MODEL MAPREDUCE W WIELOKROTNYCH OBLICZENIACH NUMERYCZNYCH

In the last few years cloud computing is growing as a dominant solution for large scale numerical problems. It is based on MapReduce programming model, which provides high scalability and flexibility, but also optimizes costs of computing infrastructure. This paper studies feasibility of MapReduce model for scientific problems consisting of many independent simulations. Experiment based on variability analysis for simple electro­magnetic problem with over 10,000 scenarios proves that platform has nearly linear scalability with over 80% of theoretical maximum performance.W ostatnich latach chmury obliczeniowe stały się dominującym rozwiązaniem używanym do wielkoskalowych obliczeń numerycznych. Najczęściej są one oparte o programistyczny model MapReduce, który zapewnia wysoką skalowalność, elastyczność, oraz optymalizację kosztów infrastruktury. Artykuł w analityczny sposób przedstawia wykorzystanie MapReduce w rozwiązywaniu problemów naukowych złożonych z wielu niezależnych symulacji. Przeprowadzony eksperyment, złożony z ponad 10 000 przypadków, oparty o analizę zmienności pola elektromagnetycznego pokazuje niemal liniową skalowalność platformy i jej ponad 80% wydajności w stosunku do teoretycznego maksimum

The use of archived precipitation data in the assessment of soil erosion risk in the Świętokrzyskie Province of central-southern Poland

The usefulness of archived IMGW–PIB published reports was discussed as a source of information on high total and intensity precipitation that generates the risk of soil erosion. The study area consist of theŚwiętokrzyskie Province of central-southern Poland. The data were obtained mainly from yearbooks: The Atmospheric Precipitation Yearbooks and Results of pluviographic studies and precipitation of high intensity for the period 1959–1981. The analysis is limited to the occurrence of rainfall events that produced at least 30 mm of rainwater and were classified as A3 or higher on the Chomicz scale of rainstorms and downpours. A total of 247 rainstorms and downpours were recorded at 74 weather stations in the Świętokrzyskie Province. The utilized data sets allowed he estimation of erosivity index values using a simplified Wischmeier and Smith equation. Their erosivity index reached up to 6,387.8 MJ∙mm∙ha−1∙h−1 with a median value of 455.8 MJ∙mm∙ha−1∙h−1. This maximum value of EI was recorded at the Słupia weather station in the southwestern part of the study area. However, higherosivity rainfalls most often occurred in the lower section of the Nida Valley (in the Wiślica weather station). Precipitation characterized by the greatest erosivity occurred in June and July

Oxidation as an Additional Mechanism Underlying Reduced Clot Permeability and Impaired Fibrinolysis in Type 2 Diabetes

Aims. We sought to investigate whether enhanced oxidation contributes to unfavorable fibrin clot properties in patients with diabetes. Methods. We assessed plasma fibrin clot permeation ( , a measure of the pore size in fibrin networks) and clot lysis time induced by recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (CLT) in 163 consecutive type 2 diabetic patients (92 men and 71 women) aged 65 ± 8.8 years with a mean glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) of 6.8%. We also measured oxidative stress markers, including nitrotyrosine, the soluble form of receptor for advanced glycation end products (sRAGE), 8-iso-prostaglandin F 2 (8-iso-PGF 2 ), oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL), and advanced glycation end products (AGE). Results. There were inverse correlations between and nitrotyrosine, sRAGE, 8-iso-PGF 2 , and oxLDL. CLT showed a positive correlation with oxLDL and nitrotyrosine but not with other oxidation markers. All these associations remained significant for after adjustment for fibrinogen, disease duration, and HbA1c (all < 0.05), while oxLDL was the only independent predictor of CLT. Conclusions. Our study shows that enhanced oxidative stress adversely affects plasma fibrin clot properties in type 2 diabetic patients, regardless of disease duration and glycemia control

Reduction of defibrillation threshold and safety of usage of a new model of subcutaneous defibrillation lead

