Tightening the Bounds on Cache-Related Preemption Delay in Fixed Preemption Point Scheduling

Limited Preemptive Fixed Preemption Point scheduling (LP-FPP) has the ability to decrease and control the preemption-related overheads in the real-time task systems, compared to other limited or fully preemptive scheduling approaches. However, existing methods for computing the preemption overheads in LP-FPP systems rely on over-approximation of the evicting cache blocks (ECB) calculations, potentially leading to pessimistic schedulability analysis. In this paper, we propose a novel method for preemption cost calculation that exploits the benefits of the LP-FPP task model both at the scheduling and cache analysis level. The method identifies certain infeasible preemption combinations, based on analysis on the scheduling level, and combines it with cache analysis information into a constraint problem from which less pessimistic upper bounds on cache-related preemption delays (CRPD) can be derived. The evaluation results indicate that our proposed method has the potential to significantly reduce the upper bound on CRPD, by up to 50% in our experiments, compared to the existing over-approximating calculations of the eviction scenarios

A Successful Application of the Agile Manifesto to Resource Constrained Projects with Open Specifications

In this paper we describe how agile manifesto can be applied when a specific software solution is needed in a resource, i.e., time- and manpower- constrained environment, while the specifications are not detailed, and are prone to changes. The case study, to which this method was put on test, was an online application framework for the EU-funded EURECA project, which deals with academic mobility at all levels (e.g., students, researchers, and staff) between 16 different universities from countries in Asia and Europe. The organization of this project turned out to be a herculean task during the first call for applications. Subsequently, we developed an on-line application management framework with limited resources within a short span of time following the principles and practices of the agile manifesto. The stages and processes that were used during development are discussed in this paper, both in general and for the actual application in the EURECA framework development

Multiprocessor fixed priority scheduling with limited preemptions

Challenges associated with allowing preemptions and migrations are compounded in multicore systems, particularly under global scheduling policies, because of the potentially high overheads. For example, multiple levels of cache greatly increase preemption and migration related overheads as well as the difficulty involved in accurately accounting for them, leading to substantially inflated worst-case execution times (WCETs). Preemption and migration related overheads can be significantly reduced, both in number and in size, by using fixed preemption points in the tasks' code; thus dividing each task into a series of non-preemptive regions (NPRs). This leads to an additional consideration in the scheduling policy. When a high priority task is released and all of the processors are executing non-preemptive regions of lower priority tasks, then there is a choice to be made in terms of how to manage the next preemption. With an eager approach the first lower priority task to reach a preemption point is preempted even if it is not the lowest priority running task. Alternatively, with a lazy approach, preemption is delayed until the lowest priority currently running task reaches its next preemption point. In this paper, we show that under global fixed priority scheduling with eager preemptions each task suffers from at most a single priority inversion each time it resumes execution. Building on this observation, we derive a new response time based schedulability test for tasks with fixed preemption points. Experimental evaluations show that global fixed priority scheduling with eager preemptions is significantly more effective than with lazy preemption using link based scheduling in terms of task set schedulability

HUBLINKED: A Curriculum Mapping Framework for Industry

A key aim of HubLinked is to improve the effectiveness of University-Industry linkages between CS faculties and ICT companies. One of the problems identified as core to the Project was to match Learning Outcomes from different curricula with the requirements dictated by the ICT industry with the final aim to enhance students Graduate Skills and employability. Based on agreed core U-I linkage attributes, lower-level curriculum L0s have been designed and reviewed by industry partners. To enable the replication of this process, a tool was designed to make the comparison of graduates\u27 skills from different institutions easily accessible. Using this tool across multiple institutes in Europe and Korea, institutes have been able to establish an academic basis of comparison for the industry-selected criteria. The result is a framework which can be used to design specific, industry-led pathways through institutes across the globe and improve the interface between universities and industry. The exercise of designing the process and the mapping tool is described in this paper

Multi-tissue coexpression networks reveal unexpected subnetworks associated with disease

Tissue-to-tissue coexpression networks between genes in hypothalamus, liver or adipose tissue enable identification of obesity-specific genes

