a tectonic regime change between the Hadean and Paleoarchean