This study was designed to evaluate the performance of a new single coil model of a subcutaneous defibrillation lead (Medtronic, 6996S) by assessing its capability to lower the defibrillation threshold. The 6996S lead is a permanent unipolar subcutaneous lead with a short (15 cm) defibrillation coil. Additionally, the safety of the lead and its chronic stability were evaluated. The investigation was performed in patients who underwent implantation of an ICD system consisting of a single coil RV lead with a left sub-clavicular Active Can ICD. In these patients, the DFT was determined twice during the implantation procedure with a binary search protocol, once with an ICD system which included the 6996S lead (RV → Can + SQ), and once without the 6996S lead (RV → Can). The order in which the implanted system configurations were tested was randomised. Between June 2004 and February 2006, 32 patients were enrolled into the study. Post-implantation follow-up was of at least three-month duration. The DFT test results of 31 patients have been analysed. The average DFT of (Can → RV) and (Can + 6996S → RV) were respectively 14.3 ± 9.9 J and 10.5 ± 6.2 J (p = 0.007). The addition of the 6996S lead with 15 cm coil reduced the average DFT by 27%, which is about 80% of the DFT reduction obtained with the 6996 lead with 25 cm coil. Adverse events, predominantly related to progression of heart failure, were observed in eight (26%) patients during the study and were related neither to the particular 6996S lead model, nor to the implant procedure. The short-coil (6996S) SQ lead significantly reduced mean DFT. The implant procedure is safe, but the 6996S lead requires / warrants long-term surveillance / observation due to retraction of the tip of the lead, ranging from 1 to 4 cm, found in eight of 14 patients (57%) implanted with this lead model

The Former Gestapo Headquarters and the Provincial Office of Public Security in Anstadt Avenue in Łódź Interdisciplinary Site Research

The paper discusses the research me­thods and the most important results of the interdisciplinary project “The Former Gestapo Headquarters and the Provincial Office of Public Security in Anstadt Avenue in Łódź. Interdisciplinary Site Research” conducted in 2019–2021. Considering the challenges faced by the archaeology of the contemporary past, a subdiscipline of archaeology, an attempt was made to link the results of archaeological research to the relatively well-known historical context of structural and functional transformations of the site explored, mostly the establishment of a Jewish school in Anstadt Avenue at the end of the 1930s, the operation of the Gestapo headquarters during the Second World War and of the communist Provincial Office of Public Security after the war, and the division of the site into police and school sections in 1957, which has been preserved to date. Also ethno­graphic research was carried out, which identified sources referring to the forms of remembrance and commemoration of places, events, and people. The Authors hope that the archaeological research will be soon resumed on account of the planned investments, allowing to publish a complementary and interdisciplinary monograph of the site explored

Bioleptin as a useful marker of metabolic status in children with diabetes mellitus type 1

IntroductionThe purpose of our study was tomeasure the level of leptin and biologically active leptin (bioLEP) in children with type 1 diabetes, depending on the duration of diabetes and its degree of metabolic control.MethodsThe study included 94 children (58 boys and 36 girls). In a group of children with diabetes, 40 patients were newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, 40 children who have diabetes for more than a year (20 with good metabolic control and 20 with poor metabolic control). The control group consisted of 14 healthy children. The serum level of leptin and bioLEP was measured using a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. To our knowledge, this is the first study to describe bioLEP levels among diabetic children with different forms of disease control.ResultsLower levels of leptin were found in children with diabetes compared to healthy children. Furthermore, we found a statistically higher concentration of leptin in the group of children with newly diagnosed diabetes compared to children from the diabetic group with poor metabolic control and lower than healthy children (11.19 vs. 7.84 and 20.94 ng/mL). Moreover, children in the metabolically well-controlled group had statistically lower levels of this hormone (5.11 ng/mL) than healthy children. Leptin concentrations differed significantly between underweight, overweight, and obese children.DiscussionIn our study, the level of bioLEP differed significantly between children in the newly diagnosed diabetes group and children in the long-term, poorly controlled diabetes group and healthy controls. Despite many studies published in recent years, many aspects of leptin secretion, action, and mechanisms of its influence on carbohydrate and fat metabolism are still to be clarified. In our opinion, studies evaluating the status of bioLEP in diabetes can also contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms regulating metabolism

