Asynchronous Teams and Tasks in a Message Passing Environment

As the discipline of scientific computing grows, so too does the "skills gap" between the increasingly complex scientific applications and the efficient algorithms required. Increasing demand for computational power on the march towards exascale requires innovative approaches. Closing the skills gap avoids the many pitfalls that lead to poor utilisation of resources and wasted investment. This thesis tackles two challenges: asynchronous algorithms for parallel computing and fault tolerance. First I present a novel asynchronous task invocation methodology for Discontinuous Galerkin codes called enclave tasking. The approach modifies the parallel ordering of tasks that allows for efficient scaling on dynamic meshes up to 756 cores. It ensures high levels of concurrency and intermixes tasks of different computational properties. Critical tasks along domain boundaries are prioritised for an overlap of computation and communication. The second contribution is the teaMPI library, forming teams of MPI processes exchanging consistency data through an asynchronous "heartbeat". In contrast to previous approaches, teaMPI operates fully asynchronously with reduced overhead. It is also capable of detecting individually slow or failing ranks and inconsistent data among replicas. Finally I provide an outlook into how asynchronous teams using enclave tasking can be combined into an advanced team-based diffusive load balancing scheme. Both concepts are integrated into and contribute towards the ExaHyPE project, a next generation code that solves hyperbolic equation systems on dynamically adaptive cartesian grids

Niche Construction Theory: Difficulties for a Practice Approach to Theoretical Pluralism

In this thesis, I reconstruct C. Kenneth Waters’ “practice-centered approach” to philosophy of biology. The objective of the approach is to resolve theoretical debates in biology by appealing to how theories are used to predict and control a phenomenon, not just explain it. By turning our attention to how theories are used in practice (e.g., developing new hypotheses or predicting novel results), we can see that two conceptually incompatible theories can actually coextend. I put the approach to the test with a contemporary case study: the debate between the Standard Evolutionary Theory and Niche Construction Theory. The debate centers on whether to amend the concept of an evolutionary process. Waters argues that the practice-centered approach resolves the debate with a pluralist framework. I argue that a pluralist framework is not warranted in this case, thus demonstrating that Waters’ approach is not a panacea for all theoretical debates in biology

Development of a practical and effective technique to determine the complete level of autonomic neural activity during stress

Clinical evidence exists to suggest that an individual\u27s level of stress contributes to the state of many physiological and psychological disorders, The autonomic nervous system, by adjusting parasympathetic and sympathetic activity, is attributed with the control over an individual\u27s level of neural stress. Therefore, it is desired to develop a better and quantitative understanding of the stress! autonomic system mechanism. Previous work has been done to gain a partial understanding of such activity. The primary objective for this study is to complement and advance the previous work by determining whether there is other physiological data which could reveal more about the correlation between autonomic neurological activity and illness or disease. The work in this study was designed to identify a valid procedure for quantifying relative stress levels. Furthermore, it includes the objective to be useful for clinical and commercial application. This requires that the equipment be inexpensive, and the method simple to implement, non-invasive, straightforward to interpret, and yield accurate results. A method which uses a Photoplethysmograph to measure blood volume in the fingertip was selected. A lap-top computer with Lab VIEW software was used to acquire, display, store and process that data. An experimental protocol which was designed to change the stress level in test subjects was executed. The method devised effectively met the objectives for clinical! commercial development. Preliminary results indicate that the acquired data is useful and may be processed to readily quantify relative changes in blood volume. This technique effectively complements other methods which provide information about parasympathetic activity. With some enhancement, this technique may be developed to obtain information about both sympathetic and parasympathetic activity, all at the same time