PRELIMINARY DATA ON SOME BEHAVIORAL CHANGES INDUCED BY SHORT-TERM INTRAPERITONEAL OXYTOCIN ADMINISTRATION IN AGED RATS

Introduction: Oxytocin (OT) is a well-known neuropeptides which together with vasopressin, melatonin, insulin and other hormones can alter both behavior and physiological or neuronal functions. This growing interest on OT roles is also based on the demonstrated beneficial effects as a stress reliever and a social bonding agent. The association between old age and OT was only vaguely studied. Little or few is known on the effect of the OT hormone on the old body. Hereby, we present our preliminary results in the research on behavioral changes regarding the intraperitoneal administration of OT in aged rats. Subjects and methods: OT was administered for 8 days in Wistar aged rats in parallel with saline administration for control group. Behavioral markers were assessed in some specific behavioral tasks, such as the Y-Maze test for short-term working memory, Open Field test, Elevated Plus Maze, and Forced Swim test for anxious and depressive behavior assessment, and Three-chambered Maze test for sociability assessment. Results: Increased mobility and decreased anxiety behaviors were reported for the aged intraperitoneal OT-treated animals, as compared with controls, during FST and OFT, and respectively FST, EPM, and OFT. Also, decreased depressive-like behaviors were observed in the same animal group during FST and ST. Moreover, a decrease in anxiolytic behavior was observed as exposed to stressful stimuli (such as grooming behavior in OFT, and forced grooming behavior in ST), and as exposed to social stimuli (such as grooming behavior in TCT). Similarly, significant differences were obtained regarding the social behavior of the intraperitoneal OT-treated animal as compared to control group, the animals showing increased sociability and social preference for the stranger animal in TCT. However, no significant effects on the working memory (assessed as spontaneous alternation in YMT) were observed. Conclusions: Intraperitoneal administration of OT in aged rats has clear effects on anxious and depressive behavior, but no significant effects on the working memory. Also, several beneficial effects of OT on social preferences and sociability were observed

HUBLINKED: A Curriculum Mapping Framework for Industry

SMEs and Enterprise companies are looking for workplace-ready graduates that have already gained a relevant range of skills and knowledge as part of their studies. These include having specific proficiencies as well as a broad understanding of industry, including transferable skills such as self-awareness, critical thinking, teamwork, listening, time management, and leadership [1]. This demand entails a reciprocal relationship between industry and academia, which is one of many aspects that drives the need for solid collaborations between the two sectors [2]. When facing the recruitment process, however, SMEs and Enterprise companies often struggle to match their requirements to the learning outcomes of new graduates applying for positions. Companies are faced with an overwhelming array of degree programmes to engage with, most of which consist of multiple modules and options. Even within the same institute and school, students graduate with the same qualification, but have gone through vastly different pathways and gained a varied experience based on the optional modules they may have taken. Without enough academic knowledge and familiarity and no means to distinguish between these courses and the graduates, the recruitment process for companies must rely heavily on lengthy interview procedures to search for the right graduate with the right experience and transversal skills, a process that can be resource intensive in terms of time and financial cost. Given that learning trajectories across programmes and curricula are often not visible from an employer perspective some form of mapping of academic curriculum to industry graduate requirements would seem an essential step to help relieve employers, at least partially, from burdensome recruitment procedure [3]. The broad goal of the HubLinked Knowledge Alliance is to strengthen Europe’s software innovation capacity by learning from regions of proven Information Computing Technology (ICT) strength in Europe and Asia and sharing that knowledge with all regions. A key goal of the Alliance was to conduct research on the effectiveness of University-Industry (U-I) collaborations between Computer Science faculties and Companies (including non-ICT companies) as U-I collaborations are understood as a core driver of innovation capacity. In recognising that SMEs and Enterprise companies often struggle to match their graduate requirements to the learning outcomes of new graduates, two key challenges (presented here as fundamental questions) emerged: How can SME requirements for graduate recruitment be captured in a way that facilitates matching their requirements to academic programmes? How do you match university programmes from different institution to the industry requirement? In this paper we present a Curriculum Mapping Framework (CMF) and a Curriculum Mapping Tool (CMT) to address these issues. The CMF encodes the companies graduate attributes into a virtual curriculum after which the CMT maps the virtual curriculum onto specific educational pathway within an academic programme to determine the level of match between the two. The CMF and the CMT were both designed within the HubLinked Knowledge Alliance [4], a partnership of seven large industry-focused Computer Science Faculties and four Industry partners representing large multinationals, SMEs and start-up companies. Section two will explore the context that led to the development of the CMF and the CMT. In order to map learning outcomes across different programmes and courses, across different academic award levels and across different institutions, it is necessary to understand the general structure of a programme and how curricula are constructed. Our approach has been strongly inspired by the reports of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) [1] and Bloom’s Taxonomy [5] and by the assumption that multiple pathways are possible within each academic programme, meaning individuals undertaking the same programme gain varied skills depending on the optional modules for which they have opted. Section three describes in the development of the CMF which provides a mechanism for encoding industry requirements into a curriculum. Qualitative data was collected over a three-year period in the form of interviews with 40 Industry professionals and through organised focus groups with academic partners and stakeholders. Data collection was a central theme at each of the quarterly meetings hosted by each of the project partners who also facilitated the contribution of additional academic staff from outside of the project. Section four presents the CMT and demonstrates how the mapping process between ICT programmes and the Hublinked curriculum is achieved. The CMT is available on the HubLinked website for download[2]. Observations on the CMF and the CMT including recommendations on its future use are presented in the last sections of this paper. [1] https://www.acm.org [2] http://www.hublinked.eu/curriculum-mapping-tool