An analysis and evaluation of the WeFold collaborative for protein structure prediction and its pipelines in CASP11 and CASP12

Every two years groups worldwide participate in the Critical Assessment of Protein Structure Prediction (CASP) experiment to blindly test the strengths and weaknesses of their computational methods. CASP has significantly advanced the field but many hurdles still remain, which may require new ideas and collaborations. In 2012 a web-based effort called WeFold, was initiated to promote collaboration within the CASP community and attract researchers from other fields to contribute new ideas to CASP. Members of the WeFold coopetition (cooperation and competition) participated in CASP as individual teams, but also shared components of their methods to create hybrid pipelines and actively contributed to this effort. We assert that the scale and diversity of integrative prediction pipelines could not have been achieved by any individual lab or even by any collaboration among a few partners. The models contributed by the participating groups and generated by the pipelines are publicly available at the WeFold website providing a wealth of data that remains to be tapped. Here, we analyze the results of the 2014 and 2016 pipelines showing improvements according to the CASP assessment as well as areas that require further adjustments and research

An analysis and evaluation of the WeFold collaborative for protein structure prediction and its pipelines in CASP11 and CASP12

Every two years groups worldwide participate in the Critical Assessment of Protein Structure Prediction (CASP) experiment to blindly test the strengths and weaknesses of their computational methods. CASP has significantly advanced the field but many hurdles still remain, which may require new ideas and collaborations. In 2012 a web-based effort called WeFold, was initiated to promote collaboration within the CASP community and attract researchers from other fields to contribute new ideas to CASP. Members of the WeFold coopetition (cooperation and competition) participated in CASP as individual teams, but also shared components of their methods to create hybrid pipelines and actively contributed to this effort. We assert that the scale and diversity of integrative prediction pipelines could not have been achieved by any individual lab or even by any collaboration among a few partners. The models contributed by the participating groups and generated by the pipelines are publicly available at the WeFold website providing a wealth of data that remains to be tapped. Here, we analyze the results of the 2014 and 2016 pipelines showing improvements according to the CASP assessment as well as areas that require further adjustments and research

Combined searches for the production of supersymmetric top quark partners in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

A combination of searches for top squark pair production using proton-proton collision data at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV at the CERN LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb(-1) collected by the CMS experiment, is presented. Signatures with at least 2 jets and large missing transverse momentum are categorized into events with 0, 1, or 2 leptons. New results for regions of parameter space where the kinematical properties of top squark pair production and top quark pair production are very similar are presented. Depending on themodel, the combined result excludes a top squarkmass up to 1325 GeV for amassless neutralino, and a neutralinomass up to 700 GeV for a top squarkmass of 1150 GeV. Top squarks with masses from 145 to 295 GeV, for neutralino masses from 0 to 100 GeV, with a mass difference between the top squark and the neutralino in a window of 30 GeV around the mass of the top quark, are excluded for the first time with CMS data. The results of theses searches are also interpreted in an alternative signal model of dark matter production via a spin-0 mediator in association with a top quark pair. Upper limits are set on the cross section for mediator particle masses of up to 420 GeV

Search for new particles in events with energetic jets and large missing transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

A search is presented for new particles produced at the LHC in proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV, using events with energetic jets and large missing transverse momentum. The analysis is based on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 101 fb(-1), collected in 2017-2018 with the CMS detector. Machine learning techniques are used to define separate categories for events with narrow jets from initial-state radiation and events with large-radius jets consistent with a hadronic decay of a W or Z boson. A statistical combination is made with an earlier search based on a data sample of 36 fb(-1), collected in 2016. No significant excess of events is observed with respect to the standard model background expectation determined from control samples in data. The results are interpreted in terms of limits on the branching fraction of an invisible decay of the Higgs boson, as well as constraints on simplified models of dark matter, on first-generation scalar leptoquarks decaying to quarks and neutrinos, and on models with large extra dimensions. Several of the new limits, specifically for spin-1 dark matter mediators, pseudoscalar mediators, colored mediators, and leptoquarks, are the most restrictive to date.Peer reviewe