Structural controls of the geothermal system at Gerlach, Washoe County, Nevada

Detailed geologic mapping, spring and two-meter temperature data, and gravity and magnetic data constrain the structural controls of the high-temperature (>175°C) geothermal system at Gerlach. The system lies along the termination of a major normal fault at the southern end of the Granite Range in the southern Black Rock Desert, a known favorable setting for geothermal activity. Mapping of Quaternary deposits documents Holocene movement on the north-northeast-striking, east-dipping Gerlach fault. Dominant orientations of geothermal veins in exposed fossil geothermal systems parallel this active, terminating range-front fault, suggesting that it does provide a major control on the current geothermal system.Locally, there are two areas of geothermal upwelling with separate sets of structural controls. The two areas are expressed by outflow as two sets of springs, Great Boiling Springs and Mud Springs, as well as by separate altered bedrock fossil systems above the springs. The areas are topographically distinct (neither could represent outflow from the other), are separated by relatively lower shallow temperature measurements, and are associated with different orientations of the gravity gradient. Prominent northwest-striking fractures provide areas of enhanced permeability and parallel the secondary set of veins in the altered bedrock uphill of Great Boiling Springs. These northwest-striking veins are not observed in the area above Mud Springs, but there is an east-northeast-striking set that is not present above Great Boiling Springs. The presence of east-northeast-striking structures is supported in the gravity data. These structures could represent an ever broader-scale structural connection between the southern termination of the Gerlach fault and the northern termination of the Fox Range fault to the south

E-Mails to Clients: Avoiding Missteps

In this column for Kentucky Bar Association\u27s magazine (B&B - Bench & Bar), Professor Hazelwood addresses the ethical implications of emailing with a client. Practitioners are provided a series of questions to ask before emailing a client

Technology and Client Communications: Preparing Law Students and New Lawyers to Make Choices That Comply with the Ethical Duties of Confidentiality, Competence, and Communication

That the use of technology has radically changed the legal profession is beyond dispute. Through technology, lawyers can now represent clients in faraway states and countries, and they can represent even local clients through a “virtual law office.” Gone are the times in which the lawyer’s choices for communicating with clients primarily involve preparing formal business letters to convey advice, holding in-person client meetings in the office, or conducting telephone calls with clients on landlines from the confines of the lawyer’s office. Not only do lawyers have choices about how to communicate with their clients, but they also frequently choose electronic modes of communication. Though using technology for client communications is typically faster and often more convenient than traditional modes of communication, a lawyer’s ethical obligations impact whether or how to use technology. The use of technology impacts three of the lawyer’s most fundamental obligations–the lawyer’s duties to communicate with the client, to protect the confidentiality of that communication, and to provide competent representation. For those reasons, whether a lawyer’s use of technology comports with the lawyer’s ethical requirements has been the source of numerous ethics committee opinions over the last twenty years, as well as a series of amendments to the American Bar Association’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct. Though it is now universally accepted that lawyers can use technology for client communications, the prevalence of technology does not dictate that its use is always appropriate. Part I of this Article analyzes state and ABA ethics opinions that consider the propriety of a lawyer’s use of technology for client communications. Part II discusses changes to the Model Rules since 2000 relating to the use of technology by lawyers and its impact on the practice of law. Part III proposes that law professors and lawyers charged with instructing or mentoring law students and new lawyers regarding client communications educate them regarding not only the content of those communications, but also how and when to use technology. Perhaps ironically, the additional instruction regarding how and when to use technology is a necessity because of the frequency and ease with which the current generation of law students uses technology

Pipelines, Electrical Lines, and Little Pink Houses: Do Any Limits on Public Use Remain in Eminent Domain Law?

That property is more than mere dirt, brush, or rugged terrain is made obvious by the fervor with which individuals will defend their right to inhabit or use that property. Property can be valuable to individuals for myriad reasons, including an ancestral connection to the property; historic, religious, and cultural significance; or emotional attachment. The desire to preserve the right to use property or to protect it from environmental harm can create atypical activists, such as the Sisters of Loretto in Kentucky. The sisters opposed the construction of the pipeline across their pristine property and voiced their disapproval of the pipeline in community meetings and in a petition to the Governor