Inverse Regulation of Inflammation and Mitochondrial Function in Adipose Tissue Defines Extreme Insulin Sensitivity in Morbidly Obese Patients

Obesity is associated with insulin resistance, a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. However, not all obese individuals are insulin resistant, which confounds our understanding of the mechanistic link between these conditions. We conducted transcriptome analyses on 835 obese subjects with mean BMI of 48.8, on which we have previously reported genetic associations of gene expression. Here, we selected ∼320 nondiabetic (HbA1c <7.0) subjects and further stratified the cohort into insulin-resistant versus insulin-sensitive subgroups based on homeostasis model assessment–insulin resistance. An unsupervised informatics analysis revealed that immune response and inflammation-related genes were significantly downregulated in the omental adipose tissue of obese individuals with extreme insulin sensitivity and, to a much lesser extent, in subcutaneous adipose tissue. In contrast, genes related to β-oxidation and the citric acid cycle were relatively overexpressed in adipose of insulin-sensitive patients. These observations were verified by querying an independent cohort of our published dataset of 37 subjects whose subcutaneous adipose tissue was sampled before and after treatment with thiazolidinediones. Whereas the immune response and inflammation pathway genes were downregulated by thiazolidinedione treatment, β-oxidation and citric acid cycle genes were upregulated. This work highlights the critical role that omental adipose inflammatory pathways might play in the pathophysiology of insulin resistance, independent of body weight

The teaching of computer ethics on computer science and related degree programmes. a European survey

Within the Computer Science community, many ethical issues have emerged as significant and critical concerns. Computer ethics is an academic field in its own right and there are unique ethical issues associated with information technology. It encompasses a range of issues and concerns including privacy and agency around personal information, Artificial Intelligence and pervasive technology, the Internet of Things and surveillance applications. As computing technology impacts society at an ever growing pace, there are growing calls for more computer ethics content to be included in Computer Science curricula. In this paper we present the results of a survey that polled faculty from Computer Science and related disciplines about teaching practices for computer ethics at their institutions. The survey was completed by respondents from 61 universities across 23 European countries. Participants were surveyed on whether or not computer ethics is taught to Computer Science students at each institution, the reasons why computer ethics is or is not taught, how computer ethics is taught, the background of staff who teach computer ethics and the scope of computer ethics curricula. This paper presents and discusses the results of the survey